Words to Live By

The passage I put here yesterday was a bit heavy, especially for a Monday morning. Nonetheless (what a fun word to use), it contains an essential teaching.

Today's message from Jesus is this, from Matthew 7 again (sometimes I go for weeks or months without dwelling in the Sermon on the Mount, what a mistake!):

24-25"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

Ok, now for a few random things that I really like:

1. getting a good night's sleep (last night, 11 pm to 6:30 am, thank you God!)
2. Monday Night Football with Eli, he was actually watching last night. He might just be a budding Titans fan, in honor of his father's birth state, and his cousin Eileen with which he shares the same 1st 3 letters of his name and his middle name.)
3. Faith's hair when she wakes up. I think someday her hair might incorporate.
4. Starbuck's new drip coffee "Joya".
5. Anything at Starbucks.
6. Reading the paper early in the morning.
7. Driving over the new bridge on Westfield.

Have a great day everyone!

Helpful Translation of Matthew 7

We had a great elders/ministers meeting last Saturday morning. Almost 3 hours long...wow. Thank you God for caffeine. (We start at 7:30 am on 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month...)

We talked about many things, dreamed about how God will use us in His overall mission of loving and reconciling the world...somewhere during the discussion we brought up Matthew 7:21ff...which at the outset is not all that encouraging...but in this version, it really helped us internalize and personalize what Jesus was saying about true obedience to Him.

From Matthew 7, The Message version:

15-20"Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'

Definitely worth pondering....

Go Colts! Go Cowboys! Go Carl Edwards! (what a nasty wreck near the end, huh? Kasey Kahne is one of my favorite drivers, and he took the brunt of it...how cool that they've designed those cars to handle such impact.)

Let's see if the Titans can show up tonight and get a W.

Happy Monday everyone.

Other Worship Recordings

Thanks for the comment, Amy. Didn't like Vicky Beeching so much, huh? Not even "The Wonder of the Cross", track 5? Ok, moving on...her english accent and high-pitched keys are not for everyone. I've already decided my arrangement of that will be pitched lower.

Here are some of my favorites.
Chris Tomlin - His See the Morning cd has worship hit after hit after hit...

Hallal's latest CD Immeasurable is really great...Mostly they cover many great instrumental worship songs, but there are a few originals by Ken that are spectacular (effective, moving, well written, good hook, etc.)

Shane & Shane's new cd Pages is solid.

I'm reserving judgment on Dennis Jernigan's new cd I Cry Holy , but I don't think it contains anything like his monster hits "You are my All in All" or "Thank You, Lord" but I haven't finished listening to all of it yet...he has admitted to not being aware of current worship music / styles, and I think that shows in this newest release. It's great heartfelt stuff, it's just a little obvious and plain for me at "first listen".

Another great resource for up & coming worship artists is www.independentbands.com you could just sample some of their new releases.

Lastly, I'd be interested in hearing some of your favorite worship songs. Kelli B, you might even say "give me the old hymns" and that's great too. If you like fresh covers for them, I could hook you up. Amy Grant's are some of my favorite hymn redux.

Bottom line, just keep on singing!

various

Still loving Vicky Beeching's CD Painting the Invisible. Just go to itunes now and get it. Don't even think twice about it. You'll thank me later. www.vickybeeching.com

Stood in line 30 minutes today, yes 30, for Dunkin Donuts coffee & donuts, the new store in Carmel. I had promised to bring it to the staff, or else I would have blown it off. The parking lot, which was staffed with one Dunkin Donuts attendant, and 2 Dunkin Donuts staffers who were giving out free samples, was a circus. There was a funny sort of community feeling though, as we all stood in line for what was obviously just a luxury and not a need. It was sort of that feeling you get at an amusement park when everyone's standing in line for the best coaster...everyone's chatty, in a good mood, etc.

Eli is now 3 months old and laughs freely & easily. However, I, at 6:30 am this morning, was not the one laughing at his idea of a fountain-imitation. I'm just thankful it wasn't 4:30 am. He's doing great at sleeping from midnight to 6:30 am.

This cooler weather has got me so pumped up! I love it! I was actually cold this morning driving to work! Thank you God for 4 seasons! (Texans don't realize there are actually 4...down there, you just have summer and winter.)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Save the date...Harvest Sunday, October 14th

New insights

Thanks for a great Bible study yesterday morning, Russ! Jaime & I attended the Matthew class yesterday morning, and it was really good, helpful, insightful, encouraging, crowded, and all the things you want a class to be.

