Four Whole Years

I totally forgot, while writing my last post, that Sunday we celebrated our church's fourth anniversary! God has definitely used our little fellowship to benefit us all. I know that it has benefited me. After lunch, we all returned to the sanctuary where me and Blane Jr played a few songs:



After that, we scrunched together for a picture and had a time of sharing about the blessings the Lord has brought us through our fellowship. It has surely been a blessed time!

"I was glad when they said to me,

'Let us go to the house of the LORD!'"

- Psalm 122:1

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some,

but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near"

- Hebrews 10:24-25

God Does Delight In You

In reformed circles, I think it's very easy for us to over-accentuate the law and the importance of personal
holiness in a Christian's life. Perhaps, in some cases, to the exclusion of any kind of grace and love on God's
part beyond our initial salvation. May it not be so!

On the same subject, here is our latest song, a cover from Sovereign Grace Ministries:

"The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love;

He will exult over you with loud singing." - Zephaniah 3:17

A New Year and a New Song

I know, I haven't posted in a coon's age. I won't make any lousy excuses, either; I've just been procrastinating.
Anyway, I don't have anything prepared for this post, but I do have a thought or two.
  The dawn of a new year is a milestone, a marker. Why don't we take some time to think about where we were
a year ago? Prayerfully consider how we've changed, how we've progressed (or regressed), and what lessons
we might take from the experience. Instead of making resolutions that we may or may not be able to keep, why
don't we pray that God would show us our faults, and give us the faith/strength to follow Him?
  Lastly, I believe we should look on this occasion as an act of God's mercy; having extended this age another
year and given more people the chance to repent and believe, and as a further opportunity to preach the gospel
to all men. Let us serve the Lord with bold and willing hearts in 2013!

(Here is our latest song, a cover from Indelible Grace's new album)



Before I forget, I hope all you internet people had a wonderful Christmas, and, what else, a happy New Year!

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:21-23

Another One

Today I turned seventeen. At 2:23 pm, to be precise. Sunny baked a carrot cake, we had ravioli, and all is well
with the world. B)
  Anyway, this year has been a good one. I feel like I have matured more not only as a young man and a
christian, but also as a musician. This month marks a year since the Wretched Brothers became the Wretched
Brothers, and next month, a year since we opened our youtube account. This was the year I started writing
songs and singing them. Because of these things, I now know more than ever that the music I make must
glorify God and point people to the truth if it is to be worth anything. My music has a purpose, and for that I am
thankful. I don't know what God has in store for me next, but what I witnessed firsthand this past year is His
faithfulness when I am unfaithful, and His blessings when I obey Him. One thing that was certainly a blessing
was being able to get my Learners' Permit (which also borders on miracle territory, if you ask me!). This is
definitely an important step to becoming a man, and again, I am thankful for for it. Of course, I am grateful for
my family and church family, who have continued to support, encourage, instruct, and love me. This has been a
full year, a gift from God. I can only imagine what He has planned for the next one!

(And now, just for fun)

Regarding "The Hunger Games"

No doubt you've seen something of this new movie that has come out, I only heard about it in the last week

or so. There have been multiple articles in the Asheville Citizen-Times about it, and there is a great deal of

excitement about it, in part due to the fact that it was filmed in WNC, and just because it is exactly what today's

typical teenager (and adult, apparently) loves. I'm not going to attempt any kind of review or anything, but I do

want to to point you to an excellent review by Kevin Swanson and his daughter, Emily, on Generations Radio.

They went and saw the movie in the theater, and made a very compelling case as to why Christians should

avoid the movie. Mr. Swanson wrote a post about it on the Generations With Vision blog, along with a link to

the recording itself. Go and check it out here.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence,

if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

 - Philippians 4:8

Simply Honest Prayer

This concept has been impressed in my mind for a good while now, the idea of praying both honestly and simply, as a child might. In my own life, I've experienced the fruits of praying both honestly and superficially. For an unspecific example, the Lord would tell me something I didn't want to hear, or show me an issue I
didn't want to deal with. I would then, in my prayer, attempt to skirt around it. And the result of that was a wall, it seemed, put between us. I think I cannot stress it enough: we must pray honestly, confessing our faults, no
matter how much it hurts. If there is something which the Holy Spirit has convicted you of, believe me, it must,
and will be, dealt with sooner or later. We can hide nothing from God, and it is folly to entertain or believe
otherwise (Heb 4:12-13)! We must also pray simply, at least for no other reason than this:

"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,

for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
- Matthew 6:7-8

This is not to say that beautiful words have no place in prayer, but a command to pray in a way that realizes

the omniscience of a living God, and that our prayers are not heard because we can make people cry with 'em,

or some nonsense like that. No, they are heard because that veil was torn, because the blood of Jesus cleanses

all who believe from sin, making them the children of God! May we all constantly realize that we are laid bare

before Him, all "the thoughts and intentions of the heart".

