Dr. Eric Mason of Epiphany Fellowship delivers two of the most powerful messages I’ve heard… ever. This message was so relevant to me, and my relationship with Christ. So excited to hear him preach live this Sunday at The Village Church.
Vimeo: Epiphany Fellowship
Twitter: Eric Mason
A Muslim/Christian dialogue took place in Dubai on March 2, 2009. They addressed the question: Who is God and how are we saved? The speakers were Bassam Zawadi and Thabiti Anyabwile. There are 22 parts to this video available on YouTube, and in this one Anyabwile responds to whether or not Christians have a license to sin. Fantastic presentation of defending the faith without sounding judgmental. There is 2-3 minutes at the beginning where they explain how the Q&A will work.
Source: Josh Walker
Fantastic video that depicts two views of success: our view and God’s. The video was put together by Dan Stevers.
God’s idea of being blessed and our idea of being blessed are very different. To us, success looks like having money, power, and influence. Jesus, however, saw the idea of success very differently.
Every year The Village Church student ministry holds an event called Spin Weekend. This year they are having Matt Carter from The Austin Stone, and Tedashii as special guests. Not sure if they are going to post Tedashii’s live set – it was awesome – but Matt Carter’s message from session one is already up. It will be available to watch through this weekend (maybe longer). The live streaming worked out great. Katie and I watched it on the Macbook (see pic) with only a few 2-3 second glitches.
Tedashii had a bangin’ setlist. At first I thought he was lip-singing, but on the last track the audio from the backing track cut-off. It was only cut-off for the live stream, but Tedashii’s mic was still live. It was pretty cool to hear him go off acapella-style. Here’s the setlist:
This is the first time I’ve heard Matt preach; he was really good. I’m not sure if he is always like this, but the energy was high and the humor was on point. His delivery of the gospel was great. He talked about the words no one who claims Christianity would ever want to hear: “I never knew you.” Excellent job presenting how we can know we won’t hear that, how it is hard to tell if others will hear that, and what it looks like to sin while being a believer in Christ.
Follow on Twitter: Matt Carter | Tedashii | The Village Church
Sean Slaughter and Cook Dogg
I recently discovered The What in the Ham Sandwich?! Show while browsing iTunes for podcasts. I subscribed to the DaSouth.com’s podcast hoping to discover new music, and came across the show. The first show I listened to covers the title of this post; this is from the description:
Does Jesus like to have fun? Do you think he laughs? How come Christians who are considered ‘deep’ are serious or quiet or reserved or even mean? Doesn’t God love people who like to have fun?
What an interesting topic – I had to listen. The show is hosted by Sean Slaughter and Cook Dogg, and they are goofy. I’ve listened to at least five shows over the last week and have enjoyed them all. The topics they cover are relevant and theological in nature, but the chemistry they share has me laughing almost the whole time. The added bonus: DJ I Rock Jesus has three mini-mixes in between the discussions of Sean and Cook, so I’m discovering new music as well!
Here is a preview of the episode:
The full episode can be found on iTunes or the Ham website.
Here are a few sample topics they have covered recently:
Lecrae has written a new track to raise awareness and money for relief work in Haiti. The video features footage from the ground in Haiti and of the recent concert in Minneapolis where $20,000 was raised. Help them give more!
Purchase the track on iTunes or get the video+mp3 from Reach.
…remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Isaiah 46:9-11
Source: Reach Records
A lot of people question the influence television, music and media in general, really has on culture. Everyone would agree there are positive and negative effects, that come from the media we consume. The most positive effect of media is the spread of the gospel, so it is not something I think needs to go away. The following show has a lot of great points with regard to how fast it changes people. More freedom always equals more problems, but when you look at how it has helped shape our world, you have to think it’s worth it.
How much of the devastation in Haiti would we really know about without mass media? How much help would they really have received if you didn’t hear about it on the radio, watching TV, or in the internet? I’ve been reading The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. He does an excellent job of presenting the beauty of mass media, and how it has helped shrink our world. The outpouring of support for Haiti is the perfect example of that. In the end, I’m glad God is sovereign.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. Psalm 135:6
Source: Shawn Dotey on The What in the Ham Sandwich Show Forums
Lecrae’s music has been a real encouragement for myself and many others around the world. A friend in my home group introduced me to his music in December 2008. We were talking about what genres of music we enjoyed and he mentioned rap. I expressed my dislike with how most Christ-exalting rap seemed a bit cheesy. He told me to pick up some 116 Clique albums, specifically Lecrae. I grabbed his latest album, Rebel, and it quickly became the most listened to album.
Favorites on the album were “Rebel Intro”, “Fall Back”, “Don’t Waste Your Life”, and “Indwelling Sin”. “Rebel Intro” hammers it hard from the get-go, as he raps about the only true rebellion left. “Fall Back” takes on what is presented to us by different forms of media. “Indwelling Sin” is in the same vein of The Omen tracks (“Damien” & “The Omen”) on DMX’s first two albums.
If you have not heard of Lecrae, go pick up Rebel – you will not be disappointed. Very challenging stuff in there for believers and non-believers alike. His new album is suppose to drop before the year ends.
Here is a video of Lecrae sharing his testimony with The 700 Club.
Source: Rapzilla
The newest edition of Ask Pastor John is out, and it’s a good one. I’ve been having similar thoughts to his in regards of the typical American usage of money.
I start to feel like the money most Americans spend… no wait, that makes it too general. I feel the money or time I spend in the pursuit of worldly joy will amount to nothing on the day of judgement. I’m going to try to get my thoughts in order, and hopefully get some clear answers on the topic in the coming weeks.
Christ has to be all.
It’s hard, but it’s necessary for scripture to be supreme.
If someone were to ask you anything, any subject… would you be able to take them to the scriptures and say, “The Bible has an answer for that.”
Now we have a society of Christianity that sees the culture as the foundation, and scripture as the accent.
Just posted a new sermon jam from Adam Thomason. I started work on the first sermon jam back in August, but couldn’t condense it down to just one. I decided to start a series titled Hard Truths (the name of his sermon), since there is so much good information in the sermon – I highly recommend you check it out. It was given on August 16, 2009 at the Village Church. There might be one or two more I pull from this sermon in the future.
Here is Adam’s story:
Adam’s blog at The Red Revolution is a great resource.