The Deity Formerly Known as God

I'm just about to finish The Deity Formerly Known as God by Jarrett Stevens. Jarrett was gracious enough to give me a copy of his book at CharlotteONE last month, and I've been soaking it up.

The book tackles six destructive images and misconceptions about God, and then offers six biblical, constructive images of God based on Scripture. Jarrett writes with a good bit of humor as well as a compelling and convicting condor that cuts straight to the heart of the matter. He refers to his book as the remix of J. B. Phillips' classic Your God is Too Small.

Here are a few takeaways I've gleaned thus far:

• "This may be one of the greatest tragedies of what we have come to call Christianity: that we are all too afraid to ask a good and loving God for what He already longs to give us." (p. 99)
• "Perhaps a better framework for God is not "old" but "timeless." If God were limited to our understanding of time, then, like all things in this universe, He would be aging." (p. 38)
• "Our job couldn't be any simpler: All we have to do is stay (John 15:5). (p. 125)

Help support Jarrett by ordering this book. It will definitely be an encouragement and a challenge to you.

Oblivious Thanks

We're in Roanoke, Virginia this week celebrating Thanksgiving and having family togetherness here with my incredibly large and awesome family. Last night before our very large Thanksgiving meal, we began with a family tradition that has been growing over the past few years. We began with a short worship service. I usually lead in a few worship songs and then someone will bring a word from the Lord. My brother, Jacob, challenged us all to remember that despite the circumstances of life and when it may seem like we don't have a lot to be grateful for, God is constant. Nothing takes Him by surprise. And we need to be reminded that all we need is Him. He is the source of our hope. The source of our peace. The source of all true joy. No matter what curve balls life throws at us, we can rest in the knowledge that God is good, that He loves us with the deepest, truest love known to man, and that He is forever faithful. He is the source of true thanksgiving.

As I was writing this blog, my Mom made we aware of something that happened to Areyna earlier today when I was not around. And as I processed the scenario, I realized how perfect it fit with this concept of God being the source of our thanksgiving.

She was running through the living room today playing with her cousins when she tripped two feet from the stone fireplace causing her head to go careening into the sharp stone. Under normal circumstances, this accident would have sent us straight to the emergency room. Blood should have been everywhere. A massive scar should be on her forehead right now. But none of these results came to pass. Why? Because a few months ago, my parents took the time to install a custom-fit pad to cover all of the sharp corners of the stone fireplace. This padded covering saved us incredible heartache and saved Areyna incredible pain, both now and in the future. Though she was stunned for a few moments, she was back to playing with her cousins, completely oblivious to the bullet she had just dodged.

And isn't this the way God interacts with us much of the time? He sets up barriers. He places safeguards around us. Hedges. Blockades to protect from danger, both physical and spiritual. Yet, much of the time we're completely unaware of these layers of protection. Completely unaware of how many times He is acting as a loving Father as we continue with our routine, oblivious to His hand of protection and provision. Maybe we feel the initial brunt of the blow like Areyna did on the fireplace. And maybe we complain a little bit about how it hurts. But we're soon back to our routine, unaware that the pain we do feel should actually be elevated 1000 times what we actually feel should He have removed His hand of protection.

If the economy has affected you this year, give thanks. Because it could be worse. If you have suffered emotionally, give thanks. If you have lost something or someone you love, give thanks--as hard as it may be. We can't see behind the scenes. And we can rest assured that God, our loving Father, always knows what's best for us. So give thanks for Him, in Him and to Him. Let Him be the source of your thanksgiving.

Squirrel Madness

Last Saturday at Freedom Park in Charlotte

11-23-08

Today at WCC.

1. Forever (Tomlin - An oldie but a goodie. Probably one of the best worship songs he ever wrote. Simple melody. Great lyrics. Strong, biblical truth. Perfect for congregational worship. Just a great tune all around.)

2. Here is Our King (Crowder - this was off of his A Collision CD back in '05 I think it was. I've led it quite a bit over the last few years, but it's one that rarely gets old for me. Several of the lines cause the reader to step back inquisitively and look closer, like alot of Crowder's stuff, [i.e. "and what was said to the rose to make it unfold, was said to me here in my chest so be quiet now and rest."] At first glance I go hmm.... but it's pretty cool when you think about it. Like a rose coming into bloom the Lord speaks into our hearts and love for Him unfolds - a love for the King of Kings to whom we declare praise - of whom we are welcoming in - heralding in with the angels.)

3. Grace Greater Than Our Sin - (J & T version - This one is off of our new record. It's one of those hymns that I sang all growing up and always thought that it could be done well in a real modern way. The lyrics are just powerful. V.3 - Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. You that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive?" We did this song as an altar call. Perfect.)

