Romans 5:9

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Read these lyrics to this new hymn and speak them to the Lord today:

The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend
The agonies of Calvary
You the perfect Holy One, crushed Your Son
Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me

Your blood has washed away my sin
Jesus, thank You
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied
Jesus, thank You
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table
Jesus, thank You

By Your perfect sacrifice I’ve been brought near
Your enemy You’ve made Your friend
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end

Lover of my soul
I want to live for You

Lord help us to be the most grateful today for your Son's shed blood removing the righteous wrath of God against us, justifying us before God for His glory and good pleasure!

If you're interested in purchasing the cd with this song on it go here

Cool Boy!

Alive and Well

Despite the popular belief that we dropped off the face of the planet, we are alive, well, and very grateful for many things.

First and foremost - the blood of Jesus Christ that has removed the wrath of God toward us and imputed to us the righteousness of Christ. This gift alone makes all others seem insignificant!

Second, we thank the Lord for our son! He is growing like a weed and is teaching us many lessons about how selfish and impatient we can be. The joy that comes from parenting is indescribable, though sometimes difficult to find in the midst of all the chaos. As of late however, the responsive smile has brought the most joy to our lives.

Third, we are grateful for the gift of friendships! This past weekend, we took off for a meeting in Asheville, NC and then decided to go up to Louisville, KY to visit our friends Josh and Gretchen. It is hard to communicate exactly what happens in our hearts when we see these friends. Sharon and I were commenting on our time with them in the car on the way home, so here are some of our thoughts - so as to avoid an actual thank you card!

Josh and Gret - you encourage us in ways that no one else can. Your zeal for the Lord is unmatched in that of any other friends we have. You know the Scripture and theology in a way that confuses and excites us - only because we are ignorant of the many facets of some of those truths. Our conversation simply stimulates us to get back home and search truth in a deeper way. Thank you for your obedience to Christ and your friendship with us. We eagerly anticipate the way the Lord will glorify Himself through you in ministry.

The fourth thing is in fact one of the greatest worship experiences in my life. We joined Josh and Gret at Clifton Baptist Church this past Sunday. Josh and Gret help in the Junior High Sunday School class- so that's where we went for S.S. - and I know what you may be thinking. What could be learned by two adult Christians during a time such as this devoted to kids - and out of the book of Judges? The teacher actually read through the entire first chapter and went through an excellent exposition of the text. The kids followed along and interacted in a very real way. The teaching methods included a simple white board, an atlas, and God's Word. The teachers careful preparation was visible and at the very least extremely helpful. If I return to Clifton - I believe I'll join the junior high class.
After an hour of good teaching and application we progress to the auditorium just in time for the service. The choir begins with a piece directing thanks to God. This piece is sung several times woven with lengthy portions of Scripture that are read from the pulpit. We sang a hymn and were followed by a church member who prayed at length with great gratitude. We sang a couple choruses mixed with some congregational sentence prayers of thanksgiving. In conclusion we were blessed with some expositional thoughts from I Corinthians 10 on grumbling. Bruce Ware turned our attention to the Israelites and their grumbling by using several Old Testament passages as sub-texts. What a challenge as thanksgiving is up on us. At least 1/3 of the congregation stuck around in the auditorium simply to fellowship even though it was now 12:15. My heart was so stirred and uplifted. Why you might ask! Scripture reading, corporate prayer, thankful worship, and Biblical expositional preaching. May all our churches be characterized with these indispensable elements.

WEHADABABYIT'SABOY!

Gabriel David Taylor

Born: September 23, 2007 at 7:52 P.M.

7 pounds 9 ounces

21 1/4 inches long

3 1/2 inch long feet

dark hair, dark eyes

Healthy

Glory to God!

2 Simple Joys

In the past week a couple things have happened that brought great joy. You might think these are rediculous and that's fine if you do. I felt blessed and encouraged through these circumstances.

First - I quit my job at Papa Johns! You might think that the joy is in quitting my job. Certainly that is a small part of it. But there was greater joy in resigning my work there. God has given me an opportunity to be a light at work. Many co-workers heard the good news of the gospel. God allowed me to have good friendship with both of the head managers during my time there. God provided an income for us in the midst of deputation. The greatest joy though came in my explanation to co-workers as to why I was leaving! Everyone was curious. "You are having a baby and you don't have another job lined up - why quit now?" The response is obvious but makes no sense to someone who is lost in their sin. My response: "I am quitting trusting God to provide for our needs and our support level." The looks on people's faces - priceless! Hopefully this would draw their minds to think: "who is this God?". You will not be suprised to know that the day I quit my work - we received news of an increase in our support. God is faithful!

Second - The soccer team I coach won their first game of the season yesterday! You may be thinking: so what! To put things into perspective - this is the team who lost every game and tied one game last season. The look on those guys faces at the end of the game - again - priceless! We started the game down one goal and I was getting that feeling I had the whole season last year. By the end of the first half though - we had tied the game. It was neck and neck for most of the game until there was about 4 minutes left and one of there players slapped the ball with his hand in their box! Penalty Kick! Sam shot and scored the winning goal! We barely held them off until the end of the game, but we won! We lined up to shake hands with the opposing team and for the first time coaching we shook hands as the winning team!

I am grateful for the simple joys God brings into our life. Joys that point to Him and magnify Him. I'm certainly not saying that we prayed to win the game and we won -so praise the Lord. But I am thankful for the simple joys that God allows us to experience.

Hang tight - in 2-3 weeks you'll be hearing about an astronomic joy - Baby Taylor.