Until Forever Mercies Fall

Free Music

2010-04-28T15:21:00.002-04:00

Check out some free stuff this week from Page CXVI! And check out their new album.

LifePark

2010-03-04T14:13:00.005-05:00

Wow. Half our team is moving out to LifePark. Check out our website and see what God is doing in North Mt. Pleasant.

Our first service in the building will be March 7th (this Sunday). Our Dedication Service will be on the 14th (the following weekend). And finally, our GRAND OPENING will be March 28th!

Come join the movement.

Look to the True Bread, the Fount of Living Water, & Our Abiding City

2010-02-22T17:13:00.006-05:00

It can be quite easy to be burdened by the things of the world. This burden can be a variety of things including: sin, shame & guilt, the menial tasks ahead, the material things that seem to scream 'you need me', the need for security, the need to feel satisfied by another, the list goes on and on. However, one thing is true- all experience this at some level. I'd say that those who feel this the most are blessed. This longing that we try to fill is the longing of our heart for our Creator. Even to feel this is a blessing from God. It reminds us to turn and believe upon Him. All of these longings are satisfied when we feast upon Christ.

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you... I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (John 6.27, 35)

To believe upon Christ is to feast upon Christ.

So when we feel that pit of longing burning deep in our hearts, feast on the Holy One. Run to the Living Fountain. And somehow when we look to the Son, believing, & our eyes turn heavenward, we can truly count all as a lost for the sake of Christ.

So believers, throw off every weight that encumbers you, "[f]or here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." (Hebrews 13:14)

Promises to the Faint (the "Buts" and "Yets" of Scripture)

2009-10-31T11:27:00.004-04:00

"YET for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God. BUT I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers... that I might be their God: I am the LORD." -Leviticus 26:44-45

"Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. YET, the LORD set his heart in love [set his affections] on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples... He is your praise. He is your God..." -Deuteronomy 10:14-15,21

"BUT you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them... The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them... Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell... YET you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly." -Nehemiah 9:17, 19, 21, 33

"BUT now thus says the LORD , he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you... Fear not, for I am with you..." -Isaiah 43:1-5

"BUT the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King." -Jeremiah 10:10

"...YET I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant... and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the LORD God." -Ezekiel 16:60, 62-63

"BUT I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came... therefore...I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations... and the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the LORD GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes... I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all you uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes... and you shall be my people, and I will be your God." -Ezekiel 36:21, 23, 25-28

"YET it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them... How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?... My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath." -Hosea 11:3-4,8-9

"BUT now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:22-23

"Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. BUT if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness." -Romans 8:9-10

"BUT God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." -Ephesians 2:4-7

"For consider your calling, brother: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. BUT God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise... so that no human being might boast in the presence of God." -1 Corinthians 1:26-27, 29

"BUT now in Christ jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility..." -Ephesians 2:13-14

"BUT our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." -Philippians 3:20-21

"BUT the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one." -2 Thessalonians 3:3

"BUT we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." -Hebrews 10:39

Remember the LORD your God... selections from Deuteronomy 8

2009-10-12T15:54:00.010-04:00

For those in the wilderness of discipline or hardship... remember the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 8

"...And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD [also referenced by Jesus in the wilderness: Luke 4].

[Yet in the midst of the LORD's discipline,] your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you [also in Hebrews 12:5-13]. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land... And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God... lest, when you have eaten and are full... then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you... out of the house of slavery... who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

Confession

2009-10-05T15:19:00.003-04:00

I've only begun reading The Confessions of St. Augustine; however, I was so moved by his "Confession of the Greatness of God" that I had to share a portion of his thoughts and prayers. These truths are so rich that I had to stop between each to think about them and praise God for them. Here is Augustine's confession to God:

[You are] the most hidden, yet most present... You are ever working, yet ever at rest. You are still gathering yet You lack nothing... still seeking, although You have all things.

