Enriched Affections

"Taste and See" verses by Isaac Watts / chorus & music by Joshua Huff (2009), released by Joshua Huff on Enriched Affections Click here to listen -->  Taste and See  from "Enriched Affections" I wrote this song a few years ago in preparation for one of our Summer Camps where the theme was "Taste and See". Psalm 34 was the text for memorization that year, and I found Isaac Watts' verses very encouraging, mainly because they came straight from scripture. All I did was add the chorus and the melody and here we are. Why I recommend this song for worship- Colossians 3:16 is a key verse for any worship leader. It tells us to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." This song fills all three of these categories, being directly from a Psalm, functioning as a hymn, and encouraging the spiri...

So, have you decided yet? The national election is about a month away and there are many things to decide. "Who should I vote for?" is probably the main question you are thinking about. Normally I don't like to get into politics in a forum like this, but since this is a big issue, it is one that needs some attention and some perspective. As you think about who you should vote for, you may ask yourself several questions. "Who is better qualified for the job?" "What are the candidates track records?" "Who thinks and will run the country like I would?" A popular one is, "Am I better off now than I was four years ago?" If you respond with a no then you'll probably vote for someone new, and if yes then you'll stick with what's working. However, as a Christian, all of these questions have a larger question that must be answered first to shift all these other ones into the proper light. We must ask, "Is the Kingdom o...

Too early for Christmas? Are you still gearing up for Halloween or debating how many pumpkins should go on display in your front yard? When you're getting ready for an upcoming Christmas concert, the end of September is about as late in the year as you want to wait before thinking about Christmas. All that is to say I've been thinking about it a lot and listening to a lot of Christmas music, both good and not so good. As I ran through different themes for our upcoming concert with my wife, we listened through the song "The Night Before Christmas" by Steven Curtis Chapman (you can listen to it below). The title caused me to pause... The night before Christmas. Of course, we all think about Christmas eve and singing carols and what the different characters must have been thinking and doing that night, but what about 10 years before Christmas? 100 years? 1,000 years? What about then? The night before the day of Christ's birth was probably like any other ev...

I was really challenged by this article. I always need to be going back to Scripture as my manual for ministry rather than the culture. Is cool important for youth ministry?

"Come, People of the Risen King"  by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend (2009), released by the Getty's on Awaken the Dawn Why I recommend this song for worship- We typically use this song as a call to worship. After all, the words themselves are a call to come and worship the Lord. The Getty's do a wonderful job with this one, making the melody very singable and having verses with deep content and a chorus that is simple and calls us to rejoice. Sometimes, a song may have just the good content in the lyrics or just an emotionally charged, yet very simple chorus. I love how this song has both. Our minds are charged up with the truths of our salvation, the unity we have in Christ, and the rest all find as we worship God, then we are able to rejoice because of those truths in the chorus. Sometimes I do this with two separate songs, like singing Thy Mercy , then going right into something like I Love You, Lord  to respond to what was just sung. This part...

So now we are hearing that Jesus was married, again. If you haven't heard this rumor/story/teaching/whatever you want to call it, you'll hear it soon enough. I first came across this idea reading the FICTION book The Da Vinci Code  which many took to be a fiction book based on actual events from the life of Christ. Now the issue of Jesus being married is in the news again. You can see it on Fox News, CNN, and even SNL's Weekend Update. Every is excited that this time we have concrete proof from a more reputable source, or is it so reputable? I found this article extremely helpful in having not only a Biblical, but a logically scientific approach to the new document that some are saying proves that Jesus had a wife. I hope it helps you out as you engage in conversation with others about this news story. The Far Less Sensational Truth about Jesus Wife (from The Gospel Coalition)

I am in the midst of one of those "swamped" or "in the weeds" moments with my seminary homework and other responsibilities, so today's post will be a little shorter. I thought I would post a quote that encouraged me about the role of being a teacher and a witness to what our great Teacher is and does. Let me know what you think: "'...A human teacher, be he as wise as Socrates, can only assist at the birth of truth and knowledge in another person; he can be no more than a midwife, so to speak. The identity of the teacher is as unimportant as the moment when the disclosure is made. For the teacher is a mere midwife; only God can beget. But what if God does beget? What if God comes himself to teach and impart new life? Why then, the Teacher becomes all-important, and the moment of illumination or entering on this new life becomes highly significant. This is in fact, [the Apostle] John is convinced, what has happened. The Absolute became our Contemporary;...