I like breakfast, do you like breakfast?

Please feel free to argue this but I firmly believe that a bowl of cheerios, a banana, and a cup of dark coffee is about as good as it gets on a Sunday morning.

What’s your favorite breakfast combo?

return

So I was looking through my journal this morning and meditating on the events of my life over the past year. I came across a poem that I wrote (at least I think it resembles a poem haha). I remember why I wrote it, I just felt like at the time I had lost all enjoyment and satisfaction in the Lord and the word of God and I was pleading for Jesus to bring me back and help me to return to the cross. As I read it this morning, it still rings true for me now at times and we must all remember to come to the cross and seek Jesus’ face when we feel like we can’t anymore. Hope it can bring some light to others.

Return, o my soul to the cross.
Return to the one who has risen, who has forgiven
and who continues to free me from loss.
Return to the gentle, loving touch of the father’s grace
a hunger and thirst for his face.
Flee this dead end life of sin and return
o my soul to the glorious light of him.

sound

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Piper Hip Hop

This is a new album coming out called Sermon Jams. Its a project by John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life Ministry. Its simply audio clips of Piper preaching with sweet beats in the background. Kind of a crazy combo when you think of an old school guy like John Piper who doesn’t have a t.v. in his house and shops at thrift stores. He’s not your typical pop culture guy but it works. I like it.

There is an audio example in my audio player on the side.

13 year old Logan.

Here is a very cool video that my mom shared with me on Easter.  Its an audio from a 13 year old young man from a small farming town in Nebraska.  His name is Logan.  Logan called in to his favorite Christian radio station to share a bit of wisdom he learned through a difficult time.  In a culture that makes it pretty tough to be a 13 year old following Christ,  its pretty easy to see where this little dude’s heart lies.

Jesus and Hip Hop

Here is a new album coming out of ReachRecords by Tedashi. These guys love Jesus and are transforming their communities and culture with great God centered rap. Check it out.

Click here if the player isn’t showing up

Don’t Miss the Identity Crisis Release Party in Nashville at the GMA’s!
Wed. April 22nd 8-10 pm at B.B. King’s. Click here for map
Special Guests: Sho Baraka, Trip Lee, Lecrae, Flame, J.R.

Its snowing. Alot.

So this is just one of those random posts.  Oh how quick things can change.  Last night the public schools were cancelled for today because of snow.  It wasn’t even snowing last night.  And I wake up this morning at 8 and its still not snowing!  I was thinking, “wow I’m sure the people who made the call to cancel school feel ridiculous” .  Well by 8:30am we have a blizzard and its glorious.  One small thing I thank God for today is the beautiful white snow falling to the ground right now.    Random.

Rejoice!

For the very few of you who actually read my blog, sorry about the bit of a gap between posts. I guess I kind of took an unintentional writing sabbatical because I got lazy.  No excuses, just laziness.  I have however been following along with pastor Mark Driscoll as he preaches through 1 and 2 Peter.  I’ve been wanting to devote alot of time to a book of the Bible and become a student of the Bible and not just a casual reader.  Driscoll has preached four one hour long sermons on 1 Peter and is only through chapter one.  Its been a joy to follow along with such great teaching and encouragement and really dive deep into the living water of God’s word.  One of the recent sermons covered chapter 1 verses 3-9.  In these verses Driscoll points out 10 things that Paul tells his exiled readers to rejoice about.  We can look at this text and rejoice in these very things today as we think about the pain and strife in our lives and the lives around us today.   People around us today are lacking this rejoicing heart that the Lord calls us to possess.  Just turn on the news and you hear about the struggling economy, the false gods of money, government, sports teams, education, steady jobs, relationships, etc… that are failing us.  When our sense of safety and comfort fail, what then are we to rejoice in?  For the ones who have given their lives to Jesus Christ, who have been made new in the blood of Christ we can and are commanded to rejoice in the eternal hope of our King.   And those who don’t know him can rejoice even more that there is hope for their lives and truth to cling to if you come to him.   In the verses that follow I’ve highlighted ten specific things that Paul says to rejoice in.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! h According to his great mercy, i he has caused us to be born again to a living hope j through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to k an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and l unfading, m kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded n through faith for a salvation o ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by p various trials, 7 so that q the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes r though it is tested by s fire—may be found to result in t praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 u Though you have not seen him, you love him. v Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining w the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Wow!  For me this really puts in perspective how little the things in my life that I find joy in and hold as valuable are compared to the riches of Christ and his kingdom.  I know that when I wake in the morning I can rejoice in the great mercy that Christ has demonstrated for me by taking the weight of my sin on him at the cross.  I can rejoice that I am born again with a new heart and a new hope as opposed to the false hope that my former self used to cling to.  I can rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as he defeated death and brought new life to all who believe in him.  I can rejoice in the inheritance of salvation that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.  Rejoicing that this inheritance is kept in heaven for a sinner like me.  Rejoicing that I am guarded through faith in Christ.  I will rejoice in the fact that the trials I will face in life are only for a little while in the time I spend here on this earth.  I will rejoice in the genuineness of my faith and love I get to experience in Christ.  I will rejoice in though I have not seen Christ, I still love him and though I do not now see him I believe in him.  And finally I will rejoice in the final outcome of my faith in him, the greater reward in life, the treasure I have waiting for me when my time on earth is up, the salvation of my soul and the souls of all who believe in him! What joy and truth we have to build our lives upon!

What Prayer is and what it is not.

Here is an excerpt from Pastor John Piper on December 28, 2008 casting a vision for prayer for the new year.  You can find the entire sermon on itunes or at www.desiringGod.org

Prayer: A Wartime Walkie-Talkie

This is where I get the image that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. It exists for advancing the mission, not for calling the butler to turn up the thermostat. Not that God is opposed to practical, nitty-gritty daily prayers. He simply wants all of them to relate to the mission of your life—that his name be glorified, that people live for fruitful ministry.

That’s why the first petition in the Lord’s prayer is “Hallowed be thy name,” and the second is “Bring your kingdom,” and third is “Cause your will to happen here the way the angels do it in heaven”—and only now, under this mission, comes the fourth petition “Give us this day our daily bread.”

So Jesus says that our prayers get answered in proportion to the way the word of Christ is shaping our requests according to God’s will (see 1 John 5:14), and that prayer exists for the glory of God, and that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. All requests serve the mission, or the thing malfunctions in our hand.

What to invest in?

The other day as I was driving back from my parent’s house, I saw a large Billboard on the side of the interstate with a large picture of billionaire Warren Buffett on it.  This is what the sign read:

My best advice?  Invest in yourself.

Really Warren?  Now I don’t know the message that this sign is sending, it may be saying that instead of investing in stocks and money, we should invest in our own personal growth.   It is important to devote time to ourselves and allow ourselves to grow specifically in spiritual growth and biblical knowledge, however I doubt the sign is encouraging that sort of investment.  The first thing that came to my mind when I glanced at the sign at 80 miles an hour was Philippians 2 when Paul is encouraging the church to have a Christ like mindset and humble themselves to the point that they consider others more important than themselves.  Philippians 2:3-7 reads…

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [1] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, [2] being born in the likeness of men.

Christ has called us to put aside our selfishness and pride even to the point of death.  This was really convicting to me because I think about myself way too much and it makes me sick.  I believe God has placed me here to serve others and make sacrifices for the good of my neighbor, again I don’t know the intent of that sign, but I would hope others will take a look and think about investing in others before themselves.  Just something else to pray about.