In case you’re on a mobile device or behind an office filter that blocks the picture, the article begins:

Islamists in Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth.

I am surprised that the BBC considered this story to be worthy of their main RSS feed, and I applaud them for posting something that is actually worthy of our consideration…

In a culture where the headlines are usually dominated by celebrity gossip and the latest tech toys — which, I confess, are as appealing to me as they are to you — It is rare and refreshing to be reminded about the harsh realities of the world.

I recognize that that statement seems contradictory.

What is refreshing about remembering the world’s harsh realities?

Well, for one thing, it puts things in perspective.

A 13-year-old girl was raped, and then legally murdered for having unwillingly committed the “crime” of adultery.

And this all happened in accordance with and submission to Islam – a global religion boasting 1-2 billion members around the world.

And it happens

every

single

day

Think about that for a minute.

Suddenly that rumor you heard about yourself isn’t such a big deal…

Suddenly the bitterness of being overlooked at work seems kind of petty and stupid…

Suddenly the freedom to go hear the Gospel proclaimed seems glorious, and the 30-minute drive isn’t as bad as you made it out to be…

And suddenly God’s grace…

Wow.

Stops you dead in your tracks.

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God’s grace.

Before you consider the temptation to chalk this up to a corrupt culture, please consider that in Somalia, a woman committed adultery and they are going to kill the woman and ’save’ the child from her sin.

If this had happened in America, there’s a strong likelihood that the parents would kill the child to ’save’ the mother from the effects of her sin.

But sin is sin and murder is still murder, no matter what culture you live in.

And that’s why God’s grace is so AMAZING.

That 13-year-old girl wasn’t guilty of adultery.

But I am.

She didn’t deserved to be killed for her sin.

But I do.

And those cowards who hide behind their religion and stand with their smug sense of self-righteousness in judgment over those who are innocent?

I have heard and understood the Gospel, and experienced God’s grace, and I still commit the same sins.

And yet God shows me GRACE.

He sent Jesus to absorb all the wrath I justly deserve.

…and all the wrath that those Somali cowards who did this deserve.

He sent Jesus to absorb all the wrath that YOU deserve.

This is the beauty of the Gospel! Religion tells you that you have to do things to earn your righteousness, so that then you can judge other people.

But the Gospel is the Good News that you can NEVER earn your righteousness, and that’s why Jesus came!

He opened the door to God’s grace!

Have you looked in to it?

Now we have a 22-pound bundle of energy and effervescent joy that loves crawling, eating, and Elmo.

Happy birthday Josiah!

You have more than lived up to the name we gave you!

You can click here to see a few more photos.

Every year, around this time, I start to get an itch for some Christmas music, and I always go back and forth because I don’t want to be sick of it before Christmas actually rolls around.

Besides the basic warm fuzzies that Christmas music usually brings, I love it because it is usually so worshipful.

Good Christmas songs are songs about Jesus.

They are songs about how God put on flesh and came to earth.

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is a great example of this. The song is really a hymn that was written by Charles Wesley, a great reformation preacher. It has stanzas like this:

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

“Hail The Incarnate Deity”, and His name is Jesus! That’s what Christmas is all about!

So, that’s why I’m excited to let you know about a new Christmas album that came out this week.

It’s called, “On The Incarnation“, by Daniel Renstrom and friends, and is inspired by the book with the same title — all about the incarnation of our God!

It has four new songs about the incarnation of Jesus, and some really nice renditions of four historically classic Christmas songs.

You can buy the CD here, or download it from Amazon music here.

You can also come hear Daniel at our church Saturday night, November 7th. Details here.

Lemme know what you think!

]]> http://www.therieslands.com/2009/10/30/on-the-incarnation-by-daniel-renstrom/feed/ 0 http://www.therieslands.com/2009/10/30/on-the-incarnation-by-daniel-renstrom/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRieslands/~3/MpDu8QO54ig/ http://www.therieslands.com/2009/10/28/funny-baby-caption/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:56:40 +0000 Zack http://www.therieslands.com/?p=4091 Go!

The rest are from our little adventure out to Green Acres, Cary.

(There are a whole bunch of pics after the jump, so click here to see everything)

If you’re a high school senior or a college student — or that age — I would highly encourage you to consider checking out Passion 2010.

It’s a conference just for you, with music from Chris Tomlim, Steve Fee, and others, and life-changing teaching from Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, John Piper, Beth Moore, and others!

I went in ‘05 and then Steph and I took a group in ‘07 and both experiences left a significant mark on me.

The price is steep and the date falls right after new year, but it’s totally worth it.

Let me know if you have any questions!

It’s a few months old now, but I think it’s fun.

That lizard in the photo above: it’s called the “Jesus Christ” lizard.

Seriously.

Why?

Because it can walk on water.

