My Top CCM Songs and Albums of 2012

  So here goes my top songs and albums of the year. As usual, I limit it to songs that are clearly Christian (probably wouldn't be played by secular stations because of lyrical content and don't contain concepts lyrics or words contrary to the Bible)

  Top albums of the year
           #10

 

 

     #9

 

 

                                        A tie. I couldn't leave one out!!

    #8   

                   


    #7

#6                                                                                

#5                                                                              

(house of heroes - if you can't tell)

#4                                                                           

#3                                                                           

#2                                                                         

#1                                                                             

My top 33 songs of 2012

My Best Christian Music of 2012  Rather than list them follow this link to Spotify and listen to them. If you don't have Spotify, why not???? Sign up it's free. Preview all your Christian music before you buy it!! How many rotten CDs have you bought in your lifetime? It should never happen again.

Kid's Devotion - What is Love?

1. Watch the following episode of "Doug"

2. Doug Trivia. What is the name of the bowling alley in Bluffington?
3. Does Doug love Patti?
    Why do you think he does?
4. Does Patti love Doug?
    Why do you think she doesn't?
5.  Read the following verse.
         "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13

       What does this tell you about love?
6. Read the following verse.
      "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."  Rom. 12:10

       What does this tell you about love?
7. Read the following verse.
    "  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."  Rom. 12:15

     What does this tell you about love?
 8. After reading those verses, how did Doug show love and how did Patti not show love?

Here is a song by Family Force 5 (if you like loud music) on the subject.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GTMVNftdiA

Note to parents.

"Love" , according to Andrew Murray is  - the deep desire to give oneself up for the beloved. Paul says in Ephesians, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. This, along with the other verses implies that love is more than a romantic feeling but it is actually a verb (just thought of another song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRfFuhrdGKM ) where you are honoring others above yourself. Patti had issues with this - all was great between her and Doug until he beat her. She couldn't be happy for him, or rejoice with him, because she was selfish. See how selfishness is the opposite of love rather than hate. Doug on the other hand was willing to step on a rake, have a bike wreck, be coated with mud if it would help Patti succeed over him. He was honoring her above himself. Teach your kids that Jesus loved us so much He left Heaven and died for us so we could go to Heaven. If we are truly Christians and Jesus is living inside us, we need to sacrifice for others and honor them above ourselves.

Kid's Devotion - Living For Eternity

 Watch the following episode of "Doug".

  


      1. Doug Trivia - What was the name of Doug and Skeeter's car?
      2, What were the three prizes to be awarded?
      3. How did the thought of winning the secret grand prize change everyone's behavior?
      4. What did Doug and Skeeter do that caused them to lose out on the grand prize?
      5. Was the grand prize worth all the trouble?
      6. Read the following passages:

          

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Matthew 6:19-20

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.


         What prizes should we be striving for?
          What is the difference between earthly prizes and heavenly?
          What are some things you can do this week that will store you up treasures in Heaven?
 

How Can Mit Romney Be Intelligent Enough to Run the Country When He Believes Mormonism is True?

   After studying what Mormons believe and watching the below episodes of South Park, I find myself, an evangelical Christian, and a conservative, wondering how could I trust someone who believes in Mormonism to be intelligent enough to run the country?

    A brief intro to these episodes: Stan is told to go beat up the new kid in town from Utah because he was weird. Stan ends up going to his house and learning about Joseph Smith. When Stan goes home and tells his dad, his dad comes over to beat up the Mormons but ends up becoming one. After Stan hears the whole story of how Mormonism began, he is amazed that anyone would believe it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wrestled with this dilema until I came across a passage in the Bible about Solomon. As you probably know, in response to a humble wish for wisdom to rule God's people instead of self centered wishes, God rewards Solomon with wisdom far above anyone that ever lived. Unfortunately, here is what happens;

 

 ⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech^[a] the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 2 Kings 11

 

Despite the fact that he was the wisest man that ever lived, he was raised by the Godliest father ever, his mentor was Nathan the prophet, he had been visited by God twice, he succombed to idol worship! Do you realize how "dumb" this is? Look how Isaiah describes it;

 