Happy Birthday, Church! (And New Music)

Sunday marked the third-year anniversary of our church (that started in a living room), and God has indeed
blessed it abundantly! Everyone got a chance to share a testimony about the church, and I believe those
recordings will be posted on Blane's blog sometime. Anyway, I chickened out, so I might as well say
something here, cloaked in the comfort and anonymity of blog-land...


At the church we attended previously, we were different. We all sat together during the service, and I didn't
participate in any classes or youth group, or anything like that. I had a few good friends, but I was still different. The long and short of it is, I have benefited amazingly from being a part of this body, because
instead of being discouraged from being a mature person firmly rooted in Christ, I am held to a much higher
standard. (And a biblical standard, to boot!) The friendships that have grown, and the new friends that I have
made here, always encourage me to press onward in obedience to Him.
Of course, I am thankful that Elders Philip and Blane are seeking to teach from the Word rightly, and that
though they are men that will fail (as do we all), I have seen that they truly have a heart for God, and I have
full confidence that they will lead this body of believers as the Scripture teaches.
And above all I give praise to the One who, by His free grace, took us all "out of darkness into His marvelous 
light". Without Jesus Christ, we are nothing. If we do not continually proclaim Him alone, and strive to love 
each other as He has commanded, we have no business calling ourselves a church.
(Sorry, I got a little Paul Washer-y there...)

So I want to thank all of you people in this church, for realizing the need to go back to the Bible, to daily 
reform our families, our church body, and our lives. 

Switching gears now.

Before all the testimony, The Wretched Brothers Band, along with Sunny (of Star Hill yore) and
Daniel (on piano), went up to play Indelible Grace's version of "Beneath the Cross of Jesus". We'd practiced
the week before, so by the power of God, we actually sounded put-together!



We also played a special song Blane Jr wrote the day before, commemorating the birthdays of Elder Philip
and Sunny's birthdays. You can check it out with the lyrics on Blane's blog.

After all that, we all got together for a church-wide picture:

 "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
  mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
  so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about
  by every wind of   doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the
  head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint
  with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow
  so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:11-16

The Life And Death In Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody! Okay, I'm a little late, but you might as well listen to me anyway.
Yesterday at church, Mr. Fowler stressed that even though we traditionally celebrate Christ's birth on this
holiday, It is his death that we are commanded to proclaim, because without his death and resurrection,
all is vanity (1 Corinthians 15:17).
  We should rejoice in his birth, but even more so we should rejoice in his death and resurrection, for those
bring about divine forgiveness and new life in all those who believe. We should tell others about "the reason
for the season", but we must never omit the core reason for His coming, which was "to seek and to save
that which was lost" (Luke 19:10)! He came to die the death, and suffer the wrath, that we all deserved
(Romans 5:8-11). So in this Holiday season, as we offer thanks to God for Christ's birth, let us continually
praise Him for the reason that He came, for the life that is freely given to all who repent of their sins and
believe in Him; that He is the only Savior, the only Way, Truth and Life!

          "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
           should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to
           condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever
           believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
           because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
             And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the
           darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does
           wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be
           exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly
           seen that his works have been carried out in God." - John 3:16-21

I'm Alive...and God is Good

Yes folks, I'm back. I got sick Monday night, stayed in bed all day Tuesday, and recouped Wednesday.
And I do believe that along with my energy, the "horrible bug" robbed me of my blogger brains, hence
the long break. B) Oh, and yes, God is good! 

  And that just made me think, what should we do with that? First, it must drive us to the cross! God is
good(perfect), and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God", says Romans 3:23. In other words,
we ain't it. We completely and utterly fail, and in doing so fall under just condemnation! The only one to whom we can turn for help is Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:11-12, John 14:6)

  Second, it should cause us to praise Him always, for our God is not like men, that He should deal falsely
with us, and He always rules over His people with mercy and grace. (Deuteronomy 7:9, 32:4, Psalm 86:15)
  Third, it ought to spur us to always examine our lives and our hearts, to look in the mirror of His word
and see what we lack, to then seek after it with prayer and faith, and to say with the psalmist; "Lead me in
the path of your commandments, for I delight in it." We should be continually seeking to reform our lives
according to God's word, and to "pursue righteousness". (Proverbs 21:21, Psalm 119:33-35, Matthew 6:33)

Well, that's all I've got for now, so until next time, semper reformandum, people!

