Bobby Griffith

It’s amazing how this mic was used.

It’s over 50 years old now and has been the mic that revolutionized popular culture in the 1950’s and the sounds which went through this old mic still shape people today.

The voices that have went through this mic are well known to most Americans, and many, many people around the world. Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis: all people who helped shape the culture of the 1950’s and beyond.

Think about it.
All those voices through this old mic.

Think about other mics. Moses, David, Isaiah, John, Paul, Peter, and so on.
They carried the message of God and their impact is far greater and reaches far more than the impact of the voices of that old mic pictured up there.

While, I stood in awe of that old mic yesterday, and all the history it carries and the voices that have carried through it, I had to be reminded that those voices were nothing when compared to the voices that God has used for his kingdom.

So far so good. Took it out of the box and set it up and it runs like a dream. I ordered it with 512 megs of RAM and it is lightning fast.
The wireless connection with high speed booster keeps me at 54mbs at all times with a good connection.

I just need this machine for general notetaking and school related items and it appears that it will be worth the money spent. (a little over $600)

My only beef is that I did not know it would be built in China after I ordered it and shipped via Fed Ex. I was hoping that it would be made in North America (preferable USA) and shipped UPS (where I work).
I ordered it on May 17 and it arrived on the 27th.

It seems that the pastor I talked about a couple of days ago has apologized for his unChristian behavior.

Instead of “The Koran Needs to Be Flushed” or whatever, he put, “Jesus is the only way”, which is something I suggested in my blog.

I wonder if he read it??

Doubt it, but one can dream of their influence, right? ha!

Some people may first think of a Third Day song, but their inspiration came from David’s exact question in Psalm 24.

Today that was my assigned text for a sermon I gave at the Health Center area where I intern.

Here’s my outline.

I. The earth is the LORD’s.
A. Shows God’s government over the whole world.
1. David shows that God is interested in all nations.
2. David shows that the whole earth is God’s concern.
B. Shows God’s creation is delightful to him.
1. Worthy of our stewardship.
2. Worthy of our respect.

II. Worship is the LORD’s.
A. Hypocrites not welcome.
1. A holy God must be worshipped by sanctified people.
2. A holy God must be worshiped by an exclusive people.
B. Holy worshippers welcome.
1. They will be blessed.
2. They will be saved.

III. Honor is the LORD’s
A. The temple to be opened to him
1. Because of his might
2. Because of his Kingship
B. We should be opened to him.
1. He is God.
2. He is King.

Closed with:
There is a contemporary expression of this Psalm which is in a modern worship song and one lyric says:
Who is this King of Glory
With strength and majesty
And wisdom beyond measure
The gracious King of kings
The Lord of Earth and Heaven
The Creator of all things
He is the King of Glory
He‘s everything to me

If this King of Glory is everything to you, then not only is your life in the hands of the one who created all things, but you are counted with those who are in this passage, the generation of those who seek after the God of Jacob. You have a great reward, salvation, vindication, forgiveness and peace because the King of Glory, God, is your King.

Calvinist type singles unite! http://www.sovereigngracesingles.com/
When you just didn’t think there could be anymore dating sites on the ‘net here’s another one!

The dude who owns this site is a great guy, from what I understand and have read, btw.

I’m not single, btw…very, very, happily, happily married.
I wouldn’t mind seeing some of my single friends get married though, so I post for your benefit, because I care. http://www.sovereigngracesingles.com/

I recently discovered this news story which describes a country Baptist church whose pastor put an anti-Koran message on their marquee.

This is a photo of the sign.

While I firmly believe that Jesus is the exclusive way to eternal salvation, and that Islam is not truth, I do not believe it is a good representation of the Gospel for Christians to be engaging in this sort of behavior. For one it is tacky, and we cannot get a message across in only a few short words. (what’s wrong with “Jesus is the only way”, it makes a more exclusive point?)

Now before some of you call me liberal, or culturally sensitive, think of the way that the Apostle Paul dealt with the false religions while in Athens in Acts 17. He did not say that Zeus needed to be flushed and that Greco-Roman thought was the pathway to hell, even though their pluralistic society was damned. He presented the Gospel to them with respect.

Today, we live in a pluralistic society that has changed the definition of tolerance to acceptance. Our postmodern culture tells us that all paths are equal and so on. I do not believe that, but I do believe that Christianity is not a faith that should seek to repel, but to draw people in. Yes, there are times when we need to point out the falacies in other philosophies and points of view, but when those times come, we need to look at the examples we have recorded for us in Scripture through the life of Christ, and the lives of the Apostles. There will be times when we must point truth out harshly to the self-decieved, but there are also times we must be gentle in our approach because we carry the name of Christ with us and when we represent act in reprehensible ways, we reflect upon him poorly.

Jesus told his disciples to be wise as snakes and harmless as doves, and telling people that their book needs to be flushed does not seem to fit that criteria.

Leaders in Christ’s church must heed this and not set an example of confrontation and contempt to their congregation. They must always point out that grace brought them into the kingdom, not contention, and that gracious is how the Gospel should be lived.

