Our friends, Red Mountain Church Music, have released their 5th album titled "This Breaks My Heart of Stone". With this album, they are still mining the rich depths of the Gadsby Hymnal as they continue to add meaningful hymns back into the church life. They are also flexing their sonic muscle as they get more creative in the studio and add layers of musical depth to these words. I would highly recommend adding this album to your collection - and to be challenged by what this small group of saints are doing ... reaching back into the history of the church, and pulling the truth, words and melodies into our 21st century lives.
Also, another group related to this is Indelible Grace. They have also released their 5th album "Wake Thy Slumbering Children". This is the group that is credited with, at least, popularly beginning to re-do old hymns in modern melodies and instruments. Their new album continues their practice of a consistent rotating roster of musicians: Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Matthew Perryman Jones, Matthew Smith and others. The songs on here are challenging to the faith and your walk in it. This is another album I would highly recommend getting - it will only add to your worship of our Living and True God.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I feel fine.
The birth of our daughter is getting closer and closer on the horizon --- we are expecting a late March/early April birth. The nursery is coming together – there is a crib, little pink dresses in the closet, and stuffed animals waiting for a little girl to play with! It is an exciting time, and we would appreciate your prayers in this time!
Ever since we have announced that Beth is pregnant, we have had many wonderful folks give us moral and prayer support --- and that is very encouraging to me and Beth! We have been overwhelmed with how much people care about us, especially in this time. But, to be honest, there have been things said that haven’t been as encouraging.
Beth and I have both been surprised to hear how some parents have related to us how miserable they view parenthood and their children. From things such as “it is just so bad … you will be so lost and scared … they will take away so much of your time … they just will suck the life from you” to “We can’t wait for them to get out of the house … my 18 year sentence is almost done, and we will celebrate … just keep reminding yourself that they will be gone by the time they are 18, and then your life can begin again … it’s the end of your world, and, maybe, one day you will get it back.” Not exactly the model of joyful encouragement, huh?
Now, I am not so naïve as to think that we will have this idyllic time at home – a beautiful baby girl who just smiles, and loves, and sleeps, and never cries! No – I am fully expecting sleepless nights, hours of crying, smelly diapers, and aggravating moments. I know that my daughter is totally depraved, and will act that way. But, how am I any different from her in that respect?
I, too, am totally depraved. You, too, are totally depraved. How would you feel if your Father in heaven spoke about you the way these parents have talked about their children? What encouragement would you have knowing that God viewed His Fatherhood as some of these parents view it?
I still pitch fits … I still throw temper-tantrums … I still kick my legs, thrash my arms, yell and scream until I get my way. The only difference between me and a child is that I have learned how to do it in a more civil and acceptable manner – I do it like other adults do! But, my God in heaven sees through that adult veneer and He sees me, as His child, one who still struggles with being selfish, boorish, arrogant, egotistical, and full of pride. Thankfully, He doesn’t throw up His arms and bemoan ever creating me, loving me and supporting me. No, He does the exact opposite.
In the midst of my sinful struggles, God has said to me, “I have so loved you, that I gave to you My only Son, and because you believe in Him, you will never perish, but will have everlasting life with Me.” Instead of God commiserating with the angels in heaven about what a little demon James McManus is, He says to me, “I want you to call me Abba (Greek equivalent for Daddy), because that is how much I love you and how I want you to relate to me!” Instead of telling others how much He can’t wait until He is rid of me, He is preparing a mansion in Heaven for me, and has thrown open the gates of Heaven for me to enter in. Thankfully, God doesn’t treat me as some earthly parents talk about their true feelings for their children.
The same is, of course, true for you --- you are, spiritually, just like a little child – you cry and moan when you don’t get your way … you throw spiritual fits when you are unhappy … you rebel against your loving Father many, many, many times. Yet, how does God treat you? The same as He has treated me. He loves you, accepts you, takes care of you, and promises eternity to you. Isn’t that a refreshing thought?
