The Bride - Lecrae

This is a song Called The Bride by my favorite artist Lecrae. I think he is a great modern preacher!

Verse 1:

She's a building of beings bein' constructed, Christ is the cornerstone
Foundation built on another and you's a goner homes
She's built on Him, supported by Him, conformed to Him
Now she's a body of bodies who transformed through Him
A temple that breathes, we are the halls
We are the floorboards or more, we are the walls
Manifold wisdom of God no longer a mystery
The church is the pinnacle of our salvific history
One flesh union homie
The Tri-union is glorified through our corporatized communion
Still the present reality is she was born a casualty
Though she's made alive she's still affected by depravity
Once lived in sin and enslaved by her lust and
Folks catch her slippin' and they turn away disgusted
She's a work in progress, Christ is the head of her
And He wash her clean with the words He done said to her
Already pretty but really she's not dressed
And sometimes she look silly but she's far from a mess
Yes, please don't be dissin' cause Jesus done paid grip
And if you didn't then you should call her Misses
I'm talking 'bout the Church

Hook:

I know she may look gritty
When her Man come back she gone look so pretty
She the Church
You might see her actin' crazy
Be patient with her though cause she still God's baby
She the Church
Before you diss her, get to know her
Jesus got a thing for her and He died just to show her
She the Church
She ain't bricks and buildings
She all of God's people, men women and children
We the Church

Verse 2:

Her name is Ecclesia, meaning the assembly
Bows to the Trinity, no other divinity
A body, family and a community she is all one
But on Earth you see her in congregational small ones
A microcosm or a small scale example
But it is the church even though it's just a sample
Invisible, spiritual, physical, visible
Not a brick temple, never that simple
This a not a building, she is not bricks
She's a world changer but ain't 'bout gettin' rich
Perpetratin' fakes cause a lot of folks to hate
Plus her hands get dirty and her feet get scraped
And sometimes her body parts start acting outta place
Legs tryna be the arms, arms thinkin' they the face
But she'll never be replaced with a one man band
Or a small Taliban with nobody in command

Hook

Verse 3:

Some don't get it so they hate
They say she's on a paper chase, they say she's really fake
So they go start a ministry so they can do the work
But they don't understand how Jesus feel about His Church
And yeah they make disciples, got plenty conversions
They take care of the widows and the orphans, man they be workin'
But none of them are Church and no church structure
No elders and no discipline, they have no conductor
And they don't submit, but quite a few of them are baptized
People how I pray that you'd look at this thing from God's eyes
Take responsibility inside the whole council
Not just the area where you might have a mouthful
Who should folks submit to, who'll conduct the discipline?
If excommunicated, what body will they be missin' then?
Peep Ephesians 4 where Paul gets practical
1 Timothy and Titus if you thinkin' I'm irrational

Hook

D.A. Carson on Power

This is a repost of a blog by DA Carson

Posted: 19 Jan 2010 10:00 PM PST

Genesis 21; Matthew 20; Nehemiah 10; Acts 20

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Lord Acton wrote that all power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The founding fathers of the American Republic would not have disagreed. That is one of the reasons why they constructed a government with checks and balances — they did not want any one branch to have too much power, because they knew that sooner or later it would be corrupted. That is also a primary reason why they wanted constitutionally mandated democratic voting. It was not because they trusted the wisdom of people as a collective — their writings show that they were very nervous about giving too much power to popular vote. But they wanted a mechanism for voting people out of office, replacing them with others. That way, no one in power could unceasingly accumulate power: sooner or later the people could turf them out, and without bloodshed.

Jesus understands the nature of power in all governmental hierarchy: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them” (Matt. 20:25). Sad to say, ecclesiastical power can be equally corrupting. That is why Jesus sets out a radically different paradigm: “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (20:26-27).

It is of vital importance to the health of the church that we understand this passage aright. Three reflections may focus its meaning.

First, the ultimate model in this respect is the Lord Jesus himself, who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (20:28). This is not only a great text about the substitutionary nature of the atonement Jesus achieved when he died on the cross (cf. 20:17-19), but powerful insistence that the life and death of Jesus are to constitute the measure of Christian leadership.

