Incarnatus Est

Take up your cross - Pastor's Meditation

2011-03-18T10:43:00.001-07:00

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips (Ps 63:5). Take Up Your CrossMeditations on Matt. 20:17-34Jason Farley4/16/11 It is a rare thing to meet people that know what it is live. There are plenty of people that have blood pumping through thier veins. Plenty of people that are miraculously transforming oxygen into carbon dioxide

Strait Marriage

2010-08-18T12:30:00.001-07:00

Currently California is in the middle of a civil battle over the whether or not the civil authorities of the state of California should pretend to marry homosexuals and Lesbians. Now it is delusion of the highest and most perverse order to think that they can just change the nature of reality and creation by judicial decree. They can't, but you can't fight a culture war with no culture, and you

Prayer of Confession - 1/17/10

2010-01-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

Scripture Reading of Confession: Romans 3:10-11 – “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.’” PRAYER OF CONFESSION Congregation Father in heaven, we have been distracted. We have been jittery and easy to get off course. Fix out eyes on you and on you only. Please forgive us Lord, and send your Spirit. Broader

Exhortation - 1/17/10

2010-01-17T08:39:00.001-08:00

We are easily distracted away from the important things. We are easily led away from the things that we were created for. We were made to worship God and have fellowship with him. We were made to sing God's praises and live in covenant with him. We were created in God's image so that we could be God's image. When you turn aside after other Gods, serving mammon, or yourself, you are denying the

2010 Evangelism Summit

2010-01-06T11:37:00.001-08:00

Check out the upcoming Evangelism Summit HERE.

Prayer of Confession - 12/27/09

2009-12-29T08:30:00.001-08:00

congregation Father in Heaven. Your goodness and grace have ordered the world, and yet with our sin we have tried to tear down that order and replace it with chaos. Forgive us for our self-centeredness and train our eyes on Jesus. Please Forgive us Lord, and Send your Spirit church And Father, our own traditions of salvation through Chaos have led the way. We confess that the

Exhortation 12-27-09

2009-12-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

Exhortation Post Christmas Blues are a common Phenomena in our day. People get through to Christmas and then colapse at about 10am, only getting up to suffer through Christmas Dinner, then the next day wake up depressed and can barely drag themselves down to the coffee pot to drink away their sorrows. To a person in this kind of situation, when you mention celebrating the twelve days of

Prayer of Praise - 11-29-09

2009-11-29T16:29:00.001-08:00

Ps. 19:1-6 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. (2) Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. (3) There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. (4) Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a

Prayer of Confession - 10/29/09

2009-11-29T16:28:00.001-08:00

Scripture Reading of Confession: Proverbs 16:6 – “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” PRAYER OF CONFESSION Congregation Father in heaven, we come to you seeking mercy solely based on the Work of Christ. Your Spirit prompts us, and we hear your call. Please forgive us for our functional atheism in how we look at the world

Exhortation - 10/29/09

2009-11-29T16:27:00.001-08:00

Pro 3:19-21 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. (20) By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. (21) My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: On the first Sunday of Advent, today is the first Sunday of the Church calendar. The Church calendar is an attempt to

Prayer of Confession - 10/22/09

2009-11-22T15:45:00.003-08:00

Scripture Reading of Confession: Nehemiah 1:7 – “We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.” PRAYER OF CONFESSION Congregation Lord God our Father and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to you seeking mercy. We have looked in every place for wisdom except in Jesus, which is

Exhortation - 10/22/09

2009-11-22T15:45:00.001-08:00

Pro 3:13-18 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. (14) For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. (15) She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. (16) Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

Prayer of Praise - 11-22-09

2009-11-22T15:44:00.000-08:00

Rom 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (34) For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? (35) Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? (36) For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for

Exhortation - 10/18/09

2009-10-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Pro 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, (12) for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. When we are gathered before the Throne of God, we are gathered before our Father. And our father loves us. In fact, he loves us so much that teaches us and trains us what the world really is like. He disciplines us because

Prayer of Praise - 10-18-09

2009-10-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ps. 150:1-6 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. (2) Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. (3) Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. (4) Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. (5) Praise him

