Thursday, May 27, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Why do I fight for things of this world? I need Him
"Give Me Jesus"
By: Fernando Ortega
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
When I am alone,
When I am alone,
When I am alone,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
When I come to die,
When I come to die,
When I come to die,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
By: Fernando Ortega
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
When I am alone,
When I am alone,
When I am alone,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
When I come to die,
When I come to die,
When I come to die,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The pain of a dysfunctional family.
The biggest desire, Lord, is for each soul in my family to know you. To be redeemed, not for a ticket to Heaven, but to be made alive. To know the Joy of the biggest Man in the Universe and to know how much You love us, and how much You want to HEAL us.
Jesus, tear away the lies the devil has made in our household about money. Tear away the lies of the "rights" people have to hold onto grudges and to lord it over a family member. Jesus, tear away unworthiness my father has in his heart about himself. Jesus, make your way into my family. Jesus, not as a way to a ticket to Heaven, but that we are SO DESPERATE WITHOUT YOU.
Jesus, rend my family's heart and bring them to their knees to a Hope that You have promised to those who call on You. Jesus, rip away the scales from their eyes to see the POORNESS of their SOULS and to see the GLORY of YOU and HOW AMAZING YOU ARE AND HOW MUCH YOU WANT US TO THE POINT OF DEATH. JESUS, THAT THEY MAY SEE THAT YOU MAKE ALL THINGS NEW. JESUS, THAT THEY MAY SEE THAT YOU ARE JEALOUS FOR THEIR SOULS.
"Counted the Cost"
I peel my hands away from earthly things
God, I turn my eyes away from all these worthless things
I lay down honor and fame I’m sick of building my own name
Lord, let everything I do be for Your glory and Your fame
Don’t wanna’ be building castles outta sand cause’ I know they won’t stand
In the wake of the judgment set to come from Your hand
When all wood hay and stubble will be burned away
Cause’ all flesh is fading fast, only Your word remains
God, I turn my eyes away from all these worthless things
I lay down honor and fame I’m sick of building my own name
Lord, let everything I do be for Your glory and Your fame
Don’t wanna’ be building castles outta sand cause’ I know they won’t stand
In the wake of the judgment set to come from Your hand
When all wood hay and stubble will be burned away
Cause’ all flesh is fading fast, only Your word remains
I say goodbye to my father, my mother
I cling to You and You alone I’ll have no other
This one thing I do, I leave it all behind
Cause’ You said if I searched then it’s You that I would find
I fight the fight of faith, I run the race
Just give me grace that I could seek Your face
So until the day that I die, I’ll be living my life
So in the end when You return I’ll obtain the prize
I’ve counted the cost; I count it all as loss, for the sake of knowing You
Until that day when I see You face to face, find me taking up my cross
I lay it all down, that I’d be found, a pleasing sacrifice
I’m living for another day, living for another age, Your kingdom come on earth
One day He’s gonna’ split the sky, One day He’s gonna’ come for His bride
I know it, I know it, I know it, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
I cling to You and You alone I’ll have no other
This one thing I do, I leave it all behind
Cause’ You said if I searched then it’s You that I would find
I fight the fight of faith, I run the race
Just give me grace that I could seek Your face
So until the day that I die, I’ll be living my life
So in the end when You return I’ll obtain the prize
I’ve counted the cost; I count it all as loss, for the sake of knowing You
Until that day when I see You face to face, find me taking up my cross
I lay it all down, that I’d be found, a pleasing sacrifice
I’m living for another day, living for another age, Your kingdom come on earth
One day He’s gonna’ split the sky, One day He’s gonna’ come for His bride
I know it, I know it, I know it, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Beautiful Mercy
Words and Music by Laura Hackett
There is no pit too deep
That Jesus cannot reach
There is no sorrow so strong
That would overtake Your beloved one
And He’s brought me to the wilderness
Where I will learn to sing
And He lets me know my barrenness
So I will learn to lean
Beautiful Mercy,
Do what you have to do
Jealous Lover
Do what you have to do (to bring forth love in me)
So I will sing…
Even in my barrenness
Even in this brokenness
Even in the loneliness
There is no pit too deep
That Jesus cannot reach
There is no sorrow so strong
That would overtake Your beloved one
And He’s brought me to the wilderness
Where I will learn to sing
And He lets me know my barrenness
So I will learn to lean
Beautiful Mercy,
Do what you have to do
Jealous Lover
Do what you have to do (to bring forth love in me)
So I will sing…
Even in my barrenness
Even in this brokenness
Even in the loneliness
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
This is Why I Need Him Everyday!
Mark 7:21-22
"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly."
Ecclesiastes 8:11
"Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil."
