05/29/10 The Lord is a Warrior

Sometimes
Romans 5:8 (New International Version)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The psalms are some of the most personal passages in all of Scripture. They are filled with confessions, cries for help, thanksgiving, praise, intercession, and many more cries for help. In the spirit of the Psalms, "Sometimes" is open, vulnerable, and ultimately grateful for a grace that lifts us up when we fall short of His glory. It reminds us that we are not going through life trying to earn the cross. It cannot be earned. The cross of Christ is not a matter of justice. It is, in fact, history's most unjust act, by which Christ chose to show his unrelenting mercy and love for His children. When we sing "Sometimes," we release our desires to be found worthy and embrace His ultimate Worth.


Everything Glorious
Genesis 1:27 (New International Version)
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

"Sometimes" reminds us of our unworthiness, while "Everything Glorious" reminds us that we do, indeed, have worth. It's a biblical paradox: in comparison to our God, we are nothing, yet He still finds value in us. He still delights in us. If you are struggling with depression, listen to this song and know that you are made in His image, you are significant to Him, and your significance to Him is the only true significance that can be found in this life. If you are still depressed, eat a healthy serving of Cap'n Crunch Berries. It's God's Love in a bowl.

Jesus Messiah

John 1:41 (New International Version) ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ)

These next two songs deal with two of God's names: Messiah and Warrior. Every once in a while, it's good to be reminded that the Scriptures were well aware of Jesus before He was ever born of a virgin. He is, in fact, the fulfillment of several Old Testament passages. For an extensive list, go to http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/prophchr.html. Here's an example

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2)	born in Bethlehem	And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register, along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.... And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:4-5, 7)

Warrior
Exodus 15:3 (New International Version)
The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.

Three years ago, I read straight through the Old Testament. I tend to spend most of my time in the Gospels, Paul's Letters, and the Psalms, so it took discipline to go from Genesis to Malachi, but it was rewarding. Rewarding and confusing. How can the "Prince of Peace" condone such brutality? Just look at what happened in Jericho:

^{Joshua 6:21} They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Every living thing? God gave them permission to kill women and children? Why? In his sermon this morning, Gary answers this question. For those of you who won't be in the service, the sermon can be summarized like this: "God owns everything, God is just in everything He does, none are innocent, God takes sin seriously, the people of Jericho were caught up in sin, and God will do whatever it takes to keep sin from spreading and warn future nations of the dangers of sin." It's a difficult Truth to swallow, but it is Truth, nonetheless. God is a Warrior, and that is part of how He loves us.

05/23/10 Back from the DR

I hear great things about Brian's leadership last Sunday and look forward to being back with you guys this week. The DR was a refreshing experience, not because it was a comfortable trip (I was severely sunburned the first day and was bitten by mosquitoes in an un-airconditioned room at night) but because my heart was re-ignited for the things that ignite the heart of God. All the superfluities of my American life were stripped away, until all that remained was relationships, good food, God's creation, conversation (some of the most interesting I've had in recent memory, despite a nearly opaque language barrier). Sabbaticals look different for different people. Mine was a trip to the DR, my sister's was some time with her brothers and dad in her new home, and one of her missionary friends was on our flight home to take a sabbatical with family and friends in the States. Whatever a sabbatical looks like for you, I encourage you to take one this summer. Use your sick days, go away for the weekend, find a babysitter for a couple days, take your bible and at least one other good book. My first morning in the DR, I looked through a shelf at my sister's house and found a book called "A Pastor in Prayer," which details the post-sermon prayers of Charles Spurgeon. It was just as transformative as any other experience I had while out of the country. God is good.

Can't wait to sing these songs with you...

1. The Glory of it All (David Crowder)

Shortly after he wrote it, I remember hearing Crowder talk about the phrasing of this title: "The Glory of it All." We've heard songs about God's glory and we often hear about "the wonder of it all" or "the beauty of it all," but "the GLORY of it all" is a unique phrase. It gives a freshness to an age-old divine attribute.

