I am a day late this week due to the Memorial Day holiday and because of this weeks pick. Backlight, Tedashii's third full length album was released today. You can pick it up at all your favorite music retailers. I have listened to it a few times and Tedashii does not disappoint. He again releases another Gospel packed album. You can pick up your copy here.
Here is a video of Tedashii explaining the concept behind Backlight.
DC Talk "I Wish We'd All Been Ready"
Happy end of the world day! Do yourself a favor and instead of listening to the crazy’s, click on over to Coram Deo Church Community in Omaha, NE and grab some good theology and teaching on the book of Revelation. Now lets go join Mark Driscoll in planting a tree.
I love this song. It is just a good reminder to glorify God with all of life. Enjoy!
Lyrics
I left my family and my home
to fight the battle on my own
I stole a car and drove away
but in my hate St Paul did say
Glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord, my son
with your whiskey and your guns
I shot my foe, now I feel better
I beat my wife, now I feel sad
I curse my brother and my friend
I broke my mother's heart again
Glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord, my son
with your whiskey and your guns
And I'll tune my heart and tune my strings
and see what giving thanks might bring
For all I have was always thine
but I was fool to think it mine
We'll glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord, my son
with your whiskey and your gun
Well if you stay or if you go
or if you stand or you're brought low
We'll drink the wine, we'll eat the bread
But don't forget what Jesus said
Glorify the Lord above
with your drink and making love
Glorify the Lord my son
'till your work on earth is done
I said to glorify the Lord above
oh if you've plenty, if you've none
Glorify the Lord my son
with your whiskey and your gun
Today is the new EP from Ivan & Alyosha. They are giving away their new EP on Noisetrade right now for FREE (download it below). You can head on over to their website to find out more about them.
Even the least technical among us are being pressed from all sides by advances in digital technology. We rely upon computers, cell phones, and the Internet for communication, commerce, and entertainment. Yet even though we live in this “instant message” culture, many of us feel disconnected, and we question if all this technology is really good for our souls.
Does your technology own you or do you own your technology? Do you have a good Biblical theology of technology? This is a tuff and challenging subject for me. I encourage you to look into Tim’s book. You can grab it on Amazon here or Christian Audio is giving away the audiobook version for free in the month of May. You can download it for free here.
A video of Sojourn’s album, “The Mercy Seat-The War Split EP“:
These two albums have been in really high rotation since I got them. I especially like Jamie’s album and it’s theme of atonement, but Brooks version of Rock of Ages is AMAZING. You will not be disappointed with this Split EP. You can purchase both of them here:
How do we know if we love something too much? Where is the line between a healthy enjoyment and an idol? Idolatry is often subtle. It can creep up on us in the form of good desires, like getting married or excelling in the work place. You may have created idols for yourself if:
Read the whole article here.
(via crossway)
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TGC hosts a free PDF of the entire book.
Carson updated his notes after 9/11 to include a 37-page section entitled “Hard Case Two: Osama bin Laden” (pp. 108-44).
Here’s an outline:
Therefore, in the present struggle, even while we must try to prevent the terrorists from doing more violence, we must eschew a vendetta mentality. Love demands that we do not demonize Osama bin Laden. He is a human being made in the image of God. He is an evil man, and he must be stopped, but he is a man, and we should take no pleasure in destroying him. Vengeance is the Lord’s alone. Do not offer the alternative, “Should we weep for Osama bin Laden or hold him to account for his genocide and prevent him from carrying out his violent intentions?” The right answer is yes.
(via The Gospel Coalition)
John Piper writes, "I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells. . . .' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy.
"God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives."
Most people slip by in life without a passion for God, spending their lives on trivial diversions, living for comfort and pleasure, and perhaps trying to avoid sin. This book will warn you not to get caught up in a life that counts for nothing. It will challenge you to live and die boasting in the cross of Christ and making the glory of God your singular passion. If you believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain, read this book, learn to live for Christ, and don’t waste your life!
New York Pastor Tim Keller discusses religion and politics on ABC's "This Week." Tim Keller is just the man. Such great wisdom and humility.
Amazon has a new promo that is great if you live in the USA, use your Visa on Amazon and have a Special Offers Kindle. Here’s how to get your $10 credit:
A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World
Author(s): Paul Miller
Publisher: NavPress
Kindle Price: FREE
A Praying Life is an honest look at the difficulties of prayer, unanswered prayers, and successes in prayer. Readers will appreciate Paul Miller's down-to-earth approach and practical nature. Parents will find his family-life experiences especially helpful.
"This is as fine a book on prayer that you will ever read, but it is so much more. It is the story of our struggle to actually live like we believe that our Heavenly father really does love us. If we did, nothing could keep us from being committed to the day by day hard work of prayer. Paul exegetes our struggle in a way that is convicting, insight giving and encouraging. This is a book on prayer that actually makes you want to pray!"