Isaiah 6:1-6
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly."
Ecclesiastes 8:11
"Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil."
Isaiah 6:1-6
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
"The Dangers of Emotional Pornography"
Click here for the article: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationship/features/21488-emotional-pornography
"We (rightly) worry and fight against visual pornography. But what about the dangers of pornography of the mind and heart?"
"I watched the pilot episode of Glee when it premiered a few months before the show was to begin airing regularly. It was decent enough to at least give some time to the next few episodes. But by the end of episode two, I was getting a little uneasy. As I watched it, I was becoming aware of what the writers wanted me to feel—the good guy teacher to cheat on his evil wife with the gentle co-worker, and the main male character to cheat on his hypocritical Christian girlfriend with his female lead counterpart.It was one thing to want the characters in the show to do this thing or that, but I turned it off in the middle of a scene in which that male student finally decided to cheat on his girlfriend. It wasn’t because I was offended at the content before my eyes. Rather, in that moment, there was a transference of energy. I found myself thinking about whose girlfriend I should have stolen in high school and how easy and awesome it would have been.
Flash back to Nashville, May of 2009. I’m driving in a rental car, scanning radio stations. I stop on the local Christian station, and the female DJ is talking about the coming The Notebook: The Musical. She goes on to fawn over the romance in the story and how well it will be adapted to the stage. “But what about A Walk To Remember?” she says. “That would make a fantastic musical. I just loved how that made me feel. And, of course, Switchfoot would have to have some songs in it.”
There’s certainly a war against the prevalence of visual pornography in many corners of our society—especially in the Christian culture. There is an attempt to expose pornography for its promotion of unrealistic sexual expectations and exploitation of human sexuality. And that attempt is a very necessary one.
But what about the unhealthy emotional and relational expectations portrayed in so much of our media? Is there really much of a difference in the hyperbolized sexual imagery of typical pornography and the hyperbolized momentary emotional high felt in a romance film or romantic comedy that sends us looking for a “love” that doesn’t exist?
I heard an interview on NPR with a female author named Elizabeth Gilbert. She was talking about the proliferation of the “Soul Mate Complex” in our modern culture and how the film Jerry Maguire served to reinforce it with the now illustrious line, "You complete me.”
It’s not necessarily only the resulting effects of such a movie that parallels the traditional definition of pornography. Just as there is sexual excitement surrounding the mystery and allure of what flesh might be seen in a movie known for its racy reputation, so too are we drawn in with an anticipation for the emotional and physical high of a romance film.
As a result, we’re taught to crave the moment of romantic ecstasy or to live for the wedding day. We’re raised to think these are the real stories of love and relationship, and we’re confused when they are so few and far between that we aren’t sustained. So we turn back to that which led us to believe in this fantasy all along. And we’re left with an old woman sitting alone, in her love seat, in front of the television watching her “stories.”
Kids eventually understand that pumpkins don’t turn to glass carriages and Fairy Godmothers don’t grant wishes, but many girls never grow out of the idea that one day they will be rescued from reality by some magic and a fictitious prince. And little boys never live up to the fantasy of the mind or that they’re supposed to be that prince and that their spouse is an all-fulfilling princess.
Next time you’re thinking about seeing a movie, be aware of what’s pulling you toward it. If you decide to watch it, recognize the moment when you feel the emotional reinforcement of fake love. And when you walk out, recognize what you now hope for and expect.
There is such a thing as love. There are beautiful moments. But love is about life. And life is about the long haul."
"We (rightly) worry and fight against visual pornography. But what about the dangers of pornography of the mind and heart?"
"I watched the pilot episode of Glee when it premiered a few months before the show was to begin airing regularly. It was decent enough to at least give some time to the next few episodes. But by the end of episode two, I was getting a little uneasy. As I watched it, I was becoming aware of what the writers wanted me to feel—the good guy teacher to cheat on his evil wife with the gentle co-worker, and the main male character to cheat on his hypocritical Christian girlfriend with his female lead counterpart.It was one thing to want the characters in the show to do this thing or that, but I turned it off in the middle of a scene in which that male student finally decided to cheat on his girlfriend. It wasn’t because I was offended at the content before my eyes. Rather, in that moment, there was a transference of energy. I found myself thinking about whose girlfriend I should have stolen in high school and how easy and awesome it would have been.
Flash back to Nashville, May of 2009. I’m driving in a rental car, scanning radio stations. I stop on the local Christian station, and the female DJ is talking about the coming The Notebook: The Musical. She goes on to fawn over the romance in the story and how well it will be adapted to the stage. “But what about A Walk To Remember?” she says. “That would make a fantastic musical. I just loved how that made me feel. And, of course, Switchfoot would have to have some songs in it.”