Here are just 2 quick insights I gained...

The wise men coming to visit baby Jesus when he was born...I've always thought, how cool, rich foreigners coming to see Jesus, with the little drummer boy in the background ;) It just seemed like a neat story, quaint and a nice rounding out of the nativity scene.

BUT

if you stop & reflect on that...it would be like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump traveling to the tip of south America to BOW DOWN And worship a little baby boy born in a hut in a remote village. They would each present him with a million dollar gift and then travel back, completely ignoring the false pretenses of a request from President Bush to tell him where to find the baby.

When you stop & think about it, that is awesome. Everything about Jesus is awesome, to say the least, but even the cute little birth story is filled with mystery and wealth and poverty and prestige and humility and world leaders, etc.

I also just realized this morning after further reflection that those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, were very helpful to Mary & Joseph to PROVIDE for that little baby on all of their travels and relocations. (They moved 3 times it seems before settling down.)

God is awesome, and His Word has so many levels. As Russ said, the longer you live, the more you learn...and at different stages of your life, you see/learn/observe different things in Scripture.

Have a great week in the Word, blogfriends.

A teachable moment

What an awesome 3 day weekend!

On Saturday, we spent time at Mounds State Park at a reunion with Jaime's mother's father's side of the family. Very cool to meet Jaime's grandfather's close relatives...he passed away before Jaime came along.

On Sunday after church, we enjoyed going to lunch (Babeaux in Broad Ripple, great suggestion PJ) with a friend from Fairfax (Megan C.) who is attending Butler University here in Indy, and a new North Central friend.

Then Jaime's dad and his wife came over to hang out and help us with our guest bath remodel. And yes, I helped him put in the new sink...I can do some things around the house, like get him a diet coke and go next door to borrow "channel locks". Whatever those are. We watched a bit of the NASCAR race as well. You know you're a fan when you yell out, "there's a wreck on pit road!" Jaime was like, don't distract my dad, he's getting a lot done!

Labor Day began perfectly with breakfast at Bob Evans, then there was napping and shopping and time with the family at the pool. (Our neighborhood has a mandatory HOA and part of what you get is pool membership...glad I finally made it on the last day of the year for the pool!) Jaime's dad came back over later and put the finishing touches on the new vanity/sinks/faucets in the kids' bathroom. Amazing what an upgrade a vanity/sinks can be! Thanks Mike! Now for the texture on the walls, and new lights...I'm so thankful to have a wife with great taste and an eye for decorating.

At one point Monday afternoon, the whole family was on the couch playing and wrestling and just hanging out. Faithy was doing something which I didn't want her to do: eating Graham crackers in the den without a plate...spreading crumbs evenly throughout the den...I "called her down" and told her what not to do. Her response was to give me a great big hug...BOTH little arms around my neck, and her cheek right next to mine. It was so precious and sweet. I had a hard time maintaining my "calling her down" tone...

THEN IT HIT ME!

That's how God feels about us when we love Him and worship Him and have all of these great feelings about Him, but we don't do what He says...like take care of the poor and oppressed and shut-ins and imprisoned. He loves us dearly, of course, but He wants us to OBEY Him. Loving Him must also contain a consistent obedience aspect. Without obedience, there really is no love. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15

I know Faithy loves me, and she is learning to obey, and she does so regularly. But I just couldn't miss the point when God opened my eyes to her hugs of love in contrast with her desire to continue eating plate-less crumb-creating crackers.

Thanks God, I got it.

All In a Day's Work / New Shane & Shane CD

Most of you know my life's passion is worship ministry and I'm so blessed to be able to use my gifts in a way that puts a roof over our heads & clothes on our backs (and much more, obviously).

But I also love, in a very different way, being a church administrator.

Today I drained the baptistry and refilled it. It's fun to work with water that washes the sins of the world away.

After refilling, I was in the process of adding chlorine when I had an experience slightly similar to that of Former President Bill Clinton. He did not inhale, apparently, but I did today over the bucket of chlorine granules.

I'm fairly sure after that inhalation experience I'll never have pneumonia, and I'll never get lung cancer. I think the insides of my lungs are now pearly white and hospital-sterile. I hope the strong pungent breath-taking odor also whitened my macchiato-stained teeth as it made its way down.

