advent.

i'll always love advent after being in theology 1 with thoennes during fall semester/advent season. if you would like a daily devotional for advent season to be sent to your email, sign up here. it was put together by faculty at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. i signed up and got the idea from Kevin DeYoung's blog on TGC. enjoy!

"Those who are in anguish will be filled with gladness and rejoicing. Hope for this glorious restoration is to be found most profoundly in a child who will be born. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."

thanks.

i'm thankful for a kooky family and funny friends to make memories with.
i'm thankful for a church that embraces the gospel and glorifies Christ.
and i'm thankful for the maker of the universe who blessed me with everything i have and chose me.

naturally I would want to share this :)

Seeing as I was able to these guys in concert a few weeks ago, it only make sense I would want to promote them.

The Hip Hop Opportunity


also, on my way around town running errands or on my way to work, I've been listening to Trip Lee's CD "Between Two Worlds" and there is a track I LOVE called "Yours to Own"...here are some of the lyrics:

All of my life is Yours to own, You orchestrate it all along
And if my life is a cup come fill it up, so the whole world can see what You've done

You placed me in the city that I'm in for a reason
Sent folks in my life that was friends for a season
Some exposed my flaws and my sin it wasn't pleasing
And others fell from the faith and was leaving
If I respond wrong I'm dishonorin' Your grace
And I'm kind of just a product of my mind and not the faith
But You are my Father the refiner full of grace
And You're the designer of my time and in my place
I could take the easy route and follow all the trends
Of my brothers and my sisters, pastors and my friends
It probably wouldn't lead to a disaster in the end
But I can't be following the path You giving them
Yup, you made me me, with my own set of gifts
So I won't settle for less You bless You never miss
I'll be steward who You made me, steward where You place me
And I pray that You use me like crazy



ah! that's my prayer. God, use me. wherever you place me, use me.

Revelation 4:11

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

loving the souls of the cities.

"We either give life to cities or we take life from cities. What kind of life are you giving to the city? Are you giving or taking, consuming or renewing, using or strengthening the city? To love a city we have to love more than its stuff, its entertainment, its dining, and its landscape. We have to love its people. To renew a city we must love its souls."

the resurgence

a great find on forgiveness!

Seven Characteristics of the Most Forgiving People in the World

1. The most forgiving people in the world have an exceedingly high view of God.
2. The most forgiving people in the world trust that God is all powerful, all loving, and always working for his glory and our good, even in the midst of suffering. (Gen. 45:4-7; Acts 2:23-24; Rom. 8:28)
3. ‎The most forgiving people in the world trust God’s promise that every sin will eventually be fully paid for, either through Christ’s atonement on the cross or through eternal judgment. (Gen. 50:19; Luke 18:6-8; Rom. 12:19)
4. The most forgiving people in the world see their sin against God and his forgiveness of them as being infinitely great. (Matt. 18:23-25; Luke 7:47; Ps. 25:11; Eph. 1:7)
5. The most forgiving people in the world see God as the true treasure of forgiveness and will do anything to have more of him. (Ps. 73:25)
6. The most forgiving people in the world see others through the eyes of Christ. (Col. 1:21-22; Luke 23:34)
7. The most forgiving people in the world depend utterly on God to cultivate the perspectives and attitudes needed to forgive. (Phil 2:13)

battling anxiety.

copy and pasted from here.

How to Battle Anxiety with the Promises of God

John Piper:

• When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with the promise: “Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

• When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise, “So shall my word that goes forth from my mouth; it will not come back to me empty but accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

• When I am anxious about being too weak to do my work, I battle unbelief with the promise of Christ, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), and “As your days so shall your strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:25).

• When I am anxious about decisions I have to make about the future, I battle unbelief with the promise, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

• When I am anxious about facing opponents, I battle unbelief with the promise, “If God is for us who can be against us!” (Romans 8:31).

• When I am anxious about being sick, I battle unbelief with the promise that “tribulation works patience, and patience approvedness, and approvedness hope, and hope does not make us ashamed” (Romans 5:3–5).

• When I am anxious about getting old, I battle unbelief with the promise, “Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save” (Isaiah 46:4).

• When I am anxious about dying, I battle unbelief with the promise that “none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself; if we live we live to the Lord and if we die we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose again: that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9–11).

• When I am anxious that I may make shipwreck of faith and fall away from God, I battle unbelief with the promise, “He who began a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:6). “He who calls you is faithful. He will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).