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Monthly Archives: September 2007

Fall has come to Nebraska

Yesterday was the Omaha Bible Church annual church picnic. The picnic was held at Cooper farms which is fairly close to the baptism at the OBC Fall picnic church building . The grounds at Cooper Farms are very nice and have beautiful hill like surroundings. I have pictures. The day was perfect, a little breezy temps in the 60’s with mostly sunshine throughout the day. In human terms, one of God’s perfect days. I arrived late for the event, got in line for food, and found out they had already run out of plates. This means that we had a great turn out for the picnic. Praise the Lord for that. Someone was going after more plates but I grabbed a piece of chicken breast and a napkin and headed for the tables. I have been trying to eat more healthy of late so the chicken breast was perfect and just enough to fill me up. I visited with several folks from church and fellow ministry servants. Pastor Pat spoke briefly and then we had a couple of people follow Christ in baptism. We use a hot tub sized portable pool to do baptisms in and it was used for these folks at the picnic as well. Check the pictures for that.

Today I got up this morning late to go to the gym and it was raining and cold. Temps were in the low 50’s and will probably get much higher than that all day. I worked out on one of the elliptical aerobic machines for 35 minutes, traveled 4 miles (without really going anywhere) and supposedly burned 450 calories. Woo Hoo!! It feels good. Nice fall weather, getting in shape and blogging at lunch time, it doesn’t get any better than that, right? Buzzzz! Wrong answer BarryDean. Being glorified and spending eternity with my faithful and loving Savior would be the best that it can be. So it could get way better. But maybe this side of heaven it is pretty good.

Lord willing I will be posting another music review Tuesday tomorrow so keep a reading eye out for that. I have also provided a link to my Flickr account for the OBC Fall Picnic pictures I took. Please check them out. Rock on!

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Posted by barrydean on September 10, 2007 in Fall, Omaha Bible Church, picnic

If I have not love…….

08 Sep

abandoned plow

Today as I got out my pocket New Testament at work to read the next chapter of 1 Corinthians, I noticed it was chapter 13, the love chapter. (did hear my Barry White impersonation?) The verses found in this chapter have been used in more weddings than the Drive-In Chapel in Las Vegas. I read through it once and thought, alright I kind of just breezed through that half-heartedly. I am convinced that the Apostle Paul considered love to be of the utmost importance as you will notice in the first three verses. In those verses he states that you can basically have everything together as a religious person, but if you don’t have love, like the abandoned plow above, you are of no use. Then an idea hit me. I remember a pastor or a friend, or maybe both, suggesting that when you read through this chapter read it in the real first person narrative formatting the love statements into personal questions.So consider the following verses personally as I did and see if doesn’t convict the religious snot right out of you. Do it as such for verses 4 thru 7 : (I use the ESV)

Is BarryDean patient and kind? Does BarryDean envy or boast? Is BarryDean arrogant or rude? Does BarryDean insist on his own way? Is BarryDean irritable or resentful? Does BarryDean rejoice at wrong doing or rejoice at the truth? Does BarryDean bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things?

After reading it this way I realize that I have a long journey ahead in my sanctification. Thanks be to God that it isn’t all up to me, I have a Helper in this process. The same Holy Spirit that convicts also intercedes for us and is sanctifying us.

Photo credit

Heart vs. Liver; Which side are you on?

06 Sep

human heart VS.

The debate continues at What? ….. Um

Puritan prison ministry

05 Sep

As I was reading through biographical information about certain Puritans today, I came across an encouraging moment in the life of Puritan William Perkins (1558 -1602). Perkins is a little known Puritan and only lived to be 44 years of age but he made quite an impact in the jails of Cambridge, England. After his conversion Perkins became a very strong exponent of Calvinism and always cared for the those who were in spiritual need. There was one thing in particular from the biography of William Perkins that stuck out for me and that was an incident in the jails of Cambridge. The incident follows:

He is said to have encountered a young condemned prisoner who was terrified not so much of death as of the impending judgment of God. The Puritan preacher knelt beside him to “show what the grace of God can do to strengthen thee.” He showed him that Christ is the means of salvation by the grace of God and urged him with tears to believe in Him and experience the remission of sins. The youth did so and was able to face his execution with composure, a glorious display of God’s sovereign grace.