As I stare down impending fatherhood, I do so as one who wants to be the best father he can be. I will make mistakes, and I will have a child who will stretch my patience to limits unknown. But, you know what? I pray that I will model the Father in heaven to my daughter. I pray that I show her the same love that God shows His children. I pray that I will take joy in her, because she is my child. My hope is that my model of a Father will be God Himself, and that He will shine forth in my life as I love and father my daughter.
Yes, this may be the end of the world as I know it, but you know what? I feel fine about it. God is in heaven --- He has loved me and my wife more than we can ever deserve --- He has blessed us with a covenant daughter --- and I trust in His love for us. May I be a father like God is to me --- and may you desire to be a parent like God is to you.
Soli Deo Gloria --- Pastor James
Ever since we have announced that Beth is pregnant, we have had many wonderful folks give us moral and prayer support --- and that is very encouraging to me and Beth! We have been overwhelmed with how much people care about us, especially in this time. But, to be honest, there have been things said that haven’t been as encouraging.
Beth and I have both been surprised to hear how some parents have related to us how miserable they view parenthood and their children. From things such as “it is just so bad … you will be so lost and scared … they will take away so much of your time … they just will suck the life from you” to “We can’t wait for them to get out of the house … my 18 year sentence is almost done, and we will celebrate … just keep reminding yourself that they will be gone by the time they are 18, and then your life can begin again … it’s the end of your world, and, maybe, one day you will get it back.” Not exactly the model of joyful encouragement, huh?
Now, I am not so naïve as to think that we will have this idyllic time at home – a beautiful baby girl who just smiles, and loves, and sleeps, and never cries! No – I am fully expecting sleepless nights, hours of crying, smelly diapers, and aggravating moments. I know that my daughter is totally depraved, and will act that way. But, how am I any different from her in that respect?
I, too, am totally depraved. You, too, are totally depraved. How would you feel if your Father in heaven spoke about you the way these parents have talked about their children? What encouragement would you have knowing that God viewed His Fatherhood as some of these parents view it?
I still pitch fits … I still throw temper-tantrums … I still kick my legs, thrash my arms, yell and scream until I get my way. The only difference between me and a child is that I have learned how to do it in a more civil and acceptable manner – I do it like other adults do! But, my God in heaven sees through that adult veneer and He sees me, as His child, one who still struggles with being selfish, boorish, arrogant, egotistical, and full of pride. Thankfully, He doesn’t throw up His arms and bemoan ever creating me, loving me and supporting me. No, He does the exact opposite.
In the midst of my sinful struggles, God has said to me, “I have so loved you, that I gave to you My only Son, and because you believe in Him, you will never perish, but will have everlasting life with Me.” Instead of God commiserating with the angels in heaven about what a little demon James McManus is, He says to me, “I want you to call me Abba (Greek equivalent for Daddy), because that is how much I love you and how I want you to relate to me!” Instead of telling others how much He can’t wait until He is rid of me, He is preparing a mansion in Heaven for me, and has thrown open the gates of Heaven for me to enter in. Thankfully, God doesn’t treat me as some earthly parents talk about their true feelings for their children.
The same is, of course, true for you --- you are, spiritually, just like a little child – you cry and moan when you don’t get your way … you throw spiritual fits when you are unhappy … you rebel against your loving Father many, many, many times. Yet, how does God treat you? The same as He has treated me. He loves you, accepts you, takes care of you, and promises eternity to you. Isn’t that a refreshing thought?
As I stare down impending fatherhood, I do so as one who wants to be the best father he can be. I will make mistakes, and I will have a child who will stretch my patience to limits unknown. But, you know what? I pray that I will model the Father in heaven to my daughter. I pray that I show her the same love that God shows His children. I pray that I will take joy in her, because she is my child. My hope is that my model of a Father will be God Himself, and that He will shine forth in my life as I love and father my daughter.
Yes, this may be the end of the world as I know it, but you know what? I feel fine about it. God is in heaven --- He has loved me and my wife more than we can ever deserve --- He has blessed us with a covenant daughter --- and I trust in His love for us. May I be a father like God is to me --- and may you desire to be a parent like God is to you.