I was pondering this book again and I have come to the conclusion that it is an extremely practical work that could be implemented in a small group, or even a teaching type setting.

Here’s why.

It is set up in a way that one could cover one chapter per lesson. It is extremely well written and accessible, so there would be no worries about the class being intimidated.
Right now, I have even begun using it as a guide for a Bible study I am conducting on the life of Jesus.
Since it is basically a “souped up” harmony of the Gospels with more contextual information and presented in a format that is easily attained by the modern ear, even one which is unchurched, there is a great wealth of information that could be easily used for discussion questions, as well as general learning.

Another thing that is helpful is that Dr. Anderson still maintains the Divine aspect of Christ’s nature. Since Christians believe that Christ was fully human and fully God at the same time, Anderson presents his material this way. He also adds some touches to show the human side of Jesus which anyone could relate to without sacrificing the Deity of Jesus as well. This is another good aspect which would help a new Christian understand the importance of Jesus life, death and resurrection on this earth. It also helps the reader to understand that Jesus was part of a culture, though different from ours, but still a culture nonetheless, and because of that, he does understand the struggles and pressures that we go through even today because he experienced life on this earth as well.

Today, I was with Brian, the other chaplain I serve with, and he was talking to a lady about things. She’s in bad shape, her memory is nearly gone and there’s not much left for her to hold on to.
Well, Brian read from 1 Peter 1 and to see the transformation on her face nearly brought tears to my eyes. She then began speaking to him about heaven, and he to her. He told her that God prepared a special place for her and she began beaming with excitement and joy and she said, “I know!”

Now, she was not in a state where she wanted to die, but she is looking forward to heaven and being with our Lord.

Sometimes, I think it is good to think about that. Not that heaven is the only thing to think about, an escape if you will, but to think about our future and how at the end, we will truly be saved from all that is to come.

1 Peter 1:8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

I recieved this book as a gift from Mind and Media in order to post a review from the publisher. If you are interested in finding out how to do what I am doing, click the Mind and Media logo on my website.

Before I began reading this book, I must admit that I approached it with trepedation because I thought that it was just another attempt at a historical Jesus which does not accept the supernatural aspects of the Gospel accounts.
I was wrong, dead wrong. In fact, this is one of the most important aspects of this book, Dr. Anderson appears to have a a high regard for the Biblical story as truth. For that much I would commend anyone.

As I began reading this book, it was like reading a biography and I realize, how would one go about writing a biography about Jesus? He’s the most debated, fought over, revered, hated and well-known person in human history, but Leith Anderson took this challenge and gives a faithful representation of Jesus, fully God and fully man.

The two key things I will highlight in this initial review will be context and accessibility.

Anderson does an excellent job when dealing with the context. It is obvious that he did his homework and that he had a great team to rely on as well. Even in the beginning he explains the cultural difficulties that would have caused so much pressure on Mary and Joseph from what would have went on in their minds from facing the birth of a son that could not be explained, to the difficulties of travelling to Bethlehem.
He also pays careful attention to detail with regards to the cities that are mentioned in the Gospel accounts, as well as the types of people who are mentioned as well. He did well to explain the cultural stigma shepherds carried with them, the cultural barriers between men and women, and the cultural outcasts that we so often read about in the Gospels from sick people to prostitutes. This is probably one of the most strong aspects of this book, and I believe, it would help serve as an aid to udnerstanding the context which Jesus and his disciples were living in.

This leads me to my second point, accessiblity. This book is completely accessible to anyone who is able to read. Anderson does such a maticulous job at presenting the life of Jesus in a simple way that it even makes this seminarian take pause and reflect at the simplicity of the Gospel message. The simple use of language and descriptors would be a valuable tool for a new Christian, or any Christian to sit and read this book in order to learn about Jesus’ life. It also helps someone who is not familiar with “Christian speak” or familiar with the Bible learn much complicated information in an easy to read and understand format. He also takes a simple dynamic approach to the translation of the dialogues from the Gospels. To me, this was a little choppy, but still it makes the message understandable and clear.

These two aspects alone make this book worth reading, but I will list more throughout the week in order to give this work justice.

Ten years ago last week, I graduated from high school. I remember what a huge milestone that was for me and how I thought I had my life all figured out.
Ten years later…..my plans from wayyy back then did not pan out, and I’ll actually admit that I don’t have my life all figured out.
I will say that God has been very, very good to me because I honestly believe that I would be miserable if things had turned out how I wanted them.
My wife is 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 to the gazillionth time better than the person I thought I’d end up with.
My vocation will be more fulfilling (once I’m out of seminary) than my original intentions, and I realize that money isn’t all that matters.

As I have pondered all the many changes that have happened in my life over the past 10 years, I have just been awestruck at how patient God has been with me and how he gently leads and prods me along through my life journey.
I’ve gone through ups and downs in life: rebellion, anger, hate, love, service, devotion, and so on and so on, but still God has loved me unconditionally.
It’s amazing to think that when God makes a promise, He really keeps it.
He is always faithful, even when I am not.