Sunday, March 29, 2009

End of Winter Quarter

Highlights -

Last week was Stanford's Spring break. My building was going through office renovations over the break, so I stayed home to work on a paper. The paper is a description of the research I plan to do for my PhD and is the basis for my "candidacy" exam on April 28th. The second draft is complete and off to my boss for review. If anyone is interested in reading it, I can forward you a copy when we finalize it. The topic is "abiotic nitrate reduction by iron(II) surface and aqueous complexes". It's a real thriller, let me tell you!

Last Sunday, Matthew Smith from Indellible Grace Music gave an awesome concert at a local church. If you haven't heard of Indellible Grace, they're another group of musicians which I recommend. Their specialty is taking old hymns (greather than 200 years old) and rewriting the music to them. The hope is that hymns (i.e. the lyrics) will continue to be a part of church worship for this and the next generation of Christians. You can listen to samples of their songs at www.igracemusic.com.

I also was able to spend more time with Kindel during the afternoons. We made it over to the park to hit a volleyball around and to the bay for a walk. Yesterday, Saturday, we took advantage of the Spring weather and went for a hike. Wow, the hills were clothed with rich, vivid green trees and grass! We're feeling for all of our Midwest-friends and family who are blanketed with snow, and for our family in drought-ridden areas. God has once again been gracious to the Valley by bring such wonderful weather!
















I've also been reading through Isaiah, and in ch. 19 God tells Isaiah of a recession which will come upon the Egyptian people. Vs. 10 sums it up: "Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved." The beginning of the chapter is vivid with language of judgement and that's why the drought, famine, and recession come. However, the end of the chapter is pouring over with God's mercy, "the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day" (21). What I took from this passage is that God brings about trouble (in the form of famine, recession, etc.) so that we'll find our treasure in him. Those who suffer as a result of this trouble need to hear the good news that God is a burden-lifting-God. He may not take us out of the trouble, but he'll 1) reorient our lives to focus on what's most important, and 2) provide joy everlasting.
- This is also one of the points of John 16. Jesus says that the disciples will have trouble, however He, Jesus, came to make their joy complete. Wow, this is really counter intuitive to our culture.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Recommended album



I always appreciate it when someone recommends good, Christian music. I recently bought an album from Sovereign Grace Ministries which I think is worth sharing.

The album is "Looked Upon" by Na Band.

Here are the lyrics from the song "Thy Way, Not Mine". I find the words encouraging because graduate student life has been rough and I need to be reminded that God is lovingly guiding me down on the path. Music has a special way of communicating deep truths.

Verse 1
Thy way, not mine, O Lord
However dark it be
Lead me by Thine own hand
Choose out the path for me, for me

Verse 2
Smooth let it be or rough
It will still be the best
Winding or straight, it leads
Right onward to Thy rest

Chorus 1
I dare not choose my lot
I would not, if I might
Choose Thou for me, my God
So I can walk aright

Verse 3
Take Thou my cup, and it
With joy or sorrow fill
As best to Thee may seem
Choose Thou my good and ill

Chorus 2
Not mine, not mine the choice
In all things great or small
Be Thou my guide, my strength
My wisdom and my all, my wisdom and my all

FYI... This song was originally written in 1857!