There’s certainly a war against the prevalence of visual pornography in many corners of our society—especially in the Christian culture. There is an attempt to expose pornography for its promotion of unrealistic sexual expectations and exploitation of human sexuality. And that attempt is a very necessary one.
But what about the unhealthy emotional and relational expectations portrayed in so much of our media? Is there really much of a difference in the hyperbolized sexual imagery of typical pornography and the hyperbolized momentary emotional high felt in a romance film or romantic comedy that sends us looking for a “love” that doesn’t exist?
I heard an interview on NPR with a female author named Elizabeth Gilbert. She was talking about the proliferation of the “Soul Mate Complex” in our modern culture and how the film Jerry Maguire served to reinforce it with the now illustrious line, "You complete me.”
It’s not necessarily only the resulting effects of such a movie that parallels the traditional definition of pornography. Just as there is sexual excitement surrounding the mystery and allure of what flesh might be seen in a movie known for its racy reputation, so too are we drawn in with an anticipation for the emotional and physical high of a romance film.
As a result, we’re taught to crave the moment of romantic ecstasy or to live for the wedding day. We’re raised to think these are the real stories of love and relationship, and we’re confused when they are so few and far between that we aren’t sustained. So we turn back to that which led us to believe in this fantasy all along. And we’re left with an old woman sitting alone, in her love seat, in front of the television watching her “stories.”
Kids eventually understand that pumpkins don’t turn to glass carriages and Fairy Godmothers don’t grant wishes, but many girls never grow out of the idea that one day they will be rescued from reality by some magic and a fictitious prince. And little boys never live up to the fantasy of the mind or that they’re supposed to be that prince and that their spouse is an all-fulfilling princess.
Next time you’re thinking about seeing a movie, be aware of what’s pulling you toward it. If you decide to watch it, recognize the moment when you feel the emotional reinforcement of fake love. And when you walk out, recognize what you now hope for and expect.
There is such a thing as love. There are beautiful moments. But love is about life. And life is about the long haul."
Monday, May 10, 2010
He Brings Life
"Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." -- 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
"Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." -- 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Thank You, Jesus, for being You. I don't need to perform anymore.
Friday, May 7, 2010
To move me
"It is so rare for the Lord to actually find a heart that is loyal to Him - one that is truly willing to fully embrace whatever He is doing."
"The kind of love He will reward has the fruit of diligence, faithfulness, obedience, humility, tenderness, kindness, endurance & compassion."
Send your Holy Spirit, Dad! Give us pure hearts to be set on fire to embrace You and Your Heart.
"The kind of love He will reward has the fruit of diligence, faithfulness, obedience, humility, tenderness, kindness, endurance & compassion."
Send your Holy Spirit, Dad! Give us pure hearts to be set on fire to embrace You and Your Heart.
Jaeson Ma Sharing Important Truths and Questions For Relationships
"When a relationship is blessed by God there will be a grace for purity, holiness & spiritual maturity. If its opposite of this, question it!"
"If your relationship with your significant other is leading you into sin continually, stop, think about it & pray. Is it really worth it?"
"Your partner is meant to help you, not hurt you."
"When both the man and woman fear God in the relationship everything will flow, if not, everything will slow (physical, emotional, spiritual)"
"Men of God, when looking for a woman always remember to keep the first priority that she "Fears God above all else" everything else can wait"
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Proverbs 31:30"
"If your relationship with your significant other is leading you into sin continually, stop, think about it & pray. Is it really worth it?"
"Your partner is meant to help you, not hurt you."
"When both the man and woman fear God in the relationship everything will flow, if not, everything will slow (physical, emotional, spiritual)"
"Men of God, when looking for a woman always remember to keep the first priority that she "Fears God above all else" everything else can wait"
"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Proverbs 31:30"
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies
By: Pastor John Piper
I think relevance in preaching hangs very little on watching movies, and I think that much exposure to sensuality, banality, and God-absent entertainment does more to deaden our capacities for joy in Jesus than it does to make us spiritually powerful in the lives of the living dead. Sources of spiritual power—which are what we desperately need—are not in the cinema. You will not want your biographer to write: Prick him and he bleeds movies.
If you want to be relevant, say, for prostitutes, don’t watch a movie with a lot of tumbles in a brothel. Immerse yourself in the gospel, which is tailor-made for prostitutes; then watch Jesus deal with them in the Bible; then go find a prostitute and talk to her. Listen to her, not the movie. Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners.
There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them.
I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father.