You love without yearning, are jealous without bitternss; share our regret without self-reproach; express anger without losing serenity.

You receive what You found yet had never lost. You are never in need yet rejoice in what You gain... Yet who has anything that is not already Yours?

Oh, that I might rest on You.

Oh, that You would enter my heart and make it intoxicated, so that I might forget all woes and embrace You, my only good.

Say to my soul, "I am your salvation." Say it loudly enough that I may hear.

Hide not Your face from me... Only let me see Your face.

Amen.

One Way, One Truth, One Life

2009-10-02T19:08:00.005-04:00

Lecrae's Rebel Album has a song called Truth that deals with some of the error in today's post-modern thought.

Not much has changed in human thinking since God took on flesh and dwelt with His creation 2,000 years ago. Jesus' words (John 14:6) in which He proclaimed his Messianic role: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" are still just as offensive today as they were then. It is offensive in our culture to say that there is only one way to God. It is considered intolerant to make such a bold and "arrogant" claim. Instead of holding true to Scripture, we have been taught, through Existential and now Post-Modern thinking, to see "truth" as relative. However, the idea that "truth" can be relative per individual is completely illogical.

Sadly, many who claim to be followers of Christ are also taking this route of post-modern or relative thought. However, these so-called "followers" probably wouldn't define their thinking in terms of "relativism" or "being post-modern." They just follow societal views. I do not think this straying from Scripture is necessarily intentional... rather, it is simply a slow work of Satan to blind the minds of unbelievers and veil the hearts of those in Christ. This is why we must drink deeply from the fountain of God's Word. Otherwise, we will join those in Hosea's day who were "destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). We must be rooted in the Word of God above all else.

Listen to Lecrae's song, Truth, for a rich picture of who Truth really is.

Oh How He Loves Us... Enough to Allow Suffering?

2009-09-28T16:28:00.005-04:00

I am too often the culprit of singing songs that I really haven't really heard. I'm not referring to the days in Middle School when you pretend to know a song that you really don't simply to look good in front of your friends... though I probably did that a time or two. Instead, I'm referring specifically to songs I sing to God without paying much attention to what I'm singing. I will know the words enough to sing them but somehow in my clanging I forget to really listen to the words. It becomes about rote memory and nothing more. In other words, I know the words mechanically but not in the sense of a true knowing or understanding.

For the past couple months the words of John McMillan's Song "How He Loves" have been playing in my thoughts. Originally upon "hearing" the song, I liked the tune and the words seemed fair to me; over time, however, the song became a little old to me, if I can be completely honest. However, as I began really to really hear the song I became intrigued by the words (particularly the words of the first verse):

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

Perhaps God waited to open my ears at just the right time- when I, like John McMillan, was going through a season of trial. But the first verse is holds some incredible Bible truths. I would venture to say that many people have sung this song without really thinking of the words other than the fact that God loves us deeply and beyond comparison. However, John McMillan was suffering when he wrote this- his best friend had just died. So although it does speak of how much God loves us, I believe that the overarching theme is instead the way He loves us.

Think about a tree that is bending under the weight of a hurricane. It's bending, almost to the point of breaking. For the tree, this wouldn't be pleasant. It would be tough and painful (that is, if trees had feeling). At this point, the roots are the only thing holding the tree in place. Without the roots the tree would simply blow away with the rest of the debris caused by the storm.

For those of us in relationship with the Trinitarian God, we are held (as the roots of a tree) by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher or our faith. Although firm in the hand of God, we will suffer. In fact, we are called to suffer (1 Peter 2:21). It is inevitable in the process of sanctification. And I would dare to say that our faith truly begins to take true form and shape, meaning we begin to really own our faith, when we face trial or persecution.

