What's Happening?

I have been really bad about updating lately. I finished with school for the semester about three weeks ago, and I have really been enjoying the break. I have now completed 84 of the required 94 hours (88 hours + Elementary Greek and Elementary Hebrew) towards my Master of Divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Yes, "The" is part of the school's name. When I checked online today, my grades were finally posted: Bible Teaching, A; Petrine Epistles, A-; Beginning Guitar, A. Woohoo! 10 hours to go! I'm hoping to finish with school in December of 2009!

Despite being out of school for the winter break, it has been extremely busy and sometimes I wonder if I was more busy during school or during the weeks before Christmas. It seems like we had something going on every night. Shopping, cleaning, cooking (that would be Heather), and hosting guests for a meal. We love having people over to the house for dinner, but it seems like we try to cram so much into the short break from school! I'm not complaining, because I love to hang out with friends and church family.

Speaking of family, we took a whirlwind trip down to Maryville, TN, last weekend to celebrate Christmas with my family, and we got home late on Saturday night. The drive home was terrible because I have been having some problems with one of my eyes. I decided to go to the doctor yesterday after work, and apparently I have a chalazion. It's very small, but it has been interfering with my vision. I'm supposed to have an appointment with an opthomologist today.

At church, we've been studying the book of Galatians for the past several months, and we finished just in time to study Mary's, Zechariah's, and Simeon's responses to the revelation of the Messiah (Luke 1-2). In January and February, we are planning to have a combined adult Sunday school class in order to study Mark Dever's What is a Healthy Church as we continue to revise our church government. I'm looking forward to discussing this topic with our members! I'm also interested in reading Thabiti Anyabwile's What is a Healthy Church Member to see how it relates to Dever's book.

Personally, I'm trying to get organized to prepare for next semester. I am going to try to include in my schedule a 30-minute daily Bible study time each morning, as well as a time for guitar practice each night. I have to make time for lots of reading for Church History II, and I am trying to dedicate more time for my family. It seems like quite a challenge to fit everything in! If you are interested, here are the required books for Shawn Wright's Church History II class:

• Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 2
• John Hannah, Our Legacy: The History of Christian Doctrine
• Mark Noll, The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity (also at WTS Books)
  
• George Marsden, A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards (also at WTS Books)

A while back, I started reading in the gospel of John, and I'm going to try to get back into that book during my study time. I hope to post some thoughts as I work through the book.

Well, I guess that's plenty for now. Hopefully I will be more diligent in posting as we begin 2009! May God's blessings be upon you as we anticipate the coming celebration of a new year!

~ Todd

FLAME: Carrying the Gospel to the Hip Hop Culture

I have been totally impressed by Marcus Gray, the young man known as FLAME. He grew up in the inner city of St. Louis, and was heavily influenced by hip hop culture. After an auto accident and the death of his grandmother, he gave his life to Christ and began using his musical talents to share the gospel.

FLAME has been attending Boyce College, the undergraduate school associated with Southern Seminary. The book list on his web site contains classics from John Owen to John Piper, and he points his guests to ministries like founders.org and desiringgod.org. His last two albums include one entitled "Our World: Fallen," which shares the story of Adam and Eve and humanity's plunge into sin. His latest release, "Our World: Redeemed," focuses on Christ's work on the cross and the deliverance Christ purchased for his people.

I purchased "Our World: Fallen" last week, and FLAME really does an amazing job of incorporating deep doctrine and cultural application. He exposes the downward spiral of sin that is pervasive in hip hop culture, and he tells his audience the truth about sin and that our only hope is Christ.

Listen to the song, "Joyful Noise," from his "Our World: Redeemed" album:



Here are the lyrics:

You know what it is
I love it
Let's talk about it

VERSE
Your boy's been a Christian, quite a few years
Victory and faith, but I failed in my fears
I heard a lot of words that have tickled many ears
That's why I praise God for the Word that we adhere
The Word became flesh, lived for thirty years
Died at 33, but after days reappeared
Jesus Christ anointed one ascended in the air
Or you can say the air where the Father made Him heir
Of all things the throne know it's more than a chair
But after our redemption yes He did take a chair
Greater than the angels name superior to theirs
This is Hebrews Chapter 1 if you cared
I'm leaning to the right
the light is where I'm running
I thought I wanted life, drunk, sexed out and blunted
But all I really wanted was the One who really won it
Fought death, beat it gave His life to the public
I love it!

HOOK
Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place

VERSE
Man I'm trying to lift Him high
Higher than the stars
I am not of this world like I'm from the planet mars
I love to preach Jesus you can read it in my bars
I'm pretty straight forward when I'm speaking bout my Lord
He paid the sin price being beat by Roman guards
But when He resurrected gave us life free of charge
Now me and my boys need to be in a psych ward
Cause we went crazy for God our lives was scared
Now in the Book of Life, our names have been written down
We're casting our crowns before His feet on the ground
It's such a holy melody and a heavenly sound
Hearing holy holy holy coming out of the mouth
Of the four living creatures by His throne all around
Can you picture the scene this this is how it's going down
You just need a little faith and a new set of eyes
And a telescopic lens to look in and see God
I love it!

HOOK
Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place

VERSE
One day we gon' be out man, like three strikes
And home son like a homerun CHRIST
IS -- KING -- LION -- LAMB -- GOD -- MAN
SIN CONQUEROR -- GRAVE CONQUEROR -- SATAN CONQURER
Can take a sinner, atheist sinner to God conscience
Can take nothing
make creation and lives honor
The same God that came through a fetus as Jesus
Limited to breathing
Got believers singing

HOOK
Angels surrounding His throne and
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
The whole earth is full of His glory
All nations bow to His name
His majesty fills the Heavens
Our hearts give thunderous praise
Declare the Lord is forever
Make a joyful noise in this place