gonna soak it up

"God, please make me like a sponge.  help me soak up all that You would have me learn about You this week.  help me see You more clearly, love You more deeply, and obey You more readily as a result of this unique time away with You."

while that is a good prayer for every week, it's what i have been specifically asking of God as i make preparations to attend the worship conference hosted by sovereign grace ministries this week at covenant life church in gaithersburg, md.  i love the privilege of leading corporate worship, but it is a special treat when i can join in as a participant.  i was able to attend this conference in 2006 with my senior pastor, dan weyerhaeuser, and this year i'm excited to bring 3 guys from lakeland with me - matt condron, kyle sprecher, and david van nostrand.  the theme for this year's conference is worshipGod08: rediscovering the psalms.  i'm so excited i can hardly stand it!  we fly out wednesday morning (jul 30) and return saturday evening (aug 2).

please join me in praying for this conference and the four of us who are going...

(1) pray for safe travel to and from gaithersburg, md

(2) pray for our families while we are away from them

(3) pray that our fellowship would be Christ-centered and mutually edifying

(4) pray for those leading the conference, and those attending the conference

(5) pray for discernment for us to perceive what God is speaking from his Word

(6) pray for our hearts to be challenged/convicted/comforted as we encounter God in His Word.

for those of you at lakeland, i look forward to seeing you and worshiping with you on sunday morning.  i will post a report when i return.  take care...

intercession

this morning at lakeland we sang a song that my dad wrote a little over a year ago. God is so faithful. He has made a way for us to have fellowship with Him through the perfect atoning sacrifice that Jesus offered. and not only that, when we have no idea what we are supposed to pray, God has gifted us with the Holy Spirit who "intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Romans 8:26-27)

knowing that, may we make haste to come before God in all situations, with all our requests, even when we can't put them into words. hs is a good and faithful God.

the title is "intercession" and it's sung to the tune of the hymn "come thou fount of every blessing".


there's a throne that's high and holy where the glory can be seen
visible to holy angels prompting heavenly choirs to sing
"holy, holy, hallelujah, holy is the great I AM"
only pure hearts there can enter; who will rescue sinful man?

only Jesus, only Jesus bids the sinner enter in
freely saving those who cry out, blood atoning for their sin
ever living, interceding by the power of endless life
He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high

pray with us, oh Holy Spirit as we come before the throne
when our longings cannot find words Holy Spirit, make them known
pray according to the pleasure of the Father's perfect plan
in our weakness, when we falter Holy Spirit, help us stand

world's best burger

since my wife has been away visiting her family in canada these past 2 weeks, i've begun finding things to do to keep myself occupied so i don't miss her so much.  i still miss her much, but at least i'm keeping busy.  so tonight i had dinner with some friends of ours, greg and deidra.

greg had told me about this awesome burger he had at mickey finn's, a place in downtown libertyville, not too far from where i live.  he called it the world's best burger, and i had to find out for myself.  imagine with me, if you will, eight ounces of ground tenderloin with crumbled bleu cheese on a soft egg roll bun accompanied by sweet potato fries!  oh man, i do have to say that if it's not the world's best burger it sure does come close.  and all for only $10.25!  (listen to me, i sound like a commercial!)  but seriously, truly one of the best i've eaten.

we had a nice time with good conversation and good food.  sometime soon after liz gets home i'll be taking her to try the world's best burger.  red robin is a big favorite of ours, but this might prove to be some competition.  we shall see...

did adam and eve go to heaven?

earlier this week, lakeland's staff received an email from one of the families in our congregation. their 7 year-old child had asked an intriguing question, and they were seeking pastoral advice on how to best answer. i though it was great question, and wanted to share it here. the family gladly gave me their permission, but I've kept them anonymous. here's the question their child asked... "did adam and eve go to heaven?"

jim donald was first to respond...

I believe no one knows for sure; but there is good ground for presuming that Adam & Eve went to heaven. While they were banished from the Garden and kept from eating from the Tree of Life, God did provide skins for them (a gracious gesture, I think) and the knowledge about God was obviously passed on to their offspring. I don't read as much into the "skins" thing as some have. Adam and Eve had a wonderful relationship with God before the Fall; and I cannot imagine them not wanting that restored, nor God not allowing for their repentance and full restoration via the (anticipated) blood of Christ.

Genesis 3:21 - The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove them out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

i responded second...

Pastor Jim has some good thoughts. I agree with him, and also had some additional thoughts. (this is a really good question, by the way.)  Like I said before, we know that Abraham is counted righteous by God (saved) because of his faith in God's promise. Hebrews 11 tells us of him and many others from the Old Testament before Christ. Also, Romans 4 tells us that it was Abraham's faith in the promise of God. 4:21-22 "...and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Read
Galatians 3 for more insight into Abraham's salvation by faith.

