Bible reading plans

"Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path"

"Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,

For they are ever mine.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
Because I have observed Your precepts."

These are quotations from Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the entire Bible. We are commanded to meditate on God's word day and night for our own good, but sadly, the daunting task of reading all 66 books (some of them really short) often lies neglected. I can't really say that I've read all the books in the Bible, and I don't even know how close or far I am from doing so. Not that that matters as much as what I remember and obey from all I've read, but reading does play a major role in spiritual growth. The Spirit works and speaks to us through Scripture, revival comes when the word of God is preached, salvation has come to us through what we "heard" (or read, as the case may be)...* So anyway, I looked for some reading plans and found this through DG Ministries. I'm planning to follow the one-year reading plan, which might be quite taxing for those of you with busy schedules, but there are other plans to choose from. The 5-minute a day plan for reading the entire New Testament sounds doable.

If you've already read through the entire Bible, don't forget to read it again and again, as many times as you can while you're alive.... the precious gems and lessons will never stop coming.

Here are other reading plans from Bible Gateway.

* If you prefer listening over reading, there are audio streams of the Bible available from Bible Gateway and other online Bible sites.

The Triumphant Tired

Christian, are your bones tired and your limbs limp? Has the day's labor drained your spirit and stolen dear night's promised rest? If your eyes are aching to close and if your every muscle is sore, if every fiber of your being yearns for sleep or rest while failing to grasp it... then join me in rejoicing, for rest you shall have, and much more than that.

"Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

It is really very simple, this reason for rejoicing - we who walk by faith and not by sight are able to hold on to a hope that though we groan and moan and cry in these tired mortal bodies of ours -these "tents"- we are guaranteed "eternal" "buildings" in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5 NLT) Your present sufferings will only enable you to enjoy without bounds that which has already been prepared for you, guaranteed for you by the Holy Spirit. For if you never knew what it was like to be dead-tired, you would not hold sleep, rest and relaxation in such high esteem. But since you suffer and grow weary in this life, you come to understand that this promise of Christ is precious beyond measure.

Perhaps this thought is not something that will make you strong immediately... In this world, we still have to endure the pains of childbirth. Yet as your burdens become too heavy to bear, and as your longing for God's eternal kingdom and the fulfillment of His promises increase exponentially, partake also of the joys and blessings of your hope, ponder deep on it - that your sufferings will, with utmost certainty, come to an end, and everlasting, uninterrupted happiness will soon begin. We get slurps and gulps and tastes of this even in the land of the living, as we hope and pray and wait... the pleasant aroma of God's coming promises will renew "the youth (who) grow tired and weary". So then rest in His promises, frail Christian, rest.

Do you have saving faith?

I totally agree with what Charles Spurgeon is saying in his sermon. It took me many months, a lot of soul-searching and even more Scripture reading, before I could stand up from the fall caused by doubts about my salvation years after I started professing (to be a Christian). Now I do not, in fact cannot, doubt the fact (my salvation), for I cannot doubt my Saviour. I fear Him too much and trust in His works too fully to be afraid of my own lack of merits and my abundance of faults; I believe, and I am saved. As Spurgeon declares,

"Be assured that the gospel of your salvation as a believer, with a simple confidence in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead, will save your soul, a simple and undiluted reliance upon the life and death, and resurrection, and merit, and person of Jesus Christ, will ensure to you everlasting life. Let nothing move you from this confidence: it hath great recompense of reward. Heaven and earth may pass away, but from this grand fundamental truth not one jot or tittle shall ever be moved. "He that believeth in him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the Son of God."

But what of James's letter? What of James 2:17 which says that faith without deeds is dead, and the rest of the chapter, which commands us to do good works in keeping with our faith, a chapter often used by the Catholic church to tell us that faith and good works together commend us to God? (I still remember the passionate lecture my Catholic professor gave on this.) I pause for a quote,

"for us to talk of salvation by merit, by our own works, is worse than vanity; it is an impertinence which God will never endure."