I just feel clean all over and now everything I touch is also instantly santized. (I did not use gloves, but will next time.) I hope when I pick up Faithy tonight when I get home, that I don't bleach out her clothes with my fingertips.

Now, back to worship, the new Shane & Shane CD is out...It's called "Pages" and I'm getting to know it. "We Love you, Jesus" is very powerful and musically interesting. There's a cool song about Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego also, a story for which I wish there were more songs, since it's so many people's favorite O.T. story (mine & Jaime's for sure.) It's called "Burn us up." I love their guitar work and tight duet vocals. But you just have to enjoy the good and skip over a few tracks on all of the CDs, if you ask me. They are rarely in the middle of my musical-taste palette. They're either knocking them out of the park, or should be getting kicked out of a park.

Regardless, I recommend it. I bought mine off www.independentbands.com and they always have low pricing.

Have a great weekend everyone! Walk with Jesus every moment. He's right beside, inside you. How humbling and reassuring and powerful to know.

Reply from Christian Chronicle

Earlier in the week I posted about my frustration with a full-page ad appearing in the current issue of Christian Chronicle.

I shared my frustration with Bobby Ross, editor of the paper. We had a good email exchange that was followed by a good telephone conversation.

To sum it up, the board of Christian Chronicle was already slated to review their policy on "adver-torials" at the October 2007 board meeting. The ad I questioned was not the first one to raise the ire of subscribers. Bobby said they receive numerous complaints throughout the year from people at various places on the long continuum of people in churches of Christ. It seems no one likes advertising or advertorials that bespeak ideas foreign to their own theology.

I like the paper, and I'll continue taking it. In this issue, there's a solid article covering Graham Kervin's mission team in Olomouc, CR...and there are always newsy tidbits of what's going on in other churches across the world. So the good being done by the paper far outweighs the few negative advertorials, to be sure.

And I'm learning to frame my frustration with this a cappella vs. instrumental issue. I'm learning that if I want our movement to move past it (which means many things...remaining happily a cappella as a matter of choice not doctrine, or integrating instruments in a meaningful and encouraging way that never drowns out the voices) , then maybe I should set an example, and do just that...move on.

From time to time, people will assert views such as the ad in the current issue. Or someone may start a discussion about which version is scripturally sound, KJV, NIV or RSV. Or someone may question whether we should use 8 song leaders or one song leader. It's my responsibility as a follower of Christ to expend my energies on issues Christ was passionate about, and to kindly smile and move away from debates and arguments about such things.

More, More About Boz

Hey, please also read my other post from today on this subject...

After ranting about Boz, I remembered that in the videos, when the children are praying to God at night in their joint bedroom with their parents, a CROSS is prominently displayed. So while they do not pray in Jesus' Name, nor mention Him at all, they do display the cross.

And when I further questioned Exclaim Entertainment about their stance, they assured me Jesus would be mentioned in the upcoming Christmas release "It's a Wowee Bozowee Christmas!" As I told Kelli B, they should be congratulated for being bold enough to mention Christ at Christmastime. Oh, the risk involved! They ALSO told me they would consider mentioning him in future releases.

The co-creator of Boz was also a co-creator of the big purple dinosaur "Barney". He has taught values and 1-2-3's for years without any mention of Jesus and I never once protested him. I think it's the marketing aspect of Boz that gets me...Family Christian and churches and other Christian bookstores. Barney never claimed to be a theologian. But Boz is appearing in all Christian circles without mentioning him at all...I'm not asking for "the sermon on the mount", simply a reference to "As Jesus taught us, we should seek to serve one another first..." at mealtimes or something.

Thanks for listening.

In JESUS' Name,
Amen.

Boz doesn't want to mention Jesus / Christian Chronicle reply

This may only be relevant to parents of toddlers/preschoolers, but I am curious to others' feedback as well.

About a year ago, on a flight from Dallas back to Washington, I met a man who worked for Exclaim Entertainment...we chatted, and when he learned I had a toddler, he gave me a promotional DVD of "Boz the Bear" and told me all about it.

I was done with my 3 oz of coke & 4 pretzels, so we chatted quite a bit. It sounded like a great new alternative for teaching my little one basic colors, shapes, numbers, and also about values & faith. (Teaching faith to Faith will strengthen my faith, I'm sure. I just had to say that.)

