Come Thou Fount

I LOVE this song! We were talking about it in bible study today and I just had to put in on here! Notice where it hits me the most?

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger
,Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord,I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

"Eye" max

The Minnesota Zoo, or "Joo" as Libs called it. Yep, we went today thanks to the Museum passes from the library or it surely would've cost us 50 smackers to get in the place. A beautiful day to spend with the kids and the animals! God is truly amazing! Some of the creatures out there are just bizarre!!!! Anyway, this post is not really about the zoo but the Imax. We went to see the Lion show in 3d. Cool. I don't remember the last time I had to put on those giant Big Bird glasses. We got into the theatre after we got our popcorn and soda and prepared to watch the show. All the kids had their glasses on (which were bigger than their heads) when the countdown began. They were amazed at the way the animals and everything else was poppin out before their eyes but kept having to push their glasses back up cuz they were so gigantic. They were doing the wave your hand in front of you and try to grab the lion or bird-you know. My sister and I were making jokes like, "great, the lions gonna claw our eyes out," and on and on. When the lions got really loud one time Levi said, "mom, I'm freakin' scared!" He kept pulling his glasses down and my sister and I kept saying, "get 'em on!" Finally Jace leans over and says, "mom, my glasses are foggy." I was like, "what?" I reached over and grabbed them and looked through. Sure enough they were-foggy with POPCORN BUTTER! I then tested out everyones glasses and they all had the popcorn smear. Oh well, at least it lasted til 3/4 through the show! I gave Jace mine and Libs didn't seem to mind and Levi watched without. I don't know how he could stand it! He probably just thought it was a bad vcr tape or something. So, the moral of the story? NO popcorn in Imax with kids under 8!!!!

Levi stories

Levi is hilarious. He really isn't my favorite, he just is the funniest kid. (I already hear you Steven-shush!) Some stories...

Levi broke bread at Grammas and said, "this is my body...."

Levi was walkin around a corner yesterday when I scared him. He shouted as he stomped towards his room, "I am going to pray to the Lord!"

Yesterday at church Pastor said something profound about God. I saw Levi out of the corner of my eye doing a slow nod back and forth. He said, "mmmnnn, that was good." I said, "what?" He said, "nevermind." As if I interrupted his majestic thoughts of God.

Playing hide-n-seek the other day I really had him goin. He was counting in the closet and everytime he would come out he would leave the door open which I was behind. When he would walk away I would go in the closet. He would end up coming back and finding me asking, "how do you get in here?" I always said it's a secret but one time I told him I'm in there with you while you're counting. So, a time or so after he was counting and he said, ".....7,8,9,....mom, are you in here with me?!"

Top 3

Top 3 places you would like to visit before this earth or you pass away and why?

Piper quote

“We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self.”
-John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ

Quote of the week

“Every departure from the doctrine of election in any degree has been a departure from the gospel, for such departure always involves the introduction of some obligation on man’s part to make a contribution towards his own salvation, a contribution he simply cannot make.” - Arthur C. Custance

3 funnies

While getting dressed today I laid out some jeans for Levi. He said, "not jeans!" I said, "yes you are wearing them." He said, "why?" I said, "because." He said while holding up his finger, "you need to be more specific."

Jace was telling me one of his verses tonight. He said, "God is the "Alfalfa" and the Omega......

I told Liberty the other day we were going to the Y. I also told her I had to work out because I'm a fat lard. She then retained that. Today I told her we were going to the Y. She said, "you wook out. You a fat wowd?" Thank you Libs-I'm on it.

Breaking Up

No matter what type of theology you follow, here is a post to help you know what to say when breaking up with that significant other.

This is quite funny.

Quoting J I Packer

There is no doubt that Evangelicalism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. In such matters as the practice of evangelism, the teaching of holiness, the building up of local church life, the pastor's dealing with souls and the exercise of discipline, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with things as they are and of equally widespread uncertainty as to the road ahead. This is a complex phenomenon, to which many factors have contributed; but, if we go to the root of the matter, we shall find that these perplexities are all ultimately due to our having lost our grip on the biblical gospel. Without realizing it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing.
Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church. Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centred in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do.
One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be "helpful" to man - to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction - and too little concerned to glorify God. The old gospel was "helpful", too - more so, indeed, than is the new - but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of Divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is man.
This is just to say that the old gospel was [genuinely] religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.....

Changing a light bulb

How many christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Charismatic: Only 1-Hands are already in the air.

Pentecostal: 10-One to change the bulbs, and 9 to pray against the spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None-Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None-candles only.

Baptists: At least 15-One to change the bulb, and 3 committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.

Episcopalians: 3-One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks and one to talk about how much better the old one was.

Mormons: 5-One man to change the bulb, and 4 wives to tell him how to do it.

Unitarians: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, you are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, flourescent, 3-way, long life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Methodists: Undetermined-Whether your light bulb is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. Bring a bulb of your choice to the Sunday lighting service and a covered dish to share.

Nazarene: 6-One woman to replace the bulb while 5 men review church lighting policy.

Lutherans- None-Lutherans don't believe in change.

Amish- What's a light bulb?