You scored as Reformed Evangelical.
You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.
Reformed Evangelical 75%
Neo orthodox 64%
Fundamentalist 64%
Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 54%
Emergent/Postmodern 32%
Roman Catholic 29%
Charismatic/Pentecostal 25%
Classical Liberal 25%
Modern Liberal 7%
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Friday, January 27, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
when fears are stilled
"In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone, this Solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease!
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone! - who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This Gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid:
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!"
(Keith Getty & Stuart Townend 2001 Kingsway's Thankyou Music)
I've learned something about myself over the years regarding times of wonder and real or potential suffering. Those are the times in which the Lord most speaks to me through song. They are the moments in which I am incapable of forming the "right" words in prayer, so I'm often drawn to song even more than usual. This is just one of those. I've written a new song in the midst of it all, and been drawn to certain songs in a new way. Though I may suffer and walk through a season of uncertainty, Christ is victorious. In He alone my hope is found...and although there are moments when that is so difficult to claim, I wholeheartedly know it to be true.
He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone, this Solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease!
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone! - who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This Gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid:
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!"
(Keith Getty & Stuart Townend 2001 Kingsway's Thankyou Music)
I've learned something about myself over the years regarding times of wonder and real or potential suffering. Those are the times in which the Lord most speaks to me through song. They are the moments in which I am incapable of forming the "right" words in prayer, so I'm often drawn to song even more than usual. This is just one of those. I've written a new song in the midst of it all, and been drawn to certain songs in a new way. Though I may suffer and walk through a season of uncertainty, Christ is victorious. In He alone my hope is found...and although there are moments when that is so difficult to claim, I wholeheartedly know it to be true.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
HIGHER MOUNTAINS HAVE COME DOWN!!
I occasionally remember the days of living in Abilene with my roommates...on lazy days the three of us (or at least the two of us that shared a wall) would sprawl on my bed and listen to music all afternoon and night. Or if there was a particular song we liked, we'd listen to it over and over and over again (especially the roommate I didn't share the wall with). But I look back on those days at times and think of where the Lord has brought me and how even then He was preparing me for now. And now He's preparing for whatever lies ahead, circumstances only He knows which have been ordained since before the world came into being.
There was a particular song we listened to many, many times not long before I entered my senior year of college. It crossed my mind about two days ago out of the blue, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. The song is by Jars of Clay, and it's been on my heart in the midst of the dark times a dear friend if mine is going through right now. Even now, thinking about the lyrics and thinking of what he's going through, I'm almost moved to tears sitting here at my work desk.
"You have led me to the sadness
I have carried this pain
On a back bruised, nearly broken
I’m crying out to you
(Chorus)I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy
When death like a gypsy
Comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek your face
But I fear you aren’t listening
Because there are no words
Just the stillness and the hunger
For a faith that assures
(Chorus)
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
While we wait for rescue
With our eyes tightly shut
Face to the ground using our hands
To cover the fatal cut
And though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down
(Chorus)
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia"
I can't fix the problem. I can't say the right words or snap my fingers for everyone to live happily ever after. But one thing I know---there is One who holds the future; there is One who knows our very thoughts, whose Spirit leads in truth...and He is the Father who loves and causes all things to work together according to His perfect will. I've not quickly held to such truth in recent days (weeks)...but that by no means makes it less true. It's painful to watch a brother going through such agony, and in that pain there is only One to whom I can cling.
There was a particular song we listened to many, many times not long before I entered my senior year of college. It crossed my mind about two days ago out of the blue, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. The song is by Jars of Clay, and it's been on my heart in the midst of the dark times a dear friend if mine is going through right now. Even now, thinking about the lyrics and thinking of what he's going through, I'm almost moved to tears sitting here at my work desk.
"You have led me to the sadness
I have carried this pain
On a back bruised, nearly broken
I’m crying out to you
(Chorus)I will sing of Your mercy
That leads me through valleys of sorrow
To rivers of joy
When death like a gypsy
Comes to steal what I love
I will still look to the heavens
I will still seek your face
But I fear you aren’t listening
Because there are no words
Just the stillness and the hunger
For a faith that assures
(Chorus)
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia
While we wait for rescue
With our eyes tightly shut
Face to the ground using our hands
To cover the fatal cut
And though the pain is an ocean
Tossing us around, around, around
You have calmed greater waters
Higher mountains have come down
(Chorus)
Alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia"
I can't fix the problem. I can't say the right words or snap my fingers for everyone to live happily ever after. But one thing I know---there is One who holds the future; there is One who knows our very thoughts, whose Spirit leads in truth...and He is the Father who loves and causes all things to work together according to His perfect will. I've not quickly held to such truth in recent days (weeks)...but that by no means makes it less true. It's painful to watch a brother going through such agony, and in that pain there is only One to whom I can cling.
Monday, January 16, 2006
say a prayer tonight
"To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
When you said goodbye...
And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus
For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough...
For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering
(chorus)
When your lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus, Cry to Jesus
(chorus)
To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight..." --Third Day--
I have dear friends who are going through a very dark valley right now and honestly...well, there are times when I don't have the words, and as I'm driving to my usual day of work, the Lord intervenes and I hear this song on the radio that I've heard many times before. He so often speaks quietly through song when my spirit is weak and I'm utterly speechless. Praise the Lord, O my soul...
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
When you said goodbye...
And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus
For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough...
For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering
(chorus)
When your lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus, Cry to Jesus
(chorus)
To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight..." --Third Day--
I have dear friends who are going through a very dark valley right now and honestly...well, there are times when I don't have the words, and as I'm driving to my usual day of work, the Lord intervenes and I hear this song on the radio that I've heard many times before. He so often speaks quietly through song when my spirit is weak and I'm utterly speechless. Praise the Lord, O my soul...
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