Consecrated... Do you understand what you are singing?

It was in Acts 8 when Philip meets the Ethiopian Eunuch and sees him reading the prophet Isaiah and asks him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Sometimes I feel like doing that to myself as I sing songs and hymns of praise to God. Yesterday during our Crossroads service we were singing a great version of the song Take My Life and Let it Be, the next line is "consecrated Lord to Thee." I asked myself right a way... Do you know what you are singing. I answered myself quickly, of course, I know what consecrated means, I am in graduate school!
The problem became as I thought what I was singing; I sang "take my life and let it be consecrated...
Consecrated--

1. to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity: to consecrate a new church building.
2. to make (something) an object of honor or veneration; hallow: a custom consecrated by time.
3. to devote or dedicate to some purpose: a life consecrated to science.

Lord to Thee..."
Is this what I want to do? Am I consecrating my life to the Lord? Do I want him to take my life?
As the song ended I felt like a hypocrite, you see I understood the words, I just did not mean them all the time. The issue is not understanding the words, but the question we need to ask is "Do you mean what you sing?"
So next time you sing, yes understand what you sing, but also to quote our Pastor Rick, "Sing it like you mean it!"

thanks for reading,

~gap

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

My friend John Fonville posted a great quote in his blog. I wanted to share it with you:

“The knowledge of our union with Christ provides us with great dignity. As I look at myself I see failure, sin, sometimes shame and disgrace. But that is neither the ultimate nor the whole truth about me as a Christian. No! I am united to Christ, a joint heir of his riches, a child of God. Knowing this to be the real truth about me lends grace and power to my life.”

Sinclair Ferguson, The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction, p. 113

8 years and Counting!!!

8 years ago today, October 2nd, I asked Melissa Lawler to take our friendship to the next level and to start getting to know each other for the purpose of marriage (this is dating).
There are a few things in life that I do not regret, this is one of them!
Thank you Melissa for your friendship all these years and for saying YES that very night, before you asked me... "What level would that be?" =)

Happy 8 YEARS!!!!!!


thanks for reading

~gap

Christianity and Politics

Elections are here again... What should we do?
I was listening to the White Horse Inn, a great Reformed radio show and I thought I would share this with you.

Click Here (a two part series on Christianity and Politics)

It's been DRY for a LONG TIME!!!!

Hi all... I know that most of you have stopped reading, except for my wife. I was encouraged to keep going.
A LOT has happened since the last time I posted. I was still in summer school mode, but now I am in full FALL semester mode.
This summer was very busy, I took two summer school classes, work was crazy, my territory increased exponentially.
After summer school, I was privileged on going to Spain and Scotland to check out some future ministry opportunities. I was shocked on how the Lord blessed my trip there. I preached in Spanish for the first time ever! Yes, though I speak Spanish, it is quite different to attempt to preach, since all of my theological training has been in English; but the Lord gave me the words necessary to communicate his message.
After my time in Spain, I spent 10 days in Scotland visiting with Carrubbers Christian Centre, a church that is a light in such a dark city. I also preached there, the message was the Life of Abijah, interesting fellow. Also, I was able to help with evangelism and playing music at their coffee shop called Room 65.
I was so humbled by my time in Europe, but I really missed my wife and child. It was very hard not to come home at night and not being able to debrief with Melissa. It was hard also to not hold Cael and see his progress in walking.
Overall, my summer was busy, but the Lord has given us a desire to pursue ministry overseas. If you think about it please pray for us. Pray that God will make our desire a reality so that we would be able to serve him.

Thanks for Reading...

~gap