I’ll put it bluntly. The only nude female body a guy should ever lay his eyes on is his wife’s. The few exceptions include doctors, morticians, and fathers changing diapers. “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). What the eyes see really matters. “Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Better to gouge your eye than go to hell (verse 29).
Brothers, that is serious. Really serious. Jesus is violent about this. What we do with our eyes can damn us. One reason is that it is virtually impossible to transition from being entertained by nudity to an act of “beholding the glory of the Lord.” But this means the entire Christian life is threatened by the deadening effects of sexual titillation.
All Christ-exalting transformation comes from “beholding the glory of Christ.” “Beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Whatever dulls the eyes of our mind from seeing Christ powerfully and purely is destroying us. There is not one man in a thousand whose spiritual eyes are more readily moved by the beauty of Christ because he has just seen a bare breast with his buddies.
But leave sex aside (as if that were possible for fifteen minutes on TV). It’s the unremitting triviality that makes television so deadly. What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ. Television takes us almost constantly in the opposite direction, lowering, shrinking, and deadening our capacities for worshiping Christ.
One more smaller concern with TV (besides its addictive tendencies, trivialization of life, and deadening effects): It takes time. I have so many things I want to accomplish in this one short life. Don’t waste your life is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside every day with trembling.
TV consumes more and more time for those who get used to watching it. You start to feel like it belongs. You wonder how you could get along without it. I am jealous for my evenings. There are so many things in life I want to accomplish. I simply could not do what I do if I watched television. So we have never had a TV in 40 years of marriage (except in Germany, to help learn the language). I don’t regret it.
Sorry again, for the bad answer. I hope this helps.
Pastor John
I think relevance in preaching hangs very little on watching movies, and I think that much exposure to sensuality, banality, and God-absent entertainment does more to deaden our capacities for joy in Jesus than it does to make us spiritually powerful in the lives of the living dead. Sources of spiritual power—which are what we desperately need—are not in the cinema. You will not want your biographer to write: Prick him and he bleeds movies.
If you want to be relevant, say, for prostitutes, don’t watch a movie with a lot of tumbles in a brothel. Immerse yourself in the gospel, which is tailor-made for prostitutes; then watch Jesus deal with them in the Bible; then go find a prostitute and talk to her. Listen to her, not the movie. Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners.
There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them.
I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father.
I’ll put it bluntly. The only nude female body a guy should ever lay his eyes on is his wife’s. The few exceptions include doctors, morticians, and fathers changing diapers. “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1). What the eyes see really matters. “Everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Better to gouge your eye than go to hell (verse 29).
Brothers, that is serious. Really serious. Jesus is violent about this. What we do with our eyes can damn us. One reason is that it is virtually impossible to transition from being entertained by nudity to an act of “beholding the glory of the Lord.” But this means the entire Christian life is threatened by the deadening effects of sexual titillation.
All Christ-exalting transformation comes from “beholding the glory of Christ.” “Beholding the glory of the Lord, [we] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Whatever dulls the eyes of our mind from seeing Christ powerfully and purely is destroying us. There is not one man in a thousand whose spiritual eyes are more readily moved by the beauty of Christ because he has just seen a bare breast with his buddies.
But leave sex aside (as if that were possible for fifteen minutes on TV). It’s the unremitting triviality that makes television so deadly. What we desperately need is help to enlarge our capacities to be moved by the immeasurable glories of Christ. Television takes us almost constantly in the opposite direction, lowering, shrinking, and deadening our capacities for worshiping Christ.
One more smaller concern with TV (besides its addictive tendencies, trivialization of life, and deadening effects): It takes time. I have so many things I want to accomplish in this one short life. Don’t waste your life is not a catchphrase for me; it’s a cliff I walk beside every day with trembling.
TV consumes more and more time for those who get used to watching it. You start to feel like it belongs. You wonder how you could get along without it. I am jealous for my evenings. There are so many things in life I want to accomplish. I simply could not do what I do if I watched television. So we have never had a TV in 40 years of marriage (except in Germany, to help learn the language). I don’t regret it.
Sorry again, for the bad answer. I hope this helps.
Pastor John
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Matthew 25
"Matthew 25: Those who are foolish will experience a “lamps are going out” crisis and be void of authentic oil on the inside."
Jesus, heal my heart of falsehood and give me a heart of authenticity to love You the way that you love me!
Jesus, heal my heart of falsehood and give me a heart of authenticity to love You the way that you love me!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Jesus, Keep the enemy away.
There are those days where the devil whisper things to you and it starts to get to you. That's when you know you need more of the Word. Jesus keep him away.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
I do not want to go astray, Jesus!
"We go astray when we think that we can do spiritual work without spiritual power." AW Tozer
Fill us!
Fill us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)