Risen Excellent words (as w/almost every Sovereign Grace song), great biblical theology.  Music is not bad (I actually rather enjoyed it) but may be a tad distracting for some — has a driving beat. [A-]

Oh, What a Day Solid lyrics – and the music seems appropriate to the theme.  That being said – and not every song has to do this – there isn’t any new ground being broken here. [B]

You Have Been Raised Wow.  Here is a fresh approach to a core doctrine.  The music is subtle and fantastic. [A+]

We Have Been Healed This is the first song that feels like it would work in a congregational setting.  For the most part, the music doesn’t overpower the lyrics – which are, again, rock solid. The song sort of falls apart a bit at the end – feeling more like a freeform jam session than a tight ‘performance’… [B+]

Your Name Alone Can Save  Again, there is nothing to quibble about when it comes to lyrical content (“You’ve overcome the grave/You took our curse away/There is no other name by which we’re saved”)… There can be times where repetition becomes tedious in music but the repetition of the bridge seems to have intentionality – I found it helpful. [A]

He Has Risen This may be the first song on the album that has the feel of poetry (maybe track #1, Risen).  A great statement about the sufficiency of what Christ did for us. The music is pretty good and not distracting.  It’s possible that the song may go on about 30 seconds too long… [B+]

To Live Is Christ I could tell from the first 5 seconds of this song that I was going to like it…  I think it shows real genius to take such a well-worn passage of Scripture and make it feel new.  Another song that seems to feel at home in a congregational setting.  Music is beautiful and not overpowering, vocals are very well done. [A+]

Jesus Lives The truths in this song are undeniable and well stated — clearly that’s of first importance… However, the music just wasn’t great to me and at times it was a bit distracting.  This song may have the best opening so far on the album – “I no longer fear the grave, Christ has come…”  The music and lyrics really draw you in.  Unfortunately, the rest of the song doesn’t really seem to live up to the early billing.[B-]

You Are Our Hope Great song.  The lyrics and music really seem to fit well together.  There is something  SGM does occasionally (often?), which is inserting a two or three line ‘tag’ that gets repeated a couple (or few) times between a verse and chorus — something they use to good effect on this song. [A]

Name Above All Names Maybe I’m hearing something that’s not there but I don’t recognize the singer’s voice on this song – I like it.  The lyrics are very strong, again more poetic than some others.  What a great song about the name of our Savior.  I love the way the song ends, with stripped down music it just sort of fades out.  Nice. [A+]

We Will Rise  Some songs just grab me from the ‘get go’ – this is one of them.  Almost has a folksy feel (at least that’s how I’d describe it).  This one, more than the other songs, really has the feel of poetry put to music. Oh man, the bridge almost made me cry — the combination of the lyrics (“Weeping may last for an evening/But rejoicing comes with the dawn”) + music + almost haunting vocals = too much to take.  This may be the best song on the album. [A+]

Behold Our God All right, clearly SGM was holding a few face cards in reserve… I’ve listened to the album a few times already — how is this surprising me now?  Absolutely beautiful music coupled with such powerful lyrics.  I love the use of questions in this song (something they also did in “You Have Been Raised”).  [A+]

Hail the Day If I haven’t already given away my lack of musical prowess, I surely will now.  There is one distracting thing about this song – that is the weird reverb-electric guitar thingy going on at the beginning — again, not sure what it is but it really did distract me.  At least its gone now.  Nice song that has the feel (lyrically) of a more traditional hymn.  After the initial weird guitar thing, (oh, wait there it was again at like 2:35 – now its gone again, I think…) this song settled down for me.  Enjoyed it, although the end had some of that background, unintelligible singing (sort of like ‘Revelation Song’, if you know that one).  Ok, here’s the real end and it finishes off very traditionally with a piano solo.  Nice. [B+]

There’s a lot I could say about this woman (and just maybe I will someday) – but what has always struck me about her was her devotion to Mike and Bill.  You see, she raised these two boys all on her own – she sacrificed much for them and was a great Mom.  She was a pretty good Grandma too… One of my first memories of her with one of the grandchildren, Cory was about 2 or 3.  She brought out some old chaps of Mike’s (I think they were Mike’s) and put them on Cory who then blazed around the apartment, sans undergarments.  She certainly loved those grandkids – loved to be with them and spoil them with presents (as I recall).

I had the opportunity to sit with Mrs. Liptak for a couple hours this past Thursday and read scripture to her (from the KJV, ‘cause I was pretty sure she would have liked that) – it was really hard to see her in the condition she was in… and I was reminded again of how much I hate death and how glad I was that this was not the end for my “2nd Mom”, that soon she would not feel any more pain and wouldn’t have to work anymore but would finally be wholly at peace.

One of the passages I read to her was 1 Corinthians 15, which ends with this:

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, Mrs. Liptak – your struggle is over.  Thank you for your example.  Your sons will miss you (all three, it’s ok if I include myself, right?) and will remember you until the day we are reunited.

Where do I begin?

There’s so much I want to say but I can’t seem to get it out in any coherent way.  Does that ever happen to you?

In many ways, Pastor Bob Reid was my first Pastor.  I don’t mean to slight the men whose churches I was in before – but I was a kid then… Pastor Reid was MY Pastor: the pastor who married me and Caroline on that beautiful snowy day in December, the pastor who was the first one at the hospital (along with Mrs…) when little Autumn came along, the pastor who took me under his wing and allowed me to serve with him, the pastor who daily showed me what steadfastness was all about, the pastor who gave such good counsel… and on and on I could go.

Could I share just one memory?  Somehow, Pastor Reid got ahold of a video by a man named Jim Cymbala — a video on prayer.  He showed this video to us at the church and it really got under our skin.  As a result we began having these Monday night (I think it was Monday) prayer meetings — a few adults and a bunch of the teens… they weren’t your typical service: there was no speaking or preaching.  We’d just sing a song or two and start praying and I seem to remember some of these ‘meetings’ going on for a couple hours or more.  Never before or even since, have I had such times of prayer.  Of hearing others, old and young, just earnestly and passionately talking to God.  Like so many things, these times sort of dwindled away — it’s impossible to say how or why, but unfortunately they did.  But I remember them vividly and it’s a great memory.

The years we spent at Friendship with Pastor Reid seem both long past and terribly recent.  What I know about those years, though, is that they were perhaps the most pivotal in our lives.  After we moved to Florida, distance diminished our interaction — I hate how that happens — but neither distance nor time could ever diminish the impact this man had on me and on my family.  As much as we can be in debt to another human being, I am in debt to Pastor Reid.  Ultimately, I want my life to please my Savior — but I would be happy as well if my life, and what God may do with me and Caroline would bring a smile to the face of my Pastor.

Clearly, worldview matters far more than one’s politics.  I know he’s dead and gone (Teddy, that is) but this highlights – once again – that just because someone is a Republican doesn’t make them a friend of the unborn.

But men were slow to recognize the significance of what was being proposed, partly because of the mystifying language in which it was presented by its advocates… [referred to by one biographer as] statements of doctrine ‘that verged on incomprehensibility’. (p.261)

Here are the questions for 1Samuel: Dever_OTPromisesMade_1Sam Questions

There’s a saying that goes: “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” Okay. How about “Nobody should throw stones”? That’s crappy behavior! My policy is: “No stone throwing regardless of housing situation.” Don’t do it. There is one exception though: If you’re trapped in a glass house, and you have a stone…then throw it! What are you, an idiot? So maybe it’s “Only people in glass houses should throw stones, provided they are trapped…in the house with a stone.” It’s a little longer, but yeah.