Cool Music Site!

I've spent a lot of time on this site during the past few weeks so I thought I would share it with those of you who don't know about it.

It's called NoiseTrade: http://noisetrade.com/

It's a site where artists can put their music up for people to download. All you have to do is enter your email address and ZIP code and you get a free download! (You can also tip the artist whatever amount you desire)

Some of my favorite current downloads:

http://noisetrade.com/AndrewPeterson

http://noisetrade.com/beckahshae

http://noisetrade.com/thehawkinparis

http://noisetrade.com/plumb

http://noisetrade.com/waterdeep

Also you can search by "For Fans Of" to discover lots of free music from very cool artists that are similar to your favorite bands!

~Mac

Remember the Sabbath

I finished reading the book of Nehemiah a few days ago, and I must say, I saw some things in the book that I had never seen before! That's the great thing about the illumination of the Holy Spirit - we continue to find application in God's Word through multiple readings! Anyway, one of the things that struck me was the incident surrounding the profaning of the Sabbath.

¹⁵ In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds ofburdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. ¹⁶ Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 

¹⁷ Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? ¹⁸ Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” ¹⁹ So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. ²⁰ Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. ²¹ Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. ²² And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.

Nehemiah certainly took the Sabbath seriously - more seriously than most of us. He shut the gates in the faces of those who would sell merchandise on God's holy day, and warned those who camped outside the city that he would lay hands on them if they attempted to profane the day by trading. We are not under the law, but the command to keep the Sabbath holy still applies today. Do we treat the Sabbath with the same kind of reverence and do we keep it with the same determination that Nehemiah did? After all, it is a serious thing - we "bring added wrath" on ourselves by profaning the Sabbath. Often, I think of the Sabbath as a day to not do school or work, hang out with family and friends, and just take it easy. While rest is an important part of the Sabbath, the main goal of the Sabbath is to have a day set aside for God - to worship Him, meditate on Him, and cultivate our relationship with Him. That's something that I can definitely improve on.

How do you spend the Sabbath? What kinds of things do you do to set the day apart and make it God's day?

~Mac

Joy in Obedience

I'm reading through the book of Nehemiah for my personal quiet time, and a few days ago I read chapter 8 - the chapter where Ezra reads the Law to the people. It's a very well-known and helpful passage, but the passage in chapter 8 that comes right after it has some insights to impart as well. It chronicles the Israelites' celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) as prescribed in the Law. One verse in particular stood out to me as I read it:

17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

"And there was great gladness." Isn't that interesting? God's people have been rejoicing because the Law has been made clear to them, and their joy and understanding of the law caused them to obey the commands of the Law. When they obeyed, their obedience produced more gladness. This is the way God has created us! When we do His will, when we obey His commands for us, we are glad and joyful. Obedience should not be a burden to us; it should be fulfilling!

~Mac

Playin' With LEGOs

Over the weekend, I did something I haven't done in a while - I broke out the LEGOs! And this is what took shape:

A LEGO Sako-style sniper rifle!

It's about 42 inches long, with a 23 inch barrel . . .

A removable bipod . . . 

And a scope that you can actually look through! (The field of view isn't great, but you work with what you have)

And for fun, I added an action that really cycles rounds!

It was a lot of fun to make something out of LEGOs again - and it was nice to know that I haven't completely lost my touch over the years :-)

~Mac

Happenings Grab Bag #1

I've decided that one way to make sure I blog relatively frequently is have a weekly post on a certain topic (such as the Thankful Thursdays or Funny Fridays that some of my blogging friends have come up with).

So here's introducing the . . .

:drum roll:

Happenings Grab Bag! :ta ta TUM:

(The title may change; I'm not sure it's the best. If any of you have an idea for a better title, please let me know!)

This will be a post where I can list any fun/crazy/random/wierd things I have done over the past week. So here goes:

This week I have:

1. Worn a pompadour for a day.

2. Fought Spiderman in a church, using only a pair of pencils.

3. Discovered that [a big part of] happiness is freshly trimmed fingernails.

~Mac