In addition to what Pastor Jim said, I think that we can assume (and 'assume' is the key word here, but nevertheless I do think it's safe in this case) that Adam and Eve believed God's promises as well, resulting in their salvation. I take this from Genesis 3:15 when God, in the middle of laying out the consequences (curse) for their sin, gives a wonderful promise of hope, often referred to as the proto-gospel. "And I will put enmity between you [serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he [the woman's seed] shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." Here is God's wonderful promise that He will not leave mankind in their sin, but make a way to redeem them (save them). How could Adam and Eve know what that redemption would eventually look like? Well, we know now because of our place in history. We can look back and see how God's story of redemption has unfolded, and the fulfillment of God's promise of redemption through Jesus. But in their limited scope of knowledge, all they could do is hang on to the promise that God made. And that promise would come through a seed (or offspring, descendant).

Eve makes two statements that I think give us reason to assume that she believed God's promise to bring deliverance through her seed. First, when she gave birth to Cain she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." (Gen.4:1) I think this is more than general thanksgiving for a son. Second, after Abel is killed and she gives birth to Seth she said, "God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel; for Cain killed him." (Gen 4:25) Both phrases "gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD" and "God has appointed me another offspring" seem to echo God's promise of the woman's seed crushing the head of the serpent, indicating that Eve continued to hope in and believe God's promise. Also, we know Jesus came from the line of Seth (Luke 3:38) Perhaps this last statement is irrelevant in the question of Adam and Eve's salvation, but it nonetheless proves God's faithfulness to keep His promise.

Another thought I had was that this is not just about finding a good answer for your child's wonderful question, but yet another opportunity for you to point to the gospel and to define what saving faith is. The entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, show us that putting our faith and trust in the promise of God brings salvation, and that great promise we have from our faithful God is that he has sent to us Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sin. And that salvation is found in Christ, and in Him alone.

at the present time, jim and i were the only ones to respond. i said that our children's ministry director, judy crockett, would probably be very helpful in putting all this into an answer that would be appropriate and accessible for an inquisitive young child.  how cool that a 7 year-old is asking these kind of questions!

hand update

well, i just got back from seeing the doctor about my hand injury. it has almost been 1 month exactly since i fell and hurt it while liz and i were running in italy. this was a follow-up visit. x-rays were taken on my first visit, and thankfully it's not broken and nothing is dislocated. the doctor said it's probably a bad sprain or a bruised bone. it has improved so much, though. every day it feels better. he was a little concerned that it had been a bout a month and was still hurting. if, by the middle of august, it is still sore he wants me to come back in for another x-ray.

i can play the piano just fine, but it is a little frustrating that i am unable to lift weights. i asked the doctor about push-ups and he suggested doing them on my fists. so, i just tried regular push-ups a minute ago which are still painful, and then on my fists which alleviate some of the pressure, but not all of it. sheesh, i was doing so well staying in shape. oh well, gotta think of some other ways until this hand completely heals.

looking forward to worshipgod 08: rediscovering the psalms

well, i've spent most of today working on details and final arrangements for next week's sovereign grace worship conference that i'll be attending. i'm really excited to be able to go back. in 2006 i had the pleasure to attend with my sr. pastor, dan weyerhaeuser, and this year i'm taking three guys with me. i always like having someone else attend a conference with me so we can discuss it after we've left, and this group of guys will be good. and i have a couple friends that live in the d.c. area, so i'm hoping that we'll get to connect while i'm there.

the conference is held in gaithersburg, md, at covenant life church. i remember how refreshed i was after leaving the conference in 2006, and i'm excited for these other guys to experience that. this year's theme is 'rediscovering the psalms'. some favorite speakers will be talking in the general sessions, including mark dever and thabiti anabwile. also, sov grace will have their new worship record, called 'psalms', available.

i'm back

it's been exactly one month since my last entry, and a lot has happened. i'm not gonna try and play catch up, so i'll just summarize...


italy was fantastic. liz and i had such a great time. beautiful art, great weather, cool history, tasty food, and of course a romantic 2 weeks with each other. we spent the first week in florence, and the second week in rome. we ate gelato at least once a day, sometimes twice. probably the most fun we had was a day bike tour in the tuscan countryside. we toured a winery and saw some magnificent scenery. i did fall once while we were running in the morning (i won't go into the whole thing), and hurt my left hand pretty bad. not broken or dislocated, but a reall y bad bruise. i went once to the doctor and had x-rays. will go back again the end of this week.

liz and i came back from this vaca so rested and relaxed. although we thoroughly enjoyed our time away, we were ready to get back home. i eased into work, still recovering from the time difference. it was very good to be back at church that sunday morning. it was brad andersons really-for-real last day before they moved, so i had him play drums one last time. good times.

a week ago yesterday, liz drove up to her parents' house and they left together to visit her sister and brother-in-law up in new brunswick. they just moved there a couple weeks ago and liz and her parents are helping them get set up and visiting with them. i've talked with liz a few times and she is having a good time. i'm keeping busy here at home so i won't miss my wife too bad. (but i do!) i've had the opp to hang out with some good friends, which has been nice. liz will return on august 2nd, just as i'm returning from the sovereign grace worship conference in gaithersburg, md. very much looking forward to that. (the conference, and liz returning!)

okay, i'll consider myself caught up. i always love summer because of the time to rest and rejuvenate, but i always find myself ready for the structure that the coming change of season will bring. back to preparing for tonight's worship rehearsal. i love my job! :-)