he Piano Guys are fantastic musicians. I have loved their videos ever since I saw the hilarious Cello Wars video. Today, I am sharing their wonderful “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
remember being a bit of an attention hog when I was a teenager. My hobbies all seemed to be performance-related... music, drama, ... magic!
I remember standing in lines at restaurants and entertaining the other people in the line (at least I thought I was entertaining them) with sleight of hand tricks. I remember performing a sponge ball routine for my best friend’s neighbor who had just recently immigrated from Korea. When I made one of the balls seemingly jump from my closed fist to hers, she threw the balls down and ran away screaming that I had a devil. I remember showing a trick to a child in a car dealership while his parents were negotiating with a salesman. I made a quarter appear out of thin air and then pushed it through my cheek before spitting it out of my mouth. I age the quarter to the child and a few minutes later he was crying because he had tried to push the quarter through his cheek and had actually cut himself by pressing the quarter into his cheek so hard.
Ah... such wonderful memories.
But I was never as good as this apparent homeless guy with a serious water and fruit problem:
This past Sunday New Hope Bible Church [Facebook page] had a baptism. Quite a few people followed the call of God on their lives. Their ages ranged from relatively young children to adults. All equals in Christ. They entered the waters to proclaim their union with Christ... symbolically dying with him and rising again, overcomers. “Death, where is your sting... Grave, where is your victory?”
I have the humbling joy of being part of the New Hope Bible Church worship team. My band played this past week, and our leader Jesse introduced a new song to the team and to the church to go along with the baptism. And this song brought tears as we worshiped and praised our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
During the opening verses of the song, Jeremiah played the djembe, Garret played a simple shaker and high-hat cymbal, Michelle’s beautiful voice carried this message of praise, strength, and hope. And the congregation joined us as we sang, “I Will Rise.” When the music swells with the joy of what Christ has done for us the music built and we proclaimed:
I hear the voice of every angel sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
And I hear the voice of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
Praise God!
very adult American citizen has the right to vote. That right may be thrown away through illegal activities, through casting a “principled vote’ for someone who is not electable, through skipping the privilege altogether, or by simply voting the wrong way.
This message from former Governor Mike Huckabee calls on Christians to consider their vote in light of the teachings of scripture. Don’t drop the ball, Christians.
I guess maybe it’s not just those racist TEA partiers who want to keep what they’ve earned. There is wisdom in youth.
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n October 31, 1517, a young Catholic monk walked to the door of Wittenburg church and posted a message written in Latin. This monk, Martin Luther by name, was presenting his thoughts about the religious current events of his day for discussion and debate among theologians. But... he didn’t count on a civilian who could read Latin walking by, reading his 95 Theses, translating them into the common language (German) and using Gutenberg’s printing press to publish and distribute them to the masses.
And this simple, innocent act began a firestorm among the common folk, which led to anger among the religious leaders. And in the process Martin Luther became the focal point for a religious revolution—a revolution that returned the bible to its proper place as the source for everything the Christian needs to know for faith and practice.
Before Luther left the church and started the first recognized Protestant denomination, he was called to stand before a tribunal of Roman Catholic religious leaders to answer for the things he had written... such things as: salvation by faith alone... man’s total inability to conform to the righteousness demanded of us... God’s effectual plan to save sinners through faith in Christ... allowing marriage for the clergy... rejection of any statements of mere men if they contradict the bible. When this tribunal demanded that he recant his beliefs and declare his loyalty to the teachings of the Popes, he said:
Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.
Luther’s teachings so greatly angered the religious leaders of the Roman Catholic church that they put out an international death warrant on Luther. He was snatched up and taken away into exile for his own protection by his friend Prince Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony. While he lived in exile, Luther translated the entire bible into the common language so the common folk could read it. This was something that had been forbidden by the Catholic church, so anyone not trained in Latin could not read the scripture for themselves and was forced to accept whatever the religious leadership told them was contained in the bible.
During this time, Luther also wrote my favorite hymn—perhaps my favorite song of all time, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” A careful reading of the words of this hymn coupled with an understanding that, as he penned these words Luther was under an international death edict, always brings me to tears as I listen to this incredible hymn.
May we have the courage to live for Christ as Martin Luther did. May we honor his sacrifices and his life by carrying on the faith taught in the bible.
A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood
of mortal ills prevaling.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabbaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours,
through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill;
God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.
But this year President Obama has taken us to a new low. His actions as our nation’s leader have often been immature and crass and not worthy of the respect due his office. Four years of this have apparently emboldened his supporters and encouraged them to find the lowest possible ground on which to spread their lies, distortions, and rude behavior.
This first video is an appalling production put together by the advertising group responsible for the Got Milk? ad campaign. There is not one single tiny bit of truth in this video and they used children to give voice to these lies. And then on top of all the lies, they had the children say that they blame their parents for all of these incredible and false fantasies. If these children truly were the children of the future, they would be thanking their parents who voted against Obama for protecting their liberties and for protecting them from a socialist dictatorship.
The next video was produced and published by the president’s campaign. This video should be a tremendous cause for embarrassment, and would have been under any prior administration, but the Obama administration has stood by this ad and has even sent a follow-up fund-raising/get-out-the-vote email drawing attention to this ad and reminding young people that “voting is like doing it.”
Here’s the repulsive ad:
Of course, those who oppose the current administration have access to video equipment as well. Here are two responses to Lena Dunham: Your First Time:
Here’s the fictitious album cover:
Some people sabotage themselves with great frequency. I am one of those people. I suppose a therapist could help me figure out why I do this, and I’d love to know why. But more than why, I’d like to know how to stop doing that.
The quote at the top right is from Tony Robbins, whom I have a great deal of respect for. He also said, You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don’t think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully.
Today is a day for decisions. Who am I now? Who have I decided to become?
I certainly don’t want to repeat old patterns that have not worked.
Lord... don’t let this be the end.