Prayer of Confession - 10-18-09

2009-10-17T22:50:00.001-07:00

Scripture Reading of Confession: 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” PRAYER OF CONFESSION Congregation Father, we confess to you now that we have not treated as a Father. We have acted as if you are out to get us. We often treat your gifts and your discipline as if you are harsh and overbearing. Teach

Exhortation - 10/11/09

2009-10-10T21:04:00.001-07:00

Prov. 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: (10) So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. While we work our way through Proverbs, we come to the kind of passage that has made proverbs famous. Proverbs is the kind of book that would say something like “check the air pressure on your tires and

Prayer of Confession - 10/11/09

2009-10-10T20:46:00.001-07:00

Scripture Reading of Confession: Psalm 32:4-5 – “For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” PRAYER OF CONFESSION Congregation Father in Heaven, as in Hosea’s Day, we are slain by your Word as it comes out of your mouth.

Prayer of Praise - 10/11/09

2009-10-10T20:36:00.001-07:00

Hos. 6:1-5 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. (2) After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. (3) Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter

Prayer of Confession - 10/4/09

2009-10-10T20:28:00.001-07:00

Scripture Reading of Confession: Psalm 106:6-8 ? ?We have sinned with our fathers, We have committed iniquity, We have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, But rebelled by the sea - the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for His name?s sake, That He might make His mighty power known.?PRAYER OF

Prayer of Praise - 10/4/09

2009-10-10T20:26:00.001-07:00

Ps. 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (2) It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; (3) As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.So

Exhortation 10-4-09

2009-10-05T20:45:00.001-07:00

Prov. 3:5-8 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (7) Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (8) It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Solomon here gives his son an undergirding principle; a foundational principle. Don’t trust

2009-04-24T15:31:00.001-07:00

yes

2008-02-08T16:14:00.000-08:00

Investing The Word

2008-01-24T09:26:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that a significant portion of the long-term effectiveness of the church has to do with how well the Word is invested in the beginning. Like any investment scheme, well invested money that is invested early brings a much greater return than well invested money that is invested late.

testing the technology

2007-10-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

This is to test the email blogposting technology

The Delayed Revelation of Triunity

2007-10-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

I have often been confused at the seeming newness of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament. In my opinion, the doctrine is obviously taught in the New Testament, but it is veiled in the Old Testament so much that, though there are hints and shadows, you could not discover the Doctrine of the Trinity without the New Testament. But the reason that the doctrine is veiled in the Old

2007-10-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

After knocking Abigail out of the race with a trip from behind, I thought that I had the race in the bag, but I ended up having to throw my scolding hot americano at Zipporah to come out on top. They told me in the parenting class to never start a competition of wills that you don't win, and besides, Cedric needs to learn that cheaters never prosper, but they win games.

Modernity's big red nose

2007-09-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

The Interpretation of Parables is central to any thorough-going understanding of the mission and purpose of Jesus, yet it is at the very point of the interpretation of parables that moderns trip over the clown shoes of modernity. Understanding parables requires a familiarity with symbolic, typological, and figurative communication, but part of the clown act of modernity is a symbolic mime-act in

Why Do We Sing?

2007-09-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

People are made in the image of the Triune God and, as such, express themselves in three ways: Word, image, and music. When expressing themselves with words, they are acting primarily in the image of the Father, who is the revealed to us as a speaking God from the beginning. “And God Said . . .” The Son is the Word of God, but he is also the image of God who reveals God to us by image and

Movie Reviews

2007-09-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were wondering where my movie reviews are you can find them here:The Lion KingStranger than Fiction2007 Summer MoviesI know that you have all been wanting them all in one place and I am here to oblige

2006-05-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

my daughters obediently not smiling (almost).