Spurgeon does a great job explaining what this passage means for salvation. If you have faith, you are saved, but a there is a certain kind of faith which saves, and this is not just any kind of believing - certainly not plain intellectual affirmation. Surely, the devils also believe that Jesus is the Son of God after all they suffered in His hands, and yet, they certainly are not saved! So what is saving faith and what happens when you have it? You are saved by grace and saved through faith, eternally secure in the Father's hands, but what do these truths imply? One thing they are not meant to be- they are not to be used as excuses for complacency and sin! James' letter tells us what saving faith is and isn't, and this enables us to be sure of what we possess or more appropriately, rebuked and convicted of what we probably do not possess! "It is a miserable thing to find a person discovering that his profession (that he is a Christian and has saving faith) has been a lie." I don't ask you to renounce your 'Christian-ness' in view of all that you now realize your faith is lacking. If you suffer the same miseries I did because you're afraid to think that you have never truly been washed by the blood of the Lamb, does that not prove your genuine desire to be wholly God's and your fear otherwise? God has already begun to transform you, and He is faithful; He will bring us, who truly believe, to the end He has in mind - which is why He seeks to bring you to a better understanding of the nature of saving faith.

We don't need to doubt that Christ's finished work on the cross cleanses us from ALL sin, or that God has mercy on the worst of sinners, but we do need to be mindful about the authenticity and nature of our faith. "By their fruits you shall know them," and by your fruits you shall know yourself! If you want to be assured of your salvation, don't look to the time you prayed the "prayer of acceptance" or first heard the Gospel and cried to God for redemption. Look to the cross, look to the Christ who said "It is finished!" and with faith in the One who began a good work in You, rend your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to make His fruits evident in your life - grieve Him no further and He will surely do so, for He is the God who keeps all His promises and sanctifies you through and through.

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

For more about the assurance of salvation, read Piper's article.

Let your passion be single

(See Special Programs, "Let Your Passion Be Single")

I heard John Piper preach for the first time tonight. I decided to listen to the sermon because I was struck by the title: "let your passion be single". Whispering a prayer in my heart for the Lord to unite my heart to fear His name, I proceeded to listen to the audio stream. It's more or less an introduction to "Christian Hedonism", and some of the lines/quotes/illustrations in the sermon are also in his books "Desiring God" and "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ". I was happy to hear familiar words and was further established in my belief that God is the Gospel.

"The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another: but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of God in them." (Jonathan Edwards)

Taste and see that the Lord is good... (Psalm 34 NIV)

Reading List - as of June 25, 2006

For first-timers to this blog (also for my forgetful self), this entry contains information about the books I am reading/have read/will read. It will act as a sort of guide to most of the contents of this site and will constantly be updated for your convenience (or mine, actually). If you're familiar with hyperlinks, the concept behind this is a lot like that. One page leads you to another page, that page leads you to yet another one and so on, and some pages lead you back to one another. Confusing? It has to be obvious by now that I'm a freak when it comes to organizing things... so why is your room such an eyesore?, my mom or sister might ask... Consider it a work in progress my beloved in the Lord! Same thing with this site. I might tweak and change a few things as I go along, so please be patient and if you have any suggestions, questions, comments, what-have-you's about anything (in this site or in this world), feel free to leave me a message. I'm not doing much else so I'd be pleased to entertain you. (I hope I won't have to take this back in the future ;-P) Anyway, thanks for visiting and may God make Himself known to you today.

Reading List:

1. Christian Doctrine - Basic Christianity (John Stott) -- an introduction
2. A Hunger for God (John Piper)
3. Book of Deuteronomy (currently at Chapter 16)
4. The Holy Bible (in a year!)
   

(Priority) Waiting List:

1. Inside the mind of unchurched harry and mary (Lee Strobel)
2. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (John Piper)
   
3. Fiction Novel - JESUS A Novel (Walter Wangerin)

Finished:

1. Christian Living - The Life God blesses (Jim Cymbala) --summary (still!) in progress
2. Devotional - Pierced by the word (John Piper)

A Hunger for God

Thank God this book is available as an online resource... now all of you can read it (or parts of it) anytime for free (click the title of this entry to go to the link). When I get some cash I'd like to contribute to DG Ministries so they can continue making these resources available for free for all.

This book's good for people who want to know what the Bible says about fasting, and want to awaken their deep desires for the good and gracious God. Though fasting usually refers to abstinence from food and/or drink, in this book it also means refraining from anything that keeps us from hungering for God and enjoying Him fully.

