Enriched Affections

Waiting on God is a common theme throughout the Psalms. It's a test everyone goes through, whether we wait on Him for answered prayer, relief from a trial, results from a doctor's visit, or the birth of a child. Thankfully, God has not only ordained the ends of these things, but also the means to reach these ends. That is what this song is all about. As we wait on Him we can trust in Him and His faithfulness. He will not forsake us and He will enable us to wait patiently no matter what He brings our way.    

It's been a great joy to really settle into my new ministry at Hixson Pres in TN. I love to be counted among those who get to work at their dream job. God has certainly been good. I'm continuing to write and arrange here and there. A song I've been working on for a long time is finally finished. I finished the melody earlier this year and have finally completed a demo recording. The song is Christ Intercedes . It uses the text from Anne Steele's hymn He Lives, the Great Redeemer Lives  which has a very tricky meter.This arrangement adds what I hope to be a singable melody and a reflective chorus emphasizing the main theme of this song- Christ's role as our intercessor. I hope you find it useful and meditative as you reflect on the person and work of Jesus Christ in your life. Click here to download a free .mp3 of the song

It's been a while since I've posted. A lot of that is due to my efforts, through the Spirit, to kill off some idols of self-promotion. I'm still chugging away at memorizing songs and learning, but what I share will be a bit more sporadic. Lately I've been meditating a lot on the Psalms. My quiet time had me in Psalm 7 today. As I reflected on that the idea of God's judgment came to mind. In this Psalm, David asks for God to judge the wicked, knowing that he himself is a man who walks in righteousness. He seek to judge the wicked himself, despite his statements of personal integrity. That is just a unique view on things given our world today. In our culture it seems the more a person is self-righteous the more judgmental they are. Scripture tells us that the more righteous we are, the more we let God be the judge and leave it at that. With all that going through my mind I decided to right a poem regarding what I had learned. So, here it is... I see such so...

Persecution is nothing new to the people of God. From the first century to the twenty-first the enemies of the Gospel have sought to destroy it and its followers. As I was reading the story of Polycarp to my kids this morning I couldn't help but think of our modern day martyrs all over the world. Recently, the attacks by ISIS against our Christian brothers and sisters in the middle east have made this all the more relevant in our churches today. Martyrdom is not just a thing of the past. It isn't limited to Hebrews 11 and the stories of the early church fathers. It's alive and happening all over the world, all the time. In fact, while you are reading this post another Christian will die for their faith. This is why we cannot forget the truth spoken in Romans 8. The truths of this passage form the core of the song I'm memorizing this week. It's a truth we all need to be reminded of. Romans 8:31-39 is incredibly encouraging as we think of martyrdom. It states th...

Each of us that claim the name "Christian" has a unique story of our salvation. Some of us were raised in a Christian home by parents committed to our spiritual growth and maturity. Others came to faith later in life through the influence of a friend or family member. We read stories of men like John Newton who were taken from lives of horrendous sin and guilt and others like John Piper who were raised by evangelists and continue in that work. One of the greatest stories of salvation is the Apostle Paul, recounted in Acts 9 . Here was a man who was actively imprisoning Christians, the religious terrorist of his day, who God converted to be head of His mission to the Gentiles. No matter the conversion story; no matter the drama or seeming lack there-of, all stories of salvation share the same theme. We were all dead in our sin, chained in slavery to our flesh with no hope of recovery. Then God acted. He brought the dead heart to life, broke the chains of slavery to sin, an...

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder  has been one of my favorite hymns for a number of years. I was first introduced to it (being the youngling that I am) by Jars of Clay on their Redemption Songs  album. The arrangement was a new one from Indelible grace which matched a beautiful melody and chorus to these amazing words. What I love about this hymn is its simplicity and depth. That may sound like an oxymoron, but what I mean is that it captures deep theological truth in simple phrases. The first verse gives us a great example of this: "He [Christ] has hushed The Law's loud thunder, He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame." Such a simple phrase, but what depths of truth! The thunder of the Law was its ability to convict and condemn. The flame of Sinai was a reminder of the unapproachableness of God. Each of these came at the same time Moses was receiving the Law, and both are remedied by the person of Christ who brought grace to the Law and tore the veil that kept...

In Genesis 49 we come to the end of the life of one of the patriarchs of the Jewish faith. Jacob is on his deathbed when he calls his sons together to bless and prophesy over each of them. If we look at the history of each of the sons we might guess how each blessing might go. Surely Joseph would get the greatest blessing being the favorite son and the savior of his family. However, that's not quite how it goes. The first three sons are quickly dismissed as heirs to the main blessing. Reuban "went up to [his] father's bed" by sleeping with one of Jacob's concubines (Bilhah in Genesis 35:22 ). This removes the blessing of the first born from him. The next two in line, Simeon and Levi, are dismissed as well for their role in the bloody massacre of the men of Shechem ( Genesis 34 ). That brings us to Judah, the fourth-born son of Leah. Judah is an interesting character in Genesis. He was the one who had the idea to sell Joseph off to the Ishmaelites rather tha...