The holiness of God. An amazing subject, and one that is often neglected from the pulpit and from worship leaders. Why? Is God's holiness not talked about in Scripture? Is it covered in metaphorical language that is difficult to understand?

Leviticus 11:44 and 1 Peter 1:16 are fairly clear: "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

So what is it then? Why, as Christians, is the thought of God's holiness being abandoned? The reason I believe that it is being forgotten and brushed aside is because that holiness of God, requires something from us...if we claim Christ. Just as the verse said, "You shall be holy, for I am holy," God requires holiness from His creatures. It is not optional. We MUST be holy because our God is holy. And we MUST proclaim the holiness of God as one of His many attributes because of two reasons:

1) God must receive glory from us for being holy. We cannot fully praise God without recognizing His holiness. We would not be proclaiming the whole counsel of God by ignoring that important fact.

2) To encourage, exhort, and admonish people to know how high the calling is to be a follower of Christ. We must count the cost and be willing to lay everything bare at the foot of the cross.

Understanding the thought of God and His holiness will bring you to your knees. Not SHOULD bring you, but WILL bring you. The fact will always be that we fall short of God and His holy standard. It isn't enough to be better than the rest, or as most of us live, be better than some of the rest. The thought of God being holy will allow us to recognize our own sin in our life and hopefully, prod us to rid our lives of that sin and praise God for how great and mighty He is.

Humility and brokenness over my sin is all I can think of when pondering the holiness of God. And to think, that same God crushed His Son for me?! This just makes the words in 1 Corinthians 6:20 that much more powerful to me..."You have been bought with a price, you are not your own, therefore, glorify God in your body." Sometimes we try and close the gap in our minds between us and God thinking that we aren't as far apart as we are...but we kid ourselves. His holiness and our wretchedness are infinitely and eternally opposed...which makes the cross that much more lovely.

And Oh...the glory of the cross...

It's a new year, new decade, new blog post...blah blah blah. So HOW is 2010 different so far for me? Well...I've spent more time watching Blue's Clues and Yo Gabba Gabba then I have watching football. Oh, and I just got finished watching Confessions of a Shopaholic with my wife. I feel my manhood slipping right through my fingers. Maybe I should go get some beef jerky...

There, that's better.

Ok, so today was a new day for Veritas (Calvary Bible Church College Ministry)...at least for the music ministry...we added drums a la Calderon. Sounds special huh? They are. It was our first Sunday playing with drums and it was such a great kickoff to a new year. The song set seemed to tie in perfectly with what Pastor Jack Hughes was preaching on in "Big Church". Pastor Jack is beginning a 3 month series on faith from Hebrews 11. Today was the first message and it blew my mind. The line that stuck in my head was "It is smart and wise to trust in a faith that cannot fail because it comes from the God who cannot fail." The songs we highlighted this morning (below) are all about the great and awesome nature of our great God and how He is worthy to be praised. What a joy and pleasure it is to sing to and for him.

Lord I Lift Your Name On High

Lord Most High (Be Magnified)

Our Great God

How Great Is Our God

All these songs place God on a pedestal where he belongs...magnified, lifted up, glorified...placing us in our rightful place...humbled, prostrate, and broken.

I am so thankful to serve with a group of people in Veritas and the band (Corio 2 shout out). It is a joy to sing...of course...but it is a joy to serve with people who love Jesus...and that's why we're here. So, to Greg, Angel, Steve and Tony...Danny, Ryan and Charlie...and of course, my gracious wife...thank you for serving and loving Jesus.

In 2010...love Jesus while expecting Jesus. He's coming back. Heaven awaits.

Well, it's almost Christmas. I love Christmas. What better than to celebrate the great humility of our awesome King, Jesus, who bore our sins? I love the time with family and friends. I love to take this time of year and meditate on all the Lord has done in the past year and spend time just thanking Him and praying for 2010, that I would follow His Word with all diligence and lead my family in grace.

