Facebook users can see the video here.
Dr. Russell Moore has a book, Adopted For Life, which is on my soon-to-read list.
Have any of you read the book?
Why do you think many of us care so much (and rightly so) about the murder of very small children and don’t appear to care much for the fatherless who are allowed to continue living?
HT: Desiring God
Here are some images from a photoblog by Justin Fox. Go and see the rest of his pictures.
Lovely stuff, and full of memories for me. My adopted home country of South Africa, and especially Kwa-Zulu Natal, is a beautiful place.
For some reason we’ve been praying for orphans in Africa for the last month or so. I know everyone is focused on the suffering in Haiti, and properly so. But keep on praying, and giving, to Africa.
I am pleased to welcome Stephen Altrogge. I asked him Five Questions. Stephen makes me laugh on Twitter all the time.
1. Why do you have such a hard name to pronounce? Are you just trying to be difficult?
Simple. Many years ago, back in Germany, my ancestors decided that they had had enough of telemarketers calling them during dinner time. They decided that they needed to change their last name to something difficult to pronounce so that they could immediately identify a telemarketer over the phone. At first they were going to use the name “Nllywgnfsrn”, but then realized that even they couldn’t pronounce it. So they settled on Altrogge.
Or maybe they were just being difficult.
2. You write/perform music and write books. Are you also an inventor, or a bee-keeper?
I’m not a bee-keeper, but I desperately wish I was. What little boy hasn’t told his parents that he wants to be a bee-keeper when he grows up? Plus, bee-keepers get to carry around a smoke-making device at all times. Do you know how useful that would be? Getting tired of a conversation? Pump a little smoke into it. Need to run through heavy gunfire? Throw up a smoke screen. Want to entertain small children for hours on end? Smoke signals. The possibilities really are endless.
3. What is your life for?
Wow, we just went from the totally absurd to the totally serious. But that’s okay, that’s how I tend to roll myself. So here goes. My life is for the purpose of showing how great Jesus really is. 1 Corinthians 10:31 defines my life purpose: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I write books and music and drink coffee and love my wife and play with my little girl to make Jesus look great. That’s what I am on planet earth for.
4. Do you think sports are worth spending time on (plug that book, son)?
Yes. Two reasons. First, sports are a wonderful gift from God. I get so much joy from watching sports and playing sports and that joy is a gift from God. Second, sports present a wonderful opportunity to glorify God. When I play sports, I can give thanks to God for giving me a healthy body, can be grateful for the joy of making a basket, and can have a wonderful time with other friends who enjoy playing sports.
I wrote a book where I address this in detail entitled Game Day for the Glory of God: A Guide for Athletes, Fans, and Wanabes. You can get it on Amazon HERE: http://www.amazon.com/Game-Day-Glory-God-Athletes/dp/1433501392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262717328&sr=8-1
5. What are you reading (or have read lately) that has mattered?
I’m reading an awesome book called Old Testament Theology that’s looking like it’s going to be a home run. My knowledge of the OT is limited at best. I mean, I obviously know all the well known stories like “Jacob and the Lion’s Den”, and “Samson Feeding the Five Thousand”. But I really do want to grow in understanding how the Old Testament links to the New Testament, and I think this book is going to be a huge help.
Thanks for doing this interview. If anyone is interested in finding out more about me, like why I love salami, or how I got $32,000 from the Prince of Nigeria, they can find me on my blog (www.theblazingcenter.com), Twitter (twitter.com/stephenaltrogge), or Facebook (facebook.com/stephenaltrogge). Thanks!
“Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want.”
Martin Luther
HT: Scotty Smith
I had fun with last week’s post about what actually happened last year, and it was true enough. But it’s clear to me that there is a danger for me in being too flippant about the events of life. In particular, there’s a danger in not recognizing, with thankfulness, the sovereign hand of God for our good and, most importantly, for his glory, in all things.
So God himself is, of course, the author and hero of this story that is my life. There’s no meaning, truth, beauty, or goodness apart from Christ. So, with that in mind, I want to be thankful out loud here for a few areas I neglected last week.
Family
The mercy of God in my ordinary life has no greater vehicle than my bride, Gina. She is the primary voice of encouragement in my life (and in my writing) and is a nearly-endless blessing to me in a thousand ways. She is an excellent partner and an enormous helper. There’s no higher calling than that. Our children have been an unbelievable gift, a source of joy and a point of focus for an intentionality in my life I’ve never had before. Thank you, Yahweh.
Our wider family has been a gift as well, from our parents to our siblings and cousins etc. I here include some special friends who have been like family to us. You know who you are.
Vocation
I thank God for the work he has blessed us with. I have never been more satisfied in occupational matters than I am now. I know the idea of vocation (calling) extends beyond occupation, and that we are called to many things. But I am thankful for my job.