Second, becoming a slave of all most emphatically does not mean that leaders must become servile, stupid, ignorant, or merely nice ó any more than Jesus’ leadership and sacrifice were characterized by such incompetence.

Third, what it does mean is that Christian leadership is profoundly self-denying for the sake of others, like Christ’s ultimate example of self-denial for the sake of others. So the church must not elevate people to places of leadership who have many of the gifts necessary to high office, but who lack this one. To lead or teach, for example, you must have the gift of leadership or teaching (Rom. 12:6-8). But you must also be profoundly committed to principled self-denial for the sake of brothers and sisters in Christ, or you are disqualified.

Genesis 21; Matthew 20; Nehemiah 10; Acts 20 is a post from: For the Love of God

Advice to Obama from a Veteran

This is a letter I received in an email and it seemed worth sharing. This letter is from a WWII veteran. I checked this out on snopes and it says this letter is correctly attributed.



Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
"We're no longer a Christian nation"

"America is arrogant" - (Your wife even announced to the world, "America is mean spirited." Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)


I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts, who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

Settled In - For Just A Little While

On my recent hiking trip I had a great deal of time to think and pray, even more than I had planned. After I made the decision to not continue with the full hike I had a great deal of unplanned time on my hands. To give you a hint of how much time – I finished 3 books, watched several movies, did some short day hikes and still had time to cook a little and consider life in general.

I found myself surprisingly content in a way that I have not been in a long time. The best way I could it explain it to my friend was “I am settling into my age.” Let me elaborate on what I mean for those of you who are older than me and about to get a little ruffled over that statement.

In hiking terms:
On the first day we hike 11 long and difficult miles. At the end of the day we were exhausted and a little unsure of what we have committed too. We finally found the campsite, took our packs off and ate dinner. We stayed busy setting up the camp and getting things ready for the next day but at least we were not walking up hill anymore.

We had a lot of hard miles to cover the following day and none of us were sure what would be in store ahead but for those few hours we had settled into camp. The tension began to melt away and suddenly I looked around and realized I was surrounded by the handy work of an amazing creator.

Application:
I have put in some long hard miles the past few years but I feel like I have settled in for a little while. It’s not that I am stagnant but that I am doing the chores that need to be done right now and preparing for what is to come the best I can based on the knowledge gained from the previous miles.

I have no idea what God has in store for the next stage of my life but I am grateful for the few moments of being settled in and the contentment that comes with it. The thoughts of tomorrow and the wonder of what is to come are right below the surface but for a few moments you I just marvel at what God has done.

Turn in Your Neighbors.....One Step Closer

My friend sent me an email this morning with a link to the white house blog on it. I of course had to read it for myself because I thought this sounds utterly bazaar but low and behold here is the direct quote:

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

In case you want to read the whole post for yourself: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things

So now they are asking us to patrol the Internet and our emails and turn them into the government so they may control what is going around.

Hmm I am the only one that sees parades of Hitler youth marching by in my head right now. This is just out there.

Well perhaps as we march toward the destruction of our democratic freedoms we are also marching towards the soon coming of the Lord Jesus; this is our silver lining in an otherwise sad state of things.

Don't Waste Your Life

I decided to change my myspace song last week and found that my favorite rap artist is on tour and coming to our area. My excitement overflowed and I sought out the few friends I have that enjoy the same genre and imediately planned the trip.

I am so excited to see a generation of truly talented musicians raise up and preach the word of God. This is not watered down sugar coated theology; this is in your face challenging gospel! This is a challenge to all of those who think that people have to be "drawn in" and then given the gospel. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ brought to the masses in a language they can understand. But, God is not disrespected with some flimsy interpretation or some watered down version of His word, this is "lyrical preaching." Preach on brothers!!

I am posting an interview with a pastor that makes this same point very well.
There is also a Lecrae video posted for any of you who have not had the opportunity to experince this fantastic music! Get past your style and enter in. Enjoy!

No Mr. President

This is a short little diddy by John Piper called "No Mr. President."
Preach on brother!