Soli Deo Gloria --- Pastor James
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Some Conferences For You to Know About
There are two conferences coming to the Atlanta area in early spring that I think would be well worth attending:
The Gospel Man Conference, March 28-29 (www.thegospelman.com): This is a conference focused on the graciousness of the Gospel, and how the Gospel truly changes people. Here is their statement:
The Gospel Men Conference is a time to help men grow in why and how they come to Christ and how to live with and for Christ through His grace. We believe that a thorough biblical understanding and experience of His grace offered in the Gospel is the most profound change a man can know and experience. We often miss that not only is the Gospel radical at the onset of faith in Christ, it remains radical still for all a man’s days. It is the source of ongoing power to change us into men that enjoy and glorify God. We want to proclaim and explore how God’s grace changes men!
The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, April 4-6: This conference's theme is "Precious Blood: Christ's Atoning Work" (www.alliancenet.org). The speaker line-up is amazing: Joel Beeke, Robert Godfrey, Philip Ryken & Richard Phillips. The schedule includes seminars and addresses. I think this one is well worth checking out! Here is their statement:
“He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
At the very heart of our Christian faith is a precious red substance: the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sin-atoning death of Christ is remarkable for being at once, most offensive to the world, most treasured by the church, most astonishing to the mind, and most stirring to the soul. Simply put, the one thing we would least expect to hear about God is that He sent His own Son to die for our sins. Thus it is Christ’s precious blood that puts the amazing into grace, puts the wonderful into the gospel, and puts the marvelous into God’s plan of salvation. There can be no greater truth to be faced than the gospel message of the cross, no greater mystery to be considered, and no greater comfort to be received. The cross is a theme that Christians will meditate on forever without exhausting its wonder, and of the cross, God’s redeemed will sing with glorious praise to unending ages.
With this in mind, the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology returns in 2008 to the doctrine of Christ’s atonement. There are many good reasons to return to this theme. First, the atonement is the divine work on which the entire structure of our salvation rests and the truth on which our doctrine of salvation must be built. Recent years have seen a pastoral neglect of the cross and an increasingly intensive doctrinal assault from the academy. This gives us a second important reason to return to the atonement: if Christians are to have any faith to defend at all, we will have to defend our gospel here.
Thirdly, there is a perennial need to proclaim and explain the doctrinal categories associated with the cross. What are atonement, substantiation, redemption, propitiation, expiation, and reconciliation? These are the themes of the 2008 PCRT, both to refresh the souls and minds of veteran believers and to instruct and inspire those coming to grips with the cross for the first time. Our plenary sessions will set forth the biblical doctrine of the blood of Christ.
We look forward to the contributions of some of the most able preachers of our time: Joel Beeke, Robert Godfrey, Richard Phillips, Philip Ryken, R. C. Sproul, and Derek Thomas. What a delight it will be to sit together before the cross, lifting up our minds and hearts in praise to God through the preaching and hearing of Christ’s precious blood.
The Gospel Man Conference, March 28-29 (www.thegospelman.com): This is a conference focused on the graciousness of the Gospel, and how the Gospel truly changes people. Here is their statement:
The Gospel Men Conference is a time to help men grow in why and how they come to Christ and how to live with and for Christ through His grace. We believe that a thorough biblical understanding and experience of His grace offered in the Gospel is the most profound change a man can know and experience. We often miss that not only is the Gospel radical at the onset of faith in Christ, it remains radical still for all a man’s days. It is the source of ongoing power to change us into men that enjoy and glorify God. We want to proclaim and explore how God’s grace changes men!
The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, April 4-6: This conference's theme is "Precious Blood: Christ's Atoning Work" (www.alliancenet.org). The speaker line-up is amazing: Joel Beeke, Robert Godfrey, Philip Ryken & Richard Phillips. The schedule includes seminars and addresses. I think this one is well worth checking out! Here is their statement:
“He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
At the very heart of our Christian faith is a precious red substance: the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sin-atoning death of Christ is remarkable for being at once, most offensive to the world, most treasured by the church, most astonishing to the mind, and most stirring to the soul. Simply put, the one thing we would least expect to hear about God is that He sent His own Son to die for our sins. Thus it is Christ’s precious blood that puts the amazing into grace, puts the wonderful into the gospel, and puts the marvelous into God’s plan of salvation. There can be no greater truth to be faced than the gospel message of the cross, no greater mystery to be considered, and no greater comfort to be received. The cross is a theme that Christians will meditate on forever without exhausting its wonder, and of the cross, God’s redeemed will sing with glorious praise to unending ages.
