I’m so privileged to know this guy. Dilip is an amazing, Spirit-led worship leader. His first CD is coming out soon, but you can check out the first single now.
Go to iTunes, download this song, and then get ready for even more incredible music when his full CD is released in about a month. Trust me on this one…
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
King Josiah is widely regarded as one of the greatest reformers of Judah. He led a revival in Israel that led to the people cleaning out their idols and worshipping God in ways that hadn’t been seen since the time of King David.
This whole revival started with a Book. Not just any book, but the Book of the Law (the Bible).
When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. And then he called for Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s personal aide. He ordered them all: “Go and pray to God for me and for this people—for all Judah! Find out what we must do in response to what is written in this Book that has just been found! God’s anger must be burning furiously against us—our ancestors haven’t obeyed a thing written in this book, followed none of the instructions directed to us.”
Josiah’s leadership was already stellar. The Bible describes Josiah this way: “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” But 18 years into his reign as king, the Scriptures were rediscovered and his leadership went up a notch.
At the end of Josiah’s life, something is recorded about him that isn’t mentioned about any other king:
The prophet Jeremiah composed funeral songs for Josiah, and to this day choirs still sing these sad songs about his death. These songs of sorrow have become a tradition and are recorded in The Book of Laments.
Do you want to take your life up a notch? Get into God’s Word and let it get into you and change the way you think and live.
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I’m still thinking about the powerful worship time we had in our Impact youth service on Wednesday night. I can’t think of another way to describe it, except to say that it was intimate.
We sang a song written by Michael Gungor called Wrap Me In Your Arms. The lyrics are simple:
There is a God who loves me
Who wraps me in His arms
And that is the place where I’m changed
And that’s where I belong
Take me to that place, Lord,
To that secret place where
I can be with You
You can make me like You
Wrap me in Your arms
Wrap me in Your arms
Wrap me in Your arms
Far too many people view God as a Judge. Make no mistake, God will judge all of humanity at the end of the age, but in the meantime, Scripture portrays God as a loving Father who wants to wrap us in His arms.
I love the picture in the story Jesus tells of the prodigal son: The young man who ran away from his father and squandered all of the wealth he had taken with him. When he reached the end of his rope, the wayward son turned toward home. If you were thinking of returning home after embarrassing your father and throwing away his money, would you want to return to a judge or a father?
The young man did turn toward home, and his father ran to him and wrapped him in his arms! How amazing!
On Wednesday night I encouraged our youth group to simply stretch their arms out toward their Heavenly Father and feel Him wrap them in His arms. It was so special to see tear-streaked cheeks and outstretched arms in the loving embrace of a God who loves anyone who turns to Him. Awesome!
I encourage you to do the same.
If you’ve blown it … if you feel distant from God … if you feel like you’ve let Him down … if you feel like you’ve embarrassed Him … see Him as a Father who is longing for you to return to Him. He will not judge you, but He will wrap you in His arms and make everything new.
If you wait until your life here is over without ever turning to God, then you will have to face God the Judge. Don’t wait! Embrace God your Father today.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
After reading Mark Batterson’s book Primal, I started thinking quite a bit about the “stuff” that gets accumulated in our walk with Christ. Especially church traditions.
I find it amazing that neither Jesus nor Paul nor Peter nor any other biblical writer gave us a format for how we should “do” church. Over time we’ve just come to expect that a church service will have some songs, announcements, an offering time, some special music, and a sermon. But even changing the order of the service is so jarring to some people that they treat it like one of the Ten Commandments has been broken.
We can’t just keep doing church the way we’ve always done church. Sometimes we need to step back to ask, “Why do we do what we do?”
So I’ve been spending some time reading through the Book of Psalms. I want to get back to the essence of worship.
Since I love sports, I frequently go back to sports analogies. Several years ago I read David Maraniss’ excellent biography on Vince Lombardi. Every year the Green Bay Packers coach went into pre-season drills with a stronger and stronger passion to win. Here’s how Maraniss describes it:
“He began a tradition of starting from scratch, assuming that the players were blank slates who carried over no knowledge from the year before. He reviewed the fundamentals of blocking and tackling, the basic plays, how to study the playbook. He began with the most elemental statement of all. ’Gentleman,’ he said, holding a pigskin in his right hand, ’this is a football.’”
I know it is highly personal.
I know it is based on what attributes of God I have experienced firsthand.
I know God loves it when I worship Him.
As for the other details, well, I’m still wrestling with that.
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Last night we held our first Rock In The New Year. It was a great night of local Christian bands and a lot of fun. Best of all, we raised some money for the families of the two children we sponsor through Latin America Child Care. I want to give a BIG shout-out to Josh Schram for his excellent organization skills. He was the vision behind this wonderful night.
