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Enriched Affections- Mystery of Mercy

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Mystery of Mercy by Joshua Huff In eternity past, before time was made You started a plan to bring glory to Your name You would create a world, both captive and free Where creation would declare Your holy majesty Then sin entered in, enslaving mankind; Making men blind to you, loving the night. But You promised grace and mercy would come Even though we, your enemies, deserved none Chorus Mystery of mercy, it is Your sovereign plan. Mystery of grace, we will never understand How You could send Your own Son to die For depraved enemies of Your name, such as I To adopt us as children of life Oh, mystery of mercy Mystery of mercy As time wandered on, Your plan was revealed You would send us a savior whose wounded hands would heal He would live in our world, as a babe enter in The man, fully God, who would free us from sin But He was despised, rejected by men. He suffered Your wrath as the payment for sin. As a dead lamb He lay, ‘ti
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Enriched Affections- Jesus Lover of My Soul

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Jesus, Lover of My Soul Verses 1-3 by Charles Wesley | Verse 4 & Music by Joshua Huff Jesus, Lover of my soul, let me to Your bosom   fly. While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high; Hide me, O my Savior hide, ‘Till the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last! You, O Christ, are all I want; More than all in You I find; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy name, I am all unrighteousness; False and full of sin I am, Thou art full of truth and grace. Endless grace with You is found, grace to cover all my  sin; Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure with - in: You, the fount of life do flow, freely let me drink of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity. Heav’nward I lift up my eyes, Christ is on the mercy seat. There I may receive the prize for He intercedes for me. Sin’s dark curse of death has died,
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Christian Deconstruction

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My latest morning live session gave some insights into my own experience with Christian Deconstruction. If you aren’t familiar with this phraseology, think of it like tearing down a house in order to see what the foundation is made of. Many Christians go through this process once they are confronted with a crisis of adversity or prosperity. Jesus spoke about this directly in his parable of the different soils in Matthew 13. While only one of the plants in this parable bore fruit and proved to be genuine, two others looked like legit plants until they were confronted with trials, adversity, or the pleasures of this world. When those came around they were shown to be what they were, a fake plant. Personally, I went through this deconstruction process at the end of 2017. I was very suddenly without a spouse, job, or church. My roles of husband, pastor, ministry leader, and churchman were removed and I was left to consider what my faith really rested on. Was it based on what I wa
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No Condemnation- Wed. Study

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No Condemnation. That was the theme from today's time in the word. It was strange to go live in front of... 2 people? I was just glad to teach again. I love the lesson planning and study. Teaching others always causes me to know my subject matter more deeply. I'm not sure what will come of these times together on Wed. morning, but I'll leave that in God's hands as I take it a week at a time. In case you missed it, I was mostly in the book of Romans after a singing "Come Ye Sinners". That song is a great reminder of the grace of God and that He calls us just as we are: weak, weary, sick, and sore. Jesus is the one that saves us, not our works. If we try to save ourselves then we'll never come to Him at all. Praise God that He has done the work of salvation! As we think about God's grace, there is always the temptation to rely too much on it. I don't mean at all that we shouldn't trust in grace alone for our salvation. I more mean that we
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Happy Anniversary?

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Chester Frost Park, May 15, 2018 One year ago, on May 15, 2018, I enjoyed a great day at the beach with my family. My wife and I watched the girls play in the water at the park near our house. The sun was out. Things were starting to look up for my family. Yes, my marriage still needed a lot of work and I needed a better job, but things seemed to be stabilizing a bit. One year ago, on May 17, 2018, I was driving home from dropping the kids off at school in the morning. My wife hadn’t come home the previous night, saying she spent the night with one of her girl friends who wasn’t sober enough to drive herself. But I guessed at what happened. After some halting conversation and a few questions, the truth came out. She had done it again, and I knew our marriage was over. That was a confusing morning for me. I don’t think I had honestly considered divorce a real option until that moment. I hoped the fear of it would keep us together if nothing else would. Divorce wasn’t just
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A Song for Mother's Day

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Nothing too long today. I'm working through a few things personally, and hope to get back to regular posts this coming week. However, with Mother's Day coming I wanted to share an old original I listened to recently. In my daily reading I'm just getting into 1 Samuel. It took me back to many years ago, reflecting on the goodness of God and writing this song based on 1 Samuel 2: And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord;     my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies,     because I rejoice in your salvation. “There is none holy like the Lord:     for there is none besides you;     there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly,     let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge,     and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken,     but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,     but those who wer
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Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call

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These past few weeks I've been wrestling with loneliness. It's been a difficult transition; moving from having someone to talk to about everything to... well, to sharing that with a journal, and maybe a few highlights for my friends. The huge positive is that I talk a lot more with God. I know He's always known me, but I'm feeling like we're communicating better, and more often, than I ever have in the past. However, the loneliness still remains. I know I'm not alone in this life situation. My mother-in-law (how does that work now?) who will always be my second Mom lost her husband several years ago, and I know she's wrestled with this. I have friends who have been single all their lives, seemingly content with their friends and their God, but go through seasons of doubt and discouragement all the same. I know others who have lost a spouse through death or divorce. Still others who simply feel alone even within their marriage and outwardly perfect life.
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