A pastor in Louisville has re-written the words to ‘Amazing Grace’ in order to point out how many inside Christianity view salvation.

“We must not water down God’s truth. Eternity is at stake for the unbeliever. And, God’s grace is at stake of becoming something weak and no longer meaningful. The gospel is robbed of it’s power to transform lives and GRACE, GOD’S BEAUTIFUL GRACE IS MADE INTO NOTHING MORE THAN SOMETHING THAT IS ALRIGHT, pretty cool, possibly needed for the heathen. And we might come together and sing the following:

Lackluster Grace (Now sing with me, the words will be up on the screen)

Lackluster grace, how mediocre the sound
That helped a pretty good person like me;
I was slightly off track, but now I’m walking perfectly fine.
Was slightly near-sighted with a partial astigmatism, but now I have 20/20… vision.

We are studying through the Lord’s Prayer on Wednesday evenings and in study today I was reminded of an old hymn we used around our table growing up a few times. The words are by John Cennick and the tune is the doxology tune.

Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,
For life and health and every good;
By Thine own hand may we be fed;
Give us each day our daily bread.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our good,
But more because of Jesus’ blood;
Let manna to our souls be giv’n,
The Bread of Life sent down from Heav’n.

I have a few posts I am working on, but with a few extra things going on I have not finished too many thoughts. However, here is a double blast from the past for those who grew up in the 80’s: Lego’s and Indiana Jones all wrapped up into one! I haven’t had time to play it, but it made me smile. I can just hear my sister talking about Harrison Ford Lego man and calling him a beanie-head!

This may be the only time this blog mentions the NBC show ER, but this clip about a dying cancer patient challenging a liberal chaplain is a great scene. (I have not seen the rest of this episode)

(ht:JT)

The children are learning about the armor of God in Children’s Worship.  Today Tyler came home and said,

Dad, where is the Playmobil Sword of the Spirit.  We have to find it!

I ran across this hymn today in my study. By reading it, it appears John Newton was not a big fan of the winter. Maybe he even got a case of the winter blues as many do. I hope this will encourage those of you who are starting to feel such blues. It is also a great hymn for cheering one’s soul with the presence of Christ when outward circumstances are gray and bleak.

How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus I no longer see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me;
The midsummer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay.
But when I am happy in Him,
December’s as pleasant as May.

His Name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music His voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice.
I should, were He always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal as happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.

Content with beholding His face,
My all to His pleasure resigned,
No changes of season or place
Would make any change in my mind:
While blessed with a sense of His love,
A palace a toy would appear;
All prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.

Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song,
Say, why do I languish and pine?
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from the sky,
Thy soul cheering presence restore;
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.

I have heard this is the most quoted verse in the Bible in our day and age, and yet one often misunderstood. Many use it to suggest that we are not to show discernment or make determinations about what is right or wrong. Today if we call something sin for which one must be held accountable for , we are often quoted this verse from Matthew 7 and Luke 6. In the context of Matthew 7 and the sermon on the mount we must conclude that this verse is not instructing Christians to stop determining what is right or wrong, nor about being discerning. However, it does call into question the manner in which we carry ourselves and treat others. Enter Dan Burton and the Roger Clemen’s trial:

Congressman Dan Burton, asking former trainer Brian McNamee “That’s a lie, right?” after reading his statement. And that’s not all, Dan Burton was on McNamee’s case throughout his testimony, saying things like “You’re here as a sworn witness yet we have lie after lie after lie. I don’t know what to believe. I know one thing I don’t believe. That’s you!” and “Roger Clemens is a baseball titan, and with all these lies, you have destroyed him and his reputation. How can we believe you? This kind of circus really bothers me.” Naturally, the comments made by Rep. Dan Burton are making headlines.

All in all, what Congressman Dan Burton said may be true. McNamee has lied and is not the most believable person in the world. However, it has brought up all kinds of discussion this morning on the news and radio today, and these hosts are now googling the name ‘Dan Burton’ and digging up his questionable past. Yesterday he stood up in a condemning manner against Mr. McNamee. His tone was harsh and his words were sharp. Today he is being given little grace in the media’s scrutiny of his life.