4. Mighty to Save - (Hillsong - One of the best tunes Hillsong has written. Love it. The bridge is a great anthem and fits perfectly for congregational worship, especially when missions is the theme! "Shine your light and let the whole world see. We're singing for the glory of the risen King!"

5. God of This City - (BlueTree - Made popular by Chris Tomlin - This is one we sang many times in Hungary with the missionaries there. You can read the explanation of the song on a post I wrote while we were there. Nonetheless, I will say this. This is a great tune, and one that is drenched in God's heartbeat for the cities of the world and the people in those cities. I always love leading this one because it's so easy to grab onto the melody right away and easy to buy into the message.)

Tozer on Experiencing God's Presence

I came across this statement today while re-reading Tozer's Knowledge of the Holy. It's amazing how this book speaks directly into the heartbeat of contemporary mainstream Christianity, though it is six decades old. Check this out: Concerning the omnipresence of God and its connection to how we as believers experience the living God, Tozer says,

"The practice of the presence of God consists not of projecting an imaginary object from within (your) own mind and then seeking to realize its presence; it is rather to recognize the real presence of the One whom all sound theology declares to be already there, an objective entity, existing apart from any apprehension of Him on the part of His creatures. The resultant experience is not visionary but real." (p. 82)

That's it! To experience the real presence of God, we don't use our tainted, distorted, fallen imaginations to try to conjure up what we think God looks like, and then invite our made-up image to commune with us. That's all wrong. But that's what we do all the time. That's the way we're bent. That's what we gravitate toward! No thanks to mainstream media, we go into our prayer closet addressing Jim Caviezel rather than our infinite God. No thanks to tradition, we enter His presence addressing the image we've seen hanging in our church fellowship hall for 80 years. No thanks to additional influences that will remain unnamed, we address our prayers to a God who looks like a cross between a bad acid trip and the psychedelic effect found in programs like Windows Media Player. No thanks to hit radio tunes and Hallmark movies, we address our prayers to a God who looks like our Grandpa Felix withering away with arthritis in the rocking chair on the front porch. All of these images are at best, improper, and at worst, destructive and unbiblical. Instead, Tozer reminds us that we must simply realize and acknowledge His very real presence that is already there with us, apart from the imaginary portrait we've conjured up. What we need is God Himself. The God revealed to us in Scripture. Not the God of our imagination! Not an image we've made in our own likeness.

Wickham's Freebies

One of my favorite artists right now is Phil Wickham. The other day I came across this entire album that he is giving away free for download on his website. It's in my iPod now. It's called "Singalong" and it's killer--a live worship experience with Phil and about 3000 people worshipping together with nothing but an acoustic guitar and voices. It's pretty stellar! Go get it now. He only asks that you sign up for his mailing list in order to download the tracks. It's worth it!

CharlotteONE Season Finale

Last night was the season finale of CharlotteONE and it went extremely well. Dave Hickman brought the house down. He preached the Word with authority, passion and power--describing the truths of justification:

1. God's FIERCE anger toward sin has been FULLY satisfied.
2. We are FOREVER and always FOUND righteous before God.
3. We are now FRIENDS of our FATHER God.

Dave also shared his incredible story of how he delivered his own baby last week in the CMC hospital parking lot. I wouldn't have believed it had I not heard it from him or seen it on the news. You can check it out here. It's unbelievable!

The band was rockin'. Sara Scott, Andrew Cherry and myself all co-lead. (Tim Morrison on drums, Nate Proczak on bass, Scott Spruill on keys and Tasha on violin) There were a couple of amazing moments where God's Spirit was really evident--some spontaneous moments where we just all sat in God's presence unscripted and unrehearsed. It's in those moments that my deepest prayer and cry is that I won't get in the way, but that God will take center stage, receive the spotlight, receive the glory and make us all aware of His greatness.

The set:
1. O, Worship the King (Passion hymns)
2. Sing to the King (Billy & Cindy Foote)
3. The Wonder of This Sight (Josh & Tasha Via)
4. Lead Me to the Cross (Hillsong)
5. Mystery (Charlie Hall)
6. Happy Day (Tim Hughes)

Thoughts on the Election

This is a little late coming, but better late than never. I frequently visit J.D. Greear's blog, a pastor in the RDU area. He doesn't know me, but we have many mutual friends, went to the same school, etc. So, I value his opinion. He's a man of God and preaches the truth of God's Word without apology. His thoughts on the election are exactly mine and he can say it way more eloquently than I. Check it out here. Then check out John Piper's thoughts as well in this video. A plethora of great thoughts comin' atchya.