One year ago, we were just about to close escrow on the house we are in now. In fact, I remember the first thing we did was on the weekend between Christmas and New Years of 2008, we picked up the mounds of dog poop in the backyard. I've never seen so much poop except in Jurassic Park. January marked 10 years since Julie and I have been together. Wow...crazy to think that God had all that planned out. We had no idea. Marriage, a son, a house, a career?! Sure we hoped...but were clueless. God knew. He always knows. April marked the start of a business venture for Julie. RubyLove Designs...catch the fever. July, Cade turned 2. Nuff said. He has grown so much in a year. He teaches me more about me than I think I ever impart to him. I see my behavior in him...the extreme sadness...the extreme joy...awe...wonder. It's like looking at your own life with a magnifying glass. Everything is so heightened and maximized and right there before your eyes. Sometimes...you wish things weren't so magnified. All in all though, Julie and I are so blessed by him. He gives us so much joy. The culmination of that was in September when we went for his 2 year checkup to his Occupational Therapist from the hospital and he passed every test with flying colors. God's faithfulness is extreme. His power is limitless. Our thankfulness fails in comparison to what He has done. Now here we are in December again. Knowing where we've been...looking forward to what is to come. And, if I can quote from Cade's favorite movie "Cars" from Mater (like Tuh Mater, 'cept without the Tuh): "Don't need to know where I'm going, just need to know where I've been." I love no idea how that fits in...but I love it.

Glory to God...simple as that.

Here we are again. Wow...been tooooooo long. Yes, this is my first free moment in the last year and a half. :) Just before midnight, on a brisk December evening here in SoCal. Sweet bride is away on a couple day getaway with her sisters. My awesome kiddo is asleep...my God...never sleeps.

I find my emotions overflowing at times like these. In the midst of any circumstance, my God is faithful. In the midst of any trial, my God is faithful. In the midst of any joy...you got it, my God is faithful.

Focusing my attention the past week on music. I could probably say the same about every week...but for some reason...it seems most evident now. Not just music in general...that's just silly. Music...must have purpose. Now, of course I don't mean that all music must be serious or even theological. No, music can be spontaneous, goofy, and childish...but the motivation, is to praise God. I know I'm probably breaking every sacred code of music-dom, but hey...that's a you problem. Anyway, being involved in music at church, my mind is constantly thinking about chords, beats, rhythms, but most of all...motives. I want the music I listen to, and in turn sing, stir my heart to love God more, hate my sin more, and draw others to Christ...to the joy of my Savior.

Artists that I am absolutely digging at the moment:
-Casting Crowns: "Until the Whole World Hears"
-Switchfoot: "Hello Hurricane"
-Sovereign Grace: any album
-Angel Taylor: "Love Travels"
-Chris Tomlin: "Hello Love"
and certainly not least...
-Steven Curtis Chapman: "Beauty Will Rise"
-Rick Horio: EP is still in the works...will rock your mind.

Take a listen.

Here I am, sitting at my house, the waning hours before I lay my head down for another evening. Thoughts are flooding through my tiny finite head about what to write, if I should even write, and if any of this is going to make sense or not...but hey, it's my blog...so there.

Well, my heart is full of thankfulness at the moment. My wife is enjoying a favorite TV show of hers. My son is fast asleep for the night (Lord willing). And I had a bunch of time today to be with the people of God at my church, sing praises to my King, play with my son, and still have time to be alone and relax and write. I rarely have this kind of time to do something like this so I felt the need to capture it and just put some of my thoughts down.

Two thoughts have really hit me lately and they aren't really related. First, my tiny time as a parent for this past year has taught about how much MY parents did for me. It is so hard for me to think that my mom and dad made the same huge sacrifices for me that I do for my son. Did they really have those nights where they were so exhausted because I was crawling and walking everywhere and getting into everything? Did they really have to pull my hands away from sockets and cords and other "No" things? It is SO true that you truly don't appreciate what someone has done for you, until you have to do it for someone else. For this reason, I know that I will never understand the full power of the cross of Christ because I will never be sinless, I most likely will not die of a death as gruesome as a crucifixion, and I will never have the weight of the world's sins on my shoulders. Sure, the time will come when I too will die, and maybe it will be "saving" someone else's life. But the saving grace of Jesus Christ can only come from Him, and I can't be more thankful for that.

The other thing that has been on my mind, truly does come from the fact that I am tired. CJ Mahaney said in his book, Humility, that part of being humble, is accepting the fact that each night, we need sleep and should humbly accept it. This is a daily reminder of why God is so much more powerful than the human race that He created. He NEVER needs to sleep. He always has a watchful eye and never grows weary, but every single night, I need to rest my head from weariness. Sure, I could probably stay up for 48...maybe 72 hours straight, but God NEVER sleeps. What an amazing God we serve! With that, I am going to bed...

We have a new website for our little family. Here you can read the whole story about Cade's little life as beautifully told by my wife. It is a detailed description of Cade's time in the hospital.

http://web.mac.com/ianandjulie

Praise God...always.

