TJ DREYER

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

I came across this poem by William Cowper while reading a D.A. Carson book entitled Scandalous, and found it to be extremely interesting. The poem speaks of God’s ways being different then ours, and at times when we think he is absent or unjust he is actually working to perfect our faith. Romans 5: 3-5 explains this simply God uses suffering to improve our character and produce hope. Even if we are a fickle people that live in the “here and now,” God has eyes that focus on our betterment through the long haul. I hope this is a truth that I can remember in the good times and through my own suffering.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

I just finished Dug Down Deep, and this has to be one of the best books I’ve ever read… It shared the life of the author and his discovery of theology, or more importantly the discovery of why theology matters. This story of an awakening speaks so loudly to my soul, because he seems to not only be sharing his story, but the story of so many in my generation.

Dug Down Deep explains that theology matters not because you will get graded on your head knowledge, but because what we know about God will directly shape how we think and live. For Christians becoming sound in our theology is taking the time to understand the amazing Savior that we say we love, it is the way to create a strong foundation in our relationship. I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is searching to know Jesus deeper.

I don’t know if you are a rap fan or not, but if you are a theologian and a Christian you will appreciate these lyrics. Awesome stuff Lecrae is the man.

I just finished A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper and absolutely loved the short read. Piper digs deeply into the story of Naomi in the Bible describing her time of trial or bitter providence in which she lost her husband, her two sons and had no grandchildren to carry on her family line. She was devistated by what God had done unto her quoting specifically;

I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty.

The story turns as Piper walks through all the tough times she experienced and then how God used them to set her up for an amazing ending. God brought a good man, Boaz into the picture for Ruth her step daughter to married and that line would continue on to David, which would continue on to our Jesus. God had a great plan to prosper them and do more then they could have ever imagined, redeeming their family line and letting their family line hold the future redeemer of all creation.

The book of Ruth shows Gods sovereign nature over all creation, and pushes the envelope to show us that every bitter providence ordained by God is used for our good even if we can’t see it at the time. Great read, really stretches you and your perception about terrible things happening.

A great video that challenges me, John Piper is so inspiring…

About a year and a half ago Allison and I were introduced to a great organization called Fishers of Men located in Kenya, and we started sponsoring Kelvin Nyongesa (pronounced Kevin). Through our sponsorship we grew extremely attached to him, getting to send him birthday and Christmas gifts and talk with him on the phone he became in our minds our little man. The opportunity to help him was sincerely more of a gift to us then him I think, Kelvin changed our perspective on so much and unlocked a part of our hearts we didn’t even know existed.

Over the past day or so a terrible out break of cholera has hit Kenya, leaving a mass amount of people sick and in need of medical treatment. Kelvin unfortunately was one that came down with cholera, and his little body couldn’t pull him through… He passed away last night. Our hearts are broken for him even though we were a world away he felt like our kid, and his loss feels like our child is gone.

“We love you and will miss you little man, so glad you were in our life.”

I’d ask that you pray for Kenya and the orphanage right now as many are sick and more possibly won’t make it through.

Communion Message from TJ Dreyer on Vimeo.

Preaching from February 21, 2010 @ Open Bible Praise Center

Falling down upon our knees
Sharing now in common shame
We have sought security
Not the cross that bears Your name
Fences guard our hearts and homes
Comfort sings a siren tune
We’re a valley of dry bones
Lead us back to life in You

Lord we fall upon our knees
We have shunned the weak and poor
Worshipped beauty, courted kings
And the things their gold affords
Prayed for those we’d like to know
Favor sings a siren tune
We’ve become a talent show
Lead us back to life in You

You have caused the blind to see
We have blinded him again
With our man-made laws and creeds
Eager, ready to condemn
Now we plead before Your throne
Power sings a siren tune
We’ve been throwing heavy stones
Lead us back to life in You

We’re a valley of dry bones
Lead us back to life in You
We’ve become a talent show
Lead us back to life in You
We’ve been throwing heavy stones
Lead us back to life in You

Recently I visited an amazing church called Karis here in Columbia, Missouri. While dropping in to get get ministered to at one of their events they played a song called Lead Us Back by Billy Gilles, the words to the song were amazing to say the least. Even though stylistically I was not used to it, I feel my soul connected quickly to its repentance message and wanted to share the lyrics. I’d have to be honest and say the part about becoming a talent show in the second verse really resonated with me, and reminded me of Amos 5: 21-24(below). I never want to get to that point that God turns an unfavorable eye upon my worship.

AMOS 5: 21-24 (The Message)
“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.”

Perry Noble // Catalyst West ’09 from Catalyst on Vimeo.