Well, since then we've purchased 2 DVDs of Boz the Bear (I know, wow!) and Faithy has fallen in love with him. He's a large green Bear who lives next door to the Baxter family, and they have all kinds of fun in their little Utopia, while learning about numbers, letters and values. The songs are quite catchy actually, and I find myself singing them around the house.

3 days ago, however, my infatuation with Boz the Bear came to a sudden halt. I turned to Jaime and asked, "Honey, I don't ever hear Boz mention JESUS...he talks about God's love, but does he ever mention JESUS?" She paused, reflected, and flatly said, "No, he sure doesn't." We were both caught off guard, and I was incensed.

BOZ DOESN'T MENTION JESUS!

It is impossible to talk about God's love and exclude Jesus. It's impossible to teach values and faith without Jesus. I thought, certainly I have overlooked it.

I wrote to the company at their Dallas headquarters.

Sure enough, I got a standard reply from them, stating that they are trying to build bridges with parents, and hopefully at some point later the parents can flesh out what God's love means as they teach their kids. They strategically avoid the name of Jesus to reach a broader market and not offend people.

I am so angry at that reply I can't even think straight. I am still trying to figure out what to do about it, I sure will write people at Exclaim Entertainment who are higher up than the first person who answered my mail. But what do you do about someone who won't mention Jesus' name, but still wants to talk about God? All of their videos are sold at Family Christian (see the CHRIST in the name) and Boz is doing a summer tour of churches in the Christian faith. But he won't mention Christ on screen.

That is wrong, very wrong. He's marketed to Christians like me who are lapping up the product, and only after we've purchased can we determine that Boz won't have anything to do with Jesus.

Thoughts?

Tomorrow or Thursday, I'll post about Bobby Ross' reply to my post yesterday. It really helped me out, and I know it definitely grew my perspective on things.

Please keep praying for Baby Bennett http://www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com/

And my wife's blog is better http://www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com/

Thoughts and Bad Reaction to ad in Christian Chronicle

Here's a funny saying David shared with us yesterday..."When I was growing up, we couldn't even afford to pay attention." I thought that was hilarious. You may have heard it before, but I never have. That was good.

David's message yesterday entitled "Crossing Over" (yes, from John 5:24) was very convicting and encouraging. Go to http://www.nccoc.org/ to listen if you need a boost. Toward the end of the sermon, he used a seires of contrasts to make his point...with his permission I reprint them here:

This eternal life now can be yours...

"not because you are good, but because God is good.
not because you went to church, but because Jesus went to the cross.
not because you came out of your old habits, but because Jesus came out of the tomb.
not because you shed your irreligious ways, but because Jesus shed his blood."

What a great reminder. Thank you David!

And for those of you who read the Christian Chronicle, if your reaction to the full-page ad on page 10 is anything like mine (sheer revulsion), then I encourage you to let the editor know. Bobby Ross is the editor, he's a great guy; he & his wife did a story on Fairfax in 2005 and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. But I just hate that they have to run ads like this...
Ok, if you don't have the paper in front of you, go to http://www.foracappella.org/ and just get a taste of it. Then email bobby.ross@christianchronicle.org and ask him to consider NOT running ads that are completely irrelevant and off-point to our mission in the kingdom of God. If they had merely encouraged people to sing without instruments and appreciate the joyful sound of voices singing together, then fine...but they present a cappella format as "the scriptural plan for the church", and I wholeheartedly disagree with that conclusion.

This Weekend

Keep praying for Baby Bennett...
www.prayingforBennett.blogspot.com

I'm looking forward to Sunday...I think the entire song line-up is solid, but there are 2 songs I'm particularly excited about:
We Delight
Beautiful One

We're singing the Zoe arrangements on both songs www.zoegroup.org Wow, am I ever thankful for their resourceful ministry.

At rehearsal last night, the team sounded great on these...tons of energy, excitement, and just plain ole good singin'.

Of course, we're also singing the classic "Be Thou My Vision"... undoubtedly one of my favorite hymns. Great musical movement, great harmonies (hard to find a good arrangement though...we're using a Hallal arrangement with some added verses), and superb prayerful lyrics.

Thanks to God for all of the rain earlier this week...I'll be mowing this weekend which I always enjoy. Really I do. Especially now that I have a riding lawnmower, I'm beyond cool.