I'm a firm believer in the plagiarism of scripture in worship, and I love singing songs like "Create in Me a Clean Heart," which is simply a psalm put to melody. But there's also something to be said for new poetry, written from an untapped well of creativity. This song was written from that place. As psalm 40:3 says... "He put a new song in my mouth"

Here's a video of Crowder performing "The Glory of it All"

Revelation 1:8 (New International Version)

⁸"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

2. Our God (Chris Tomlin)

Pray for the Tomlin guys as they are touring the globe for the Passion World Tour. They play in Tokyo tonight. If you'd like to intercede for them more specifically in the coming weeks, here are the locations and dates in need of prayer:

Tokyo 5/22

Manila 5/25

Hong Kong 6/5

São Paulo 9/3

Vancouver (TBA)

For more information, visit http://www.268generation.com/

Exodus 15:2 (New International Version)

² The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.

3. From the Inside Out (Joel Houston)

Mark 1: 7 says; "His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out" (Message). When our lives are truly transformed by Christ, we will abandon ourselves in favor of His will. The song of our heart will be "In my heart and my soul, I give you control." And there's nothing safe about surrendering our lives to Jesus. Just ask Steven, who was stoned to death - or Peter, who was crucified upside down. Following Christ involves risk, and our Pastor Gary is going to expound on the topic of "RISK" in his sermon tomorrow morning.

4. When Heaven Came Down (Logan Walter)

It will be nice to sing this song with you, The Heights, who know it so well, before we go out and teach it to thousands of campers this summer. I'm praying for our summer dates, and I'd love it if you would too. Click here to check out our schedule

Psalm 18:9 (New International Version)

⁹ He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.

Dominican Dutton: 05/16/10

I've got good news and good news. I'll give you the good news first: I'm in the Dominican Republic this week, visiting my missionary sister, Erika, and her husband, Chris. They are a part of an organization called Makarios, which is the name of a school that gives an education to the children of Haitian immigrants, whose families cannot afford to send them to school. Erika and Chris serve as the host couple for mission groups that come to serve the school and villages associated with Makarios students. For more about this ministry, check out her blog: http://snappsdominican.blogspot.com/

The other good news is this: Dutton will still be leading at The Heights this weekend. How, you ask? Brian Patterson, I answer.

Brian is Dutton's keyboardist/guitarist who will be bringing his background vocals to the foreground this weekend. You will love it. Brian was a worship leader at FBC Hewitt and in his own band before joining Dutton. My only regret: I will not be there to see him lead. Consider yourselves lucky. Here are the songs you guys will be singing together...

Call to Action

Come and Listen (yes, brian can play this masterful piano part and lead at the same time. so talented)

You are Good

Mighty to Save

Doxology

Mother's Day 2010: Logan's Worship Blog

On this Mother's day, our Pastor Gary Singleton will be encouraging the mothers in our congregation to read scriptures to their children, pray scriptures over their children, and even sing scriptures as a family. So we are going to do just that on Mother's day morning. I have chosen songs that have been taken directly from God's Holy Word, and this blog will simply consist of those passages, which correspond to the lyrics in the songs we'll be singing together.

I encourage you to read, pray, and sing these scriptures as you read through this blog.

Psalm 119:11 (New International Version)

¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God (Eliza Edmunds Hewitt)

Matthew 6:33 (New International Version)

33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

And His righteousness

And all these things shall be added unto you

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Matthew 4:4 (New International Version)

4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God

Man shall not live by bread alone

But by every word

That proceeds from the mouth of God

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Matthew 7:7 (New International Version)

7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Ask and it shall be given unto you

Seek and ye shall find

Knock and the door shall be opened unto you

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Everlasting God (Brenton Brown)

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Ed Cash, and Jesse Reeves)

2 Corinthians 5:11-21 (New International Version)

¹¹Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ¹²We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.¹³If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin)

Isaiah 6

Isaiah's Commission

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9 He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."

11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
And he answered:
"Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Bread of Life (Logan Walter)

John 6

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Serve Sunday 05/02/10; Logan's Worship Blog

This week we will be combining with the traditional service for a brief time of worship at 8:20am, followed by an entire morning of service in the community around the church. It's called "engage Sunday," and it was quite the experience back in August. We'll see if I can keep the paint off my face and the poison ivy off my legs this time.

Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson, who was 22 years of age when he penned this one)

There are always several factors involved in choosing a set list, and this week, one of the factors includes "familiarity for both our traditional and contemporary congregations." Dutton plays this song often, thus it will be singable for all Heights goers. And the goal of "engage sunday" is to bless our community, so I cannot think of a better way to start the worship service that to sing "Come thou fount of every blessing."

For those of you who may be confused by the line, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer," just take a look at 1 Samuel 7:12

1 Samuel 7:12 (New International Version)

¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^[a] saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."

Footnotes: Ebenezer means stone of help.

Mighty To Save (Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding)

When Trent Blackley (worship leader for the 915 service) and I were thinking through songs that would be familiar for both services, this is the first song he suggested. It has recently passed "How Great is Our God" to become the most sung worship song in the world, and it happens to be one of my favorites. For those of you who are interested in these kinds of things, here is a list of the top 25 worship songs as of February 2010:

1	Mighty To Save	Fielding, Ben\Morgan, Reuben	4591782
2	How Great Is Our God	Tomlin, Chris\Reeves, Jesse\Cash, Ed	4348399
3	Blessed Be Your Name	Redman, Beth\Redman, Matt	3798438
4	Here I Am To Worship	Hughes, Tim	3266032
5	Everlasting God	Brown, Brenton\Riley, Ken	4556538
6	Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)	Tomlin, Chris\Giglio, Louie\Newton, John	4768151
7	Open The Eyes Of My Heart	Baloche, Paul	2298355
8	Your Grace Is Enough	Maher, Matt	4477026
9	Jesus Messiah	Tomlin, Chris\Carson, Daniel\Reeves, Jesse\Cash, Ed	5183443
10	Holy Is The Lord	Tomlin, Chris\Giglio, Louie	4158039
11	Shout To The Lord	Zschech, Darlene	1406918
12	Forever	Tomlin, Chris	3148428
13	You Are My King	Foote, Billy	2456623
14	Come Now Is The Time To Worship	Doerksen, Brian	2430948
15	Revelation Song	Riddle, Jennie Lee	4447960
16	In Christ Alone	Townend, Stuart\Getty, Keith	3350395
17	Lord I Lift Your Name On High	Founds, Rick	117947
18	Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)	Baloche, Paul\Brown, Brenton	4662491
19	God Of Wonders	Byrd, Marc\Hindalong, Steve	3118757
20	We Fall Down	Tomlin, Chris	2437367
21	Beautiful One	Hughes, Tim	3915912
22	From The Inside Out	Houston, Joel	4705176
23	The Heart Of Worship	Redman, Matt	2296522
24	You Are My All In All	Jernigan, Dennis	825356
25	Days Of Elijah	Mark, Robin	1537904

God of this City (Bluetree)

Recently, we have been singing this song for Port Au Prince and the people who desperately need healing in the nation of Haiti. But this morning, we sing it for the community that we are about to engage with service. Jesus calls us to reach out to our city, our nation, and our world. Today we focus on our city.

Acts 1:8 (New International Version)

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem (our city), and in all Judea and Samaria (our country), and to the ends of the earth."

Jesus Paid it All (Elvina Hall)

Just found this hymn story:

One Sunday morning Elvina Hall was sitting in the choir section at her church, Monument Street Methodist Church, in Baltimore, Maryland. She wasn't exactly bored with the sermon that Pastor George Schrick was preaching, but while he spoke about Jesus, Elvina's mind drifted to what Jesus had done for us and realized that Jesus had truly paid the entire price for our sins. The words to our hymn "Jesus Paid It All," were born that morning and the only thing Elvina had to write the words on was the inside cover of her hymnbook. Later, when she gave the words to her pastor she found out that the organist had just written a tune and both words and tune fit perfectly together. The hymn was published in 1879.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (New International Version)

¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Call to Action (Logan Walter)

Engage Sunday is the reason that I wrote this song. Or, I should say, the service mindedness of our church (which led to the creation of Engage Sunday) is, itself, the story behind the song.

No more needs to be said. Let my words be few. Let's show the love of Christ through our actions.

Galatians 5:13b (New International Version)

¹³serve one another in love.