tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17996486346017215072011-07-28T15:02:00.263-05:00from the mind of sam coutureSam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-60315080108925196362009-12-28T10:43:00.007-06:002009-12-28T11:14:46.984-06:00

I was reminded today of the need to MAKE WAR with sin instead of "settling in" - tedashii's song bearing this title was a refreshing perspective on this thought.The question is this - how do I (we) make war with sin?we battle sin by trusting God's promises (Battling Unbelief - John Piper)we battle sin by preaching Truth to ourselves (Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure- D. Martin

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-31531449084691743662009-12-11T08:18:00.003-06:002009-12-14T13:08:49.781-06:00

Why Require Unregenerate Children to Act Like They’re Good? :: Desiring God Christian Resource LibraryGood thoughts for me as a father of a five year old who has accepted God's gracious forgiveness of sins and a three year old who I am praying for...

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-11755776333660865582009-12-08T08:05:00.003-06:002009-12-08T08:24:28.828-06:00

Recently I was speaking with a friend and mentor about the meaning of Christmas. I was sharing how I so often felt let down by the holiday season, how it just doesn't feel the way it did when I was a child, how I don't feel like I am able to get into the "Christmas spirit", how I feel guilty for not having my heart focused on Christ, etc...He pointed out a distinction which I think is helpful

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-79742510862271579002009-12-06T09:17:00.002-06:002009-12-06T09:23:56.578-06:00

What is sustaining grace?Not grace that bars what is not blissnor flight from all distress, but thisthe grace that orders our trouble and painand then in the darkness is there to sustain~John PiperWhat is grace that will help me endure?Not grace that keeps me from experiencing anything that is not "nice",Nor gives me an escape from distress, but instead,it is the grace that is orchestrating (and

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-45009829910680111062009-12-03T08:16:00.003-06:002009-12-06T09:15:41.578-06:00

Most of the time my life is like a scavenger hunt, running around with a list of random items, madly trying to find them before time runs out...I want my life to be a Treasure hunt. like the man who found a treasure in the field and sold everything he had to buy that field and get the treasure.Father, help me give everything to find the Treasure, Your Son, Jesus. Help me to give up my random list

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-30706678533237583022009-08-31T22:51:00.008-05:002009-12-06T09:15:20.298-06:00

I sat down for the first time in awhile to record something just to get back into it. my sons, Marcus and Josiah (5 and 3 yrs old), had been as quiet as church mice for over an hour playing outside.well, hit the URL below and listen to this 37 seconds of beautiful music to find out why we haven't recorded music lately...http://worshipleading.org/why.aif

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-27162102524419987902009-04-27T11:22:00.007-05:002009-12-06T09:14:56.164-06:00

Thank you Paul Johnson for bringing these thoughtful quotes to my attention:The heart of man is revealed in temptation. Man knows his sin, which without temptation he could never have known; for in temptation man knows on what he has set his heart. The coming to light of sin is the work of the accuser, who thereby thinks to have won the victory. But it is sin which is become manifest which can be

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-75219288207307308252009-04-21T16:15:00.005-05:002009-12-06T09:11:17.313-06:00

Forgiveness does not equal the removal of the consequences of our sinful actions in this life, but it does mean removal of the eternal consequences if we are in Christ.

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-14062305284687633372009-03-05T08:11:00.005-06:002009-12-06T09:14:02.533-06:00

sin is a deception.it promises happiness but delivers hurtit promises good times but delivers guiltit promises pleasure but delivers painof course most if this is more clearly seen/felt in the long run rather than the short-term.may God grant us hearts that see the long view and trust the One who has kept and will keep His promises of happiness, good times, and pleasure.

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-34499017825764273082009-02-27T05:54:00.006-06:002009-12-08T08:25:33.572-06:00

I almost made it out of the grocery store without an indulgent treat last night. After browsing the ice cream flavors and finding the $1 box of ice cream sandwiches from the advertisement, I chose to just skip it; until I looked up and to the right as I was preparing to leave to go to the chip aisle. And there they were; orange wrapper, blue writing, caramel pretzel Klondike bars... they were

SamCouturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16363974962760254594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-81417910164724632382009-02-26T06:24:00.006-06:002009-12-06T09:06:36.781-06:00

I read Mark Batterson's book "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day"It is an excellent source of encouragement and the Lord has used it to "jump start" my passion for pursuing music to the glory of God. his blog is also a good read - www.evotional.com

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-33552871508690024082009-02-20T08:41:00.003-06:002009-12-06T09:05:42.187-06:00

While the evangelical culture in which I was raised undoubtedly emphasized Jesus within the Trinity (you know Catholics/Lutherans emphasize the Father, Pentecostals emphasize the Holy Spirit, Evangelicals emphasize Jesus, and Baptists of course emphasize the rules), I somehow escaped from my childhood with a transcendent view of Jesus rather than an imminent view of Him. I would not likely be

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-9443603575428388782009-01-19T09:01:00.006-06:002009-12-06T09:16:38.664-06:00

As I am presently on crutches due to a fairly recent knee surgery, I thought I would share my thoughts on crutches...I recall sitting in several conversations at coffee shops or pubs in Portland Oregon's Hawthorne District and being told that Christianity was "just a crutch for weak people". This usually came near the close of the conversation, and (I think) was intended to both insult me and

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-76792190106013799712008-12-11T08:15:00.005-06:002009-12-06T09:02:38.438-06:00

Temptations and occasions put nothing into a man, but only draw out what was in him before.... John Owen (1616-1683)like squeezing a fruit to extract the juice, so temptation squeezes our hearts and shows forth what is lingering inside. what a case for daily dependence on the grace of God. future grace to sustain in the midst of trials and temptations

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-22065750655921981632008-05-16T16:38:00.005-05:002009-12-06T09:01:08.212-06:00

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book titled "Genesis in Space and Time". I am presently finding it a compelling argument bolstering my belief in a thought that our modern (and especially post-modern) minds often judge to be a stretch.Adam and Eve, real people in real space & time.It is actually a much more plausible explanation than whatever else is proposed, but our cultural aversion to the

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-17291191255186902132008-05-09T15:47:00.008-05:002009-12-06T09:16:14.206-06:00

some days are difficult, heads and hearts ache, strength wears thin, stress gets high, pain is either on the horizon or already penetrating our souls, people hurt us or fail us, God seems distant...the challenge is turning those difficult things into opportunities to rely on God's sustaining presence as what we need to carry us through. that's what worship is I think. that's what gives God

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1799648634601721507.post-52615358951985786332008-05-07T07:15:00.007-05:002009-12-06T08:59:12.779-06:00

My employer dropped a nail gun on my head; I think it was an accident... my wife thought it looked like something out of "night of the living dead". I remember a wise professor from my college days saying that the one redeeming lesson from the slew of horror films is that if you try to bury something that isn't dead it always comes back to get you in the end. He was applying this to how so often

Sam Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04671346867872578492noreply@blogger.com1