Here are the contents of the book:

Introduction: A Homesickness for God

Chapters:

1 I S FASTING CHRISTIAN?
New Fasting for the New Wine

2 MAN SHALL NOT L I V E B Y BREAD ALONE
The Desert Feast of Fasting

3 FASTING FOR THE REWARD OF THE FATHER
Jesus’ Radical God-Orientation in Fasting

4 FASTING FOR THE KING’ S COMING
How Much Do We Miss Him?

5 FASTING AND THE COURSE OF HISTORY
A Call for Discernment and Desire

6 FINDING GOD IN THE GARDEN OF PAIN
A Different Fast for the Sake of the Poor

7 FASTING FOR THE LITTLE ONES
Abortion and the Sovereignty of God Over False Worldviews

8 Conclusion: Why Does God Reward Fasting?

Appendix: Quotes and Experiences
Bibliography
Notes
Note on Resources: Desiring God Ministries

Since it's been quite a few months since I started (and stopped) reading this gem, I've decided to rewind to the very beginning, rereading and ruminating and highlighting every single striking/edifying statement with umatched zeal. Here are some of my favorite lines from the preface and the first few pages of the introduction. Though not quite complete without their context, perhaps these will entice you to read the actual thing:

"The discipline of self-denial is fraught with dangers - perhaps only surpassed by the dangers of indulgence."

"The weakness of our hunger for God is not because He is unsavory, but because we keep ourselves stuffed with "other things". Perhaps, then, the denial of our stomach's appetite for food might express, or even increase, our soul's appetite for God."

"What we hunger for most, we worship."

"Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence there is a path of pleasant pain. It is not the pathological pleasure of a masochist, but the passion of a lover's quest..."

"That I could even attempt the journey is owing to God's grace, which I live on everyday."

-- I just love comments like these that reflect John Piper's absolute dependence on and love for God. I like humble people (and God loves 'em), and 'humble before God and before men' is what I want to be. Not having attained it yet, I aim for it and delight in finding role models.

"... my hunger for food was silenced by the hunger of my heart."

-- Piper 's account of his feelings as he skipped lunch to sneak off for a few moments and read his (future) wife's letters , drinking in "the color, the smell, the script, the message, the signature..."

"God's greatest adversaries are His gifts"

"For all the ill that Satan could do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of His love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not His enemies but His gifts... For when these replace an appetite for God Himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."

"The pleasures of this life... are not evil in themselves... These are gifts of God."

"Therefore, when I say that the root of Christian fasting is the hunger of homesickness for God, I mean that we will do anything and go without anything, if, by any means, we might protect ourselves from the deadening effects of innocent delights and preserve the sweet longings of our homesickness for God."

And at this point I stopped to think about what I'd do with everything I had just fed my mind with. I decided to list down the 'good' and 'bad' things which kept me from much prayer and devotion to God, the objects of affection that served to fill me temporarily and made me forget my everlasting thirst for the Divine, the tasks and distractions that prevented me from coming before the throne of Jesus and abiding in His love... these are some of the things on my 'good' list:

1. SLEEP
2. Surfing the net, looking for (free) downloads, blogging
3. Household chores, personal tasks
4. Reading books other than the Bible
   
5. TV (is this any good? haha!)

Sleep is my biggest problem. Though certainly not bad in itself, excessive and unecessary sleep is what people on vacation (like me) are prone to having - and that's bad, physical and spiritual health-wise. While I have as much sleep as I need, I forget that I am still wholly dependent on God's grace for (physical) strength and for rest. When I am not weary, memories of Jesus as source of peace and rest for the heavily-burdened fade. But thanks be to God, I may be "on vacation" but my unfailingly busy schedule (self-inflicted this time) does still cause me to have those tired-and-drained, physically fatigued moments when work insists on being done even while the beguiling bed beckons and my roommate's heavenly snores make my eyes droop in submission. Yes, I still get less than 7-8 hours of sleep sometimes (but as seldom as I can help it). Life isn't as toxic as it was when I was in college (I can't believe I just said that!- WAS in college! I'm actually over that phase in life!), but time still passes me by like it used to; life is still, all in all, tiring, and that reminds me to look to Jesus and remember the hope which I have in Him. And I got a chance to "fast" a little on sleep today. I spent last night reading Christian lit and reminding myself of God's goodness, then I woke up early today for Sunday morning mass. I didn't wake up as early as I wanted, but I wasn't late to the service and was aptly prepared to worship God. (Much room for improvement, but God is faithful; I will improve!)

Finally, a few more words from the book:

"Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense. In the first half, appetite is lost. In the second half, appetite is resisted. In the first, we yield to the higher hunger that is. In the second, we fight for the higher hunger that isn't. Christian fasting is not only the spontaneous effect of a superior satisfaction in God; it is also a chosen weapon against every force in the world that would take that satisfaction away."