A sympathetic Calvinist, who would’ve thought? I don’t know how accurate this story is but it does indicate the heart of a man who knew the glorious grace and mercy of God. In his early adult years and prior to conversion Perkins spent his days as a drunkard. One day he overheard a mother scolding her child and used Perkins’ name as a means to influence the correct behavior of the child. He was deeply hurt by the thought of someone in the community using his name as a byword. It eventually led to his conversion. He knew full well that if not by the grace of God he would’ve ended up a prisoner like the very ones he was ministering to. I also know that only by he grace of God that saved me I could’ve ended up in the same places. This may be the reason God has given me a heart for the men in jail as well.

Please pray for the souls in prison and for those who go into the prisons. Pray that they would be bold to share gospel and that those whom by God’s grace are saved would also be bold to share their experiences with other inmates. And that they in turn would be bold to preach the gospel to their fellow inmates.

Music review Tuesday

04 Sep

Who is the most successful American Idol non-runner up or winner? Who sold more albums as a rock debut artist than anyone else in history to date? The answer is Chris Daughtry and his band Daughtry (named after him) . His debut album also hit Billboard’s # 1 spot only 9 weeks after its release. Chris Daughtry is best known for his appearance as a contestant and fourth-place finalist in season five of the top rated American Idol television show. The high point for Chris Daughtry during American Idol was when he performed “Hemorrhage” originally recorded by the rock band Fuel which gave him many accolades from each of the judges. Also, after hearing him perform their song, the band Fuel, who were currently absent a lead singer, asked Daughtry to join their band. Chris graciously turned them down. In my estimation he is the most popular and successful of all of the post American Idol contestants. One last thing to note here is that prior to his appearance in American Idol Chris Daughtry was the lead singer for the alternative Christian rock band Absent Element.

The debut album from Daughtry was released on November 21st, 2006 and has seen much success since its release last year. It peaked at number one on Billboard’s Top 200. It has sold more than 3 million copies world wide. The first track and the first single released from the album is a ballad styled song called “It’s Not Over”. The song starts slow and builds to a full sound in the chorus featuring Chris Daughtry’s powerful vocals. It is a very well made and performed pop-rock song about pushing through the hard times in arelationship. The second track “Used To” is a very well written song about reflection over a relationship and how things “used to” be. The next track “Home” was the second single released from on the album. It is also now played on American Idol each time a contestant is eliminated. They are going home. The song is another well written song that makes you think of home especially when things are not what you expected out of life. “It’s Over” is the next track and like the title says is about realizing for the first time the end of relationship. I especially like Chris’ vocals on this one. The lyrics for the next song “Crashed” could easily be used to represent the beginning of a relationship with Christ:

And then I crashed into to you, and I went up in flames. Could’ve been the death of me, but then you breathed your breath in me. and I crashed into you, like a runaway train. You will consume me, and I can’t walk away.

Knowing that Chris has professed to be a believer in Christ I would expect some lyrics that point to that relationship. In my favorite track on the album “What I Want”, which features the scorching guitars of Velvet Revolver’s Slash, the lyrics implore:

God help me, I never knew I belonged. You’ve taken me and shaped me to become what you want me to be.

The album is definitely radio-oriented hard rock music along the lines of Nickelback, Fuel, Hinder, Three Days Grace, and Metallica. The difference with Daughtry and those other bands who sometimes release positive songs is like one reviewer wrote “they don’t serve as a Trojan Horse smuggling in more explicit material glorifying sexual immorality, drug use, and rebellion.” Instead, we hear the soul of a man who’s determined to endure the hardships of relationship in order to get to a better place. There are many highlights on this album. I do recommend it and give it four and a half stars.