Not My King by Jared Lafitte

Not My King by Jared

Joyful Noise - Official Music Video: FLAME feat. Lecrae & John Reilly

Shai Linne - Alone

Please listen to the third verse. It is one of the best things I've ever heard.

The Ambassador - "My Clothes, My Hair"

3rd verse

"I could weep
So many people never heard of the name
Yeah they heard the word "Jesus" but never heard of His fame
They feel cut off from Him
Not just cause of their sin
But because of their clothes, hair, or their color of skin
And they've been afloat- drowning in sin, we're in a boat
Yet they've never been approached
Cause we see them as different folks
God's offer's universal- yeah
He wants you in His circle- yeah
He wants you in the doo-rag
And He wants you in the purple hair
You can just take a cursory
Glance at the word and see
God made the plans of diversity"

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

-Edward Mote, 1834

....

This is one of my top five favorite hymns of all time. It speaks of the confidence we have in the blood of Christ as our righteousness. How often I find myself in awe of the sweet frames of this earth, and become numb to the immeasurable grace of Jesus, which is the only reason I exist..the only mechanism by which I breathe...the root of my salvation...the the only explanation for true purpose and joy in this life. These lyrics sing of God as an unchanging stronghold, whenever and wherever we find ourselves, who has us tightly in His grip.

Shai Linne in Adam All Die

Hazakim - No Not One

Everyday the next week I am going to post a new Christian rap song. This is a song done by 'Hazakim' and its called 'No not one'. In this song, Hazakim pretty much exposits Romans 3:10-12. Thought I'd start with a song about our sin and our complete need for a Savior.

"None is righteous,

no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good, not even one."

Romans 3: 10-12

The unsettling thing about this passage, is that it's about me.

Here are a few lyrics:

"You may mention the name of Jesus as you take an award

have a great credit score and even give to the poor

even if you particpated in a race for the cure,

we’re in danger our sinful nature greatly angers the Lord

you can light candles in a vigils in memory of the victim

donate your clothes and feed the homeless, volunteer in soup kitchens

a law adibidng citizen with a respected postion

but still…..

“none good, no, not one”

our righteousness isn’t enough to pay for our bail but

many embrace a tail that their deeds are placed on a scale.

We’re all wicked and dirty, guilty in the mist of his jury

God should unleash his holy fury, yet he’s rich in his mercy

He allowed his only son to be hung, we’re all unworthy

"None good, no, not one"

It’s foolish to think your goodness means you get into heaven

200 Proof Grace

Per my friend Dane Ortlund's blog Strawberry-Rhubarb Theology:

Episcopal priest and author Robert Farrar Capon:

The Reformation was a time when people went blind-staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellarful of fifteen-hundred-year-old, 200-proof grace--of bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture that would convince anyone that God saves us single-handed.

The Word of the Gospel, after all those centuries . . . suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home free even before they started. How foolish, then, they said, how reprehensibly misleading, they said, to take the ministers of that Word of free, unqualified acceptance and slap enforced celibacy on them--to make their lives bear a sticker that said they had gone an extra mile and paid an extra toll. It was simply to hide the light of grace under a bushel of pseudo-law. . . . And for the Reformers, that was a crime. Grace was to be drunk neat: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale; neither goodness, nor badness, nor the flowers that bloom in the spring of super-spirituality could be allowed to enter that case.

--Between Noon and Three: Romance, Law, and the Outrage of Grace (Eerdmans 1997), 109-10

I want to be drinking that 200 proof Gospel Grace

The Transforming Power of the Gospel: Tullian Tchividjian

Confession of Our Righteousness

O Lord, we confess our righteousness

Those thoughts, words and deeds that have taken our eyes off of Christ and His finished work

And put them on ourselves.

We have fooled ourselves into seeing our obedience as a substitute for your perfection.

We have failed to see that even our best works are as filthy rags in your sight.

Father, we confess that we have deserted your Gospel.

We have made a mockery of the Cross.

For the sake of your great name,

have mercy on us.

Refresh us with your love,

that we may remain fixed on Jesus alone.

Blaise Pascal's passion

This is an excerpt from the book, "The Call", by Os Guinness. He is writing in regards to Blaise Pascal's passion for God.

"Nearer our own time Blaise Pascal was another such person on fire with a passion for God. Mathematical genius, inventor, grandfather of the computer and modern risk theory, renaissance thinker, well versed in physics, philosophy and theology as well as mathematics, among the most elegant prose stylists in the French language, Pascal is one of the supreme human thinkers of all time.