Ok, that's all the non-important forgettable stuff I can think of...have a great weekend everyone!

Prayers for Baby Bennett

My friends' Travis & Kelly had a precious baby boy named Bennett yesterday morning. He is currently in NICU for fever and possibly acidosis. I solicit your fervent prayers for him and his family as they go through this difficult time.
Here is a blog that contains updates & other info:

www.prayingforbennett.blogspot.com

Heat Wave & New Worship Artist

We had a great trip to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin Stuart Burkhalter's (his last name is Eli's middle name) wedding. It was hot, but a great weekend. Stuart's new wife's family threw quite a party for a reception. The band was great, and in addition to enjoying a dance with each other, Jaime & I enjoyed dancing with Faithy as well. She loves music & dancing, so she was right at home. Seeing her enjoy herself is an incredible blessing I didn't know to anticipate as a father. I also got to play golf with my brother and my nephews who all live in Dallas. Those fun times always fly by... (Thanks Bennett for the coaching...and thank you God that the lightning didn't start until the 18th hole.)

Now back home in Indy, we're experiencing the city's 3rd worst heat wave on record. We've had the longest number of consecutive days at 90 degrees or higher in years, and the end is 5 days away at best. Oh well, I grew up in Memphis, lived for 13 years in Dallas, so this is no prob for me. But I keep thinking, THIS IS WHY I moved north of the Mason Dixon line...to get away from this weather. :)

Thanks to the "contemporary Christian" channel on our cable TV, I am discovering several new Christian artists. You must check out http://www.vickybeeching.com/ She is an up & coming new worship leader. Her song "The Wonder of the Cross" from her latest CD "Painting the Invisible" will be sung in churches everywhere really soon. Great song, great sentiment, powerful hook in the chorus. I can't wait to teach it to the NC praise team. She's a Starbucks fan as well, so it's no surprise that she writes good worship songs. ;) (I learned that from her blog...) There are actually several songs on this CD that I'd like to teach, so just stay tuned. It's not often that I listen to a song over & over, but when it happens, it's such a blessing. The Psalms talk over & over about singing a new song to the Lord, and I'm always discovering reasons why...one is that new music encourages us singers soooo much! I mean, I love "Just As I Am" which was the invitation song at Jaime's grandma's church service which we attended last night in Anderson, IN...but I love love love new expressions of praise as well.

I always put this, but it's true...my wife's blog is better (except for the fact that my picture is there right now...) www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com

Headed Back to Virginia

We're headed back to Virginia tomorrow, we just can't take it anymore.

KIDDING

We love our new Indy home & church & etc., but we're headed down to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin's wedding. It will be a great family time, and road trips with 2 kids under 2 are always a joy.

Seriously, we are looking forward to it. Once the kids doze off, (yeah right) Jaime and I have great talks as the van rolls down the highway.

Well, I said I would post about the "woman at the well" and Jesus, and their discussion in John 4. Our senior minister is continuing his series and will be teaching from this passage over the next 2 Sundays. It was just such a profound realization to see that Jesus revealed his best and greatest teaching on worship to this woman who he shouldn't have been talking to in the 1st place! (culturally) We don't even know her name! Isn't that so true of what worship should result in...we discover who Jesus is, and we forget about who we are completely. But there again, that's the irony...Jesus told the lady things about herself that even she had tried to forget...so he affirmed her, he didn't crush and treat her like a no-name...

Wow, God is completely awesome and His grace is unbelievable.

How can I keep from singing? (Thank you Chris Tomlin for your update of that song.)

Coming to you from Indianapolis, Indiana, for the 1st time!

July 23, 2007


My last post was from Chantilly, VA, to announce the arrival of our baby boy, Eli.

A lot has happened since then.

I write now from Indianapolis, IN, our new home! After 3.5 years of ministry and fellowship with the Fairfax Church of Christ in northern VA, God called us to work with the North Central congregation here in Indy. www.nccoc.org is the church’s website.

We are getting settled into our new house in Carmel, the suburb just north of Indy. We’ve got almost all of the boxes unpacked, and we’re almost ready to start hanging pictures/artwork, etc. on the walls.

