His Name

Lord we love Your name
Lord we love Your name
Lord we love Your name
Lord we love Your name

Lord we praise Your name
Lord we praise Your name
Lord we praise Your name
Lord we praise Your name

Your name has made the broken whole
Your name has saved my soul
Your name is what we're living for
Lord we love Your name
Jesus we love Your name

One more thought from today's sermon-
Take your mind, heart and home for Jesus then you can take your city, state, country and world for Him.

Indescribable

An awesone song by Chris Tomlin:

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing His majesty...
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring -
Every creature unique in the song that it sings,

All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name,
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim,
You are amazing God!

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go,
or seen Heavenly storehouses laden with snow?
Who imagined the sun and gives source to it's light,
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night?
None can fathom...

Indescribable....

Revelation 3:14-17 (New International Version)

Just food for thought: Do we in America resemble this?

To the Church in Laodicea

14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Psalm 37: 7-11

Here is one of the passages that the boys and I read this morning before school and work...

Psalm 37: 7-11

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

But the meek shall inherit the earth ; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

-----

Brokeness

The world looks at brokeness as a bad thing. We as humans like to think we have it all together. However God sees our brokeness and has mercy on us.

Jesus was going up in a religious procession when a blind man, Bartimaes, cried out "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" Those who were with Jesus tried to quiet the beggar, however he just cried out all the more. Jesus commanded he be brought to him and healed Bartimaeus.

Jesus loves and wants the broken things for His own. He wants our brokeness so he can heal us, use us and be glorified.

Psalm 23

The boys and I read and discussed this chapter last week before school...

A psalm of David. 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, [a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The Way of Love

1 Corinthians 13

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

John 11

I read and discussed these verses with the boys this morning before school...

11:38. Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre. Now it was a cave; and a stone was laid over it.
Iesus ergo rursum fremens in semet ipso venit ad monumentum erat autem spelunca et lapis superpositus erat ei

11:39. Jesus saith: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days.
Ait Iesus tollite lapidem dicit ei Martha soror eius qui mortuus fuerat Domine iam fetet quadriduanus enim est

11:40. Jesus saith to her: Did not I say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God?
Dicit ei Iesus nonne dixi tibi quoniam si credideris videbis gloriam Dei

11:41. They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up his eyes, said: Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me.
Tulerunt ergo lapidem Iesus autem elevatis sursum oculis dixit Pater gratias ago tibi quoniam audisti me

11:42. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people who stand about have I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Ego autem sciebam quia semper me audis sed propter populum qui circumstat dixi ut credant quia tu me misisti

11:43. When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth.
Haec cum dixisset voce magna clamavit Lazare veni foras

11:44. And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands. And his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: Loose him and let him go.
Et statim prodiit qui fuerat mortuus ligatus pedes et manus institis et facies illius sudario erat ligata dicit Iesus eis solvite eum et sinite abire

11:45. Many therefore of the Jews, who were come to Mary and Martha and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him.
Multi ergo ex Iudaeis qui venerant ad Mariam et viderant quae fecit crediderunt in eum

11:46. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things that Jesus had done.
Quidam autem ex ipsis abierunt ad Pharisaeos et dixerunt eis quae fecit Iesus

Pleasant Grove

Last night I visited Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Wren, just south of Moulton, Alabama. Chris McDaniel, formerly with the country music group Confederate Railroad, performed his music and gave his testimony. Chris was a former member of Confederate Railroad from 1984-2000. In 1992 his group received the ACM Award for New Group of the year and recorded his first No. 1 Single on the charts. He was nominated for CCMA Song of the Year.

Chris received salvation at the age of 15. Life continued and he went in different directions seeking a music career. In 2000, on Easter Sunday, he found himself in rehab for the third time with a sixty thousand dollar a year drug habit. He decided this time to give the problem to God.

He became a pianist at Unity Baptist Church in Rossville, where he played for over a year. On Jan. 19, 2003, he did his first concert of Contemporary Christian music.He is now involved with Heartbound Ministries, which is a prison ministry.

It was an awesome time of worship and encouragement. The pastor also delivered a short, but practical and convicting message about the reality of hell. He spoke about the reality (from the Bible) of who will be there and what it will be like for those who are there. He challenged non-Christians to accept Christ and shun hell. He challenged Christians to visit, call, and/or write to people that we know that we are not sure about where they will spend eternity and share with them the Good News.

The Most Important Thing I Can Say!

