Song and Sermon of the Moment...

Just got back from a worship team practice and we're leading a very simple song by David E. Bell, Louie Giglio and Rod Padgett called "Grace Flows Down."

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound;
Amazing love, now flowing down
From hands and feet that were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers me.

It covers me,
It covers me,
It covers me,
And covers me.


Tonight I had a chance to listen to a sermon titled "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" by the late Reverend Paris Reidhead. I've really come to appreciate the opportunities I have to listen to the teachings of a Pastor. At the moment, I've been missing most of the sermons to help with children's worship and it does feel like I'm missing an integral part of church sometimes.

I'm not going to spoil the sermon for you. If you want to, you can download an mp3 and listen to it. There are a bunch of other sermons of his that are available as well. Sometimes it's nice to listen to an audio sermon when I'm on the go instead of the usual mix of music.

The story that Pastor Reidhead told that really stuck with me was how God needs to be in the driver seat of our life. But he said that too often we just slide over to the passenger seat and let Him take the wheel. Reidhead said that this is a big mistake because it's way too easy for us to reach over and sort of help God steer a bit - maybe wrestle with God for control over our lives from time to time. So what about the backseat? Well, I'm sure you've all had an experience with a backseat driver and how annoying they can be. God definitely doesn't want us to be a backseat driver. So Pastor Reidhead says to give God your keys, tell Him to take you wherever He wants, and hop into the trunk. That way there is no possible way you can interfere.

I think that I've been making a habit of just sliding into the passenger seat and then wrestling the steering away from God every now and again. I really need to lock myself in the trunk...

One last quote before I go to bed...

"No one can be saved until they've repented. And no one can repent until they've been convicted. And conviction is the work of the Holy Ghost that helps a sinner to see that he is a criminal before God and deserves all God's wrath." - Reverend Paris Reidhead (1919-1992)

Happy Anniversary!

Dear future self,

I'm reminding you about your stated goal on 43 things, to
"Fall in love with a God fearing and loving woman".

How's it going?

Sincerely,
Your past self

Haha, thanks past me, I'll get right on that...

I guess it's good to set goals and also remind yourself to stay on track of your goals. I got the idea from a buddy of mine to set some goals at this site called "43 things". You can list a bunch of goals (I actually couldn't think of 43) and then set e-mail reminders to yourself to keep you on track. Anyway, I still have a long way to go for most of them. I was also reminded that one of my goals was to dunk a basketball but I think I've been making negative progress towards that one.

October 31, 2006 marked the 2nd Anniversary of my blog. It's pretty crazy to think that I've actually been keeping this alive for the last two years. Looking back at my first post and subsequent ramblings really is a neat experience. I've never kept a diary or journal but I guess I would call this blog a personal journal for my own benefit. I guess it's strangely therapeutic to type out what's on my mind even if nobody reads it. Thanks to my pal Charles for getting me started on this.