We have good news!!! Our sweet little Cade boy is finally HOME! :)
After 8 weeks (56 days) in the NICU, our precious boy is home! Cade
did marvelous this weekend with all his feedings and for the past week
has been doing especially great! So, this afternoon, we said our
goodbyes at the hospital (which was hard!) and packed the little guy
into his carseat for the first time!! He is up to 6 lbs 12.1 ounces
and is 19 1/4" long! He passed his developmental, hearing, and eye
tests with flying colors!! He is just the sweetest thing, he just
wanted to meet us 9 1/2 weeks early!

You can continue to pray for us as we adjust to life with a baby at
home! Having the nurses and doctors always available to answer to our
every question was nice, so it will be an adjustment being home! We
will just have to continue to trust the Lord with Cade's life! It has
been a blessing because Julie has had 8 weeks to fully recover from
the surgery and rest up (even though she was still up every three
hours! Now, it will be waking up to a baby, not an alarm clock!)

We are so thankful for our little boy and even though this road has
been tough, we praise the Lord for what he has done in our lives and
the things he has taught us throughout this experience... Thank you so
much for all the love and support that you have shown to our family...
Thank you for the prayers! We greatly appreciate it!!

As for visitors, just give us a call. We are going to have to be very
conservative with people holding and touching him, so you can come and
look at him if you'd like!! :) Just call Ian and arrange a time! Thanks!

With Love,
Ian, Julie, and Cade Martin

Cade is 34 weeks! (well, 26 days old, technically! :)

Who knew the month of July would be so eventful!!! Everyday Ian and I just stand in amazement of what God is doing in our lives... Our precious son has made us so thankful for the gift of life and the blessing of children. Though he is not at home in our arms, we praise the Lord that He has given Cade the gift of life and is being cared for by an amazing group of doctors and nurses for now.

Cade is 34 weeks gestational age (Full Term babies are born around 40 weeks, so he "should" have 6 more weeks to cook inside of me!)... They attempted to bottle feed our sweetie yesterday for the first time. We knew this would be a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs and we just prayed for Cade in this area... Well, the Lord answered our prayers and Cade did amazingly well! The Occupational Therapist that works with the preemie babies was shocked at how well he did! He took in half his feeding (15 mL) in 20 minutes and burped a ton! This may seem like something so trivial, but we PRAISE THE LORD for allowing Cade to do so well and we KNOW it is a gift and blessing from Him! Today, on his second day He did just as well!!! He took in 21 mL and burped a ton!!

God is so awesome, babies don't develop the suck/swallow/breathe reflex until about 34 weeks and Cade picked it up marvelously, just around the time a baby still in the womb would start. God truly knits us in our mothers wombs and sustains us outside the womb!!

As for stats, he is 17 1/4" long and 4 lbs. 5 oz!!! It is amazing, he looks like a totally different baby from when he was born! He is absolutely adorable! He is getting chunk on his little legs and even has a little double chin!

Thank you all for praying for us and please continue to do so! We know Cade's life, and our lives are in the Lord's hands and we are so thankful for where He has put us right now. We have met many people that we can minister to that we never would have met if we did not have Cade in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)... The Lord knows best!!

-Ian, Julie & Baby Cade

Well, it has been quite the roller coaster ride for the Martin family, but the Lord has sustained us through it all! Thank you all for praying for us during this time and we would ask that you continue to pray!

For a little update, Cade is doing well! He has been in the NICU for 18 days and our little man is growing!! When he was born, He was 3 lbs. 0.7 oz, 15 1/2" long... As of Thursday night, he was 3 lbs. 10.7 oz. 17 1/4" long!! The growth might seem small, but for the little guy, it's a big deal! We praise the Lord that he is growing and know that Cade is completely in the Lord's hands! The apnea (pauses in breathing that is very common in premature babies) that he was having is greatly decreasing and his IV should be coming out tomorrow!
The doctors are increasing his feedings to 1 oz every three hours and they will start to bottle feed him next week. Please pray for Cade with the bottle feeding as they say that is one of the hardest things for the little ones to get the hang of.

As for the question everyone is asking, "When will Cade be home?!" We don't know!! Pray!!! :) But, they say in order to be released, a baby needs to be gaining weight, maintaining their own body temperature, feeding completely through bottle/nursing...
So, Cade is gaining weight, he is able to maintain his body temperature on his own, he just needs to get the bottle feeding down (which will start next week, Lord willing!)...

As for Julie, she is still recovering, but the Lord has really given her the strength to be at the hospital with Cade during the day. Thankfully, she has had very little pain from the surgery! Praise the Lord! It will be nice when she can drive herself to and from the hospital, but praise the Lord for gracious parents (chauffeurs)!!

