Sing Unto the Lord

Hey all. I have been looking around lately to buy a new Bible. My old NIV has had the unfortunate experience of being devoured, not just by me in my study of the scriptures, but by my Dog in his study of what things taste good.
Have thought through a few different options. One thing I will miss about my old Bible is all the notes and underlinings I have put in over the years. However with a new more sturdy Bible I can keep all those notes for a longer time.
I have decided my next Bible will be an ESV. My prediction is that in five years the NIV will become more obsolete and less loved and people will need to choose sides between the TNIV and the ESV. Also one of my main reasons for holding onto the NIV was that my Youth group boys were younger and they understood it better. Now they are all men and leaving youth group so that argument is over.
I have come into two options one takes less time and more money and the other takes less money but heaps of time. I am tossing up between getting the ESV Journalling Bible or making my very own Blank bible, Jonathon Edwards style. The Blank Bible would be a cool project plus it keeps the centre column of references. It’s just going to be a pain to make. Maybe thats half the fun.

I went and saw Talladega nights last night with Ren and some others. Hilariously funny! However there was one part in the movie where Will Farrell’s character, Ricky Bobby said that when he prays he likes to imagine baby Jesus. Other characters go on to talk about their favourite Jesus and the movie goes on.

However I think this is an interesting comment for the movie makers to make. (I don’t know if this was even what they were thinking). They highlight how stupid it is for everyone to have their own versions of Jesus. There is only one Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible. To imagine him as anything other than how he reveals himself in the Bible is not only creating an Idol, it’s creating a way for yourself to not have to deal with the real Jesus and his real claim on your life.

I thought my family was boring but here’s a cool guy. After talking to Grandma she says that he is my Grandpop’s great uncle (my great-great grandfather’s brother).
You can read about him here on page 2.

Hey there everyone. Sorry I haven’t been blogging this week. I decided to not blog so much so as to spend more time reading and doing other productive things (like playing Half Life 2).
I have just finished one of my favorite books of the year – ‘The Supremacy of God in Preaching’ by Piper. The book takes you through the Goal of Preaching (God the father and his glory), the base of your preaching (God the son and his sacrifice), and the channel of your preaching (God the spirit and his indwelling work). I thought it was a ripper book. The other thing that Piper highlights is the huge effect Jonathon edwards has had on Piper’s thinking and life. This is evident through all Piper’s work but I haven’t had him speak so explicitly about it until I read this book. He encourages readers to find their own hero of theology and immerse themselves in them. The only trick is who to choose???
On the weekend we had some baptisms at my church. I found it to be a greatly emotional time as my good friend Jackson was baptised and marked a change in his life to live for Christ. He has been a christian for a while but he wanted to have a marker of his decision. My other close friend Jono was involved in baptising one of his Youth group kids. I thought this was great as well: partly because he is an encouragement to me in the way he pastors those under his care, and partly because his name is Jono and I could make John the baptist jokes. Keep praying for Flipside. They meet today but I don’t know if I’ll go or not.

Hey yall. Renae and I went to Erina High School today to help run their christian group ‘Flipside’. Usually Dave runs it but he was away on staff conference. We loved it. It was refreshing reading the bible with people who have never read it for themselves before. I think that being involved in church youth groups and pastoring church guys and having christian friends I have not had as much experience in this kind of ministry. I loved it. Keep praying for flipside as they read God’s word each Wednesday.

I reckon Hymns are a great way of teaching young people not to buy in to the consumerist culture that surrounds them. Its great singing Hymns at Youth Group and church because they give you a sense that ours is a historic faith and that many have gone before us. Most Christian music these days lasts about five or six years before the songs are discarded by the song leader as being out of date. I don’t think thats any great evil of the song leader, I think its just that songs these days are written to engage with pop culture (something that changes regularly) and so they are doomed the second they are penned to paper. Hymns on the other hand make no claims to be contemporary and so are in a sense timeless. On the flipside of that, Hymns can be tricky old things to sing and are not very accomodating to the outsider visiting church. So my strategy is keep singing good contemporary christian music and sprinkle in a smattering of hymns. thoughts?

My Band (Running Home) is hopeless at getting things done. We were going to have band practise on Saturday and now its off. What do you guys think about Christian bands? helpful? waste of time? what are your thoughts on a band of christians vs a christian band? anything?

It’s pouring rain outside right now. Raining like I haven’t seen in ages. I love it. But I hate the fact that I have to walk to my car in a half hour or so.
Looked at Matt 23 last night in Bible Study. Saw the Pharisee’s religiosity. My friend Joel and I were talking in our prayer time about just how crippling the fear of men over God can be. We were talking about how this is one of the biggest barriers to evangelism and something that we both struggled with. Jon wants me to post about something else but he will have to be patient as I collect my thoughts.

Poddys up. Blogs aworkin.
Been thinking about the way that we should be magnifying God in all that we do. Keep doing it. Work, study, think, sing and speak in a way that places God at the head of your life and your own desires less and less.