This is exactly what the passages in Matthew and Luke tell us will happen. If we are harsh with others, then there will be a harsh standard by which we will be judged. If we are quick to expose everyone else’s faults, others will be quick to expose our faults. As Christians we are to be discerning and concerned about what is right and wrong, but we must also be forgiving and gracious in our speech and actions. If we have been forgiven much, we should forgive much in others. If we have been loved when sinners, we should show love to those who are in sin. If we have been considered righteousnot because of our own works but because of Christ’s, surely we should not be self-righteous and look at others splinters while the planks of our own life/sin are still easily seen.

Click on the Picture to enter the drawing.

This month’s sponsor is Franklin Springs Family Media. Franklin Springs exists “to provide families with top-quality DVDs that set forth a vision for the fullness of a God-honoring family life.” Their vision “is focused squarely on providing a picture of the exciting reformation that’s happening in families across the country. It’s a world of courageous servant/leader fathers, nurturing mothers who embrace the nobility of raising children, and children who embody the joyous adventure of being raised in a unified family.” If you have read this blog for any length of time you’ll know that I have reviewed most of the existing Franklin Springs titles and have found them well worth owning and well worth viewing.

The Prizes

• First prize: Five Films Gift Pack: Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story, Inherit the Land: Adventures on the Agrarian Journey, The Eden String Quartet: A Bountiful Blessing, A Journey Home, The Peasall Sisters: Family Harmony.
• Second prize: New Films Pack: Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story, Inherit the Land: Adventures on the Agrarian Journey.
• Third Prize: Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story.

This morning there was an article on Yahoo that stated:

New research in the U.S has suggested living to one hundred could be a lot easier than imagined. University of Rochester researchers have has suggested that even people who develop heart disease or diabetes late in life are still able to reach the century mark. More than 500 women and 200 men who had reached one hundred were assessed for the project, which found roughly two-thirds had avoided significant age-related ailments.

That article replaced one of yesterdays lead articles and one of the saddest stories I have read in awhile.

It was the first dance of a marriage that was not to be. Kim Sjostrom and Teddy Efkarpides had been married for less than an hour on January 19 when the bride crumpled in her husband’s arms during a rendition of a Greek song that means simply “love me”. At 36, Ms Sjostrom was dead from heart disease.

And yesterday there was another life nearly ended “early” in the hockey world (don’t play this if blood bothers you).

None of us know the number of our days. However, God does and intends for us to live them for His glory. Seize the day in this way. In the words of John Piper, “don’t waste your life away.” In Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan gives us a wonderful contrast of how true believers seizing the day versus what men often do. Christians and Hopeful met up with a Mr. ByEnds. He was a fair weather Christian who pursued his own interests above the kingdom of God. Mr. Byends parted ways with them and described (Mr. Byends considers all of this a negative) Christian and Hopeful as different from him in a glorious way:

Why, in their belligerent manner they (Christian and Hopeful) conclude it’s their duty to rush on their journey in all kinds of weather, and I’m waiting for the proper wind and tide. They’re in favor of hazarding everything for God at any moment, and I’m in favor taking all advantages to secure my life and estate. They’re in favor of holding their notions even though all other men are against them, but I’m in favor of religion in what and for as far as the times and my safety will sustain it. They’re in favor or Religion when in rags and contempt, but I’m in favor of him when we walks in his golden slippers in the sunshine and with applause.

It was brought to my attention today that a video I had embed had an inappropriate link in it. I was unaware of this and apologize. The problem has now been fixed. Youtube automatically links other “related” videos after a video is played and there is no telling what will be there. If you, like me, enjoy embedding videos from time to time on your blog, here is how you turn off any “related” video links, and it is very simple! This might be helpful to do instead of linking to Youtube and then having the videos on Youtube show these “related” videos at the end on their own site.

How do I turn off the “related videos” feature in the embedded player?

If you’d like to turn off the option to see related videos through your embedded player, simply add “&rel=0″ after the video ID number in the embed code. Here’s an example of what your embed code should look like if you’d like to turn off this feature:

<embed src= "http://www.youtube.com/v/xxxxxx&rel=0” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash”

wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>