11-16-08

Besides being sick over the weekend (and still getting over it), things went really well back at Ridge Church. The staff let Tasha and I do a couple of original tunes from the new album, which was fun. Nathanael Bryan, Brett Banks and Matt Nethery all did a phenomenal job.

The set:
1. Salvation Rising (J & T)
2. Salvation's Chorus (noticing a little theme?) (Todd Fields)
3. Sweetly Broken (Jeremy Riddle)
4. The Wonder of This Sight (J & T)

On another note, after church we stopped off and took a few family photos so that we could go ahead and place an order for our annual Christmas picture for our newsletter. My sister, Joy, was in town and did a wonderful job with them. The kids cooperated quite nicely after the promise of a sucker from their dad when they got home. Do whatchya gotta do!

Hey, The Healing is finally on iTunes! Go check 'em out!

Return Worship Live Recording

Yesterday was an amazing day at Southbrook Church. We had our first ever live recording. And it went better than any of us could have imagined. The presence of the Lord
was thick in the room. And people were engaged with God. Tasha and I feel privileged every time we get to share the stage with this amazing team of worship leaders, musicians and lovers of God. Word on the street is that it will be available by Christmas. We'll see how it goes. Our good friend Jake Hunter did the recording and will be doing all the post-production work, so if he has his way, I'm sure it will be done by Christmas. Thanks to all of you who served alongside us yesterday and/or prayed for us and supported us. Blessings to you all.

Here's the Set:
1. Breakthrough (led by Andy Cherry)
2. Revival's Fire (led by Andy Cherry)






3. Immanuel (led by Josh & Tasha Via)














4. Fade Away (led by Dan Rutty and LaDonna Mole)
5. Pour (led by Dan Rutty)




















6. You Do All Things Well (led by Josh Via)












7. Everything You Do (led by Sara Scott)








8. God of Me (led by Gal Friday)
9. Glory of Your Name (led by Gal Friday)
10. King Above All Gods (led by Andy, Dan, Josh and Sara)
11. Your Love Does No Wrong (led by Sara Scott)

Billy Turns 90

Billy Graham turns 90 today! It is almost unfathomable the legacy that he has left and the impact he has had in Christendom. Check out this video tribute the Charlotte Observer paid to Billy. It's pretty good.

Feet

This morning I read these verses and these verses, and was overwhelmed by the humility that Christ exemplified to save a lost sinner such as I. So, I thought I'd share my journal entry today:

11.6.08

Thank You, my Lord, for emptying Yourself to assume the form of a slave. You, the God who made the heavens stooped so low as to become one of us - a foot-washing slave.
Thank You for washing my guilty feet.
Feet that have gone to wicked places.
Feet that have carried news other than the glorious news of the Gospel.
Feet that are worn and dirty.
Nasty from the filth of the world.
And You stoop down and clean them off, knowing they'll get dirty again. Yet You are patient with my dirty feet. You patiently wash my feet over and over.

Do You ever tire or grow weary from stooping to bathe my scum?
I don't think You do.
You always have that look of love and tenderness in Your eyes, even though I constantly come back to that place of restoration, forgiveness and cleansing.
Continuously tearing my eyes away from Your tender gaze with which You stare as if to say,
"I forgive you!"
Yet You needn't even say the words. Your eyes and Your touch speak it all!
And I sit here guilty, condemned.

But then You remind me that I am in You.
So, I am not condemned.
I am free from the law of sin and death.
Free to walk out of the upstairs room of restoration with clean feet.
Feet ready to once again bear my cross for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.
Feet prepared and ready with the shoes of the Gospel of peace.
Feet that have been cleaned by the spotless Lamb of God.
Washed by the humblest of slaves and mightiest of Kings.
Cleansed by the God of the heavens whose footstool is the earth, and yet He would care about my feet?

O what love!
O what humility!
O what an unfair transaction!
Where is the justice in this act? Why do I allow myself to remain in that seated position with my God bowing to wash my feet? What do I have to offer in return? Nothing.
Yet, I can't move.
I'm frozen.
Knowing I can't repay.
My pockets are empty. But my heart is full.
Overflowing with joy - gratitude - feelings that no words can communicate adequately.

How could anyone refuse this man's touch?
His tenderness?
This love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. That I'll gladly give! Lord, I gladly give it.
Freely You gave.
Freely I have received.
These feet that You have washed and dried are Yours.
Use them as You will.
As You please.
As is fitting for the service of the King!

Oh, How I Love Jesus - Medley

Here's another clip from last Tuesday night.