Author: pilgrim

Music Monday: Deliverer

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Today I’d like to share the new single from Audrey Assad entitled “Deliverer”.

Rather than sharing the lyrics (which are in the video anyway), I’d like to share Audrey’s words explaining the origin of this song:

I grew up with some rather terrible and terrifying ideas about who God was. Mostly, I believed that God only loved me because Jesus stepped in between us and God couldn’t see me anymore—this contributed to many years of a tormented and broken-down relationship with God, based mostly in fear and shame.

Jesus is often called ‘Immanuel’, which means ‘God with us.’ Imagine the deep healing that took place when I came to recognize that Jesus came not to defend us from God, but to display in His life, death, and resurrection exactly who God has always been.

When I took a good honest look at the ruins in my heart, it is no surprise that I found Him there, ‘preaching His gospel to the poor’ (T. Merton) — He had been with me and within me all along, delivering me not from God, but from my own inner death.

I truly hope you are blessed and ministered to by this song. It was a healing experience to write it.

Mere Christianity – Book IV – Chapter 3 (“Time and beyond time”)

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Book-4

Picking back up my notes for C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”…

1. Some people struggle with the idea of prayer

(a) It relates to how God hears prayer

“A man put it to me by saying ‘I can believe in God all right, but what I cannot swallow is the idea of Him attending to several hundred million human beings who are all addressing Him at the same moment.'” 

(b) Specifically, how God can hear prayers at the same time

“Most of us can imagine God attending to any number of applicants if only they came one by one and He had an endless time to do it in. So what is really at the back of this difficulty is the idea of God having to fit too many things into one moment of time”

2. Our trouble stems from how we experience life in time

“Our life comes to us moment by moment One moment disappears before the next comes along: and there is room for very little in each. That is what Time is like”

(a) They assume that God experiences things in the same way

We tend to assume that the whole universe and God Himself are always moving on from past to future just as we do. But many learned men do not agree with that. It was the Theologians who first started the idea that some things are not in Time at all: later the Philosophers took it over: and now some of the scientists are doing the same.

(b) However, God is not in Time

“His life does not consist of moments following one another. If a million people are praying to Him at ten-thirty tonight, He need not listen to them all in that one little snippet which we call ten-thirty. Ten-thirty-and every other moment from the beginning of the world-is always the Present for Him”

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Wise Words on Wednesday: The Lord in disguise

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statue_in_rome

“Why is it, Lord, that your feet delay?
Did you forget that this was the day?”
Then soft in the silence a voice he heard,
“Lift up your heart, for I have kept my word.
Three times I came to your friendly door;
Three times my shadow was on your floor.
I was a beggar with the bruised feet;
I was the woman you gave to eat;
I was the child on the homeless street!”

– Edwin Markham, How the Great Guest Came

Music Monday: Death was arrested

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Alone in my sorrow and dead in my sin
Lost without hope with no place to begin
Your love Made a way to let mercy come in
When death was arrested and my life began

Ash was redeemed only beauty remains
My orphan heart was given a name
My mourning grew quiet my feet rose to dance
When death was arrested and my life began

Oh, Your grace so free
Washes over me
You have made me new
Now life begins with You
It’s your endless love
Pouring down on us
You have made us new
Now life begins with You

Released from my chains I’m a prisoner no more
My shame was a ransom He faithfully bore
He cancelled my debt and He called me His friend
When death was arrested and my life began

Our savior displayed on a criminal’s cross
Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost
But then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand
That’s when death was arrested and my life began

Oh, we’re free, free
Forever we’re free
Come join the song
Of all the redeemed
Yes, we’re free free
Forever amen
When death was arrested and my life began

Restless Heart: 8 – “The ‘Dump Him’ List”

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Dump

Nessa is in charge this week! This means, of course, that we’re talking about dating. In this episode, Nessa outlines her “Dump Him” List and I offer a few of my own dating red flags as well…

Episode 8: The “Dump Him” List (Download)

 

— Show Notes —

* The “CIH” mentioned by Nessa at the beginning is The Children of the Immaculate Heart, an organization which serves the survivors of human trafficking.

* If you would like to help feed the homeless in Downtown San Diego, here is the Facebook Page for that group.

* The San Diego C.S. Lewis reading group is The Eagle and Child.

* When we were discussing friendships, I couldn’t remember who it was who said that you’re the average of the five people with whom you spend the most time. I’ve looked it up and it turns out that it was motivational speaker John Rohn.

* We mentioned Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler during our discussion. In case you haven’t come across them before, they are characters on a show called The Big Bang Theory.

* The Conference I said I was going to this weekend is The Catholic Answers Conference.

* If you would like to win a copy of Bobby and Jackie Angel’s new book, all you need to do is follow us on Twitter at @davidandnessa.

Please subscribe to this podcast using iTunes and Google Play and if you have any feedback or would like to pose a question for an upcoming episode, you can send us a message from the website or tweet us at @davidandnessa.

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