NOTES & RESOURCES* AUDIBLE: Souls: How Jesus Saves Sinners – https://amzn.to/3VT7wN9 (1) MY CHURCH Gospel …

20 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for sharing this, Pastor Matt. I’ve recently had some big life changes, and this year I move closer to 50 than 40, so I’ve been thinking about some of this. I appreciate your thoughts.

  2. There is a Benjamin Button-esque experience for the believer found in scripture. Though outwardly we waste away, yet inwardly we are being renewed everyday (2 Cor 4:16). Every wrinkle, ache and pain of aging is complimented with the soothing, comforting assurance of the grace of regeneration in the soul.

  3. (Big fan of madonna who is also catholic like myself) I agree, Madonna is a woman who is trying to cling onto life.. however it is not a bad thing. (Don’t we all struggle with that to an extent?) She is an artist and she invites us as the public to witness this struggle. It can not be easy having cameras pointed at you 24/7 but that is the sacrifice an artist has to make for their art. I have always found it Interesting that Many Christians detest Madonna (she has been excommunicated 3 times by the pope so it isn’t far fetched) The only difference between her and us is that while some of us might have doubts at times and conversations with God privately, she has them in the open. Throughout the decades she has strung in this conversation with Him into her music (since the beginning of her career until now). If you listen closely you might catch it. I think there is something special about a person willing to display that intimate of a conversation because i cannot think of many popular artists who do the same or much less even refer to God in their music.

    Some examples of this in her music are

    **LITTLE STAR: (When she birthed her first daughter and wrote a song for her):
    “God gave a present to me made of flesh and bones. My life, my bones, you make my spirit whole.” Reference to Genesis 2:22-23

    **GIRL GONE WILD
    “Oh my God
    I am heartly sorry for having offended Thee
    And I detest all my sins
    Because I dread the loss of heaven and the pain of hell
    But most of all, because I love Thee
    And I want so badly too be good”

    This is literally her into to a song.. i don’t know of any other pop artist who has such a vivid conversation with god in the open like this..

    “PAPA DON’T PREACH” is arguably of a a pro-abortion song:
    “..my friends keep telling me to give it up
    Saying I'm too young, I oughta live it up, But I made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby, hm
    I'm gonna keep my baby.”

    **LIKE A PRAYER: In her immaculate album she added the word
    “GOD” to the intro of “like a prayer which is undoubtedly a literal prayer to God.” She lets us know she is addressing him. And we as an audience get to listen to this conversation? How beautiful is that.

    She has also quite literally included what feels like THE ENTIRETY of revelations into her song

    **THE BEAST WITHIN:
    “ Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy
    And blessed are those who hear
    And who keep what is written therein
    For the time is near
    He is coming with the clouds
    And every eye will see him
    Everyone who pierced him
    And all the tribes of the Earth will wail on account of him.. etc etc..

    And it goes ON. There is no lyrics to this song it is line after line of actual scripture.

    These are just some examples off the top of my head. We don’t know her relationship with God but can appreciate her constant desire to include him in her music and be so vulnerable to let others listen to her conversation and struggle to be close to God.

    I think it is sad how awful people have treated her. Some women may add a little too much makeup to compensate for aging or insecurity and similarly men use things like rogaine and finasteride to prevent hair loss.. it is part of the human experience to have this struggle of aging and getting closer to death..

  4. On November 4th my father in law passed away. On January 9th my mother passed away. On February 5th my husband's uncle passed away. We have also lost 3 family friends since the beginning of January. I have been surrounded by death. Of everyone only 2 were saved. Thank you for this. I am currently reading Facing Grief by John Flavel. You are articulating much better than I did a thought I was attempting to get across to my husband.

  5. I appreciate that you didn't mock her, and that you just sat in judgment on her. That's exactly what I'd expect from an evangelical Christian. Seriously, don't worry about the verses "Judge not lest ye be judge" or "first take out the log from your eye" or "the first stone..". They don't apply to you.

    "Not to promote my own stuff…" and then you promote your own stuff. Love the humility.

    I'll pray for you when I say my rosary today.

  6. Matt, great video as always. I heard recently that Edward's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God has a companion sermon about grace and how God treats his chosen people. Being an Edwards scholar do you know what this sermon is called?

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