However, in this song, John McMillan calls this "mercy." Is it merciful of God to allow suffering on His people? Absolutely. It is in times of true suffering that we are taught to cling tightly to God. For some, this "clinging to God" comes earlier rather than later. Some cling all the more tightly to God in the midst of suffering because they rightly feel their deep desperation for God. For others, however, this sense of desperation may come at the end of their running from God. In either case, suffering allows us to deeply feel the true sense of desperation that all humanity has for our Creator.

And as John McMillan writes in his song: when we realize our true need for God and how deep that need runs, we will see, hear, and understand how beautiful He is and how great His affections are for us. Therefore, it is because of His deep love for us that He allows us to suffer. For it is only when we have nothing else to cling to but Christ that we become most fully aware of our need for Him. In other words, the way that God loves us is by drawing our hearts to Him, by His Spirit, through means of suffering so that He is most glorified and we are most satisfied.

Painful Liberation

2009-09-28T14:57:00.000-04:00

Forgive me... this is from a few weeks ago.

As I was taking the approximately hourish drive home tonight I was listening to my I-pod on shuffle. It just so happens that I was in a pretty pensive mood when Derek Webb's "Medication" came on. This particular song (and really most of his CD, "I See Things Upside Down") was my obsession after my freshmen year in college when I spent the summer in the Philippines. And tonight, as it did then, the lyrics to the song struck me.

As some of you may know, this summer in India was really tough for me spiritually. The season I was in began around 9 months ago and only seemed to increase in intensity while in India. I can't begin to explain how alone and out of tune with God I felt pretty consistently this summer. I typically do not like to (and even cringe at describing any situation I'm in as "suffering.") But, this summer really and absolutely was a time of spiritual suffering that I feel like the Lord allowed. I felt closer than ever to the psalmist who pleaded with God:

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him,"
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

And in my return home, I quickly found that I could not simply ignore: the inward doubt, the times of feeling incredibly disconnected from Jesus, and my tendency to believe lies of the enemy over the Truth of my Father. I couldn't ignore this spiritual dryness that seemed to creep in deeper and deeper despite my efforts of prayer and petition to my God. It became increasingly clear to me this summer how often my heart runs after everything BUT God. It is our nature. It is natural. That's why Jesus has got to be the one to continually soften my heart and draw me back to the Gospel, my very Life.

All of this to say, I need Jesus to sanctify me. Since this summer, when I felt as though God had completely hidden His face from me, no matter how much I sought it, I have honestly been scared to pray for God to sanctify me because I fear that the Lord will have me go through that season again. Even as I think about possibly "re-entering" that tough season of inward spiritual battle, that often kept me from sleeping my past semester in college, I have to fight back tears. Honestly, I think I'm a little fearful of this whole sanctification process now. It is painful. And it's not fun to face sins that are dark and run deep.

However, in these times, we are taught to cling tightly to the cross. Even in moments of doubting God's Truth-- we cling all the more tightly. In this, I sense a desperation for Jesus to plead before the Father's throne on my behalf. Piper is absolutely on target when he says: "The only reason any of us have not made shipwreck of our faith is because Jesus is praying for us at the Father's right hand." This is our sanctification- when by the crushing reality of our sin we are driven to the transformative power of the cross.

Therefore, as Derek Webb puts it in "Medication":

don't paint my face
i need to see the scars
so i don't forget
the back of my tutor's arm

'cause i just can't keep it straight
which kills and which one saves

but i don’t want medication
just give me liberation
even if it cuts my legs right out from underneath
don’t give me medication
i want the real sensation
even when living feels just like death to me

‘cause the truth is i need you just like the air i breathe
just like a freight train needs the tracks beneath
so i’d rather suffer my whole life and be this rich man’s wife
if loving you means suffering

I need Jesus more than I even know. My own sin proves it to me. And if that means (as Derek Webb writes) that my legs are cut out from under me, then I absolutely pray to possess a deep desire for continued sanctification if means I will be closer to the face of Christ. God is faithful. He will finish His work once we reach the Abiding City. Finally, the rest of Psalm 13:

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.