quote.08

If Christ does not reign over the mundane events in our lives, He does not reign at all.

PAUL TRIPP

quote.07

Christian salt has no business to remain snugly in elegant little salt cellars; our place is to be rubbed into the secular community, as salt is rubbed into meat, to stop it going bad. And when society does go bad, we Christians tend to throw up our hands in pious horror and reproach the non-Christian world; but should we not rather reproach ourselves? One can hardly blame unsalted meat for going bad. It cannot do anything else.

The real question to ask is: "Where is the Salt?"

JOHN STOTT
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

Once in a Lifetime.

God is in control.

Huge 'star-quake' rocks Milky Way

"Had this happened within 10 light-years of us, it would have severely damaged our atmosphere and would possibly have triggered a mass extinction."

Every situation in our lives is designed to give us a greater knowledge and understanding of our infinite God. This explosion did not rock my life last night, in fact, I didn't even know it happened until just a coupla minutes ago. Equally, your life probably wasn't changed by the massive 'star quake' the likes of which has not occured near us in 400 years. But, the amazing truth that we must grasp from seeing this groaning in the heavens is that God is in control. Our every breath is in His hands. Our life on earth is completely ordained and soverignly moved by His Wonderful Hand. By the word of His mouth, He spoke the worlds into existence, and He can, by that same word bring destruction. And He will by any word or any judgment still be completely good. Let that thought revolutionize you. I invite you to worship the Savior, Creator, Controller and Sustainer Jesus Christ with me in these verses.

Our God is in the heavens;he does all that he pleases.
Psalm 115:3

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Job 1:21

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:16-17

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Hebrews 1:3

bringing others to the greatness of the cross...

Type is Beautiful

The designer speaks.

Call me weird, but I enjoy type. I really like type. Say what you will, it's just a bunch of letters, whatever, but not to me. These "just letters" are beautifully crafted masterpieces of design. So, that is why I drooled over these gorgeous fonts.

Typographica - Favorite Fonts of 2004

I'm really liking FF Absara. It has a Clarendon-esque quality that I just love.

Which is your favorite...and why?

changing seasons. unchanging God.

Found this interesting

In pictures: How the world is changing.

Absolutely amazing.

I was reminded of my great God. Yahweh is not swayed by the thoughts or actions of men. He is eternal. His word shall stand. He reigns supreme over the events of this world. He is. He ever will be.

ISAIAH 40:6-8

All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

ROMANS 8:21-23

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

JAMES 4:14

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

1 PETER 1:23-25

Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever."

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, GOD ONLY WISE

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.

Even yet the more, so speak and so live. Come Lord Jesus.

Stop Dating the Church

Feeling a little Bogart

A perfect dinner at home with my wonderful wife, followed by a night on the town -- 1940s style.

C A S A B L A N C A

A showing of Casablanca on the silver screen at the newly (just finished in January) restored classic Tennessee Theatre.

BACK IN TIME

The night was absolutely amazing. From the minute we walked in to the lavish lobby, we were blown away with the granduer of the place. We were greeted with Huge ceilings, massive chandeliers and a balcony draped with velvet curtains. Gorgeously rich golds, reds and greens were everwhere. The decor was a perfect blend of Southern roots and European flair. Every detail looked just right--from the inlays on the aisle seats all the way to the patterns of fabric. It was absolutely breath-taking.

THE SHOW

We sat down to enjoy the show, and it started with a huge organ being raised out of the orchestra pit. A jovial old man played a few themes from the movie and then disappeared from whence he came. The curtain went up, and we were treated to some classic three stooges to open up. I can't believe people went to watch that stuff. Hah.

I had never seen Casablanca. I loved it. As we sat in the theatre, I looked around and had to do a double take. More than once I found myself feeling like I was there for opening night of the film . . . smack in the middle of the 1940s. The scratchy film, old-time building, and even the heads of the people all around us made me feel perfectly nostalgic. Wow. The building was that amazing. It took us back in time, and it was a phenomanal trip.

THE PLACE

The Tennessee Theatre is one of the few great movie palaces from the Roaring Twenties still in operation. Opening its doors on October 1, 1928, the Tennessee made kings and queens of all who entered its lavish interior. After all, the idea of the movie palace was to create a fantasy land, a place where people could go to forget the outside world and its troubles -- at least while they were inside the castle on Gay Street.

Chicago architects Graven & Mayger brought to the Tennessee Theatre a Spanish-Moorish style interior, although the design incorporates elements from all parts of the world: Czechoslovakian crystals in the French-style chandeliers, Italian terrazzo flooring in the Grand Lobby, and Oriental influences in the carpet and drapery patterns. The Tennessee Theatre was one of the first public places in Knoxville to have air-conditioning. When the first patrons stepped into the cooled building to see their favorite stars on the silver screen, they paid only 40 cents for matinees and 60 cents for evening shows (children paid only 10 and 15 cents)! Taken from Tennessee Theatre History

quote.06

If I see a mandman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can't as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try and wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER

The Colonel's "Wish"

The colonel who retires on a farm in the country would have liked to have become a general; but if I could examine his life, I would find some little thing that he neglected to do, that he did not want to do. I could prove to him that he did not want to become a general.

FRENCH ANECDOTE

The apostle Paul spoke concerning his mission of evangelism saying that, I have to make “myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.” He said, I “keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.” In other words, I have to discipline my wants and keep my feelings from interrupting my service for God.

