It’s Christmas, which means not only did I get a new gadget, but I actually have time to blog about it. A couple months ago I updated by Rhapsody software and ever since I haven’t been able to get my Sansa View to sync up with Rhapsody. It’s been a great device, but this failure made it close to useless to me. In the process of looking up a fix I came across the Rhapsody ibiza. Suddenly, with Christmas around the corner, I decided it was time for an upgrade!

This 30GB player has built in wifi and Rhapsody integration. I can now connect to my Rhapsody account without any wires or syncing with a computer–nice! I’ve only been playing around with it for a half hour or so at my sister-in-law’s, but so far it’s working exactly like I hoped it would. I was able to easily connect to her home network and start listening to tracks streaming right from my Rhapsody account. All my library and playlists are accessible–and they sound great on the new Sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones my wonderful wife also got me for Christmas (my old pair had a hard plastic top which left a mark on my bald head).

The interface is extremely intuitive and the touchpad is smooth and substantial. I always felt the Sansa view scroll wheel was kind of flimsy. Connecting to the wifi network was very simple thanks to the wifi button that automatically detects any local networks. While listening to any track you can easily select the “Keep this song” option and save it to the device to listen to when there is no wifi access (which requires the Rhapsody To-Go subscription). I can also download entire albums and subscribe to podcasts. I’m psyched about the podcast feature, since now I can automatically get the latest sermons from my church without downloading and transferring to the device.

The only downside so far is that is a bit bigger and heavier than the View, and it’s so new that I didn’t find a velcro sports accessory available for it yet, but I bet it will fit in an iPod strap. So far I’m loving this new device!

But that’s not what I find so sobering and shocking in this Psalm. It’s the rest of the passage that cuts me to the heart. The rebuke directed at his own people was serious, and convicting. But look what he says to those who are not his people (and I must remember that without the glorious grace of adoption this is where I was, and would still stand).

“But to the wicked God says:
‘What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you…’”
Psalm 50:16-17

“What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?” Wow. God isn’t correcting the wicked; he isn’t graciously pointing out a failure in attitude or orientation. He isn’t patiently examining and adjusting their hearts. No. He casts them out utterly. He is not debating the proper approach toward sacrificing; he’s asking what right they have to even open their mouths. Because the wicked cast God’s words behind them, God refuses to even enter into conversation with them. His stand is simple–repent you wicked ones “lest I tear you apart.”

As one who stood outside the people of God, one who did indeed cast the words of God behind me, I stood with these condemning words on my head. Before God in his mercy plucked me from the edge of destruction I arrogantly took God’s statutes on my lips to degrade them, to heap contempt on them, to despise them. I shouldn’t have even had them on my lips, but I dared not only to take them up but to ridicule them.

So what possible reason then could I have to expect mercy? I wasn’t trying to obey God’s statutes. The people of God may need rebuke for improper practices and need adjustment in their heart’s orientation toward God’s grace, but I wasn’t even in the game. I stood outside uninterested, scoffing, and despising the word of God.

There’s more. As I stood scoffing, disparaging and disrespecting God’s word, even then when I considered the possibility of the existence of a God, of eternal life, and judgment–I did not fear. I arrogantly and presumptuously assumed that God was “one like myself” (Ps. 50:21). I believed that if God existed at all that he would certainly accept me, that he would understand my failures, recognize my goodness and welcome me.

How deceived and dangerously ignorant I was. How horrifying it would have been to be expecting an understanding side-hug from God as he welcomed me into eternal life and instead to hear him roar, “Who are you? and what right did you have to take my words on your lips?” as he sent me into eternal darkness.

There was nothing I did that changed God’s mind toward me, that motivated him to rescue me from such a terrifying fate. It was his mercy alone, undeserved, inconceivable mercy that received my disgust and returned love. By his grace he opened my eyes to the beauty of Christ. How thankful I am for the cross, where in one grand action God bled, atoning for my sins, and demonstrated his glorious love converting my hard heart–turning me away from total destruction and delivering me into the kingdom of his son.