¹² The blacksmith takes a tool
and works with it in the coals;
he shapes an idol with hammers,
he forges it with the might of his arm.
He gets hungry and loses his strength;
he drinks no water and grows faint.
¹³ The carpenter measures with a line
and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in the form of man,
of man in all his glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.
¹⁴ He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
¹⁵ It is man’s fuel for burning;
some of it he takes and warms himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
“Save me; you are my god.”
¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
¹⁹ No one stops to think,
no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
²⁰ He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” Isa.44

 

       In other words, blacksmiths, carvers, carpenters work up a sweat to form something that has no eyes, ears, brain, life, etc. and they carry it everywhere it goes and they worship it saying, "Oh idol you are so great - you made me". How can anyone be so stupid? Well, the smartest, wisest person ever did.

        Then, there is evolution. How can an intelligent person actually believe that we are grown up germs when they see the complexity of even the most primitive single celled organism and think that in a world where things go from order to disorder - this single cell evolved into a complex human being and at the same time the opposite gender was forming without any of these transitional forms currently existing? Yet intelligent people like Matt Damon state that if you believe the Biblical account of creation you are unqualified to run for public office because you are the idiot.

 

 

 

Then you have people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta , who you know aren't stupid, believing an incredibly irrational belief like Scientology!

 (sorry about the poor quality)

 

 

I could go on and on but we have to ask "where is the disconnect between what we believe in the spiritual realm and rationality"? In other words, how can a smart person be so dumb when it comes to the supernatural?

 

The Bible does address this and if you are an unbeliever you will probably mock this explanation, too. Paul says in Romans 1;

 

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Idols)

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind...

Paul says that when we decided to supress the truth we all know that there is a God and He is our master so that we can be our own masters, our minds became darkened, depraved, futile, and foolish in areas having to do with the supernatural and morality. He even lists homosexuality in this passage because frankly common sense tells you homosexuality isn't logical.

 

Paul also discusses this in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4;

 

 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away... And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God...

 

Bottom line - don't think that Mit Romney being a mormon means he can't be a brilliant and effective leader of our country. I believe scripture and experience tells us that when trying to eliminate the truth of the gospel as a possibilty for one's life that person will fall for anything in the spiritual realm.

Kid's Devotion - Selfishness

  Read Philipians 2:19-21. ¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. ²⁰ I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. ²¹ For everyone looks out for his own interests...

  According to this, what does everyone do?

  What does that mean in your own words?

   Does "everyone" include you?

   Give an illustration of when you "looked out for your own interests" recently.

   Now read Phil. 2:3-8   ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷ but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death —
even death on a cross!

 

 

       According to these verses, whose interests should we be looking out for (vs. 3,4)?

 

        Why?

 

        Watch the following iCarly video (if you let your kids watch this - at times it seems to be pushing the limits of innocence) PBS also has a show Word Girl episode Eileen the Birthday Girl which would illustrate the same concept if you can find it.

 

 

How did Nevel illustrate selfishness?

 

Why was he sorry for what he did?

 

Did he change?

 

Why not? Read 1John 3:14-18.   ^14-15The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. 

^16-17This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

     Really, the only way we can truly become unselfish is if we change on the inside - Jesus makes us brand new . Otherwise we are doomed to be selfish like Nevel because that is just the way we are

  Watch this video by King and Country. According to them , what is the proof of God's love?

.

     Here are some challenges for this week

        Monday - let someone cut in front of you in line

        Tuesday - share some of your lunch with someone

        Wednesday - Congratulate someone for beating you in something

        Thursday - compliment someone on their looks, clothes, smarts, etc

        Friday - Let someone beat you at something

        Saturday - Offer to clean up a room in the house

        Sunday - invite someone over to your house that you normally wouldn't

Kids video devotion - Worship

We all worship something. Worship is our response to what we value most.

1. Look at the following videos of people "worshipping"

Who or what were these people "worshipping"?

Describe their worship.

2. Look at Nehemiah 9:5,6.  “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. ⁶ You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

     Watch the following TobyMac song.
     Who were we designed to worship?

   3. In the above videos, Michael Jackson died of a drug overdose and certainly wasn't worthy of worship. Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, etc. are showing they aren't worthy of our worship. LSU Tigers ended up losing the national championship and Matthieu (#7) got kicked off the team for drugs.

       Watch one or both of the following cartoons. They will both illustrate people who were unworthy of worship.

