If We've Only Got One Life…

Joyful Noise – Flame

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!

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

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 scarred
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!

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

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

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

Posted in Music/Videos | 1 Comment »

Subject: Ben’s b-day…

[Video is at the bottom]

Saturday, July 26th

Rajiv: is tomorrow.  Is anyone gonna cake him?  I feel like he needs to be caked real good.  Every part of his face should be covered.

Joe: Yo, he’s gonna get cakes so hard. So whats the gameplan? Do we have a digital camera (daniel)?

Rajiv: “He’s gonna get cakes so hard?”

I think it’d be cool to trick Ben into thinking he’s not going to be caked. And then cake him late at night.

So … if Daniel could arrange for a little party at work, then he could play it off as if the caking isn’t going to happen.  Daniel can mention that he called Joe to come hang out, but Joe said he couldn’t make it.

Later at night, Daniel lets Joe into his apartment.  Joe ambushes Ben with a cake.

Joe: Yo, I think ben is so smart that he’ll suspect we are going to try to double-fake him…so we need to be extra-crazy smart to out-wit him. Here’s what we should do: daniel should secretly let me into the apartment, I’ll hid in their bath tub and pull the shower curtain shut. when ben comes go “#2″, I jump out and get him while he is “most vulnerable.” how does that sound?

by the way, i’m half serious about my plan.

Rajiv: Didn’t I just say you’re not gonna do that?

Daniel: I definitely think i should let you in and hide you. Got a cake?

Joe: i can get a cake….at ALDI’s!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A bunch of stuff transpired (that's not as funny), and caking got put off til Tuesday]

Rajiv: You should get Piper to cake him.

Daniel: That strikes me as… unlikely…

Ray: YO NICE NICE NICE

Monday, July 28th

Daniel, to Jon Bloom: Mr. Bloom… Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to cake Benjamin Lanning Hutton at Desiring God Headquarters after 1300 hours on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008. The method of attack will be delivered by Joseph Scott Tehrab to the door at that time, and he will remain to film the deed. It remains to be determined how the goose will be lured to the pond… I will pay you a visit soon after my own arrival to seal the cracks in the plan.

May the sugary goodness of the frosting in Ben’s beard be acceptable in the sight of our God.

Daniel: Jon Bloom has agreed to cake Ben. The deed will be done tomorrow (Tuesday), time TBD.

Liang: sweet! make sure jon doesnt pull a ray li and miss ben’s face… maybe train him in the art of caking beforehand by the power of the Spirit? just make sure to remind him of 1 peter 4:11 – “if anyone serves (cake), let him do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God might be praised through Jesus Christ.” 

Rajiv: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe: Alright, I just bought the cake from Cub foods, we are locked and loaded….

Daniel: Excellent… Ben said that Joe and I had fallen out of the good graces of many a tiny asian girl because we didn’t cake him yesterday. We’ll have to make it extra good. I’ll make sure the rest of DG is notified…

Joe: Yo, We should get Piper to cake Ben on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, July 29th

Ray: yo take pictures and video

Liang: might wanna de-knife him b4 you try to cake him… little boys w/ knives can get fiesty when caked

Rajiv: Use chloroform.

Jon Bloom: Very funny! I will cake in the strength the Lord supplies.

Jon Bloom, to me: After today I’m gone the rest of the week for a conference, and I have a dental exam at 1 PM. I have a couple quick questions regarding the M:A things you’re working on. Could I meet with you guys at 11:45 am? Sorry about the very short notice. Just come to my office. Won’t take long.

For some reason, my digi-cam didn’t record audio.  I’ve added a bit of commentary.

Thanks guys. I was completely surprised. Well done!
-Ben

Posted in Ben's Life | 11 Comments »

Crusade Blogs in Google Reader

I’ve put all the RSS feeds from all the people in Crusade whose blogs I know of into a shared tag on Google Reader.  You can subscribe to it here, or view a webpage with them all here.

Includes: Ben, Liang, Rajiv, Ray, Ken (Arnold), Charlene, Crystal, Jeanne, John (Sullivan), Tom (Jackson)

If you’re not on my list, and feel you should be, post your blog’s url in the comments and I’ll add it.  I feel like I might be missing some of you…

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 7 Comments »

22 Years

O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
- Psalm 39:4-5

Come now, you who say, ”Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ”If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
- James 4:13-17

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
- Psalm 150

Posted in Quotes | 3 Comments »

What is the Wasted Life?

YouTube – Trip Lee Interview-What is the Wasted Life?.

“Anything separated from Jesus Christ is a waste of our lives… Anything we do, separated from the motivation behind it – giving the Lord glory – is a waste of our lives.  Pursuing things that are not of the Lord, pursuing things that don’t show him to be glorious, and pursing things that don’t help us to know him – it’s a waste of our lives.”

Posted in Music/Videos | 1 Comment »

Begin By Confessing Your Righteousness

I’ve started going through Paul Tripp’s Whiter Than Snow.  It’s a book of 52 short meditations on Psalm 51.  Here’s a snippet from the first one that I find immensely helpful.

