Todd Agnew - Better Questions

I have come to really enjoy and appreciate Todd Agnew's music over the past year or so. Today I purchased his latest release Better Questions. I am not even through the entire album and I feel moved and encouraged by his honesty and authenticity. I think that some Christians cringe at that word (authenticity) as if it's too humanistic, but I think it's a concept we could explore more thoroughly in our own hearts and then in our conversations in our church community. If this is something you seek and want good company in your journey check out http://www.toddagnew.com/ Listen, read the conversations and think about who you are in relation to Christ. What are your hard questions? In the purest way I can muster, I want a man with a heart like this with whom to share my journey.

if You wanted me

I’ll admit I’m glad we’re not disciples
Out on a lake paralyzed with fright
‘Cause I’m afraid I might have laughed at Peter
Until he stepped into that stormy night

If you wanted me to walk on water
Why’d You make the solid ground seem so right?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not King David
Ruling over everything I see
‘Cause I think I’ve fallen for more than Bathsheba
Your creation’s a temptation for me

If you wanted me to love you only
Why’d you make the moonlight sparkle in her eyes?

I’ll admit I’m glad I’m not John the Baptist
In a jail cell waiting for my day to die
‘Cause at least down here I know what we’re chasing
And it’s hard to trust Your dreams are so much better than mine

If you wanted me to die to myself
Why’d you make me fall so deeply in love with life?

If You wanted me to surrender
Why’d You make these hands able to hold on so tight?

And if You wanted me to be like You
Why’d You make me like me?

The following is a quoatation from the Bio of Better Questions: http://www.toddagnew.com/v2/about/

“When we ask questions, God gives us answers, but they’re answers that are going to help draw you to Him, not answers that are going to help you be right,” he continues. “He’s not going to give you the answer that will let you think, ‘Oh, I’ve got it all figured out now,’ He’s going to give you the answer that is going to pull you in to Him, because that’s what you need."

To those of you at Christ Community Church who share this search and challenge me every time I see you - thank you. I am closer to my Savior because of you.

Aurora and the search for Goliath

Rachel....I heard the small voice whine.

Me: Yes, Aurora.

Rory: (Age four) No one wants to be my Goliath and let me hit them in the head with my slingshot. See.... I'm pretending this block is my rock, but no one wants to pretend with me.

I tried not to let her see me laugh at her seriousness.

Me: Well, Rory, I think maybe they think it won't feel so good to get hit between the eyes with a block.

Rory: (Pause for careful condsideration.) Well. Maybe if I hit them in the knees it won't hurt so bad.

Me: Maybe not, but they still might think it will hurt.

Rory: I'll just go find Daddy. He'll be my Goliath.....

Me: (to myself) should I warn him....?

The Power of Addiction

This is the power of addiction. Whatever the object of our addiction is, it attaches itself to our intense desire for eternal and intimate communion with God and each other in the midst of Paradise—the desire that Jesus himself placed in us before the beginning of the world. Nothing less than this kind of unfallen communion will ever satisfy our desire or allow it to drink freely without imprisoning it and us. Once we allow our heart to drink water from these less-than-eternal wells with the goal of finding the life we were made for, it overpowers our will, and becomes, as Jonathan Edwards said, “like a viper, hissing and spitting at God” and us if we try to restrain it.

“Nothing is less in power than the heart and far from commanding, we are forced to obey it,” said Jean Rousseau. Our heart will carry us either to God or to addiction.

“Addiction is the most powerful psychic enemy of humanity’s desire for God,” says Gerald May in Addiction and Grace, which is no doubt why it is one of our adversary’s favorite ways to imprison us. Once taken captive, trying to free ourselves through willpower is futile. Only God’s Spirit himself can free us or even bring us to our senses.

(The Sacred Romance , 133–34)


From The Ransomed Heart, by John Eldredge, reading 223
Ransomed Heart Ministries www.ransomedheart.com

Prayin' for my man

I want to give kudos to a recent article by Carolyn McCulley on crosswalk.com. Singleness is an "issue" on the hearts and minds of most of us 20-30 something ladies, so I am always thankful for encouragement or instruction in how to keep my heart and behavior acceptable as I wait....not so patiently many days. Carolyn said the following in her fourth point of how to be attractive in a godly way as we wait to be pursued:

"Proverbs 30:19 says that the way of a man with a maiden is amazing and wonderful, something too profound to be easily understood. So if Scripture says this is a mystery, why should we expect that some formula or method in the latest singles self-help book is going to solve it? When you think about it, it is amazing that two sinners can be drawn to each other (at the same time!) and then make a pledge to stick it out for the rest of their lives. Frankly, the longer I observe the mystery of marriage, the more I am in awe of God’s sovereign ability to bring two people together. So pray for the gift of marriage for yourself and your friends, pray for the single men you know to find a wife, pray for your pastors and your church to help single adults get married, pray that God will conform you as a fruitful helpmate to your future husband, pray for a humble man who listens for God’s voice—and then pray that God speaks your name to him."

I love specifics when given an assignment. So if you'll excuse me I have some prayin' to do.
To read the entire piece go to:
http://www.crosswalk.com/singles/11549260/page1/
Also note the link to Carolyn's blog - Solo Femininity