 Spongebob

Johnny Bravo

 At the Robert Thomas fundraiser 8/12, someone paid $139,000 to eat dinner and breakfast with Dolly Parton!!! Who or what do you worship? Who is your hero? Who would you most want to meet? What do you daydream about?

   Colossians 1:16 says "all things were created by him and for him." That "him" is Jesus! We were created to worship Him but instead we substitute unworthy things and people that will let us down.

    Make Jesus your hero!! Then tell people about your hero. Go crazy over Him!

      

Growing in Christ Bible Study Genesis to Revelation Week 23

Read 2 Chron. 1-16

1. Read 2 Chron 1:7-10.  What does Solomon ask for?

    Read 2 Chron. 1:11,12 and James 4:3. Why is God pleased with his prayer?


                                           What is a principle of prayer you can learn from this?

Watch the video. Why was the genie skeptical?

2. Read 2Corinthians 6:14. What principle does this give us as far as dating or marrying unbelievers?

This is a very famous New Testament verse but let's develop this through what we've read so far in the Old Testament.

Read Gen. 26:34,35 and 27:46. What negative fallout occurs from marrying unbelievers in this passage?

Read Gen. 34:1-4 and 21-23. What is the danger of dating an unbeliever in this passage?

Sometimes an unbeliever will pretend to be like you to marry you. How can you tell they are pretending? (see my blog on how can you tell if the guy you are dating is really a Christian)

What will happen once you get married?

Read Exodus 3:1 and 4:24-26. What negative fallout occurs from marrying unbelievers in this passage?

Read Deut. 7:2-4, 1Kings 11:2 and 2 Kings 23:13. Why did God not want the Israelites intermarrying?

How did Solomon prove God's warning to be true?

Read 2 Chron. 8:11. What in this verse tells us Solomon knew what he was doing was wrong?

In your opinion, if being the wisest guy in the world, being a believer, knowing the commands of God, having God appear to him twice - if that couldn't keep him from marrying unbelievers or sexual sin, how can WE possibly avoid it?

Read 1 Sam. 25:3, 32-36. Describe what Abigail's life is like married to the unbeliever Nabal.

Read 2Sam 6:16, 20-22. What negative fallout occurs from marrying unbelievers in this passage?

Jehosophat was a great king of Judah. However he made the mistake of letting his kids marry unbelievers. Look at 2 Kings 8:16-18 and 25-27. What negative fallout occurs from marrying unbelievers in this passage?

Read 2Chron. 12:13,14 and 15:16. What was the fallout to the kingdom of Solomon marrying an Ammonite?
 



3. Read 2Chronicles 2:5,6 and 1Cor. 6:19. Is your Church building the "House of God"?  Explain.



      From these verses, what is a function of the building?



      Should you spend a lot of money on a church building? Why or why not?


      Read 2Chron 7:8-10. When we leave Church, how should we feel?



4. Read Deut. 17:14-20 and iKings 10:23-29 and 12:4. List the ways Solomon violated Moses' warnings.



5. Read 2 Sam 7:12-15 and Ecc. 12:9-14. Do you expect to see Solomon in Heaven? Why or why not?



6. Read 2Chron. 12:1-12 and 13:7. Give some reasons why you think Rehoboam went bad?



       How does that apply to you?



        What was the fallout from living against the law of God, even though he repented?



        How does 12:8 relate to your life?



7 Read about the 2 wars in  2Chron. 13:3-18 and 2Chron. 14:8-15. Why was Abijah victorious?



     Why was Asa victorious?


      Read 2Chron. 16: 1-6. How did Asa sin? (vs.7) Give some reasons why he might have done this after "just" defeating the Cushites with the power of God.



     If you view this battle as a test by God of Asa, which he failed, how does 16:9 explain the reason for testing?


     Read 16:9-14. What were the results of failing this test?