What do you want to do for Christ? What do you want to live for? What do you want to be for Christ? Do you want to be deep with your God? Do you want to magnify the greatness of the Savior in every area of your life? Do you want to live and give the gospel consistently? Our wants in this life cannot be mere passing thoughts. They must be all-encompassing pursuits. In order to be effective for my Christ, I must keep under my feelings, beating them into the subjection of the almighty. I must do what I don’t want to do, and say what is hard to say. I must go against what is easy so that I might gain what is Great. In order to influence my world as light for my Christ, I must be willing to say that I will do what I don’t feel like doing in order to accomplish what I must do for Christ.

But, I need to be reminded that working for the cross is so worth it. My Christ is surpassingly more excellent than any ease I can experience here on earth. The treasure I can find in Christ is infinitely more valuable than the piddly little things of my comfort and quick happiness. "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."(Galatians 6:14) In other words, by which I die to the wants and the trappings of this distracting world. My ultimate goal in this life is to do want I don’t feel like, so that I can get more of Christ. That is basically what Paul says earlier on in the book.

When I think on these things, I find myself asking, why on earth do I sin? If I know that my Christ is surpassingly more enjoyable, satisfying, and valuable than the passing pleasure of corruption, why do I succumb to temptation? Why do I fall out of step with the Spirit? Because I forget. I forget. I forget. Oh God, help me not to forget. Help me not to forget all your benefits. "Bless the Lord Oh my soul, bless His holy name, and forget not all His benefits." I am beginning to believe that the reason I break fellowship with my God is that I lose sight of the value of living a pure life pleasing to my Creator. I miss the point that life is best lived when it's lived for Christ. So I say with the Psalmist…don’t let me "forget …all His benefits. He forgives all my sins. He crowns my head with mercy and love. He satisfies my mouth with good things. The Lord is so gracious to me. As a father pities His child, so the Lord has compassion on me. As far as the east is from the west, so great is His love for me. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, Bless His Holy Name and forget not all His benefits." - Psalm 103 (adapted for song)

Taking up my own. . . even when I don't "want" to.

TV spot

Hah. Just kidding. No TV advertising going on here. Just a video invitation on a CD.

The Evangelistic Crusade Video | 15mb total...so if you're on dialup. . . it might not be worth downloading.

I wanted to post a copy of the video I just finished. We are putting together an enhanced CD invitation for the Steve Pettit Evangliestic Crusade Meetings. (An enhanced CD is a CD that has both audio and data on it.) The actual size of the video file on the CD is larger...about 2x as big, and the audio is better quality, but you get the idea from this one. The video is 5:17 long. As with the audio track, we were hoping to give people an accurate representation of what our church is like, and what it will be like during the meetings.

Let me know what you think. I'd like some feedback.

This post goes along with the radio spot post that I wrote earlier this week. Go there to check out an MP3 of the audio track on the CD invitation.

I think the hour log on this project is right around 40--maybe 45. I'm not sure. Not too bad. I've enjoyed it...although most of my time spent on it has been after I get home from the office. To which I say, "Sorry, Beth."

Design files coming later tonight. "Ooh...ooh...I can't wait," you say sarcastically.

quote.05

Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends it or not . . . a blank he cannot be: there are no moral blanks; there are no neutral charectars.

THOMAS CHALMERS

Radio Spot

I've been working on a special CD invitation for the Pettit revival coming to our church March 13-18. I tried to give an accurate picture of our church, what the meetings will be like, and what Steve Pettit is like.

Click here to download the [high quality] MP3.

Click here to download the [low quality] MP3.

Give me your comments...

I'm sending this off to a duplicator on Monday. we are running 300. The CD face will have info about the meetings, and I'm including a flash presentation on the CD for computers with the MP3 as the audio track, and some images fading in and out as the video track.

What do you think?

Happenins.02

Too busy. Hah.

Beth and I have been up to a little more than normal recently. Summarized, our lives the last few weeks have been, constructive, exciting, mechanical, and even a bit hilarious at times.

For starters, the biggest happenin was the wood floor on our platform at church. We expanded what we previously had by about 300%. So nice. We put in a Bruce Nail Down System from Home Depot. After a bit of training from a flooring expert?...professional floorer?...floorman?...okay, so I'm not sure what you call him, but anyway, after the instruction from a guy who knows floors, I was off. I floored probably about 50% of it. It was actually pretty fun. We used air tools, and got the whole job from start to finish done in a bagillion hours...okay maybe not that long, but it seems that way when most of the work is done from 5pm on. Beth did a ton. She painted the entire front of the auditorium...one bystander said of her work, "I can't tell where you started or where you finished." Great job, Bethy! Beth also fixed dinner for the work crews 4 nights. Perfect. The whole stage is great. New floors, an updated look, and even new stage chairs for the orchestra and choir. the acoustics in the room tripled, and the aesthetics definitely improved.

The 4runner didn't start the other day. It kinda just made a click noise. Click. click. Click. Click. Wouldn't start. So, I promptly went to Auto Zone, bought the part and took it home. Toyota did not design the access to the starter with me and my big hands in mind. I had a section of a little more than 2" to torque my wrench...not always the most prone to unscrewing a bolt. Anyhow, it took a little time, but its fixed now, and the 4runner is back in bidness.

We just had the Portland Studios Company in our house this Monday. They were on their way to the CBA convention in Nashville, and stopped in to spend the night with us on the way. We laughed and worked pretty hard. They were burning DVD presentations all night long, and we enjoyed the time together. They were planning to pitch a few books to some potential publishers. Nice stuff.

I've been working on a CD invitation for the Pettit revival coming up in March. I uploaded it as an MP3 here. Check it out...give me your thoughts. We are hoping to use those as a introduction for the week.

That's about it. Praise the Lord for His grace and provision.