From the article:

They drop into the water and then run across it, earning the lizards their nickname, the “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ” lizard.

Exactly how they do so is revealed by the slow-motion, high-definition footage taken at 2,000 frames per second.

“Because they run so fast they create a bubble as their feet hit the water and then they push off from this bubble before it bursts,” says Simon Blakeney, a producer on the Life series who helped direct and film the footage of both reptiles.

“They can only run at that speed. If they were going any slower, for example, they wouldn’t stay upright, they would slip into the water and would have to swim.”

How insanely awesome is that?

And then there’s this little guy, the pygmy gecko:

Again, from the article:

At just 2 to 4cm long from head to tail, the Brazilian pygmy gecko (Coleodactylus amazonicus) could be battered by a raindrop and risk drowning in even the smallest pool of water.

So it has evolved to be essentially waterproof, which in turn allows it to walk across the surface of any puddle it encounters.

Can you imagine God’s creative process?

“This guy will be fun. I’m going to make him especially sensitive to water and then give him the ability to walk right across the top of it. Scientists will have a blast coming up with a theory on how this works…”

So awesome.

He made you, by the way…

It relaxes me and helps me to exercise a creative part of me that I don’t get to use very often.

I got up a little early this morning and curled up with some coffee and my computer, and here’s what I came up with.

Everything that went into this (besides the camera) was free!

I love free software….

You’ll find a couple of photos of Josiah, and if they get the most votes, we can use the cash to get his college fund started!

You can vote for as many photos as you want, and you can vote every day ’till mid-November.

If a couple-dozen of us vote every day, we can do this thing!

* There is one catch — and I don’t understand why they did it this way — but you have to create a Disney Family account in order to vote. But you only have to do it once, and you can un-check all the boxes that say “send me spam”.

Derek Webb is one of the best musicians that you’ve probably never heard of.

He has a niche of followers who love his music and wrestle with his message, but I’ll bet that if you’re over 25 and reading this, then the name is new to you.

If that’s the case, do yourself a favor and go get one of his albums. Any one will do.

You don’t even have to risk spending your money on something that you may not like! Derek is actually the founder of NoiseTrade, where you can download an album for any price you’re willing pay, or for free if you’re willing to recommend it to five friends!

I’ve been enjoying Derek’s music since he came and performed at NC State several years ago. I remember sitting at Derr track and watching him — nothing but a mic, a guitar, an amp, and some pedals — introduce me to “Where The Streets Have No Name” by U2…

A so-called ‘christian’ artist singing a U2 song that has nothing to do with Jesus.

Was this a mistake?

Were the Campus Crusade staff people scrambling to huddle up and figure out what to do?

And so began a long series of lessons that Derek Webb has been instrumental in my learning.

His music constantly challenges me to think rightly about the Church, culture, morality, and Jesus.

He has helped me love the difference between those four words, and their interrelation.

My new favorite song, from his last album (not his newest album), is called “This Too Shall Be Made Right“.

It’s a recongition that this earthly kingdom is broken, but that it won’t always be.

It’s a song of mourning and hope.

Reality and optimism.

One verse says:

the earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath
wars and abuses have nature groaning with death
we say we’re just trying to stay alive
but it looks so much more like a way to die
this too shall be made right

I think of so many people I love when I hear those words.

Another verse says:

I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door
I join the oppressors of those who i choose to ignore
I’m trading comfort for human life
and that’s not just murder it’s suicide
this too shall be made right

Ouch!

This about what happened in Indonesia this week. And how much was that coffee you’re drinking?

You can read all the lyrics here.

Do you have a favorite Derek Webb song?

One really good idea that the folks at Mars Hill Church have implemented is a question and answer session after various sermons.

The way it works is that listeners can text questions during the sermon, and someone backstage collects and filters the questions, and then delivers them to the pastor at the end of the sermon to answer on-the-fly.

Of course this is risky, because it leaves the possibility for the pastor to get totally blind-sided by strange or uncomfortable questions. But it is also a very useful idea, because it gives people the opportunity to ask real questions that the sermon brings to mind, and for everyone to benefit by hearing the answer.

A couple of months ago, during a sermon series on the Song of Salomon — during which pastor Mark taught a lot about relationships and biblical manhood and womanhood — the following question was asked:

My boyfriend went to Vegas for a bachelor party. He went to a strip club. Do I have a right to be mad?

I think pastor Mark’s answer is really, really helpful.

So many guys I know struggle with temptations toward lust and pornography, and our culture makes that feel so normal and acceptable. It feels like such a victimless crime — like an innocent vice.

Take five minutes and watch the video of pastor Mark’s response, and let him push back hard against those lies.

(I couldn’t figure out how to embed the video, so you’ll have to watch it at the Mars Hill blog — just use the link!)