With this in mind, the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology returns in 2008 to the doctrine of Christ’s atonement. There are many good reasons to return to this theme. First, the atonement is the divine work on which the entire structure of our salvation rests and the truth on which our doctrine of salvation must be built. Recent years have seen a pastoral neglect of the cross and an increasingly intensive doctrinal assault from the academy. This gives us a second important reason to return to the atonement: if Christians are to have any faith to defend at all, we will have to defend our gospel here.
Thirdly, there is a perennial need to proclaim and explain the doctrinal categories associated with the cross. What are atonement, substantiation, redemption, propitiation, expiation, and reconciliation? These are the themes of the 2008 PCRT, both to refresh the souls and minds of veteran believers and to instruct and inspire those coming to grips with the cross for the first time. Our plenary sessions will set forth the biblical doctrine of the blood of Christ.
We look forward to the contributions of some of the most able preachers of our time: Joel Beeke, Robert Godfrey, Richard Phillips, Philip Ryken, R. C. Sproul, and Derek Thomas. What a delight it will be to sit together before the cross, lifting up our minds and hearts in praise to God through the preaching and hearing of Christ’s precious blood.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
My So-Called Uniform
We all wear some sort of uniform during our lives. I’m not particularly talking about baseball uniforms, military uniforms or any other sort of organized activity or career that requires uniforms. I am thinking more about the life we choose, and how so many of us claim to be individuals, when in fact we just put on the same uniform as those who claim the same values and doctrines as we do.
I got to thinking about this as Beth and I walked around downtown Asheville a few weeks ago. Asheville is a haven folks looking to find their selves … matter of fact, I have always heard Asheville as the sort of town where you can go and live as you want – a place where individuality is encouraged and embraced. As you walk around the blocks of downtown Asheville, you notice people who dress and act out of the “mainstream” --- a lot dreadlocks … tye-dye shirts … long, shaggy hair … burly beards … long, flowing skirts. I started to notice that a lot of people walking around looked the same, talked the same, acted the same and ate at the same places. Now, I know these sort of people – I grew up with them and even spent time in their ranks! Many of them tout their individuality as some sort of idol – they don’t need to conform to any idea than their own. They march to their own beat. Ironically, most of them are marching to the same beat by the same drummer.
I spent some time amidst this doctrine … I grew my hair long, put in several ear-rings, dyed my hair, and claimed to march to my own beat. However, I never really marched to my own drummer – I looked to others who claimed the same ideas as I did, and took my cues from them … and these people looked to other people, who looked to other people, and so on – a truly vicious cycle. In reality, we were just a group of people lost in the idolatry of ourselves and our own ideas, yet we were too scared and ignorant to truly indulge all our desires, so we looked to others to figure out how to live our lives – and these people were just as clueless as we were.
Time hasn’t really changed this, and this truth isn’t relegated to neo-hippies or anybody who looks like they live outside the mainstream. We all wear a uniform of some form and color and cut. We all tend to take our cues from a group of people who tout the same ideology and doctrine of life that we claim to hold to. We are all like sheep, and all of us we have gone astray.
Scripture never really teaches individuality. Rather, it teaches a union with Christ. In His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus prays to His Father this request, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” What is important to Jesus isn’t that we go out and claim to be individuals and to truly know ourselves … it is that we all be one in God, because as we are one with Him, then the world will see the Gospel through our lives. Individuality rebels against the idea of conformity, when in reality it is all about conformity – conforming to the ideas and practices that rebel against popular ideas. Christianity is about conformity – that we are broken to the sins that call out for the wrath of God, and molding/conforming us into the image of the one whom so loved us that He saves us from His wrath. It isn’t a conformity that beats us down and turns everyone into robot Christians … whether, it is a conformity that allows us to be the very individuals that God created us to be!
