Furious Love trailer

I seriously cannot wait for this movie to be released. It looks completely awesome! If you are interested in finding a church hosting the premiere on February 14th go here.

Come King Jesus! Invade the Earth with Your Kingdom!

And God said...

This video reminds me of Genesis 1 where God is creating. When I read that the Spirit of God is hovering over the deep (Genesis 1:2), this is what I envision because the original Hebrew word רָחַף, means more than to just hover, but to actually shake, quiver, even vibrate. There is a greater sense of motion to the Hebrew word than to just hover. So, for me this video gives a good depiction of the engerizing role of the Holy Spirit as God spoke creation into existence.

speaking with conviction

Here's some pretty cool typography done by Ronnie Bruce to the spoken word of Taylor Mali. I hope it fires you up to stand firm for Jesus, to speak truth in love and to be not ashamed of the Gospel!

real Hope vs. wishful thinking

I've recently been listening to a lot of Jonathan David Helser. His music touches the inward parts of my heart, the deep spaces that long for greater intimacy with Jesus. On his album, Walk Through the Walls, there is a song called Amy's Song which after hearing the backstory to the song has made the deep desire in my heart, to see every child dancing free and singing before the Throne of God, burn with even greater passion. These are Jonathan's own words, "This song came in the middle of one of the most intense circumstances we have ever been a part of. Two of our closest friends lost their baby girl, Amy, before she came into this world. Months after she was gone, the Lord allowed me to hear Amy's song from heaven. I wept over the keys of our upright piano as I heard her song of hope coming from the streets of gold" (from album notes).

There is a Scripture verse that comforts me when I hear tragic stories like this one where a child for whatever reason doesn't make it out of the womb. Romans 1:20 (TNIV) says this, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." What screams out of this verse is that those who are able to see and understand creation have no excuse to not believe in God. So, when it comes to babies who have for whatever reason not made it out of the womb and into this world, if we are to cry out to God for mercy on their behalf this would be a good place to start.

John Piper says this, "In other words: if a person did not have access to the revelation of God's glory - did not have the natural capacity to see it and understand it, then Paul implies they would have an excuse at the judgment. The point for us is that even though we human beings are under the penalty of everlasting judgment and death because of the fall of our race into sin and the sinful nature that we all have, nevertheless God only executes this judgment on those who have the natural capacity to see his glory and understand his will, and refuse to embrace it as their treasure. Infants, I believe, do not yet have that capacity; and therefore, in God's inscrutable way, he brings them under the forgiving blood of his Son....It is important to emphasize that, in our view, God is not saving infants because they are innocent. They are not innocent, but guilty. He is saving them because, although they are sinful, in his mercy he desires that compassion be exercised upon those who are sinful and yet lack the capacity to grasp the truth revealed about Him in nature and to the human heart." Read the full article .

I believe God saves all unborn babies, even infants who die.This is not just wishful thinking, but consistent with what the Bible says who God is. He is loving, holy, merciful, just and gracious and whatever He does will always be right and good. The Bible doesn't directly say that God applies Christ's atoning sacrifice to those who didn't have a chance to believe. Even so, God’s applying Christ’s sacrifice to unborn babies who cannot believe would be consistent with His love and mercy while still remaining just and righteous. This is where I find comfort. Our hope must be rooted in God's Word. If not, then our hope becomes hollow wishful thinking. So, when I hear this song and read the backstory vision, I believe Amy is dancing free and singing in heaven around the Throne of God.

Jesus, the Morning Star

Darrell Johnson, formerly the Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Regent College, is currently the Senior Minister at First Baptist in Vancouver, BC Canada. In this short video clip, he talks about Jesus as the image of the Morning Star in the book of Revelation. In many ways, his voice is a prophetic one to the American Church to return to Her first love, Jesus. From my perspective (and I know I'm not alone in this), the American Church has gotten away from actively submitting to Jesus' Headship over His Church. As Darrell Johnson puts it, "having Jesus in the middle of the Church." Now, I know that every pastor will agree that Jesus is the Head of the Church. But, I wonder sometimes how many pastors actively practice submitting to Jesus' Headship?

Please hear me on this, my desire is to see Jesus exalted to His rightful place because He alone is worthy of all worship. His sacrifice on the Cross earned Him that place of honor where every knee will be bent to Him. My intent is not to criticize the Church, after all She is my Savior's Bride. My passion is to see Jesus' Kingdom break forth in greater measure and power in this world with His pure and spotless Bride leading the way. But, in order for that to happen, the Church needs to be actively submitting to Jesus' Headship where it becomes more about listening to what the Spirit has to say to the Church, rather than programs and schedules. These have there place, but sometimes it seems like programming and scheduling can very easily remove the need for faith.

The Church today needs to allow Jesus to break forth as the Morning Star by trusting in His Headship and allowing Him to invade earth with His Kingdom. We are living in some pretty dark and perilous times. All the more reason for the Body of Christ to be actively listening for direction and guidance from Jesus, who is the Head. He has never stopped His mission of bringing glory to the Father by seeking and saving that which was lost, us. So, let's actively partner with Jesus on His mission and put Him in the middle of not only our lives, but also the Church.

Nefarious Merchant of Souls trailer

Exodus Cry is a ministry based out of Kansas City and has ties with The International House of Prayer. I love this ministry and others like it because it takes Gospel light to dark places and exposes and drives back evil with the justice of the Kingdom of God. Go Jesus!