BLESS THE LORD

Bless the Lord, O my soul, Bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits.
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

2012 READING PLAN

Melissa and I have 5 days to decide on a reading plan that will be right for us this coming year.  We will be finishing our plan for this past year on the 29th and hope to have decided on another one by then.  This year, we have read the entire bible once through and got to read the following books a second time: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Isaiah.  We also read all of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John four times.  It was good to continually be reading the life of Jesus all through the year.  I have grown much in my knowledge of what he actually did when he was here, in the flesh.

This new year, we will be aiming at something different.  We will be seeking to 'master' 12 books, one per month, by reading the entire book in one (or two if necessary) days, every day for one month.  By the end of the year, we will have read through 12 books many times and will have a very good grasp about what the entire message of those books are.  Along with this, we would like to read the Bible through again this year once, but have yet to decide on the exact method or specific plan.  I would like to take the time to encourage you to find a plan (there are many on the internet) that fits you and get into God's written word this year.  There is nothing more important you could be doing.

THE URGENCY OF MISSIONS

THE STORY BEHIND THE HYMN

GOD'S GOODNESS

I am truly grateful for Melissa's tumor markers falling so dramatically this time around.  We just got home from another visit to the doctors in Tulsa at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and have found that the new drugs she is on are working very nicely.  I am thankful to serve a loving God who listens to men.  God's sovereignty ought not amaze us so nearly as much as God's love for us.  It is right for God to have control of all things.  Such a being would not be God without such control and yet his love for us is not necessary to his being.  His love for us is something he chooses to do out of his sheer....well love for us.  I pray that your service to him would flow out of this never ending fountain that bears the name of Jesus.  God truly did love the world so much that he sent Jesus for the purpose of joining me to him by taking away all things that have separated us.  Why?  Well, because of his love for me.  And it is this love for me that allows, nay, is the very fiber and fuel of my boldness to ask God to do great things for me, one being that Melissa get better and not die from this terrible illness.  This is a desire of mine and I wholeheartedly desire others to see God move on my behalf so that they might begin to see the extent of God's love for them.  Yes, God is sovereign, but he is willing to use that sovereignty to give his children good things if only they would have faith to ask.

A NEW NAME AROUND HERE

Well, I renamed the blog today.  I was driving to Tulsa, OK with Melissa so she could get treatment and noticed that I was driving 55 in a 75.  I am in no hurry to get anywhere any more.  I am grateful for the great peace the Lord has given me recently.  Many have been praying for this for quite sometime and I can truly say that the Lord has come through on my behalf, thus the new name.  No hurry to get anywhere here, just a wonderful expectation that if I continue cruising in this direction, steady, I will arrive finally at my Lord's gate where I will be admitted to a true and more complete rest than I can ever conceive of here.

IRAQ WAR IS OVER

If you haven't heard, the war in Iraq is officially over.

Al Jazeera seems to have reported most accurately on the current situation.

Read it here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/12/2011121412317948778.html

180: A DOCUMENTARY

CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES:
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

THE CHIEF END OF MAN

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. This statement, although simple enough to understand and confess as what one believes, carries with it a great number of implications which if not endorsed by actual practice of the one confessing it becomes the very statement that should be used as proof of that one’s hypocrisy. Holding to a set of beliefs without practice is a very great evil commonly practiced by those in our day. Many do it out of ignorance, not understanding what the term ‘belief’ means biblically, but it is a deadly ignorance that needs to be addressed.  John 3:36 reads, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” It is clear from this verse that those who believe in the Son, have eternal life and are obedient to him. It is stated that whoever does not obey shall not see life making it evident those who shall see life, namely those who are obedient. So, we see here that obedience is an activity of belief and not just some option that man has the freedom to choose or not to choose after having obtained their salvation from the Son of God. Biblical salvation includes the whole man. Every aspect of man must come under the influence of the Holy Spirit. His mind, heart, soul, and strength must all be used to glorify God and enjoy him, otherwise no salvation has occurred. This stands to show that if one is not in the practice of this, one is not a Christian, and therefore doomed to be trodden in the winepress of the fury of God’s wrath.

I will write more on this later, but here is a something to think upon until then. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever and man has not been doing this since Adam, what is it that man has been doing as his chief end? And why is this so extremely displeasing to God that he stands to make all who do this drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath for eternity?

SEEK GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART

FARTHER ALONG

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

-Josh Garrels
from
Love&War&The Sea In Between

WHO AM I?

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

-written in a Nazi prison 

Who am I? They often tell me

I stepped from my cell’s confinement

Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,

Like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me

I used to speak to my warders

Freely and friendly and clearly,

As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me

I bore the days of misfortune

Equally, smilingly, proudly,

Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?

Or am I only what I myself know of myself?

Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,

Struggling for breath, as though hands were

compressing my throat,

Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,

Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,

Tossing in expectation of great events,

Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,

Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,

Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?

Am I one person today and tomorrow another?

Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,

And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?

Or is something within me still like a beaten army,

Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.

Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!

JASON BELLARD

I thought I would share this site with others.

http://www.godislight.co.nr/

THE MOCKING STONE

This large stone I carry is difficult to manage.
Bulky, I cannot move it how I would like to.
Although I must admit, it is not heavy like it once was,
it is still there, mocking the saints of God.
How did it get here? When did it first appear?
It has been so long I cannot recall its inception.
Regardless, it is great and remains.
My steps are from the Lord, how can I understand my way?
I will wash my robe.
I will thirst and conquer.
I will make myself ready with fine linen, bright and pure.
Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!