A God Thing

Yesterday I wrote about guarding your heart against a “slow fade.” Today I want to share with you another thought on this subject.

Did you ever tell one of those stories about an amazing set of circumstances in your life that you attribute as a “God thing.” Sometimes, it seems, nothing short of divine intervention could explain how things just seem to work out.

Next time God is working in your life, write it down! Keep a journal of “God things” so that you can remember how blessed you are. Sometime when you are feeling down, pull out your “God thing” journal and feed yourself with encouragement from yourself! It will help you persevere.

Slow Fade

We humans are a flaky bunch. When things are going well, we get comfortable, sometimes too comfortable. For instance….. if your doctor told you your cholesterol was way too high, you’d be motivated to eat well and exercise to get things under control; for awhile anyway. The problem is you feel perfectly fine and you reason that God made pizza for us to enjoy, so you slip on your diet. And then you start to skip those “unnecessary” work out sessions.

It’s often the same with our faith. When things are going well, we start to slip; we skip reading our Bible, we don’t pray as often, we might even skip out on church. As the Casting Crowns song “Slow Fade” says, “people never crumble in a day. It’s a slow fade.” Over time, God doesn’t seem so important. For some, He becomes an unnecessary part of our lives. How sad is that?

Guard your heart against a slow fade. Spend time with other Christians in a small group or Bible study. Read you Bible daily. Pray daily. Serve those in need. Go to church and worship your heavenly Father. Share your faith with those who don’t know him.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
– Proverbs 4:23

Why Should We Give Thanks To God?

Honestly that’s not a very difficult question to answer. God gave us life and He offers us salvation through the death and resurrection of his Son. That’s quite a bit to be thankful for….

Yet many of us more thankful for worldly things such as money, televisions, extravagant vacations, clothes, and cars. Any many us find plenty of reasons to complain as well; the economy stinks, a friend treated us poorly, we lost something dear to us, the dog peed on the carpet, etc.

I recently read a quote that I think sums up pretty well our struggles to put thanks in its proper place:

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow,” wrote 19th century minister Henry Ward Beecher. “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”

Faith in God’s sovereignty and goodness enables believers to give thanks in everything. This doesn’t mean that everything we encounter is good, but rather that God’s goodness and power will work it out for His purpose and our benefit.

Remember this truth: Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)

Buying Music

DRM is really annoying.

DRM, or digital rights management, is the term used to describe technology that forces consumers to buy music that only plays on one device. For example, music purchased on iTunes can only be played in iTunes or an iPod. It’s the same for Microsoft’s Zune and Zune Marketplace.

This has been particularly annoying to me because I moved from an iPod to a Zune and now back to an iPod. I’ve got music I purchased for the Zune that can only be heard on the Zune!

There are ways to circumvent DRM. There’s the “so-called” analog hole, which means when you burn your purchased music to an audio CD, and then rip them into an DRM-free MP3 audio file. It’s legal but time consuming, a pain in the rear, and, many would argue, will cause a loss of quality from the original audio file (I personally can’t tell any difference).

There are also software programs… free and paid… that allow you to remove DRM from your music. I should point out that it is illegal to remove DRM so the software option isn’t a good one if you don’t want to break the law. And yes, it’s a dumb law, but it is still a law.

Here are the best options to avoid DRM issues. Buy a CD and rip it. Then you can rip your songs in to high quality MP3s that you can play on any device.

If you’re lazy like me and like the convenience of buying online, another option is to purchase your music as an MP3. MP3s don’t contain any DRM technology. The best place to buy MP3s, in my opinion, is Amazon.com. The Zune Marketplace and iTunes Music Store do sell some music in MP3 format, but they charge 20 to 30 cents more per track. At Amazon, you can buy an DRM-free MP3 for 99 cents, 89 cents in some cases.

Are you in the minority?

A recent survey revealed that only 3 percent of US citizens know the five freedoms that the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees. Do you know? I’ve listed the answers below.

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x
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x
x
x
x
x
x
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x
Religious Establishment (govt can’t create a national religion)
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Speech
Freedom the of Press
Freedom to Assemble

My Playlist (11/24/08)

I thought I’d share from time to time what music I’m listening to:

Everlasting Love (Robert Knight)
Ready, Set, Don’t Go (Billy Ray Cyrus w/ Miley Cyrus)
Slow Fade (Casting Crowns)
All Because of Jesus (Casting Crowns)
My Hallelujah Song (Julianne Hough)