Our Princess

Third Day in Jackson

To be honest, I had no idea when I planned to take my Sr. High students to Jackson to see Third Day in concert that I would enjoy it as much as I did. As a matter of fact I really expected to be disappointed. Having seen a lot of bands in concert in my short 35 years, I was prepared to be colored unimpressed. After all, I saw them back in the late 90's and while I enjoyed some of the show, I felt as if they were trying to justify what they did with an altar call and a sermon. And I hate the bait and switch. But the show I went to on Sunday night was nothing like it.

The show was phenomenal. The only other concert I could compare it to is U2 in St. Louis in November of '01. And this one might have been better for me but more on that later. Every facet of this show was great: the sound, lights, effects, intimacy with crowd, song choice...everything was enjoyable. Oh yeah and it was loud.

And my students loved it. They not only had fun but some were moved. And I do not have a group of kids easy to move. For them most everything is fodder for humor only. They are cursed with a lack of seriousness. But they seriously enjoyed this show and expect it too yield some results for spiritual growth.

And you see this is what I did not expect. A concert? It was a concert but there was more to it than that. There was a whole of praying and talking about real life between songs. No sermons, just honest heartfelt and not canned talking.

And I needed to hear it too. I am far too intellectual for my own good. And my desire to be the smartest guy in the room impedes my need for simple expressions of faith in Jesus. it may not be cool to sing...

I want to sing a song for You, Lord
Lord, for You I want to sing a song
And I want to lift my voice to Heaven
And listen to the angels sing along

A song of Your faithfulness
A song of Your grace
And of Your loving kindness
To the glory of Your name
With everything that's in me,
Lord Listen to me say
I want to sing a song for You
I want to sing a son

I want to live my life for You, Lord
Lord, for You I want to live my life
And I want to praise the name of Jesus
And Pray above all things You're glorified

And I sing about Your mercy
And I sing about Your love
Your goodness, Lord
Your righteousnessI want to sing

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy
We'll sing holy, holy, holy
We'll shout holy, holy
Are You Lord almighty

...But it sure was "good" (Psalm 147:1).

Sorry About This Post...

As if I needed another reason to not like Timberland or his music; we now get this...

"Justin Timberlake's single 'SexyBack' makes men feel gay.

Hip-hop producer Timbaland, who duets with Justin on the worldwide hit, thinks the song can make a straight man question his sexuality."

Patty Griffin Sings Her Truth #2

If she did an album singing the alpabet...I would buy it.

"Shoot Me First"

Here is the story of the week if you ask me.

Since I work with High School students I am intensely interested anytime a teenager does the unexpected and the extraordinary. And this is extraordinary. I work with about 35 6th through 12th graders and I do not have one who would have even entertained such an idea. OK, maybe one. But he is the only one I can imagine acting heroically in any situation.

But this story highlights what I am after. I want students who believe "for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." I want students so captured by the glory of Christ and so full of affection for the glory of God and so enthused with the gospel, courage coupled with love is natural.

Abortion in the News

This one is a story about Ms Magazine 'releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled "We Had Abortions," accompanied by the names of thousands of women nationwide who signed a petition making that declaration.'

The saddest moment os the AP story:

Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing _ although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.

Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago _ enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic _ in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.

"I wanted to do something bigger with myself _ I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.

Unbelievable.

"...they not only do them but give hearty approval to those who practice them."
- Romans 1:32


The second is this story. Money qoute..."Ultrasound images which show 12-week-old foetuses sucking their thumbs and walking in the womb are dangerously misleading, a group of scientists warned today."
The reason for all this talk of abortion is the high Court will be taking up partial birth abortion when it meets in the coming days.

Partial Birth Abortion = killing a baby before it full exits the birth canal.

Audio from The 2006 Desiring God National Conference

These are a must. You can download or listen through streaming. They are beyond good as they represent the clearset voices in the modern American church. The titles of the messages are as follows

David Wells: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World

Justin Taylor, John Piper, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll: A Conversation with the Pastors

Voddie Baucham: The Supremacy of Christ and Truth in a Postmodern World

Tim Keller: The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel in a Postmodern World

Mark Driscoll: The Supremacy of Christ and the Church in a Postmodern World

Justin Taylor, Voddie Baucham, John Piper, D. A. Carson, David Wells: Speaker Panel

D. A. Carson: The Supremacy of Christ and Love in a Postmodern World

John Piper: The Supremacy of Christ and Joy in a Postmodern World

Lectures By Os Guinness From Veritas Forum

What an aamzing Find!!! thanks to JT over at Between Two Worlds. And yes he is directly related to the Guinness of Stout Beer fame.