My Poor, Poor Blog

So after many, many hosting issues and going back and forth on other various issues, I have moved back to Blogger.  There are many things I am upset about...mainly most (hopefully not all) my posts that I've posted since the move have been lost to my hosting company.  I'm tired of dealing with them and do not want to deal with any others.

This doesn't really bode well for me talking up how great Wordpress is, but this has nothing to do with Wordpress.  Just my hosting company.  I will probably have more posts on them once I work through a few more things with them.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know what's going on since the design of this blog is...well...bland and frankly that's the mood I'm in at the moment.  Technology has not been good to me this week.

My Favorite Bible Verses

I thought I would share a few of my favorite verses/passages from the Bible.  I love many more verses, but I keep these few verses pretty close to my heart.

Psalms 103: 11-12

 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

This passage reminds me that no matter what I do or don’t do, God still loves and will take my sins away as long as I submit to Him in fear and reverence.  This is my favorite of my favorites.

Genesis 25:21

 

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

You may or may not know that my wife and I are struggling with infertility.  I know a lot of people who battle with it too.  It is a tough road; a road I wish no one would need to travel down, but while I was traveling this road I found comfort in this Old Testament verse.  Isaac and Rebekah were struggling with infertility just as many people do today.  Issac knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would give him what he and Rebekah wanted.  All he had to do was ask.  This verse continually encourages me.  I pray just as Issac prayed, but I know that God will answer my prayer in His time, not mine.

Isaiah 40:31

 

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

This verse truly embodies my feeling when I am out in the mission field.  Either in another country or right in my backyard.  I know that whoever believes in the LORD and puts their faith in his power, they will not grow weary; they will not be tired; they will have the strength of the LORD in them.

Matthew 22:37-39

 

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love is a choice.  Jesus commands us to Love.  Love God.  Love people.  Simple, yet not.  This verse constantly challenges me to choose love over any other response.  I hope it challenges you and makes you think.

John 14:6

 

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This is just a simple reminder that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.  A lot of people think there are other ways to get there, either through works or being a good person, but this verse explains everything in black and red.

Bonus:

1 Timothy 4:12

 

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

I find this verse to have multiple meanings.  The first meaning is to not let older people look down on you or dismiss your opinions just because you are young in age, but the second meaning is a thinker.  I think it also means that Christians who are young in their faith should not let “mature” Christians dismiss them or look down upon them just because they aren’t as mature as them.  There is no true “mature” Christian.  Every Christian is being changed and refined to become more like Christ.  The only time we will truly be “mature” is when we are in Heaven worshiping the one true God.

Now you know some of my favorite verses and passages, but what are yours?  Let me know what your favorite is in the comments.

Musical Monday: Beautiful Things

My wife has already posted about Gungor so I may not be the first person to tell you about them, but I have to do my civic duty to let everyone know about this amazing band. Gungor, formally known as The Michael Gungor Band, is from Denver, CO and have released a few EPs under the new band name and one major album, Beautiful Things. I had never heard of Gungor until Heather and I were invited to a benefit concert by our close friends, Jordan and Amanda Green who was going to Kenya, Africa on a missions trip. The concert consisted on a few local bands from around the Laurens, SC area and the final act was one of the guys who was headed to Africa. He closed with an amazing song that we both thought was an original song, but later found out it wasn’t. We looked up the song and found a couple of versions, an acoustical version and the original album version.

I love the album version, but the acoustic version is so simple yet so inspiring. I have probably listened to this song and album 100 times since finding them. (Thank you Spotify!) Head over to New Release Tuesday for a little more story behind the song and Worship Together if you want to learn how to play it on guitar.

Sit back, relax and give this suburb worship song about God taking the tragedies in the world and turning them into beautiful things.

New Blog - Update Your Feeds

So I made the jump from Blogger to Wordpress.  You may not even have enough time to read all of this (because I've inserted a auto-redirect function to safely and easily forward people on to my new blog), but I needed to let you know that I've moved my blog from Blogger to Wordpress.  All my posts and comments have been moved over so I still have all my content.

The only thing that may mess you up is if you're following everythingmatterstoday.blogspot.com instead of everythingmatterstoday.com.  Make sure you update your blog reader or any other RSS reader to follow www.everythingmatterstoday.com.

Stay Tuned!