Heard this song over twenty years ago and am haunted by the melody and the message ever since. I know it’s not modern or hip – but who cares?
Lyrics:
El Shaddai, Elyon no Adonai
(God almighty, God almighty, God in the highest, oh LORD)
Age to Age your still the same
By the power of the Name
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, Erkamka na adonai
(God Almighty, God Almighty, I will love you, oh LORD)
We will Praise and Lift you high
El Shaddai
Through Your Love and through the ram
you saved the son of Abraham
And by the power of your hand
Turned the sea into dry land
to the outcast on her knees
You were the God that really sees
And by your might you set your children free
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El Elyon na Adonai
Age to Age your still the same
by power of the name
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, Erkamka na Adonai
We will praise and lift you high
El Shaddai
Through the years you made it clear
That the time of Christ was near
Through the people failed to see
What Messiah ought to be
Though your word contained the plan
They just could not understand
Your most awsome work was done
Through the fraility of your son
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El Elyon na Adonai
Age to Age your still the same
by power of the name
El Shaddai, El Shaddai, Erkamka na Adonai
We will praise and lift you high
El Shaddai
“Vintage jesus” is perhaps on the top of the list of books I want to read. But until I get a physical copy in my hands, I can get stuck into the following tidbits from a number of chapters:
This book, co-authored by Mark Driscoll and Dr Gerry Breshears is based on a the Vintage Jesus sermon series preached at Mars Hill Church in 2007. Love this kind of work as it presents the truth of Jesus in an accurate, no nonsense, religious free context. His life, death and resurrection have nothing to do with religion – it’s a love story between a Holy God and a fallen mankind.
When Darwin penned “The Origin Of Species” and the theory of evolution was born, the assumption was that that single cell was life’s most simplest life form. The theory developed that perhaps lightning struck a pond of water causing several molecules to combine in a random way, which by chance resulted in a living cell. The cell then divided and evolved into higher life forms.
Back then it may have sounded intelligent even! I mean how simple can a single cell be? There are a 100 trillion of them in our bodies and even under powerful microscopes, they looked, well, simple.
Well since then our understanding of the single cell has exploded. I once heard that to compare all the systems and interactions that occur within a single cell, you would need to compare it to a city the size of New York. So much for being simple!
I want to show a video below taken from ted.com where David Bolinski, a medical illustrator and animator, talks about his quest to capture the “truth and beauty” of the “the inner life of a single cell.” It’s a nine minute clip where he introduces the work Harvard University has sanctioned him to do for their students. At the end is a 3 minute animation which will blow your mind away and make Darwin eat his words.
A couple points of interest:
Davis has put this animation together while admitting that we know almost a percent (1%) of what’s really going on. Imagine the true beauty of it all!
The single cell is full of micro-machines. As David states, the “machines that run the cells are the basis of all life.” Darwin didn’t even know they existed.
These micro-machines are the envy of all nano-technologists – the absolute cutting edge of modern technology. In lay guy terms, “we still haven’t figured this stuff out!”
And my favourite quote in regards to micro-machines, “They make the cell to do what it needs to do and helps our bodies – huge entities that they will never see – function properly.”
If you have issues veiwing the video, click here to view it at ted.com. To check out only the three minute presentation without the commentary, click here.
I love God and I love science. I am not anti-science whatsoever. Instead, I love seeing how science, when it’s pursued without an agenda, continuously points towards a Creator – an Intelligence way beyond our ability to comprehend.
This Intelligence creates mega cities filled with micro-machines to do their bidding. Then replicates them a 100 trillion times each and forms a human body. Then slips in our soul and spirit to occupy this physical entity. He finally breathes His breath into us and we become a human being. Reminds me of one of my favourite scriptures:
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:14
Indeed my soul knows this very well. It’s just taking mankind a little time to catch up.
Well being an Aussie, and not a rich one, I never thought I’d see the day when I can get to hear Mark Driscoll preach live. Well not until today anyway when I got an email from my Pastor asking if I’d be interested seeing Driscoll in Sydney on August 27.
Is the Pope Catholic? Don’t fundamentalists vote Republican? Sorry I just finished watching “Jesus Camp” – another story for another post. I jumped onto the website and booked tickets right away as Driscoll’s main meeting in the mountains just out of Sydney was sold out way before i even knew he was coming over.
Driscoll is speaking at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and the details are here. “Burn Your Plastic Jesus” is an attempt to shake off the stranglehold weird and whacked out so called Christians have on forming the perception of Jesus to the masses. Again after just watching Jesus Camp, I think we have a lot of work to do to convince people our Lord is not a complete lunatic.
And so in the middle of Michael Buble, Chris Rock and The Wiggles, at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Driscoll will talk about Jesus. Got to love it!
Anyway, below is the promo clip for the event and below that is a cool little video where Driscoll rants against religion. Enjoy and if you’re an Aussie, I’d love to see you there and meet up!
I really enjoyed the perspective Ed Young puts forward in the following video “Church Planting.” In my opinion, I think he nails the issue when he says that some churches are not church plants but church “transplants” instead. This happens when people join churches with suspect motives – they want to build their “own kingdom” and siphon and leverage people and resources from that church in order to build their own as they “obey the calling of God” in their own lives.
This is different from legitimate church plants – where a group moves on to start a new venture. This pretty much happened with my church. But church pirates are a different bunch and Ed discusses this below.