Pictures of the festivities are here.
The other day my son Harrison and I were talking about the books he was reading. Like a chip off the old block, he loves to read almost as much as I do (just makes a Dad so proud!). Our discussion about reading was about the variety of genres. I suggested that just like a healthy diet for our bodies includes a variety of healthy foods, so should our mental diet include a healthy variety.
We are all creatures of habit. In fact, some scientists estimate that as much as 90% of our daily routines are things we do by unconscious habit. We just do it because we’ve always done it.
You know when your daily routine has been messed up, don’t you? You feel agitated and out-of-sorts. You think, “I just don’t feel like myself today.” Because you are not yourself: your routines, your habits have been shaken up.
So if unplanned things mess up your routine and make you grumpy, can I propose something else? Instead of waiting for something unexpected to shake up your routine, go ahead and sHAkE it uP on purpose.
Do something far from the norm, completely different, out of the box. Who knows, you may uncover an unhealthy routine that needs to be changed, or you may find there’s something new that you never realized you would have liked so much.
As Mark Twain said, “Take your mind out every now and then and dance on it. It is getting all caked up.”
I’d love to hear about your adventures in shaking up your routines. What are you going do to sHAkE it uP this week?
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Health experts say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your body has been without food (or fasting) during the hours you are asleep, so in the morning you are breaking your fast = break-fast.
Do you want to lose weight? Eat breakfast. Studies show that those who do best on their diets eat breakfast every morning.
Do you want to fire up your metabolism to burn more calories during the day? Eat breakfast. The way you stoke your body’s engine in the morning determines how it will run all day.
Do you want to maintain a stable blood sugar level so you don’t get sleepy mid-morning? Eat breakfast. A good breakfast regulates your insulin and blood sugar levels.
Do you want to learn more? Eat breakfast. Studies show those who eat breakfast regularly have longer attention spans and greater learning capacities.
What you put in your body in the morning determines the course of the rest of your day.
What you put in your mind in the morning determines the course of the rest of your day, too.
Even if you’re not a “morning person” your mind is highly receptive in the hours right after you wake up. So a healthy mental breakfast goes a long way toward how you will deal with the situations that face you throughout your day.
Just a few things to consider—
The psalmist David had a God-diet each morning, “Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You” (Psalm 143:8, The Living Bible).
Jesus had a healthy mental breakfast, too: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mark 1:35).
So let me ask you: What’s your morning mental breakfast like? do you need to make a diet change? I think a few tweaks and you will begin to see some remarkable changes for the better! Try it out and let me know.
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Aaah, amoré… love! Isn’t it wonderful to be in love? When you fell in love with your sweetheart, I’ll bet you had a special “love song” just for the two of you. Betsy and I did, and it’s still our special song today.
There’s something about music and song that seems to fuel the emotions of love. Something about those words and those haunting melodies that speak to our hearts unlike anything else can. A poem set to music.
Yesterday I wrote about God’s strong and loving hands—powerful enough to provide, loving enough to hold just you.
But did you know that God also sings a love song about you? Check it out—
The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
Isn’t it amazing to think about God being so delighted with you that He sings you a love song?! I believe it is a song written and sung just for you! And I don’t think God has just one song for you.
Think about how music has impacted you. Maybe you’ve cranked up that special tune when you’re out with friends … or the song you played over and over to help you through a tough time … or the love song that is special just for the two of you … or the ready-for-battle song you used to get pumped up for the big game! Special songs for special moments.
In every season of your life, listen for God’s special song just for you and then join in the song with Him—
But each day the LORD pours His unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing His songs, praying to God Who gives me life. (Psalm 42:8, New Living Translation)
Sing for joy, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion upon His afflicted. (Isaiah 49:13, Amplified Bible)
But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. (Psalm 59:16, New International Version)
Are you hearing any of God’s love songs today? Are you singing along?
Most mornings when I wake up there is a song echoing in my mind. This morning it was Switchfoot’s song “More Than Fine” (lyrics here).
Lately, I’ve been noticing some clichés in our culture that are survival-oriented—
I suppose for some, this is how they view life. But this should never be the mindset for followers of Jesus Christ.
Jesus didn’t die on a Cross for us, conquer death and rise again so we could have an okay life. He came to give us overflowing life. Of all people, those who are in a personal relationship with Jesus should be the most more-than-okay people of anyone!
You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. (Psalm 23:5 NLT)
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (John 10:10 AMP)
Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, His blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! (Ephesians 1:7-8 MSG)
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV)
Today is the only today you will ever get. You don’t have to just survive today, you don’t have to just make it through this day, you don’t have to settle for just okay. You can live for more than okay today, you can experience God’s abundance, and you can revel in the overflowing life Jesus’ resurrection purchased for you!
Craig T. Owens 