These are some of the most important words ever written by me or anyone in the world, ever:

Do you know whether you are going to heaven or hell?

If you are not sure, believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Son of God. Ask him into your heart and ask Him for a relationship and for forgiveness.

Just try it and I promise that He will not disapoint you if you open your heart to Him!

You then can count on gaining heaven and shunning hell.

That may sound radical and crazy to many people, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

I read this verse with the boys this morning before we left for school and work.

Matthew 6:33

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

Morewgood quotes

The following quotes are from a book called Blue Like Jazz ritten by Donald Miller. It is bassically written from a seekers' perspective.

"....my Sunday School classes did much to help us memorize commandments and little to teach us who God was and how to relate to Him, or perhaps it was because they did and I was not listening."(p.4)

I think this is a big problem in America. We love to teach things about God, spoonfeeding people, but we don't want to take the time to truly disciple people and teach them to think for themselves and get into the Word themselves.

"I believe that the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but to have us wasting time........If he can sink a man's mind into habit he can prevent his heart from engaging God." (p.13)

"The genius of the American system is not freedom;5the genius of the Americanystem is checks and balances. Nobody gets all the power. Everybody is watcing everybody else. It is as if the founding fathers knew, intrinsically, that the soul of man, unwatched, is perverse.." (p.18)

One more.

".....The problem is not a certain type of legilation or even a certain politician; the problem is the same that it has always been."

"I am the problem." (20).


Just a few thigs to think about.

Welcome, Visitors!

According to Site Meter, we have had visitors to Bible Study Blog from such far away places as Canada, India, Argentina, Germany, and Norway. Thanks to all who stopped by. I hope you come again soon!

Great services and sermons.......

We keep having 'em at The Crossing.

I already posted something about last Wed. But Sunday's as well as tonights services were really good too.

Sunday Pastor spoke on "The hard sayings of Jesus." Thne focus was John 6 where Jesus did miracles then talked about what it took to be His disciple. As long as He was doing "magic tricks" people were fine. However when He started talking about how to really follow Him, people turned away, leaving Him. He then turned to the Twelve and asked if they would leave Him also. I just love Peter's response. "Lord to whom shall we go you alone have words of eternal life." That's really is the point isn't it? No matter what He asks of us, He has the right to because He has given us eternal life.

Tonight we talked about grace and justification. It was also really good. A good quote from tonight: "I would rather be know as a Christian American than an American Christian."

Two of the main Scriptures:

Eph 2"8-10
Titus 2:11-15

Check them out.

We Will Glorify

Tonight I heard another classic worship song that really blesses me....

We will glorify the King of kings
We will glorify the Lamb
We will glorify the Lord of lords
Who is the great I AM

Lord Jehovah reigns in majesty
We will bow before His throne
We will worship Him in righteousness
We will worship Him alone

He is Lord of heaven, Lord of earth
He is Lord of all who live
He is Lord above the universe
All praise to Him we give

Oh hallelujah to the King of kings!
Hallelujah to the Lamb!
Hallelujah to the Lord of lords
Who is the great I AM!

Here's a Good Story Baseball Fans

We hear so many negative stories in the press about professional athletes. Those who do good deeds and especially those who take a stand for Jesus Christ are usually ignored. They won't be ignored on this blog!

http://www.pujolsfamilyfoundation.org/index2.html

http://www.bpsports.net/bpsports.asp?ID=4649

Change My Heart Oh God

Words and Music by Eddie Espinosa

Change my heart oh God,
make it ever true.
Change my heart oh God,
may I be like You.

You are the potter,
I am the clay,
mold me and make me,
this is what I pray.

http://www.walkthroughlife.com/midis/christian/
changemyhrt.htm

Your Mercy Goes Deeper

We sang this song at church today and it was
a blessing to me!

Your mercy goes much deeper
Your grace it rescues me
Your mercy goes much deeper
Farther than I can see

I reach for Your when I'm going under
I wait for You Jesus You're my life-line

Where could I go where would I stand
How could I leave the shelter of Your hand

Farther than I can see
Farther than I can see
Much farther than I can see

© 2001 Integrity's Hosanna! Music

http://www.audiblefaith.com/pages/sg201934

Worship

Do you want to worship God? Paul gives us one way.

Therefore, dear brothers, I urge you in view God's mercy
to present your bodies as living sacrifices.......This is your
spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12)

We need tro be sure we worship God by presenting
ourselves daily to Him for His use.