Wonderful Song

My wife just introduced me to this new song by Steven Curtis Chapman. I thought it was wonderful and wanted to share it with you.



(...and I thought that "wonderful" was just the right word to describe it.)

Here are some of Steven Curtis Chapman's thoughts about this song.

Sam is having an awesome game!

Sam is having an awesome game!

See You At The Pole?

Every year at many different schools they have a time of prayer at the flagpole. This has become a national thing. Here is the website to read more about it.

I went to add this event onto my Google Calendar, and I typed in "See You At The Pole". I then went in to add the website, when I noticed that Google had automatically added a Where category because I had typed the word "at".

Notice the map that they put on there because it was "... at the pole".

I wonder if they pray around the pole in Poland?

At least you have goals...

If you were a fly on the wall in my classroom yesterday, this is what you would have heard:

Me: "So, what happened to (student's name)?"

Student 1: "Oh, he dropped out."

Me: "Oh really, how do you know that, did he tell you?"

Student 2: "No. I saw him in the office filling out his paper work."

Me: "Paperwork?" *intrigued look on my face* "You mean there is paperwork for dropping out? I thought it was just 'dropping out.'"

Student 2: "No. There is this paperwork you need to fill out... your parents just sign it and you can drop out. You have to be 17."

Me: "Hmmm. Did not know that."

Student 2: "Oh yeah. I am planning on dropping out as soon as I turn 17. I am going to be emancipated and then drop out."

silence

Me: "So, how many of you are planning on dropping out?"

More than half of the hands go up.

Student 1: (Who didn't have their hand raised.) "Well, at least you have goals."

Disciples... Results of the Gospel

At church I am preaching through the Sermon on the Mount.

(For you North Hills people: I know that it was just a few years ago that North Hills preached through the Sermon on the Mount, but honestly, I don't remember any of the specifics. I am not stealing any sermons... at least not purposefully. If anything slips into something that I am saying, it really isn't intentional.)

Anyway, I am trying to write a blog post about my preaching, but there is so much that I could say that I am not sure where to start. I just typed and deleted more than a few sentences trying to figure out how to start.

I suppose that what I am wanting to say is that I am loving what I am doing, and I am learning so much while I am doing it. I don't know if anyone else is getting anything out of these sermons, but it is totally worth it for me.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to the Sermon Audio. (Yes, I am just geeky enough to put my own sermon audio up online!)

Pastor

I am a Pastor.

I am not exactly sure what I want to blog about this, but I felt that I needed to mention it. So, I am mentioning it.

Edgewood Baptist Church unanimously voted me in as the Pastor. I had applied to be the interim Pastor as they were looking for someone permanent, but immediately before the vote someone made a motion to simply vote me in as the permanent Pastor. Someone else seconded it, and before I knew it, I was the Pastor.

It is a small church that isn't currently in a position to hire someone full-time, so they really needed a person to come in and work another job and do this on the side. I saw the need and wanted to fill it if I could.

The truth is that I have been wanting to be the Pastor of Edgewood since 1992... and now I am.

Since I started, my hope has been simple - That I would be God's mouthpiece. Like John the Baptist I am saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease!" I am hoping that my sermons will be full of Jesus and empty of me! In the book of I Samuel, it says that when the prophet Samuel began to speak that God did not let any of his words fall to the ground. That is my hope, that none of my words would fall to the ground.

It has been really good these last few weeks, and we have seen God answer some prayers and move in the lives of some people. Whether or not He is going to do something big, I don't know, but I do believe that He is going to do something.

If you are the praying sort, I would appreciate a prayer or two for the little church in Danville, IL

The New Calvinism

Time magazine (at least the online version) did an article about the top 10 ideas that are changing the world. Residing at number 3 is The New Calvinism.

Here is the first paragraph:

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity."

Read the rest here.

[ht: Desiring God Blog]

I am afraid to use the office...

I am afraid to use the office, that would make it official!

Now I know I'm home!

Now I know I'm home!

Pots and Pans

"Lord of all pots and pans and things...
Make me a saint by getting meals
And washing up the plates!

~Brother Lawrence

The gospel bad news...

“When the apostles preached, they could assume even in their Pagan hearers a real consciousness of deserving the Divine anger. The Pagan mysteries existed to allay this consciousness, and the Epicurean philosophy claimed to deliver men from the fear of eternal punishment.

It was against this background that the Gospel appeared as good news. It brought good news of possible healing to men who knew that they were mortally ill. But all this has changed. Christianity now has to preach the diagnosis– in itself very bad news– before it can win a hearing for the cure.”

–C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (New York: HarperCollins, 1940/1996), 48.

[HT: Tolle Lege]

ESV Study Bible

I remember when I switched from my King James Version Bible to my New International Version Study Bible. It was probably one of the most influential decisions that I have ever made. There is a quote in the front of the NIV Bible that comes from the book of Nehemiah. It says,

"The Levites... instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read... Then all the people went away... to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them."
~Nehemiah 8:7-8,12

I love that quote because it states so well my thoughts on what transpired for me when I first read from the NIV Bible.

Because of its impact, I have loved my NIV Bible, but I had been pondering for quite some time switching to the ESV (English Standard Version). I had heard some good things about that translation and had read some great reviews from several different sources. I had made up my mind, but was waiting for that extra little bit of cash to make the purchase. (I really wanted the ESV Study Bible... I just loved the study notes in my other Bible, so I wanted something similar.)

Well, my mom beat me to the punch and picked one up for me for my birthday. She was going to wait until Christmas to give it to me, but I am so glad that she didn't. I absolutely love it, and have made the decision to use this version to preach from on Sundays. She got me the hardback because she knows that I am opposed to leather bound Bibles. My Bible has been for me a working book. It has never been for show, so it has always seemed wrong in my mind to wrap it up in leather. I keep it in a fake leather case, but that is for sentimental value (a former student gave it to me).

Well, anyway, I didn't really have any good reason for this post other than to brag on my new Bible.

On the Georgetown Website

They have my picture up on the Georgetown High School Website. The sun was in my eyes, but they really wanted the picture...

Morning reading...

Morning reading...