For Me, It's Oh So Right...

Watch. Laugh. Enjoy.


Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

The Wizard of Oz

Well, I am back from Australia, and it was one of the most incredible places I have ever been in my life. From the Manly Beach ferry to scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef, I can honestly say that I didn't want to come back (sorry, Korea). Hopefully I will be able to post some videos soon of all of the adventures (I think I wore my flip out - 58 videos or so).

So, I know you 3 followers missed me a lot, but I am back and full of smiles. So, I am brewing up some posts, but too busy listening to Matt Chandler to get it out on the keys.

Peace.

When All is Said and Done...

Contending Earnestly for the Faith

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...

I am SO stoked right now.

Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington is hosting a debate about the existence of Satan that will be aired on NBC in several segments. Pastor Mark Driscoll will be arguing for the existence of Satan against Deepak Chopra and another gentleman. You can read about it here at the Mars Hill Blog or here at the ABC Nightline website.

Evening

"Think how much grace one saint requires - so much that nothing but the infinite could supply him for one day, and yet the Lord spreads His table not for one, but many saints. Not for one day, but for many years. Not for many years only, but for generation after generation."

- C.H. Spurgeon

Dust off Your Hymnals

I caught this today on the Desiring God blog. It is a project from Page CXVI (apparently the page number where C.S. Lewis' character Aslan breathes Narnia into existence).

They have taken some beautiful old hymns and put them to modern music/instruments. This CD is pretty beautiful. Obviously, for anybody that knows me, I love music. So, take delicious delayed guitar and a Rhodes piano and combine that with some lyrics that are oozing with sound, God-honoring theology and you have yourself a hit.

So, if you would like to check out this album, you can download it for free here.

Enjoy with me as we bask together in the greatness of a merciful and holy God.

The Beauty of Self-Sufficiency

Often, one of the greatest flaws in the realm of theology is robbing God of His infinite greatness and glory by equating the characteristics of a created being to God, the Creator.

Jonathan Edwards says, when speaking of God:

"Being thus infinite in understanding and power, he must also be perfectly holy; for unholiness always argues some defect, some blindness. Where there is no darkness or delusion, there can be no unholiness. It is impossible that wickedness should consist with infinite light. God being infinite in power and knowledge, he must be self-sufficient and all-sufficient; therefore it is impossible that he should be under any temptation to do any thing amiss; for he can have no end in doing it. When any are tempted to do amiss, it is for selfish ends. But how can an all-sufficient Being, who wants nothing, be tempted to do evil for selfish ends? So that God is essentially holy, and nothing is more impossible than that God should do amiss" (The Sole Consideration, That God is God, Sufficient to Still All Objections to His Sovereignty, Sermon II, June 1735).

So,
- God has infinite understanding (Heb 4:15)
- God has infinite power (Ps 115:3)
- God is perfectly holy (Rev 4:8)
- God has infinite knowledge (Is 46:10)
- God is completely self-sufficient (Acts 17:25)
- God cannot be tempted or sin (James 1:13)

When I look at my life, it doesn't even take much introspection to realize that my list doesn't look anything even close to what I see above. If anything, my life seems to be the antithesis of this list. It is only when we realize how opposed our flesh is to the very nature and attributes of godliness that we realize how utterly lost and hopeless we are without the redeeming work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about santification and change, and how transcendent the Creator God is over His creation.

Thanks to the horrendous, blood-drenched cross, Christians are now undeservingly ushered into freedom from death and have become objects of God's mercy through Christ's atonement. Let us join with the apostle in saying, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:3-5 NIV).

Now that's good news for sinners like you and me.

The Mint on the Pillow...

"For those who think the Bible is infallible and authoritative in matters of faith and practice, good exegesis becomes a very humbling task. It demands that our own ideas take second place. The way we feel and think about life is restrained as we allow ourselves to listen to what the author feels and thinks. Good exegesis becomes a threat to our pride. By it we run the risk of honestly discovering that the prophetic and apostolic view of life is different from our own, so that our view — and with it our pride — must crumble."

- John Piper, Biblical Exegesis, p. 6

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus...

O, the rest that flows from believing in the unchanging goodness of an everlasting Father! The burden is lifted when obeying God rather than man. May we accept the Word of God with reverence and appreciation, so that by the guidance of His sacred promises, we might fulfill our duty to God in good conscience.

Edison: The New Rubick's Cube

Currently Hearing: Only by the Night by Kings of Leon (thank you, Jesse)

Photo Representations of What I Will Be Seeing Over Spring Break (I will take one photo to represent each city that I will be visiting over the 7-day vacation):

1.) Melbourne


2.) Sydney


3.) Cairns


Needless to say, I am a little excited (and definitely ready for a break).

Much Love.

Chopped and Screwed

This is an incredible article.

How many of you are curious enough to read it?