Fasting isn't always easy. Sometimes it comes naturally, sometimes it goes against all our instincts. The teachings in this book will not always be easy to accept, but I look forward to the enabling that comes through the Holy Spirit who teaches all truth, to the day(s) when I fast and glorify God as I proclaim with arms outstretched, "This much, O God, I want You."

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

Prayer(less) week

Saw this from someone in a Christian forum..

Seven days without prayer makes one weak.

Christians, let us "pray unceasingly"... not just because we are weak without prayer, but because we are called to be strong by the power of the Holy Spirit, and predestined to be victors over sin and flesh (and even demonic powers) in Christ Jesus.

Is there ever a lack of things and people to pray for? Never! Yet why do we spend so little time in prayer? Is there even an iota of doubt that the living God can and will deliver what He has promised? Let us do what Christians do best: entrust all things to the good, perfect and pleasing will of the eternal and everlasting Father. And let us be His good and faithful soldiers- on bended knees.


What If His People Prayed

Lyrics by Mark Hall
Music by Casting Crowns
Song based on Mark 8:34-37 and Ephesians 5:25-33

© 2003 Club Zoo Music / SWEC Music (Admin. by Club Zoo Music) / BMI. All rights reserved.

What if the armies of the Lord
Picked up and dusted off their swords
Vowed to set the captives free
And not let Satan have one more

What if the church, for heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate
Took a stand upon God's promise
And stormed hell's rusty gates

Chorus:
What if His people prayed
And all who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face
And Turn from their own way

And what would happen if we prayed
For those raised up to lead the way
Then maybe kids in school could pray
And unborn children see light of day

What if the life that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth
What if the family turned to Jesus
Stopped asking Oprah what to do

Chorus:
What if His people prayed
And all who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face
And Turn from their own way

He said that He would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear
If only we would pray

If My people called by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray
If My people called by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray

Songs of the Lukewarm Church

If you're familiar with church hymns, this is funny... and after you ponder upon it for a few seconds, it becomes more than a little disturbing.

For how many of us can actually say that the songs that we sing with our lives aren't the songs of the lukewarm church but songs of the authentic, blessed authentic church of Jesus Christ? Oh that we would not be hypocrites and would not be satisfied with a mere sip or taste of our infinite God, but would seek with all our hearts, all our minds and all our strength to know Him and marvel at His glories, that as we know more of Him we may love Him more and more as well...

"More love to Thee O Christ, more love to Thee;
hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: more love O Christ to Thee;
more love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!"*

*"More Love to Thee" was written by Elizabeth Prentiss in 1856, during a period of illness. The song is now public domain.

He does not forget you...

Taken from the Chapter 40 of the Book of Isaiah:

27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
30 Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31 Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

(New American Standard Bible Updated Edition)

Pyromaniacs

Stumbled upon this while going through The Spurgeon Archive and as God would have it, it was just what I needed.


>>>> Preview: What kind of temperament does God use?
Ah, the joy of being someone else. Don't we all see traits in others that we wish we could make our own? (Watch out for the ones who answer "No.")

I'm inclined to constant self-doubt, second-guessing... and third, and twelfth, and forty-second; to protracted inner debates; and to endless introspection. (Every post of mine that you read, as a rule, has gone through a dozen or two re-writes, and I am still re-working my sermons the morning I am to preach them, no matter how long I've been laboring over them, or how many times I may have preached them before.) Vulnerability to melancholy and bitter regret is a constant battle. I hope that those for whom I'm answerable profit from my thorough worrying and quadruple-checking, but it's a wearisome way to be. Read more...

The other articles are good too... and the design, the graphics, the links... This blog's worth at least a weekly visit. :-)

Have you made up your mind about Jesus?

"Some years ago, a New Age writer dismissed my offer of a dialogue because, according to him, I had already made up my mind about Jesus. I suspect that he too had already made up his mind about Jesus. Of course he preferred the Jesus of the New Age and rejected the Christ of the Scriptures.

Many people reject the claims of Christ without really considering them carefully. Many of them simply have not read or heard a clear and cogent presentation of the fundamental facts."

"... (Many people) find it easier to discard (Christianity) than make the effort to investigate its credentials." (Stott, Preface to Basic Christianity)

Truth is, if you want to know who Jesus Christ is and why He matters so much to so many people including yours truly, and you're reading this blog, you have all it takes to find the truth. The internet is host to tons of free literature that will assist you in your search. But the question is, have you already made up your mind about Jesus? Have you made up your mind to ignore Him and not consider His claims and promises and Person and focus instead on 'more important things in life'? Have you decided that He doesn't deserve your time and attention or that He is whoever the religious priest, the atheist professor or the frenzied writer says He is? No matter who we think He is, there are some things that He didn't leave open for us to decide: And He still knocks at the door of your heart with increasing urgency, asking you to hear Him out, to listen to the Gospel for which He suffered and died, and believe in Him.

