wild melody

"As Christians, we know that our greatest problem--separation from God--has been solved. Jesus Christ, the only Savior, has taken our sin upon himself, enduring God's wrath in our place and rising from the dead to assure us of our forgiveness. But all our problems don't end when we turn to Christ. We still get sick. Marriages end. Children die. Our plans, great or small, are disrupted. We grow weary in the battle. Scripture assures us that God is sovereignly using our difficulties as tools to make us more like his Son. "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love as been into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-5). While we know these things are true, in the midst of our hardships we can lose perspective. Problems can loom large, and our hopes can grow dim. Come Weary Saints is an invitation to redirect your foc...

"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory . In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." ephesians 1.11-14

“God’s promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper. He intended that they should be used. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see His promises put in circulation. He loves to see His children bring them up to Him, and say, ‘Lord, do as you promised.’ We glorify God when we please His promises. Do you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches He has promised? Do you dream that He will be any less holy for giving holiness to you? Do you imagine He will be any less pure for washing you from your sins? He has said, ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are red as crimson they shall be like wool.’ Faith embraces the promise of pardon. It doesn’t delay, saying, ‘This is a precious promise, I wonder if it is true?’ but goes straight to the throne with it, and pleads, ‘Lord, here is the promise. Do as you promised.’ Our Lord replies, ‘Be it to you even as you will.’ When a Christian grasps a promise but doesn’t take it to...

welcome home little sister. can't wait to hear about your crazy adventures with mira in the mountians of NC. I'm sure grassy lane will never be the same again...

here it is, the obligatory post-NA recap. It's always difficult to write these things. Partly because I'm still processing everything. Partially-processed thoughts don't translate well to words. But I'll try. One word description of New Attitude '08: refreshing . Longer version: Fellowship, worship, messages, small groups...they all combined to make one huge downpour of grace for my thirsty soul. I couldn't soak it up fast enough. One night, Josh Harris read Isaiah 53 to a 17-member string section. It was breathtaking. Worship was led by the NA band-led itself by Devon and Bob Kauflin . We learned "Nail My Glory", "All I Have is Christ" and a few other newish songs from the Looked Upon (Lu) album. The theme this year was "The Word of God." "If the Bible really is God's word, Then we're called to delight in it and obey it." Good stuff, eh? Everything we heard was on this topic. I can't give you a rundown of eve...

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." romans 5.1-5 Mum, thank you for living out this verse. Thank for for living the gospel, loving the gospel, and teaching your kids the gospel. Thank you for being a living example of a Proverbs 31 woman. I love you. {{ps. this is not an obligatory holiday post. i wanted to do this one.}}

Shout for joy in the Lord , O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him... For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness . He loves righteousness and justice ; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord . By the word of the Lord the heavens were made , and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him ! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm... The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations... The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not deli...