Bless the Lord O my soul. Lord you are merciful, converting enemies into friends–transforming mockers into singers of your praise. Hallelujah!

Peter begins his epistle thanking and praising God for what he has done for us in the past, in the death and resurrection of Christ. Staring from what Christ has done in the past, Peter then looks ahead to the final day in which we will receive our eternal inheritance, an inheritance that is kept and preserved for us by God.

As Peter looks ahead to the subsequent glories of the cross he does not only look to the day of our eternal inheritance, he also addresses how the glories of the cross impact our current daily life. While the past work of the cross is supreme, and our future is wondrously glorious, so also our current life is filled with the glories of the cross.

But Peter is clear that in order to see and enjoy the subsequent glories of the cross in our daily lives we need to have faith. It is by the filter of faith that we can perceive the circumstances of our daily lives as glorious and hopeful. Whether we are experiencing an exciting day, a mundane day, or especially a painful day, we are able, by faith, to appreciate our circumstances as subsequent glories of the cross. Faith sees God’s hand and his Christ exalting purposes in every circumstance of our lives–most notably in trials. Without faith we don’t make these connections. No wonder Peter calls our faith “…more precious than gold.” Each time we make this connection–expressly in the midst of trials–and rejoice in God’s doing, we obtain a measure of the goal of our faith. We see God’s hand as he brings to completion the salvation of our souls.

We long for the final and ultimate entry into our eternal inheritance, but we also rejoice in every victory of our faith, every trial we endure, every sin put to death. This is God’s work: “…by his power we are guarded through faith…” (1 Peter 1:5). And so just as God himself has accomplished all that we need to be saved on the cross of the past, he is also currently working out the subsequent glories of the cross, by upholding our faith day-by-day, delivering to us measure-by-measure the goal of our faith, until the final day.

Thank you Jesus that your death was so great that it continues to afford to me subsequent glories to this very day. Your power and your life uphold my faith and so I have great hope. Help me to walk in the faith that you have given to me, rejoicing in you, rejoicing in the gospel of the cross and longing for the glories yet to come.

This post is mostly testing out the “blog this” feature of Flickr. I’m always looking for new ways to aggregate my digital life, and this seemed like a great photo to test it out with. We had some great times hangin’ out on the hammock, watching the dogs chase each other around the front yard and the listening to the cows complain about one thing or another.

Evernote is a service that allows you to create notes, upload files, and save documents all in one place. These resources can be accessed online, on a smartphone, or through their desktop application (which all remain synchronized with each other). They provide an interface where you can set up different notebooks, write descriptions, and assign tags to each item. But what I really like about Evernote is that it has optical character recognition built in. That means that if you upload a photo to Evernote that contains words, you can later search for that photo using any of the words found in that photo. For example, suppose you shot a pic at a birthday party and you later wanted to find it. Remembering that there was a sign in the background of the photo that read “Happy Birthday…” you type that into Evernote and your birthday photo comes up.

The beauty of this capability is that I can use it to remember and access sections from books I am reading or studying. That’s where the Omnia comes in. Using the Omnia’s camera I can simply snap a picture of any page I want to save and upload it to Evernote. And since I have Evernote installed on my phone the process is quite simple. I just open Evernote on my phone, choose “snapshot” and it brings up my phone’s camera. I take the picture and it gives me an opportunity to title it, assign it to a notebook, add tags, or enter a description. I don’t do any of those things on the phone though, I just add a brief description indicating what page of the book the snapshot is from. Later, when I’m at my computer, I’ll go to the web-based version of Evernote and add titles, tags and the rest.

The reason I choose the Omnia as apposed to other phones is its camera’s auto focus feature. This is essential for snapping pictures of small text. I tested several other phones and while their camera resolutions were perfectly adequate, their focus was not. Evernote won’t be able to use its optical character recognition on a picture of blurry text. I even tested the iPhone’s camera and it could not focus in on a close up shot of text (although I hear that the most recent iPhone does have an auto-focus camera).

