I'm loving THIS album.

I bought the new Sean Feucht album last night for a little boost to put on Aunt Sue and Uncle Dean's ipod for their time in Africa (they leave today!). I actually listened to it myself this morning, and decided I really like it.

Good thing. It's a little uncomfortable to load up someone else's ipod, knowing that whatever you select will be all they have to listen to for the next couple months. Guess we'll find out in March.

I am so excited to see Aunt Sue and Uncle Dean living out one of the desires that has been in their heart from the start of their marriage (what, 40-some years ago?). Lord, let this be a year for us all of seeing old dreams rise. I was thinking this morning (sparked by one of Sean's songs) about the line in The Great Divorce that says roughly, 'All thigns must die before they can live again in heaven. Even the greatest love must first die before it can be raised. Likewise, the most earthly and weak love can be risen again into something beautiful if it will first die.' Okay, that is very paraphrased, but the truth of the story remains deep in my heart: all things must first die, so that He can raise them up and have them live in Him. The goal is not death - the goal is to live in Him, for every part of creation. Many, if not all of us, have seen a lot of death in this past year. I think this year we'll see life in Him. We'll see resurrection of dreams, not just in that the desires will suddenly spring back to life in our hearts, but we'll suddenly view in front of us, our dreams.



Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
2 Timothy 2:11-13


If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:5-11