My Soul Finds Rest (Psalm 62)

The next song we will introduce from Spring Semester '09 Vol. 2 is My Soul Finds Rest (Psalm 62). Here's a peek at the song, the writer and the story.

[Drum Roll Please] And the best decade is...

You have chosen. And oh, what a choice you've made! Just look at what we experienced in the seventies.

Double-knit. Jimmy Carter. Oil crisis. Richard Nixon. Watergate. The Price Is Right. Star Wars. Three's Company. Charlie's Angels. Platform shoes. Three piece suits. Jaws. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Hollywood Squares. Family Fued. Mark Spitz. Munich. Jim Jones. Saddam Hussein becomes president of Iraq. Disco. John Travolta. Margaret Thatcher. Hank Aaron. Idi Amin. Indira Gandhi. Billy Jean King. Nadia Comaneci. Sears Tower. The Brady Bunch. The Partridge Family. The Godfather. The Carpenters. ABBA. The Bee Gees. Led Zepplin. James Taylor. The Eagles. Chicago. Blondie. The Sugarhill Gang. Bob Marley. Kenny Rogers. Feminism. The Gremlin (car). Pocket calculators. Consumer video games. The world's first general microprocessor. Personal computers. Fiber optics. Apollo 13. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated. We Shall Overcome. Iran. Environmental movement gains momentum.

My Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 9:20-23

Whether I’m with a legalist, a liberal, a brain, an idiot, Mr. Universe, Miss America, the poster child for Geek’s Anonymous, the blessed or oppressed, a redneck, a socialite, a Republican, or a Democrat; if I find myself with another race, culture, or creed; even if I get cornered with an atheist, agnostic, or apathetic church member, I will, as much as possible, become as they are, so that I might bring some of them to Jesus.

Why the Cross?

Buckhead Church in Atlanta, GA does an amazing job of focusing our attention on the cross of Christ. The poem by Jon Goode is incredible!


Good Friday 2009 - Ending from buckheadchurch on Vimeo.

The Voice Behind Only True God

Meet Kathryn Scott, the artist who co-wrote and sung our new worship song, Only True God.

How Great Thou Art

One of the songs on Spring Semester '09 Vol. 2 is an arrangement of How Great Thou Art by Paul Baloche. We have sung several of his songs in the past; most recently, Only True God. Check out this video to hear how the arrangement came to be.

Tears from Heaven

After a friend's recommendation, I listened to a podcast this morning from a ministry in Colorado. The message was called Tears. It was a sobering reminder that I don’t have tears for what really matters. It’s much easier to get choked up about a new house (Extreme Home Makeover) or a dead dog (Marley & Me) than it is to be moved by the lost and hurting around me. And the thing is, that kind of heart can’t be worked up or faked through. God has to give it to me. And frankly, I’m not sure I could handle it.

A Confession

I have a confession to make...

1. I like awards shows. The Grammy Awards. The Stellar Awards. The Oscars. The Tony Awards. The Academy of Country Music Awards. It doesn't matter to me what's being awarded, I'm probably going to watch it.

2. When I watched the Academy of Country Music Awards this past weekend and saw Trace Adkins sing with the West Point Glee Club, I cried.

Behold the Lamb of God

Recommended Reading this Week

If you want something to read this week that will cause you to think through the sacrifice of our Lord, I recommend John Piper's book, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Short book. Powerful message.

Do What?

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek,

offer the other also..."

These are the words of Jesus.

I wonder sometimes if He really knows what He's asking? Does He have any idea what we have to deal with? Does He know the pain that we endure at the hands of others?

I was reminded this week of the answers to these questions with two words...

JUDAS ISCARIOT.

Jesus loved Judas. Jesus did good to Judas. Jesus blessed Judas. Jesus prayed for Judas. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus turned His cheek to a kiss that would bring the heaviest blow to goodness and holiness the world has ever seen.

Yeah, Jesus gets it.

Do I?

In the Garden

In contemplating the passion of our Lord this week, I read John 18:1-11. I was struck again at the fact that the Lord chose the garden for His betrayal. According to verse 1, the garden had been for Him and His disciples a place of respite and retreat. It was a place where their relationships were deepened. Where the Lord prayed with them and taught them. A place where they most likely laughed together. And a place where they shed tears. But the place of respite became a place of great risk. In verse 4, affirming the deity of Christ, it says that Jesus knew all that would happen to Him. In other words, He went to the garden on purpose. More precisely, He went to the garden with purpose. The place of quite rest became the place of risky business. Isn't it funny how often times the places and things that bring us most comfort, our "gardens," become the places of deepest disappointment and pain. The difference here is that Jesus knew the risk and embraced it. In verse 11 it states that Jesus reprimands Peter by saying, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?" The Lord willingly fulfilled the responsibility that the Father had given Him. And because of our Lord's faithfulness in the place of respite, and risk, and fulfilled responsibility, the garden bore its greatest fruit; the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your indescribable gift!