I’ve been using this technique for several month’s now and it’s been working great. I can easily find and access quotes from any of the parts of books I’ve read and saved. Evernote is a free service (though it does offer a pro version for a fee) so go ahead and check it out. A phone with an auto focus camera is a bit pricey, but it seems like this is a feature that is getting integrated into most of the newer phones, so there will probably be some more affordable options soon. Of course you could use any digital camera, it would just take an extra step of uploading the photo later.

I am often guilty of the evil boasting of arrogance that presumptuously declares where I will go and what I will do as though such things were in my control. I’ve been trying to obey the instruction that James gives about not boasting, but instead saying “if the Lord wills” I will do such and such. But I noticed something in my most recent reading of this passage. James doesn’t just tell us to say “if the Lord wills we will do this or that,” he says “if the Lord wills we will live and do this or that.”

When considering my plans I need to always preface my intentions with the reality that where I go and what I do are governed entirely by God’s will. This is right, but insufficient. For not only are my ways directed by his will, but my days are too. I ought not to presume upon one more day of life, or one more minute for that matter. If the Lord wills I will live, and finish this paragraph.

Since the root problem of speaking presumptuously is arrogance, remembering the “if we live” part this exhortation can be especially helpful in combating my pride and producing humility. Acknowledging God’s governance of my ways is right and helpful, remembering that he upholds my very life by his will alone is even more sobering. But it is also comforting. If the Lord wills “we will live…” If I am humble and receive the Lordship of Christ I need not fear death. My days are controlled by Christ. I will not live one day more than those God has ordained, nor will I live one day less. And receiving the Lordship of Christ makes me happy to live or die, for “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
In Christ Alone – Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Thank you Jesus for your power, your strong hand that upholds my life, gives me breath, and sustains me. Help me not to resist your will, to strive, or to arrogantly boast of where I will go or what I will do. Help me to remember that all my days and all my paths are ordained by you. Cause me to rejoice in your control, not resist it or ignore it–for you are good and worthy of praise. Amen.

As I am looking to plant a church in Durham, NC, Lord willing in 2011 this article is of particular interest. Keller’s analysis of the call in the gospel to serve the poor is challenging. Yet he was clear that there are definite distinctions in what the church, as an entity, is itself called to do in serving the poor in contrast to other Christan means. He carefully and Biblically analyzes the responsibility that the people of God have toward the poor (whether the poor are in the church or not). While he’s careful to distinguish evangelism proper as distinct and more foundational than ministry to the poor, he yet contends that they are inseparable (though not in a rigid temporal way).

Keller offers three categories as the causes for poverty, namely: injustice and oppression, circumstantial calamity, and personal failure or irresponsibility. He demonstrates that while we might like to put people cleanly into one of these categories when contemplating how and when to minister to them, most of the time individuals who need help are a combination of all three.

While in recent American history there has been a fairly close alliance bewteen the church and conservative politics he offer a fair critique of political points of view on poverty. Conservatives typically see personal responsibility as the cause/cure of poverty while liberals tend to see poverty primarily as an effect of social injustice and structural inequities. His Biblical analysis points out that both are often named as causes of poverty. As Christians we ought to always be humble, and willing to provide help to the poor. Yes, slackness leads to hunger, yet “A poor man’s field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away” (Prov 13:23)

The ultimate take away for me was that the church always needs to be considering the needs of the poor. This may, in some limited ways, take the form of direct service to the poor. But perhaps more predominantly by teaching and applying the gospel is such a way that church members develop Christ glorifying compassion, generosity, eagerness for sharing, and willingness to help as individuals, citizens and participants in organizations that provide special services to the poor. Always, as he states “it should…be clear that the motivation for our aid is our Christian faith, and pains should be taken to find non-artificial and non-exploitative ways to keep ministries of the Word and gatherings for teaching and fellowship closely connected to ministries of aid.”

"This is getting at the crucial truth of NT ethics that the imperative (what you should do) is built upon the indicative (what God has done). It's a foreign way of thinking for many of us, and we have to adjust our mental compass in order to walk this way."