Basic Christianity by John Stott is a "careful and persuasive presentation of the Gospel:

1. Christ's Person
2. Man's Need
3. Christ's Work
4. Man's Response"

It is a "powerful tool (for the) thoughtful seeker of truth". I bought the little book for PhP100 in Fully Booked. I will be sharing what I learn from it in this blog. And now, final words to the seeker...

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in (Jesus') name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything (Jesus has) said to you." (John 14:26)

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. " (James 1:5-8)

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11)

Note: Unless otherwise stated, all quotes in this post are taken from the Foreword by Dr. Isabelo F. Magalit in the book Basic Christianity. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Read information about the NIV HERE.

Casting Crowns

Praise God for this band!

For those of you who don't know them, they're a Christian group, and if you think that means they sing endless rounds of Hallelujahs that won't mean anything to you, then stop thinking and check them out. (by the way, there's absolutely nothing wrong with singing Hallelujah's over and over... you can mean it and sing it with a spirit of worship :-) An infinite repetition of that simple word can flow from a sinner's blessed, broken heart yet never aptly express the adoration due to the true and living God who cares and saves and sanctifies... Hallelujahs to the King!)

As an intro to the band's work, an intro to this meager blog and to the glorious gospel of Christ, here's "WHO AM I" (if you're gonna click the link, try opening it in a new window/tab) -- lyrics taken from the Casting Crowns homepage)

Written by Mark Hall
Music by Casting Crowns
Song based on Psalms 52 and 139 and Ephesians 2
© 2003 Club Zoo Music / SWEC Music(Admin. by Club Zoo Music) / BMI. All rights reserved.

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt

Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are...

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still, You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am...
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not
because of what I've done
But because of who You
are...

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone
tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear
me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me
who I am...
I am Yours, I am Yours

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
Cause I am Yours, I am Yours

Fellow fans! If you're curious about their beginnings, as I was, read this.
>>>> Preview: Talk with enough people over the course of a lifetime, and hopefully you'll run into one - a person with such clarity of thought, such focus of purpose, and such timely insight that you'll want to turn to them at every available opportunity. They provide you with exactly what you need to hear at exactly the time you need to hear it. Now take that focus and house it in a person of equal parts humility and honesty, whose self-deprecation and humor only serve to heighten the message. Then wrap the insight up in the musical work of a dedicated group of friends, and shepherd it through the experiences of veteran artists Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown, and Steven Curtis Chapman, and you have a band with the uncharted potential to impact the world in a myriad of ways.You have Casting Crowns. Read more...

Just for edification, I recommend reading this. It put a smile of agreement on my face. I also felt my love for the band grow as the article confirmed that the group had great love for God - made obvious not just by what they sing but why they sing and also by what they do when they're not singing... living a "Life of Praise" as they themselves would call it.
>>>> Preview: Okay, so this is where we're supposed to give you all the marketing hype, the impressive list of awards and nominations, the radio stats, record sales and media coverage. All the facts to confirm just how far up the music career ladder Casting Crowns has traveled in the two short years since the band's recording debut. Certainly there is much to tell. But frankly, that's the least of what you need to know about Casting Crowns. There's nothing less important to them than all the marketing details. Instead, if we could all suspend that tiny (or big, as the case may be) voice of cynicism just for a moment, if we could magically transport ourselves to any given Sunday morning at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church outside of Atlanta, perhaps we'd see just how little the music business machine matters. What matters is what's going on in the lives of the 400+ kids that Mark Hall and the other six members of Casting Crowns minister to each and every week. What matters is whether or not that teenage guy really 'gets' that God believes in him, even when he has trouble believing back. What matters is whether that teenage girl knows she's loved and wanted by the God of the universe, when there's no one else to love her. What matters is that they come to see their lives as the only songs of worship that really count. Read more...


You can read all their lyrics and hear samples of their music in their official site.

"You don't need the answers to all of life's questions,
just know that He loves them and stay by their side,
love them like Jesus."

Ezra and God's favor

"... the good hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel."
-- from Ezra 7:9b-10 (New American Standard Bible)