Here’s the point. Before you can ever make a clean and unamended confession of your sin, you have to first begin by confessing your righteousness. It’s not just your sin that separates you from God, your righteousness does as well. Because, when you are convinced you are righteous, you don’t seek the forgiving, rescuing, and restoring mercy that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

What’s actually true is that when I come to the Lord after I’ve blown it, I’ve only one argument to make. It’s not the argument of the difficulty of the environment that I am in. It’s not the argument of the difficult people that I’m near. It’s not the argument of good intentions that were thwarted in some way. No, I only have one argument. It’s right there in the first verse of Psalm 51, as David confesses his sin with Bathsheba. I come to the Lord with only one appeal; his mercy. I’ve no other defense. I’ve no other standing. I’ve no other hope. I can’t escape the reality of my biggest problem; me! So I appeal to the one thing in my life that’s sure and will never fail. I appeal to the one thing that guaranteed not only my acceptance with God, but the hope of new beginnings and fresh starts. I appeal on the basis of the greatest gift I ever have or ever will be given. I leave the courtroom of my own defense, I come out of hiding and I admit who I am. But I’m not afraid, because I’ve been personally and eternally blessed. Because of what Jesus has done, God looks on me with mercy. It’s my only appeal, it’s the source of my hope, it’s my life. Mercy, mercy me!

-Ben

Posted in Quotes | No Comments »

Joshua Project in Google Earth Plugin

Joshua Project is a ministry that collects data on the world’s unreached people groups.  You should check out their website.  They’ve published their data in many formats, including a downloadable Google Earth .kmz file.  I’ve taken that and built a webpage using the Google Earth Plugin.

1. Use this file to install the Google Earth Plugin to run Google Earth objects in your browser (works with any Windows browser).

2. Go here to view the Joshua Project map.  You can click and drag to move around, and use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.

For more info on Joshua Project, you can check out this video.

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 2 Comments »

Glorified Forevermore

Worth a slow, prayerful read (from here):

As far as any eye could see
There was no green. But every tree
Was cinder black, and all the ground
Was grey with ash. The only sound
Was arid wind, like spirits’ ghosts,
Gasping for some living hosts
In which to dwell, as in the days
Of evil men, before the blaze
Of unimaginable fire
Had made the earth a flaming pyre
For God’s omnipotent display
Of holy rage. The dreadful Day
Of God had come. The moon had turned
To blood. The sun no longer burned
Above, but, blazing with desire,
Had flowed into a lake of fire.
The seas and oceans were no more,
And in their place a desert floor
Fell deep to meet the brazen skies,
And silence conquered distant cries.

The Lord stood still above the air.
His mighty arms were moist and bare.
They hung, as weary, by his side
Until the human blood had dried
Upon the sword in his right hand.
He stared across the blackened land
That he had made, and where he died.
His lips were tight, and deep inside,
The mystery of sovereign will
Gave leave, and it began to spill
In tears upon his bloody sword
For one last time.

And then the Lord
Wiped every tear away and turned
To see his bride. Her heart had yearned
Four thousand years for this: His face
Shone like the sun, and every trace
Of wrath was gone. And in her bliss
She heard the Master say, “Watch this:
Come forth all goodness from the ground,
Come forth and let the earth redound
With joy.” And as he spoke, the throne
Of God came down to earth and shone
Like golden crystal full of light,
And banished once for all the night.
And from the throne a stream began
To flow and laugh, and as it ran,
It made a river and a lake,
And everywhere it flowed a wake
Of grass broke on the banks and spread
Like resurrection from the dead.

And in the twinkling of an eye
The saints descended from the sky.

And as I knelt beside the brook
To drink eternal life, I took
A glance across the golden grass,
And saw my dog, old Blackie, fast
As she could come. She leaped the stream—
Almost—and what a happy gleam
Was in her eye.

I knelt to drink,
And knew that I was on the brink
Of endless joy. And everywhere
I turned I saw a wonder there.
A big man running on the lawn:
That’s old John Younge with both legs on.
The blind can see a bird on wing,
The dumb can lift his voice and sing.
The diabetic eats at will,
The coronary runs uphill.
The lame can walk, the deaf can hear,
The cancer-ridden bone is clear.
Arthritic joints are lithe and free,
And every pain has ceased to be.

And every sorrow deep within,
And every trace of lingering sin
Is gone. And all that’s left is joy,
And endless ages to employ
The mind and heart to understand
And love the sovereign Lord who planned
That it should take eternity
To lavish all his grace on me.

O God of wonder, God of might,
Grant us some elevated sight,
Of endless days. And let us see
The joy of what is yet to be.
And may your future make us free,
And guard us by the hope that we,
Within the light of candle four,
Are glorified forevermore.

Posted in Theology | 1 Comment »

Sheared

My hair grew to the longest it’s been for about a decade, I think.  Thanks to Joe and my new Wahl clippers (“Premium DuraChrome finish is always in style!”), I am now sheared.

Before:

During:

After:

Slideshow:

Posted in Ben's Life, Pictures | 10 Comments »

Search Desiring God From Firefox

You can now search all of desiringGod.org from Firefox.  Follow along…

1. Go to desiringGod.org.

2. See how the arrow next to the Google Search Box is blue?  That means you can add a search function…

3. Click it and you’ll see the option.

4. Click “Add ‘DesiringGod.org Search’”.

5. Don’t try it out just yet… right now it’s set to open in the same tab.  To configure it to open in a different tab, go to about:config, click through the confirmation, and enter “browser.search.openintab” into the Filter.

6. Double-click on the line so that the “Value” (the right-most column) says “true”.

7. Try out your new search box.  Important keyboard shortcut: ctrl-k. This will focus the search box by putting the cursor there.  You’re now only a ctrl-k away from searching DG!

Bonus Step:  If you install Google Desktop Search, you can use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-ctrl (tap ctrl twice) to bring up a Google search box from within anywhere on your computer.

Let me know if you have any questions or problems.

-Ben

Posted in Web Applications | 3 Comments »