Eli is now 6 weeks old, and cuter than ever. I’ve been teasing him lately about filling out a bit. He’s gaining weight nicely (8 lbs when he was born, so not a concern, just an observation). He loves being held, and is really starting to smile & react a lot. He’s fighting a nasty cold presently, and I hate to hear him cough. The doc says it’s normal and will go away eventually.

Faith is totally healthy & doing great. She seems to get more beautiful every day. I love her so much, and am so crazy about her. She said 'Eli" this morning and is adding more words to her vocabulary every day. (outside, inside, etc.) She sleeps in her “big girl” bed…a twin bed that Jaime’s aunt is loaning us. She only cried a little bit at the new arrangement, and has apparently already adjusted to it.

I am eager to get back to more regular posts about my thoughts/lessons learned/reflections on worship…the best pastime on earth. For now, let me just say how thankful I am to be here in IN, serving alongside the people of the North Central church. (Even though we miss our church family in Fairfax dearly!)

In my next post, I'll share a thought I had spurred on from David’s sermon yesterday on John 3 about Nicodemus & the woman at the well & worship…

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com

Praise God on High!

What an awesome Sunday...

Today was Missions Sunday at FXCC. Even though God sent a much-needed day of showers our way, no one's spirit was dampened. Everyone sang out with energy and zeal, in mulitple languages no less! Talk about speaking/singing in tongues! You guys were incredible.

Then to see Keith Jones sitting in the auditorium with his sweet wife by his side...Keith, I didn't know you were coming today, but God did...He had me select "How Great Is Our God" which is your favorite...isn't God awesome. It was so great to see you.

Then to see all the children file down front with their coin cannisters...their offerings to God for MISSION Sunday...

Then to see the Bynums officially be commissioned & prayed for as our new missionary family. How incredible...

And then the GENEROUS outpouring from our church for our special MISSIONS offering of over $60,000!!! (after you gave generously for our regular offering of almost $34,000, which is only $800 shy of our weekly goal.)

Did you get that? Our church gave almost $100,000 in one day for the mission of God in this world. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with GOD.

And thanks to Mark & Cassey Gibson for a wonderful day of Prayer & Fasting yesterday...they coordinated Fairfax's special devotionals during the day, and did all the promo work. For more info, www.dayofprayerandfasting.org or go to our website for more info on FXCC's mission work www.fxcc.org

Keep on praying everyone....

Then to a delicious lunch served by FSM and Paul Wert & crew...a fiesta meal to beat all fiesta meals...

WOW, I'm still reeling from the day.

now, back to my song, (feel free to sing along...any key will do) "Praise God on High...every wounded soul will be made whole, so let's worship Him with a mighty voice, like we're already with Him in paradise, Praise God on High, Praise God! "

Even More Undignified Than This

Today's Bible reading on www.oneyearbibleblog.com is the great story about David bringing the ark back to Jerusalem...He was leading the multitudes in celebrative worship without all of his clothing. (Don't worry, I'm not going to try that on Sunday...)

His wife wasn't so enthralled with the king of Israel, or the true King of Israel (Jehovah), and she scorned her husband-king for dancing and celebrating in such an undignified manner.

His reply was simple...I will celebrate unto the Lord. This is about God, not me, not my honor, not my dignity. God has been good to us, and we will celebrate appropriately. You think that was undignified? I will go to even greater lengths to show my zeal and my joy and my gratitude for the Lord Almighty.

Wow, I just love it! It makes me think of the song "and I will be even more undignified than this...some may say its foolishness..." I think the band is Delirious.

Have a great day in the Lord, and celebrate Him with all your might. He has been good to you.
He has certainly been good to me.

We got a contract on our house on Tuesday! Thank you, God! We're set to close on June 22, and then rent back until Friday, July 6. We pull out of town for Indy that day. And somewhere in there, Baby #2 is set to arrive! June 18th is our induction date. Very exciting...It's hard to imagine loving a little baby as much as we love Faith, but I think God has a way of enlarging our hearts to increase our love capacity. I know when I fell in love with Jaime, I couldn't believe all the love I felt (and still feel) and then when Faithy came along, it just doubled, so I'm sure God will provide.

Pray for Keith Jones

Check your email, or go to www.fxcc.org to see a list of prayer concerns for Keith Jones.

URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED!

We'll be having a prayer session tomorrow night at 7 pm here in the auditorium specifically for Keith. If you are able to go by and say hello to his family, contact the office and we'll let you know how to find them at Fairfax Hospital.