8. Read 2 Chron.16:12,13. Is this a warning against using doctors (Christian Science and Scientology)? Why or why not?




Notes for students or teachers

  
  Solomon started out great probably for a number of reasons. He had a very Godly father who saw his last calling in life as passing on a Godly legacy to his son Solomon. He was surrounded by Godly influences, especially Nathan and Zadok. Lastly he had a mission - build the temple. Because of this he prayed unselfishly and God actually appeared to him twice. His prayer of dedication of the temple shows a love for, knowledge of, and worship to the one true God. Unfortunately the good things God gives us, if we aren't careful become idols to us and pull us away from God. Therefore his wealth became a source of pride, oppulence, and gluttony to him. His wisdom became a source of pride to him as people came from many countries to hear him pontificate. He built a magnificent palace for himself which took longer to build than the temple. His power and desirability and possibly even his thinking he was above everyone enabled him to have any woman he wanted and his appetites were insatiable and ruled over his knowledge of right and wrong. He also had peace and when the temple was finished, all that was left for him after that was boredom and satifying appetites. (see David and Bathsheeba). We need to be careful that we stay busy yet don't substitute busyness for a growing relationship with God or think we are "holy" because we are busy serving God. You can see this in Churches. Often when the building project / fund raiser is completed they fall apart because they substituted a project for a relationship with the Lord.
       Solomon's "good things" (blessings from the Lord) became his idols and they turned him away from God. If you read Ecclesiastes you see that he realized that none of these things fulfilled but left him empty. In the end he turned back to God but the damage was tremendous. His marriage to an Ammonite woman gave him Rehoboam who didn't surround himself with wise people (or a Godly mother) and because of his accustom to the rich life continued to tax the people at the same -maybe higher- rate as his father Solomon. This led to splitting the kingdom and multiple civil wars. Rehoboam did humble himself later in life and I believe was forgiven by the Lord, yet God gave him over to the oppression of the world to show him what he was missing out on by going his own way. God will forgive us when we sin but we often have to live with the reprucussions. A good illustration of this is pounding a nail in a board representing sin in our life. God will remove the "nail" but it will leave a hole in the "board". In Rehoboam's life it was substituting the richness and the glory of God in his life represented by gold shields which he could in freedom and clear conscience shine before to the rest of the world - being replaced by tarnished cheap bronze shields which he had to keep hidden either because they were embarressing or else he was afraid of enemies seeing them and further plundering him because he had lost the protection and power that comes from following God.
     Rehoboam's turning back to the Lord may have been confirmed by having a son, Abijah, that called on the Lord and was victorious, followed by a Godly grandson, Asa who followed the Lord wholeheartedly and surrounded himself with Godly people who encouraged him and challenged him in his walk. Once again, later in life when Asa maybe got lazy (35 years of peace) and possibly wanted to just put the rest of his life on cruise control, God tested his heart with a battle. (see Hezekiah in a few lessons from now). Despite experiencing a remarkable victory against a superior Cushite army (35 years ago) this time he allied himself with a godless country to fight against the northern kingdom even using the temple's (God's) wealth to buy them. God was giving him a chance to further strengthen and bless him by calling on the Lord, but instead he didn't trust the Lord and defeated them the worldly way trusting his own intellect and strength. Because of this, God rebuked him and to further illustrate how proud Asa had become, when afflicted with a disease, he was so "ticked" at God, he refused to humble himself and ask God for his help. Because of this he died. Are you trusting in God to do the miraculous in your life or are you trusting in your own abilities and cleverness? When you are confronted by sin, how do you respond - in humility like David or Rehoboam or in anger and pouting like Asa? These are tests to eliminate pride in your life. Will you pass them or fail?
     Lastly, what is Church? Actually, we are the church - the body of Christ - that meets in a building we probably mistakingly call the Church. Does God inhabit the building - no, He inhabits us. Picture it this way, we are like charcoal. We are lit and giving off heat, but as we go on our own through the week we lose our glow as we give off heat all week. So we meet back together with a bunch of other coals on Sunday and we catch fire again and leave on fire. You can see the value of leaving in groups and fellowship during the week to keep the fire from burning out. If Solomon had surrounded himself with Godly people, that he didn't feel like he was above them but a peer, would he have succumbed to the lusts of the flesh? I don't think so. I do think we have some misconceptions that stem from a faulty view of the "Church" as being a place where God dwells. "No running in God's house"! "Wear your best, we are going to God's house"! (actually I have a tux, should I wear that to Church?). It also leads to one day a week Christians who forget that they are the Church where God dwells 24/7. The building itself however, as the community sees it, should somehow demonstrate how special God is. How that plays out... you figure that out.