2006-05-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

Cutest kangaroo outside of texas

St. Brendan the Navigator

2006-05-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

St. Brendan the Navigator “Fear not, brothers, for our God will be unto us a helper, a mariner, and a pilot; take in the oars and helm, keep the sails set, and may God do unto us, His servants and His little vessel, as He willeth.” St. Brendan The Navigatio The Roman World (which was the whole world in AD 500) had fallen apart. Christians throughout Europe, who were just trying to

Saint Brendan’s Prayer

2006-05-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Saint Brendan’s Prayer Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea? Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy,without silver, without a horse,without fame, without honor?Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,without sword and shield, without food and drink,without a bed to lie on?Shall I say farewell

Saint Boniface

2006-05-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

St. Boniface and Thor’s Oak Boniface was a Bishop and a missionary in Saxony, in the early eighth century. In the area of Hessia there had once been a thriving Christian community, but when Boniface arrived all of the converts were gone and only the worshipers of Thor remained. Boniface was having little success in the area and could not convince any of the people to stop visiting Thor’s oak

What fundamentalists and liberal have this in common

2006-02-27T16:33:00.000-08:00

R.R. Reno, in “The Ruins of the Church” points out that modern fundamentalists and liberal have this in common, they are both modern in the sense that they both believe that history has taken “turned the corner in some decisive sense” and that we must “separate ourselves from a dying past in order to receive the redemptive future.” He goes on to say that “the very essence of modernity is this

a collection of proverbs

2006-02-27T16:24:00.000-08:00

surfing the internet is a huge waste of time,unless you've gotnothing better to doA soul full of meaning sees meaning in the world.An empty soul will empty the worldand not be satisfied.You don't realize how right-handed you areuntil you lose your hand is a oneof those tragic "bull-ridingon houseboat" accidents.Tetotaling is a diet.cheaters never prosper,but they most assuredly win gamesa one

Ethics

2005-11-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

All too often, when we think of Ethics, we think in terms of a list of rules, and then we try to determine what goes on the list and what does not. Then, when we go to differentiate between Christian and non-Christian ethical systems, we think that the Christian has a lot of rules, while the rank heathen only has a couple. This lump of coal is only fit for Aristotle’s stocking. Like everything

Bold like a lion with the dead lamb

2005-11-03T16:07:00.000-08:00

A common sin in our day, that is often mistaken for righteousness, is the “Bold like a lion when the lamb is already dead” syndrome. This is where a preacher spends his time attacking the idols of past generations that have already been ground to pieces by our faithful forefathers, but refuses to step forward five hundred years and confront the temptations of the congregation in front of them.

Towards a Theology of Song

2005-10-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Singing has traditionally held an important place in the church. King David (a superb Christian) forever established singing at the center of all the church’s dealings since his reign. Even before that, certain songs were central to what it meant to be a member of the body of Moses, the daughter of Yahweh (Ex. 15, Deut. 32). The musical heritage of the church is rich, diverse and full of

revolutionary christianity

2005-10-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about how revolutionary we tend to be as modern American Christians. It everywhere when we begin looking, but two things in particular have stuck out to me lately. The first is our general distain for imperfect authorities besides ourselves (which, in spite of our chest puffing, can hardly be called authorities). It is obvious in the church, "by choosing green

Left-Handed Grace

2005-08-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

Left-handed graceLeft handed right-thighed bladepaused and poised to piercea grease-gummed heart.Surrounded by fat, grownon the fresh fleshof the good shepherd’s sheep. A left-handed sword for a lefthanded goat's stone heart. Ehud, a judge of justicebringing right-thighedgrace to be swallowedhilt and allby the fatof exile.

Free i-pod

2005-08-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

everyone should go here http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=21148998 so that I get a free ipod. Just click and sign up and then they send me free stuff. Then you get a link and people sign up and then you get afree i-pod. Cool marketing scheme.

Weasle-sucked words

2005-08-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

for those of you wondering what a weasle-sucked words are, let me explain the metaphor. Weasles, when they come across an untended birds nest, have been known to just poke a hole in the egg and suck out the insides, then leave the shell. So when the mother returns there still appears to be a nest full of eggs. So a weasle sucked word would be a word or phrase that appears at first to have

self-absorbtion

2005-08-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

Walker Percy, in his book Lost in the Cosmos makes the point that the modern human self is empty. He points out that we attempt to fill our vacous soul with the meaning of the things of the world around us but, instead of ending up with a meaningful self, we end up with a meaningless world. Our empty modern souls devour the fullness of the meaningfulness around us and leave only invisible (to