But almost no one in Pascal's day and still too few in ours know of the experience that kept these achievements in perspective and lay at the core of his brief, intense, pain-filled, flame burst of a life. On the evening of Monday, November 23rd, 1654, he was 31 years old and just experienced a close brush with death in a carriage driving accident. That night he had a profound encounter with God that changed the course of his life.

Pascal's experience lasted from 10:30 PM to 12:30AM. He could only title his experience with one word: Fire. But the experience was so precious and decisive to him that he sewed the parchment record of it into the lining of his doublet and wore it next to his heart. For the remaining 8 years of his life he took the trouble to sew it into every new doublet he bought, and it was only found by his sister, who felt the odd bump it formed, after his death in 1662. It read,

'God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,

not of philosophers and scholars.

Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ.

God of Jesus Christ.

My God and Your God.

Your God shall be my God.

The world forgotten, and everything except God.

He can only be found by the ways taught in the Gospels.

Greatness of the human soul.

O righteous Father, the world had not known thee,

but I have known thee.

Joy, Joy, Joy

tears of joy.'

Hidden in Christ's Work

"If I fall let me hide myself in my Redeemer's righteousness, and when I escape, may I ascribe all deliverance to thy grace. Keep me humble, meek, lowly."

- Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions

....

"This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him." Ephesians 3:12

C.S. Lewis on God's Love

"God loves us; not because we are lovable, but because He is love, not because he needs to receive, but because He delights to give."

C.S. Lewis

The Cause of Christian Piety

"For, properly speaking we cannot say that God is known where there is no religion or piety.....For this sense of the divine perfections is the proper master to teach us piety, out of which religion springs. By piety, I mean that the union of reverence and love to God which the knowledge of his benefits inspires."

John Calvin

Institutes of the Christian Religion: Book I, Chapter II

I pray that God would give us a deeper knowledge and understanding of the benefits that are in Christ, and that would in turn inspire us to serve Him in humility.

He Himself is Enough

I've really noticed recently how so much of my prayer is centered on myself. I've found myself to be merely thankful to God for what he has given me in an earthly manner. Don't get me wrong, these gifts such as family, friends and education are wonderful, and God deserves every ounce of credit for sustaining me in those various ways, because it is only due to His immeasurable grace. However, I have more so seen how the extent of my prayers regularly don't extend past what God has given me in an earthly manner.

May I see God, the giver of gifts, as a gift in himself. His presence in my life is enough, because I am so unworthy. By enough, I mean, it is anything at all, which is everything. May we never lose sight of the incredible ways God showers us with earthly gifts, but may we ground our hope and root our joy in the person of Christ, who came as the ultimate gift of grace, giving himself to us for all eternity to rest in.

Motivation

Relating to my post from yesterday, here is a great interview with Darrin Patrick (Pastor of The Journey Church, which is part of the Acts 29 network) and Bryan Chapell (President of Covenant Theological Seminary). This stuff is gold.

Motivation: How grace leads to obedience. from Journey-Creative on Vimeo.

Indicative ---> Imperative

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

In this verse, the Apostle Paul reminds of our reason and motivation for Christian living. Because we have been forgiven in Christ, we forgive others. Because we have been loved, we love others. Because we have been shown grace, we give grace to others. The indicative empowers the imperative. As we are gripped by the truths of the Gospel (the indicative), we will be compelled to live out the imperatives (Godly living). Our absolute confidence in God's acceptance in Christ must serve as the motivation and empowerment to holiness.

Most Christians (myself included) often fall into the trap of trying to earn, prove or legitimize their acceptance or security with God by trying really really hard to live a Godly life. If I keep doing the right thing, then God will love me. This produces radical spiritual insecurity and ultimately comes from a lack of belief in the sufficiency of Christ's work. Rather, we need to be rooted in grace. When we are confident in our union with Christ, that neither life nor death, nor any powers of this earth can separate us from Christ, and that we are fully justified in Him, that Christ has removed all of our dirt, guilt, shame and vileness, and has given his righteousness, loveliness and heavenly acceptance, only then, will we be compelled to forgive others. God's grace is the only lasting motivation. Human strength and discipline will last for a season, but real sanctification has its roots in our union with Christ. The motivation and empowerment for real sanctification comes from the indicative, that God is 100% for us.