Third Day - Forever

Your grace is never gonna change
And Your faith, it always will remain
And Your love is the same yesterday, today and forever...

Steve Vai - For the Love of God

Would've liked to have been at this concert. Steve Vai performs "For The Love of God" live with the Holland Metropole Orchestra, 2005.

Steve McVey interview from 1997

A few years back I was going through some old, used cassette tapes that I'd brought home from the radio station that I worked at, and I came across this interview that my friend (and cohost of Growing in Grace) Mike Kapler had with Steve McVey in February, 1997. Steve was coming to town for a Grace For Life's Hurts seminar. In this interview they talked a little bit about the Grace Walk book (which was only a couple of years old at the time) and also about the upcoming seminar. Steve talks about dealing with the emotional hurts and pain that we deal with, and how it affects our lives, and how grace and forgiveness brings us to a place of healing, joy and freedom.

Just thought it might be interesting to post this.

Hammered Dulcimer - Rich Mullins and Third Day

Third Day - Praise Song (Rich Mullins on Hammered Dulcimer)


Rich Mullins - Creed (Rich Mullins on Hammered Dulcimer)
-I have the accompaniment tape for this song. It's such beautiful music that I often listen to just the soundtrack. Sometimes with my eyes closed and tears streaming down my cheeks, and sometimes with my arms in the air and a huge smile on my face.
-I love the children smiling near the end of the video, and Rich's playful interaction with them.
-Did I mention, I love the sound of the hammered dulcimer?

Law keeper? Law breaker?

As a Christian, do you keep God's law? Do you break His law?

The answer to both is "no!"

I've heard this illustrated in various ways in the past by people such as Steve McVey, and I was also recently listening to an old "Eagle's Nest" program that I'd recorded from Grace Walk Radio and put on my MP3 player, with Frank Friedman (Living in Grace) and I think Karl Kadadelis (Grace Ministries) in which they were also talking about this. I thought about quoting from both of these sources verbatim, but it might be simpler if I just put it into my own words.

As a Christian, do I keep God's law (am I a law-keeper)? You might see me walking righteously - not stealing, not committing adultery, honoring my parents, loving my neighbor as myself, etc, and you might say, "See, you're keeping God's laws!" To which I'd say, "No, I'm not!" I'm not looking to God's law as the source of my righteous living at all. Rather, what you see is an expression of the Life of Christ in me. I'm not following the law, I'm not keeping the law. What you see is me walking according to the Spirit of Christ who lives in me and who is my life.

As a Christian do I break God's law (am I a law-breaker)? You might see me doing unrighteous things - stealing, committing adultery (Matthew 5:28, anyone?), not honoring my parents, not loving my neighbor as myself, etc, and you might say, "See, you're breaking God's laws!" To which I'd say, "No, I'm not!" What you see is an expression of my flesh acting out in independence, rather than me walking according to my true identity in Christ and my union with Him.

In Christ I'm not a law keeper and I'm not a law breaker. I have died to the law. The only way I could "live to God" in the first place was to die to the law! How can I 'keep' or 'break' what I've died to? In fact that old written code was "wiped out." It was against me (no matter how well I kept it or how badly I broke it), and God took it out of the way, removing it completely. He nailed it to the cross. My life is no longer defined by law keeping or law breaking. My life is now defined by the Life of Christ in me, and nothing else! How has this become one of the church's best kept secrets???

Col 2:13-14
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Gal 2:19-21
19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Matthew is On the Loose!

With Matthew getting his driver's license today, here's a fair warning to all: Watch out - he's ON THE LOOSE!

No one can stop you now
Tonight you're on the loose
No one can tell you how
Tonight you're on the loose!

Hammered Dulcimer

This post might just be for me alone, but I really like the sound that comes from this instrument.

Heaven (Bryan Adams' song)