The Holiness of God

April 19, 2012 in Torrey with 0 Comments

I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything! >>>

Chapter 8 is on the holiness of God, and it’s really great stuff. If you haven’t been reading along yet, I highly recommend downloading that FREE PDF, and reading the chapter first.

John is hosting the conversation this week, and he highlights a really great thought:

We seem to suppress to an amazing degree this comprehension in our day to day lives by living as if His holiness matters little evidenced by the things that fill our waking hours.

What does God’s holiness mean for us, practically, today? Add your thoughts to the conversation here.

Review: Current by Sarah Macintosh

April 13, 2012 in Reviews with 0 Comments

Sarah Macintosh’s new album, Current, released last month, and it’s pretty great.

I can’t help but picture Sarah in a big, fantastic dress, singing with a kind of Wonderland orchestra behind her.

The instrumentation on the album is fantastic. It’s probably my favorite part of the album. There are some familiar sounds, and some less familiar sounds, and they all come together to make up what sounds like a big, wonderfully eclectic orchestra.

Sarah’s voice is exactly the hauntingly beautiful kind of voice you would hope to pair with that kind of music.

She sings with the music, more than she sings over it.

The first several times I listened to the album, it was rolling while I was working, and I could only recall a couple actual lyrics. Her voice weaves with the music so well, that it sounds like it just fits in with everything else going on. It’s pretty cool.

When you do actually listen for lyrics, or when they do stand out on occasion, the over-arching theme of the album is definitely the hope we have in our risen Christ. So much of the album is looking forward, in joyful anticipation, to His return. It’s sweet.

Some lyrics and a video (that totally justifies my “Wonderland orchestra” comment) after the break. You can download the album here.

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The Omniscience of God

April 12, 2012 in Torrey with 4 Comments

I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>>

I have mixed emotions about God’s omniscience. If we’re being honest.

In Chapter 7, Torrey proposes:

  1. God knows all things.
  2. God sees all things
  3. He knows everything about nature.
  4. He knows all people.
  5. He knows all our “deeds” and experiences.
  6. He knows everything we say.
  7. He knows all our sorrows.
  8. God understands our thoughts.
  9. God’s knowledge extends to the smallest details.
  10. He has always known everything that will be.
  11. He has always known what everyone of us would do.
  12. He has always known how each of us would fit into His plan.

Basically God knows everything about everything.

On the one hand, it’s a comforting thought.

God sees every injustice. He knows everything you did right that you never got credit for.

On the other hand, honestly, it’s kind of annoying.

It makes me uncomfortable that God knows my thoughts and intents. He knows my secrets. He knows things about me that I can’t even admit to myself. Part of me is so used to living in a world where appearances rule, that it makes me really uncomfortable that the Righteous Judge, before whom I will one day give an account, knows everything.

I had a really bad day a couple months ago. I mean a really bad day. I was so tired and so beat down and so out of faith that I came home and threw myself onto my bed and cried. And between sobs I asked Him to go away. I knew He wouldn’t go away, and I knew I didn’t really want Him to go away, but I was so ashamed of my weakness and my unbelief that I – somehow – didn’t want Him to see.

Part of me still wants to put on a good face for my Father and try to convince Him that I’m doing really well. Like every kid that wants her dad to be proud of her, part of me is still stuck in the way that the world measures success, and it bothers me that God sees the failure that I really am sometimes.

I think God’s omniscience may be the most humbling aspect of His character so far.

His omniscience combined with His unending love makes me so uncomfortable I don’t even want to talk about it.

Thoughts? Does God’s omniscience comfort or annoy you most? What does His omniscience and His love, together, mean?

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