The fall of man revolved around rebellion – rebellion against truth and following that truth. Since that point, mankind has rebelled against God and his created meaning. When God graciously calls us into His grace and mercy, He begins to restore us to be individuals again – individuals who are united to Him through Christ. The basis of true individuality is in union with Christ – that is meant to be our uniform! That our main end in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever – that is our individual uniform! We can never truly be ourselves until we are found in Christ. We can never truly live life as God created us to live until our hearts are found at the Gospel cross. You can never be you until you bow down and call God “Abba”.
What is your uniform? What influences your life and walk? Without Christ, you are not an individual – you are just someone who is lost in the shuffle of a life ruined by sin. With Christ, you will truly know yourself – but, most of all, you will truly know one who loves you more than any other ideology or false prophet. I encourage you to examine the Gospel – and find yourself there. In the Gospel is the only place true individuality can be found.
Soli Deo Gloria – Pastor James
I got to thinking about this as Beth and I walked around downtown Asheville a few weeks ago. Asheville is a haven folks looking to find their selves … matter of fact, I have always heard Asheville as the sort of town where you can go and live as you want – a place where individuality is encouraged and embraced. As you walk around the blocks of downtown Asheville, you notice people who dress and act out of the “mainstream” --- a lot dreadlocks … tye-dye shirts … long, shaggy hair … burly beards … long, flowing skirts. I started to notice that a lot of people walking around looked the same, talked the same, acted the same and ate at the same places. Now, I know these sort of people – I grew up with them and even spent time in their ranks! Many of them tout their individuality as some sort of idol – they don’t need to conform to any idea than their own. They march to their own beat. Ironically, most of them are marching to the same beat by the same drummer.
I spent some time amidst this doctrine … I grew my hair long, put in several ear-rings, dyed my hair, and claimed to march to my own beat. However, I never really marched to my own drummer – I looked to others who claimed the same ideas as I did, and took my cues from them … and these people looked to other people, who looked to other people, and so on – a truly vicious cycle. In reality, we were just a group of people lost in the idolatry of ourselves and our own ideas, yet we were too scared and ignorant to truly indulge all our desires, so we looked to others to figure out how to live our lives – and these people were just as clueless as we were.
Time hasn’t really changed this, and this truth isn’t relegated to neo-hippies or anybody who looks like they live outside the mainstream. We all wear a uniform of some form and color and cut. We all tend to take our cues from a group of people who tout the same ideology and doctrine of life that we claim to hold to. We are all like sheep, and all of us we have gone astray.
Scripture never really teaches individuality. Rather, it teaches a union with Christ. In His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus prays to His Father this request, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” What is important to Jesus isn’t that we go out and claim to be individuals and to truly know ourselves … it is that we all be one in God, because as we are one with Him, then the world will see the Gospel through our lives. Individuality rebels against the idea of conformity, when in reality it is all about conformity – conforming to the ideas and practices that rebel against popular ideas. Christianity is about conformity – that we are broken to the sins that call out for the wrath of God, and molding/conforming us into the image of the one whom so loved us that He saves us from His wrath. It isn’t a conformity that beats us down and turns everyone into robot Christians … whether, it is a conformity that allows us to be the very individuals that God created us to be!
The fall of man revolved around rebellion – rebellion against truth and following that truth. Since that point, mankind has rebelled against God and his created meaning. When God graciously calls us into His grace and mercy, He begins to restore us to be individuals again – individuals who are united to Him through Christ. The basis of true individuality is in union with Christ – that is meant to be our uniform! That our main end in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever – that is our individual uniform! We can never truly be ourselves until we are found in Christ. We can never truly live life as God created us to live until our hearts are found at the Gospel cross. You can never be you until you bow down and call God “Abba”.
What is your uniform? What influences your life and walk? Without Christ, you are not an individual – you are just someone who is lost in the shuffle of a life ruined by sin. With Christ, you will truly know yourself – but, most of all, you will truly know one who loves you more than any other ideology or false prophet. I encourage you to examine the Gospel – and find yourself there. In the Gospel is the only place true individuality can be found.
Soli Deo Gloria – Pastor James
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