Scripture Memorization - It is possible!

Have you ever tried to memorize Scripture only to get frustrated and fail? Memorization is a difficult thing for me. Today I heard a convicting message ("Authority of Christ in the Great Commission") in which the pastor, Dr.David Platt, (~30years old, travels all the time, leads a 4,000+ member church=busy!) had memorized half of the book of Romans (chapters 1-8). It was inspiring and powerful to hear the Word of God so well communicated. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Prayer Quote - E.M. Bounds

This is an awesome but convicting quote!!

"The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." E.M. Bounds

Rembrandt van Rijn, David in Prayer, 1652

Dependent on Ourselves or Desperate for God?

Do you "do life" day to day in your own power and skills? Do you “do church” within your own comforts and abilities? Today I was blessed to hear convicting message on “The Presence of Christ in the Great Commission” by Dr. David Platt, the pastor at the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Platt exposited Exodus 33 with these four main points:

1. We have an assignment we cannot fulfill
2. We have a privilege we cannot forsake
3. We have a family we cannot forget
4. We have a God we cannot fathom (1 Corinthians 2:10-16)

I know I often rely on my own power, skills, and abilities in "doing life" and "doing church." I know I must become more and more reliant on His power through the Holy Spirit who especially equips us through the Bible and prayer.

Are you truly desperate for God? Are you totally dependent on Him?

Guitar Hero vs. Guitar Praise

Have you ever played Guitar Hero? Are you interested in a Christian version?

I was excited to see that GuitarPraise made it into the national news this week.

I really enjoyed playing Guitar Hero (it is a lot of fun!) but felt convicted to get rid of it from our student ministry earlier this summer due to a combination of lyrics, outfits, a location set in hell, and a devil character option (as your ability improves, less desirable features become accessible).

GuitarPraise is a great alternative for Christians (SVBC Student Ministry has already preordered it w/2 guitars). It operates off of computers and includes a wireless guitar. The producers of this game, Digital Praise, also offer a Dance Dance Revolution alternative known as Dance Praise.

GuitarPraise has over 50 songs from bands such as: Caedmons Call, Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, dc Talk, Flyleaf, Hawk Nelson, Jennifer Knapp, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Lincoln Brewster, Newsboys, Reliant K, Skillet, Stellar Kart, Thousand Foot Krutch, tobyMac, Todd Agnew, & Whitecross.

Hell's Best Kept Secret

Have you given thought to why so many people who claim to be Christians are absent from the church, have no evidence of “spiritual fruit,” have no love of God’s Word, live amoral lifestyles, and have vague descriptions of their faith? Have you heard words or phrases such as “repent,” “God’s wrath,” “hell,” and “false converts” in a helpful and biblically-accurate way recently? “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” and “True vs. False Conversion” by Ray Comfort are two great sermons and resources to use for evaluating your own approach to and understanding of evangelism and salvation. Consider watching, listening, or reading these sermons and then dive into Scripture to evaluate these claims for yourself. Check out their website, http://www.livingwaters.com/ and see what you think. Acts 17:11 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” I love the below quotes... "Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms." – C.S. Lewis “Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit I would desire to die practicing it.” – Matthew Henry "God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination." – Augustine “Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of ­eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success.” – Hudson Taylor "Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus." - Elton Trueblood