I want to thank the saints at my local church. They have been an unlooked for delight to us, and an experience of meeting in the name of Jesus we are deeply happy in. The pastors have been faithful under-shepherds to the Senior Pastor (Chief Shepherd), Jesus.
Suffering
Suffering is an ordinary part of fallen life. I thank God that he has been good to us in and out of pain. Life hasn’t been easy for us in many ways, as I know it isn’t for anyone (though we all feel like our pain is unique and particularly difficult). God’s sovereign hand for good in all things is in evidence in our lives. We are thankful for this mercy.
Finally, I mentioned that we had a son. His name is Micah. We gave him this name as, primarily, a tribute to the unmatched glory of God. Micah means “Who is like Yahweh?” The answer is, of course, silence. There is no one like Yahweh (rendered “The LORD” in most translations). No one compares with him. All wholesome delights originate in him, reflecting glory back to the Source.
We want to find our joy in him, and see with clear eyes that all true delight is a gift from him, and we want to be happy about that. As a naturally somewhat-melancholy, anxious type, it’s my prayer that I can set aside the impediments which sprout in my heart, weeding with vigor at the nonsense fruit of vanity.
A Psalm we learned last year is an appropriate way to end this brief exercise in public thankfulness. Maybe you should consider memorizing it as defensive measure in the war on your soul -for when the inevitable attacks come.
46:1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
May the God of Jacob get glory from us in 2010. He will be exalted, so let’s join in the endless chorus.
“Human beings have very little real power over their lives. Ninety-five percent of what sets the course of their lives is completely outside their control. This includes the century and place they are born in, who their parents and family are, their childhood environment, physical stature, genetically hardwired talents, and most of the circumstances that they find themselves in. In short, all we are and have is given to us by God. We are not infinite Creators, but finite, dependent creatures.”
Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods
So much for the ”truth” behind the poem Invictus.
HT: Josh Harris
“Solitude is fundamentally a place of prayer–of personal and individual encounter with God. To be in solitude is to be intentionally present to God. Solitude is not the act of being alone; rather it is the event of being alone with God.”
Gordon T. Smith
HT: Ken
I want this for myself in 2010.
I love Luke’s ”orderly account” of what has been accomplished by Yahweh in the first advent of Christ.
We remember the true tale of how the angel Gabriel came to two people (in Luke’s account), one was a priest and the other a virgin.
The priest’s wife, Elizabeth, and Mary both get a lot of time in the early part of Luke.
Both are women whose station in life is in relationship to their husbands (or, in Mary’s case, her betrothed). One woman’s husband has a “secular” career, the other a religious one. Both have a humble calling, a vocation for the lowly of spirit.
Elizabeth might have had some status as the wife of a priest, but she describes herself as having a reproach upon her from her people (because she was barren).
Mary would have likely had almost no status at all on her own.
What is the value of such people in the world’s economy (especially today)? They are nobodies.
Both women are blessed by God in a miraculous way by miraculous pregnancies and births. Both women became catalysts for the greatest event in the history of mankind.
It was not to, or through, Herod the Great that such things were accomplished. It was in spite of him. He was a mighty, important, powerful man who ruled the land. He was a man of intelligence, strength, and creativity. He was, perhaps, a genius. Let’s contrast this great man of his time with two Jewish women.
Elizabeth and Mary were humble-hearted believers.
What does Elizabeth say of Mary in vs. 45? How does Mary respond to truth that is good beyond measure?
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
What profound humility. What submission. What simple, astonishing beauty.
Do not believe the horrendous, and popular, lie that “History Doesn’t Remember Obedient Women.”
“From now on all generations will call me blessed,” sings humble Mary (in a Gospel-drenched, deeply theological, and lovely song).
She believes.
Mary hears…and believes.
What is our calling? It is the same as Mary’s in that way. We must hear, and having heard: believe.
Hear and believe.
This requires a humble heart, because it is the abandonment of whatever status we have held on to as a coin to buy God’s favor.
It is a filing for bankruptcy.
It is a kneeling surrender of our sword and our rank.
It is, as a wise man said, a “glorious defeat.”
In Christ’s advent we celebrate the happy end of our pretended reign.
There is no room for Herod the Great -clinging to his murderous self-interest.
Let us look instead to believing Mary, and Elizabeth –two beautiful, humble children of God– and let us imitate their faith.
Hear –and believe.
Matt Chandler is having brain surgery this week, please pray for him.
Re-post:
You simply must see this.
Wonderful stuff. Jesus welcomes sinners -rejects the self-righteous.
I love Advent season and the feast of Christmas. What better way to welcome the start of Advent than with the song of humble Mary, wife of Joseph, mother of King Jesus? Want to know why Mary is one of my favorite heroes of the Bible? Read her lovely song. (More on this later.)
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
From Luke 1 (esv)