That's hot

2005-07-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Though I don't normally do this, and I won't make a habit of it, I am putting a link to an entry in Dr. Leithart's blog, because it is really great.http://www.leithart.com/archives/001403.php

corporate and individual election

2005-07-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

The question of the primacy of corporate or individual election is a question that reveals one of our modernistic assumptions. The need for the one or the many to be primary, but the fact that the Church is made, by the accomplished work of Christ and the indwelling work of the Spirit, to reflect the covenant life of the Trinity, we ought to expect and look for ways in which the church has one

Towards a developed sense of discernment: Christian movie reviews

2005-07-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Towards a developed sense of discernment:Reviewing movies A parable is an attempt to subvert other definitions of the world in favor of the world that you are creating with your story. Every movie is a parable. It is an attempt to remake the world into the world that you want it to be. It cannot be any other way. I am not imputing ill motives onto Hollywood, this is just the way that the

More confessions of an ex-atheist - naturalism

2005-07-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Naturalism (or materialism) teaches that there is nothing but nature and human beings are little more than a complex venus fly trap. A fly lands on the trip wire and SNAP, the fly begins struggle against being digested alive. A Homo Sapien has more and more complex trip wires, but essentially, we are the same. Ther are two divergent views within the naturalistic camp that, in the Spirit of

What I learned from harry Potter

2005-06-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of the Harry Potter series. Not a GINORMOUS fan, but a middle distance fan. The kind of fan that can sing the chorus to "Voldemort can't stop the rock" but not the verses. The kind of fan that has only read through the books twice (except for goblet of fire which I've read four times) The kind of fan that has already pre-ordered the half-blood prince but havn't googled for guesses

Resurrection ethics

2005-05-29T00:52:00.000-07:00

5-29-05 - call to repentanceYour body is going to be resurrected. These bodies that you sit here in this morning will last forever. In the twinkling of an eye that body that you sit there in this morning will be raised incorruptible. Those eyes with which you coveted this week are the same eyes that will some day look upon the Lord forever. Those ears with which you listened to gossip and

Confessions of an ex-atheist - Psychoanalysing myself

2005-05-08T23:56:00.000-07:00

The first question that popped into my head after my first ever experience with God (which, to prove how powerful God is, was on a senior high disco retreat) was “How do I know that this isn’t just some psychological trick that my sub-conscious is playing on me because I am too weak to deal with the hard truth? This was a question that haunted me for the first couple of years of my Christian

Confessions of an ex-atheist - the Problem of Reepicheep

2005-05-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

When I was a child, thanks mostly to my father and mother (and to some extent a government program called Tesera) I filled my time with the reading of books. But not lame books like the time machine, great books like the chronicles of Narnia, King Arthur and the nights of the round table, the hatchet, and the hobbit (I remember at the time thinking that Bilbo’s trip home was longer than necessary

2005-04-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

I have.

2005-04-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ever noticed how reading things backwards on blogs can lead to strange interpretations?

Bureaucratic thanklessness

2005-04-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Bureaucracy is institutionalized thanklessness. In bureaucratic communities (like ours), you can work with countless institutions and never have anybody to whom you can send a thank you card. If you qualify for the permit, then the faceless bureaucracy must grant you your rights. Check the boxes get the signatures, and you qualify. And if you can do it all over the internet, you don’t even have

More on Gossip

2005-04-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

I wonder why they call all those magazines in the checkout aisle gossip magazines?

On Gossip

2005-04-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

I recently realized that Gossip is not lying. Gossip is when you take refuge by appealing, "What, it's true." Gossip is destructive often times because it is true, but of course we must do unto others, and that does not mean that because you like to hear gossip that you will do unto others and share the gossip. That means that we ought to be willing to shut up our mouths to defend our

The Blogger

2005-04-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

It may be a surprise to some, but God gives no promises concerning the blog. "Not by might nor by power, but by thy blog" God concerns himself with our blog the same way he concerns himself with the man walking down the road that sees his immediate neighbor wondering what your opinion is about something. Our duty is to think of the other as more important than ourselves. So then keeping gossip to

test post #1

2005-04-11T00:50:00.000-07:00

I now have a blog and you will all be sorry