Is it possible that Jesus had a speech impediment?

So I was reading through some of Matthew 7 last week and noticed something that caught my attention.

 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21).

Now I know there’s a lot involved in this verse, and I may be focusing on the “wrong” thing, but why did Matthew record Jesus as saying “Lord, Lord?

Did Jesus have a speech impediment? No. The Hebrew language does not have bold or italics or underlining, so the only way they had of emphasizing certain words was through repetition. So here, Matthew records that Jesus simply emphasized the word ‘Lord’. We might write it "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven…”

Now check out Isaiah 6:1-3!

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

So the angels weren’t literally saying “Holy, Holy, Holy” … they are just saying Holy so loud and with so much emphasis that Isaiah writes it three times! This is the highest level of emphasis in the Hebrew language!

How cool is that!? I studied this further, and found this awesome observation by theologian RC Sproul concerning this passage:

“So the angels are not content with, “Holy!” And they are not even content with the emphasis of, “Holy! Holy!” They must say it three times—“Holy! Holy! Holy!”They take it to the third degree—the unmatched degree. No other attribute of God is praised like this. Not love or mercy or justice or sovereignty. Just Holy.”

God is worthy of our worship above all else because he is HOLY! I wonder … does your life and worship emphasize God’s holiness?

That's not rhetorical ... leave a comment to join the discussion

Foo Fighter wisdom

So I was listening to the Foo Fighters on my iPhone yesterday and Best of You came on. Great song. Period.

But for the first time, I was struck by the key lyric of the song:

Is someone getting the best
The best, the best, the best of you?
Or are you gone and onto someone new?

These are powerful, though-provoking lyrics when you consider your main role in life and ask yourself that question - is someone getting the best of you.

I started asking myself: "Is Liquid Church getting the best of me?" But then I was left reeling: "If it is, then what do I have left for my wife ... my children?"

Ouch!

When you give someone - or something - the best of you, who or what do you cheat on the other end? Who gets your scraps? And how do you make that decision?

So, what about YOU? Who or what is getting your best?

African children need YOU!

Wanna help us bring safe, clean water to the poorest of the poor in Africa? Pastor Rich Birch shows how you're just a few clicks away from making a difference.

Have you registered yet?

Costco lands in Oz!

So Costco is now selling its over-sized bargains in my hometown! And that news has made news.

Check it out:

Too funny!

Do you love or loathe Costco?

One blog - many tongues

I've always wanted to speak another language beyond being able to say hello and count to ten (I can do this in Italian, Spanish and Japanese) and now I can ... literally!

The tech guys here at Liquid found a way for my blog to be translated into many tongues! All you need to do is click on the TRANSLATE button in the bottom left and voila (which is French for 'struth!) you can choose your own language!

It looks like this:

Or this:

Pretty cool huh. Just remember to read it in your language with and Australian accent, okay!

So who can you pass this blog site along to now that they'll be able to read it in their native tongue?

A nice job...

I had our friend Nick from Hillsong Church in Australia produce a video for me last week to help me lead into the song Hosanna. He did such an amazing job I thought you'd all like to see it and comment.

Why can't we be friends?

Here's my new Facebook URL: www.facebook.com/aussiedaveadamson

My Twitter is: www.twitter.com/aussiedave

What's yours? Let's all get connected together!

New Jersey-fied

So I've been at Liquid in New Jersey for just over a year now, and Pastor Tim has been commenting on how much I've changed in that time.

So I asked our Liquid designer Simon to show me a timeline ... and here it is:

Some three-day-growth, a mullet and some shagginess. Does this mean I've been New Jersey-fied?

A whole new VIBE

Time to publicly recognize the new-look Aussie Vibe blog. It's cleaner, shinier, has more volume and smells better too!

Credit for the new look goes to Liquid Media Designer Simon Young, and our Morristown Connection Coordinator, computer guru and overall web Jedi Master Lauren Vicari. These guys made all the calls, broke code, weaved HTML magic and did a bunch of other stuff that only them and three other people on the planet really understand.

I was literally on for the ride and deserve no credit for how great Aussie Vibe looks! In fact, two minutes before it went live I nearly screwed the whole thing up by deleting something important. Lauren saved me.

Great job guys!

So what do you think of the new look?

Aussie Rules football explained!

Okay.

Since I've lived here and people found out I used to be a sports reporter (here's the proof and here's more proof) for Sports Tonight - Australia's version of ESPN Sports Center - I always get asked to explain Australian Rules football.

I always say (even said it this morning to my mate Jim - Youth Pastor and Long Hill Chapel in Chatham) that Aussie Rules is a mixture of about five different sports. Well, here's the proof.

Check it out - this is the new promo for the 2009 AFL season. Gives me goose bumps and makes me miss home!

Tell me what you think.