--Paul David Tripp
"Paul Miller refuses to separate the spiritual life from the rest of our daily living. In A Praying Life , he shows the difference that constant communication with Christ makes in the everyday experiences of life, especially the life of the family. Reading this book will help you make prayer a more important part of your own life story by integrating prayer into the daily routines of life."
--Dr. Philip Ryken, Senior Minister, Tenth Presbyterian Church
"A Praying Life is a deeply moving testimony to God's power in prayer. Paul Miller shares his life and biblical wisdom to instill in us, his readers, a 'heart that becomes a factory of prayer' - that is, a passion to speak to God honestly and in a way that will change our life and the lives of others for whom we pray."
--Tremper Longman III
"In my library, I have perhaps twenty different volumes on prayer, but none has so captured my heart or propelled me into fresh communion with our Father as much as A Praying Life . Finally, a book that applies the radical implications of the gospel of God's grace to prayer! With childlike wonder, sage-like wisdom, and heartfelt candor, Paul shows us that to pray is to see Jesus more clearly and meet him more regularly in every single aspect and moment of the day. Thanks, my friend, for calling me back to what really matters."
--Scotty Smith, Pastor for Worship, Preaching and Teaching, Christ Community Church
"Charles Spurgeon wrote, 'Prayer does not fit us for the greater works; prayer is the greater work.' Paul Miller's superb book calls us back to this 'greater work', reminding us of the joy we find in our Lord's presence and equipping us with practical insight on how to recapture the intimacy and power of a praying life."
--Ken Sande, President, Peacemaker Ministries
"Many books on prayer simply make you feel guilty about your prayer life. Here is a book that has the potential to actually improve your prayer life. I found it helpful."
--Paul Kooistra, PhD, Director, Mission to the World
"Prayer, the concept and the practice, exposes our core doubts and desperation for God. Most books on prayer leave me addled or angry - this is not a domain for cowards who ignore the simplicity of prayer or manipulators who provide a surefire methodology for making our desires happen. Paul Miller captures the promise of prayer as a gift that connects us to the heart of the Father and as a path for transforming the world. Paul Miller's honest struggle with living a life full of prayer and his childlike delight in hearing the heart of God invites us to gratitude and calls us to speak boldly to our God. This book will be like having the breath of God at your back. Let it lift you to new hope."
--Dan Allender
About the Author
Paul spent his childhood in California and Oregon, moving east when his father, Dr. Jack Miller, began teaching at Westminster Seminary. After graduating from college, Paul taught at inner-city Christian schools in Philadelphia for ten years. With a group of parents, he started Spruce Hill Christian School (K-8), an inner-city, multiracial school where he was principal and teacher.
In 1983, he helped his father found World Harvest Mission, where he served as the associate director from 1983 until 1996. In 1999, he completed a master of divinity at Biblical Seminary and founded seeJesus.net, a mission that helps Christians and non-Christians alike “see Jesus” through inductive Bible studies.
During his time as associate director, Paul wrote several discipling courses, including a course on grace called Sonship . In the early '90s, Paul also wrote The Love Course, a course that studies the personality of Jesus as a way of learning to love. In 2001, Paul wrote Love Walked Among Us (NavPress). Paul weaves stories of his own struggles to love with stories of how Jesus loves. The book is based on The Person of Jesus study, an in-depth, inductive Bible study of what Jesus is like as a person. Both the book and the study are written to include non-Christians who have no background in Christianity. In 2005, the PrayerLife study was released, which is an eleven-week course on prayer for “badly praying Christians."
Paul is married to Jill, who is known for her sense of humor and faith. They have six children, seven grandchildren, three goats, two donkeys, and two dogs.
A video preview of Sojourn’s excellent new album, “The Water and the Blood“:
Mike Cosper, the pastor of worship and arts at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky writes:
"About four years ago, I began to notice how many of the hymns we sang at Sojourn were written by Isaac Watts. When I began to look at his body of work, and when I discovered what he’d done for the culture of worship in the English-speaking world, it sent me (and Sojourn music) on a pretty radical journey. In 2009, we released Over the Grave: The Hymns of Isaac Watts Volume I, a collection of rewritten and re-imagined Watts hymns. Now, two years later, we’re releasing Volume II: The Water and The Blood.
If you include tracks from other Sojourn releases, we’ve now recorded 26 Watts hymns. Some are nearly verbatim, while others are pretty radically re-imagined. It seems in the spirit of his work to adapt his language (while at pains to retain the concepts) for the sake of modern congregations.
The Water and the Blood is available now. It was recorded essentially live, to tape, over a few icy days this January, and it shows. The record is warm and intimate. Below you’ll find an mp3 of “Death Has Lost It Sting,” our reworking of Watts’s “Psalm 3.” It’s a good sample of what you’ll hear on the record.
Watts has profoundly affected on our congregation, providing a model for gospel-centered singing. We’re eager to share this incredible body of texts with the broader church."
Audio: “Death Has Lost Its Sting”
The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible is an essentially literal Bible translation that combines word-for-word precision and accuracy with literary excellence, beauty, and depth of meaning.
