You preach your own funeral.

Am I living in a manner that is worthy of the gospel? Is my life a living testament of His word?

God is HOLY HOLY HOLY. Sovereign. Worthy of all.

Live out what I believe.

Can people look at your life and tell that you believe what you believe?

Appetites have the potential to determine the direction of your life.

• God created appetites and sin distorted them.
• Appetites are never fully and finally satisfied.
• Appetites always whisper now and never later.

Five years from now… Where do I want to be?

Reframe
Refrain

Exchange self at the bottom of your joy for God.

Do you feel happier that God makes much of you or happier that God allows you to make much of Him?

Did Christ die for us or for God? Both; for salvation and to allow us to make much of Him.

Ways God Makes Much of Us
• By being pleased with us and commending our lives.
• By making us fellow heirs with His Son who inherits everything.
• By having us sit at a table and serve us like He is our servant.
• By appointing us authority over angels.
• By ascribing value to us and treasuring us like His most valuable possession.
• By granting us to sit with Christ on His throne.

God’s love for you that makes much of His glory is a greater love for you than love that makes much of you.

God will not let our preciousness become our god.

“This is not about what you’ve done but what’s been done for you.”

Where you go, I’ll go. Where you stay, I’ll stay.  When you move, I’ll move.  I will follow.

Nashville skyline.

Needtobreathe at the Tabernacle.

Athens.

it’s finally that glorious time of year again.  CHRISTMAS!  yeah, i’ve decked out my room with lights and candles in celebration of this joyous season.  and of course, i’ve made sweet Christmas playlist just like everyone else.  stoked to listen to it nonstop.  also over Thanksgiving break, i helped put up the tree and decorations back home.  besides the fact that it looks and sounds like Christmas, it’s really starting to FEEL like it too.  man, these past couple days have just been frigid.  but i’m not complaining… i really am loving it all.

downtown Athens is also decorated and i am so ok with that.  beautiful.  i vote we just leave up decorations year round… i mean why can’t we celebrate Christmas all year?

sometimes it’s so easy to forget the grandness of God.  often times, we find ourselves spending so much time and attention on making our churches, facilities, and environments perfect that we forget how big God is.  don’t get me wrong here, it’s great to strive for the best stages, music, and production but there’s so much more than that.  giving our best effort to create these environments is certainly an important part of ministry.  but it’s not the MOST important part.  God is the most important part.

a lot of the time, i find myself just going through the week without much thought about how i’m actually living my life.  sure, on Sunday we go to church, volunteer, and engage with people.  but what stops us from taking advantage of the numerous daily encounters we have with strangers in order to spread God’s love?  for me, it’s simply forgetfulness or unwillingness.  we meet with so many people in a single day, why don’t we use these opportunities to create meaningful relationships?  it’s not easy, that’s for sure.  we’re all busy people and it’s hard to pause life to even have a conversation with someone.  but we need to.  we’re called to do it.  we need to take every chance we can to invest and build relationships with others because God can and does work outside the church walls.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.”

- Acts 17:24

God cannot be contained.  He is infinite.  we won’t ever fully comprehend or understand Him.  He can’t be confined inside the walls of our churches.  He is the LORD of the heavens and the earth.  God is does not live in a building.  He isn’t an idea to be discussed and argued.  He is the Creator of the universe and He lives in the hearts of His people.  nothing is more beautiful than a God that is so grand yet chooses to be so intimate.  our bodies are living temples for Him.

God is bigger than any building or church our hands could ever build.  we are His church.  and we must take Him outside these walls and to the people.

alright, so i’ll go ahead and say it.  i am unbelievably excited for Taylor Swift’s new upcoming album Speak Now, that comes out October 25.  she’s already put out four great singles from it and i’m definitely ready to hear the rest.  that girl never ceases to amaze me with her song-writing abilities.  you might judge me for it, but i really do respect her as a musician and performer.  anyways, can’t wait to hear the rest of the record!