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)