Somethin' to Chew On

I was reading in J.C. Ryle's Thoughts for Young Men the other day, and I came across a
great quote that I had to share:

         "Live as in the sight of God. This is what Abraham did, he walked before
          Him. This is what Enoch did, He walked with Him. This is what heaven
          itself will be, the eternal presence of God. Do nothing that you would not
          like God to see. Say nothing you would not like God to hear. Write nothing
          you would not like God to read. Go no place where you would not like
          God to find you. Read no book of which you would not like God to say,
          'Show it to Me.' Never spend your time in such a way that you would not
          like to have God say, 'What are you doing?'"

...I'll just let that speak for itself. B)

One More Year...

Yes, it's my birthday, I turned sixteen today. DUN-DUN-DUH!

The Lord has done a lot in my life during the past year. He's taught me a lot of lessons,
and He's made me do some hard stuff, but I know that every thing that happens to me is
worked out by Him to make me more like Christ, so I rejoice! I know that I've got some
growing up to do, more lessons to learn, and more hard stuff to do, but I also know that
God is watching over me and guiding my steps with His Holy Spirit. By the way, here's
a good ol' proverb that really applies:

If It's Broke, Don't Try to Fix It...

Well, I was shooting my air rifle earlier, and all of a sudden, the bolt started cocking
weird and the BB wouldn't come out when I shot it. Once inside, we took the side off
and looked around, and it seemed fine, so we put it back together. We tested the bolt,
and it cocked normally, but when I took it outside and pumped it with a BB in it, the
very same thing as before happened.
   Right now, it's sitting up on my shelf, waiting for us to find out what's wrong with it.
Why am I writing about this? You see, I've been asking God to give me something to
write about, and KABAM, there it is! Isn't it just awesome how He works stuff out?

Am I Glorifying God?

         "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
          within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
          for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
           - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

In this world it's easy to forget that I am not my own. It's easy to brush off the Holy

Spirit's warnings (at least for a little while!) and explain away things which are known

to me as not only inglorious to God, but even as sin.

Faith in the Valley

"Saline Valley" by Kirk Kittell on Flickr

Lots of times, I think we Christians have a tendency to, how shall I say it, cling to
our "mountaintop experiences" and despair when those lofty feelings leave and
we find ourselves right smack dab in the middle of everyday life, with all its cares
and, often, just plain blandness. We may wonder how in the world God can use
us in such an ordinary and sometimes dark place.

It's About Jesus, Not Religion

 

"Miserable Christians" by Randy Willis Photos on Flickr 

Jesus saves. Not church, not theology, not "doing good stuff". Oh, people can
masquerade, they can say the creeds, they can go to church, but if they have no
relationship with Jesus Christ, they are lost. This doesn't mean that you have to
feel a warm and fuzzy closeness with Him all the time to be saved, it means that
if you have not personally repented of your sins and trusted in Him, if your life
is not guided by what He says, if you take Him out of the closet for Sunday, and
then forsake Him the rest of the week, You are lost. Beware of placing your trust
in a way of life, rather than the Giver of Life, lest this should be said to you on
the last day:

I Done Did it!!

Yessir, I went and really did it, I got baptized today! I've been saved for about
six years now, but I always used the excuse of my "disliking" the water to not do it.

 Anyway, several Sundays ago, Blane Sr. was talking about baptism and gave
the exhortation and invitation to approach him or Philip about doing so.
I finally realized that I just plain had to do it! So, we made plans for the date,
and had the pool filled up ahead of time so it'd be warm. B)
Malachi Hodges got baptized right after me, I'm so glad he did it, and I'll be
prayin' for him!

Thankful for Fleas?

Link to picture: http://www.richsoil.com/flea-control.jsp

Last week I mentioned an Otto Koning message in which he spoke about

doing certain things that God requires of us through sheer faith, going against

all human reason, etc. What I didn't mention was that he was talking about

praising God in, you guessed it, all things!

The Gift of Surrender

I saw this video on wretchedradio.com, and boy, does 

this guy know how to preach it!

(I think he's really like forty years old, though)

You can check out his website here.

Also, I just read a great post on ''Pastor Smarty Pants'' R.W. Glenn's 

blog, check it out here.

The Bible is for YOU!

Uncle-sam-1280 by JongWoo Chung

Earlier this week, I tried putting my name in different Bible passages just to
see what it's all about, because I'd heard of it but never tried it.
And you know what? It really did make a difference, it made it, well, more
personal! (I really am going somewhere with this, so hang on!)