So, thank you all for praying for us and serving us in various ways! We praise the Lord for the body of Christ!! Please continue to pray for strength for us as this is just a very emotional experience that does have its ups and downs! But, we know Cade is completely in the Lord's hands and we have to trust God's perfect will for our lives and for Cade's!

Until His Glorious Return.....
Ian, Julie & Cade

WOW! What a couple days this has been! Well, for those of you who haven't heard....we have a baby BOY!! Yesterday morning, July 2nd, 2007 at 744am, the Lord brought us Cade James Martin. The official stats on Cade are 3 pounds 0.7 ounces, 15 1/2 inches long. He is doing excellent and is breathing on this own. Julie was just able to get up today and go down and see the little guy. A little overwhelming but she did great.

Julie started having pain with the contractions again at 5am yesterday morning and by 730, I was standing outside the C-Section room in scrubs wondering what in the world was going on. What an amazing experience. God has been so good and He's allowed us to get rest and have a ton of visitors so far and also get some good sleep. We are going to be at the hospital for at least 2 more days, maybe 3. Cade on the other hand, will be here a little longer. He will be in the NICU for about 7 or 8 weeks and then we will be able to take him home. That is good for us because that will give us time to get ready at home because nothing is ready to go right now.

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement. You are all welcome to come by and see us at Glendale Adventist. Please call before you come. Praise the Lord!!!
--
Until His Glorious Return.....
Ian Paul Martin & Julie Elizabeth Martin & Cade James Martin
http://Abort73.com
We Dare You to Know!

Well, we made it to the month of July! We are still about 9 weeks out from Julie's actual due date so we still have a ways to go. The past 2 days have been a bit tougher than the first 2 days. Julie is doing really well hanging in there but the baby seems to have other plans. The contractions she was feeling have picked up again and now instead of being 1 or 2 contractions an hour, she is feeling them about 4 or 5 times an hour. The drugs they are giving her to help the muscles relax and the contractions to slow down are not working as well as they did at first.

We had a great conversation with the doctor today about different things we can expect. He said that we are going to try and keep this baby in as long as possible but we know that the Lord is in control and has a time set for that baby to be born. It was neat to talk about the Lord with the doctor since he is a believer.

We've talked with a nurse from the NICU where our baby will be if born prematurely. I got a chance to go up and see all the premature babies that they have here right now. I got to speak to the parents of a baby who was born at 25 weeks and is now 10 weeks out of the womb and doing very well. We have also had a couple ultrasounds just to check on the baby which was neat. Julie is starting to crack though and wants to find out what we are having.

Continue to pray for Julie just that she can be as comfortable as possible and just have a peace that only God can give. Pray for our little one that it comes to know the Lord at an early age and that it is healthy. Pray for me that I would be a servant to my wife. Again, all the phone calls, emails, text messages, gifts, flowers, food, Jamba Juice, and especially love are very much appreciated. Thank you SO much! You can see all the blogs at ianpaulmartin.blogspot.com.

--
Until His Glorious Return.....
Ian Paul Martin & Julie Elizabeth Martin & Baby
http://Abort73.com
We Dare You to Know!

Hello all,

Sometimes I wonder if I'm in the right room are not. Some of the rumors we hear back about what is going on with Julie are pretty funny. I just want to expose the rumor that Julie is NOT 9 cm dialated and about to give birth to triplets. Here is what is really going on:

Since the email from yesterday, things are going really well. The contractions that were at one point pretty painful and coming every 3 minutes, thanks to the drugs, have now calmed down considerably and she is having 1 or 2 contractions per hour and they are usually not very painful. The doctor is still having Julie on complete bed rest so going home doesn't look favorable. The only way we would be able to go home is if the contractions completely stop and stay stopped for a long period of time. Other than that happening, we are still hanging out at Glendale Adventist.

Visitors are still welcome really at any time but please call me before just so I can make sure its a good time. Your phone calls and text messages (as long as you have Verizon) are more than welcome to me and they are not a burden to me. They are actually a really huge encouragement. So thank you for all your phone calls and emails and text messages. We thank you for your prayers and we look forward to what the Lord has in store for us. We are just taking this one day at a time and we know the Lord has a plan so we are trusting in that. Be encouraged that the Lord is our God and we are trusting Him!

Well, this blog is going to be the email updates I am sending around about my wife who is currently 31 weeks pregnant and is in the hospital due to early contractions. I will keep this updated as the emails go out.

We figured with all the baby noise being made this week at Calvary, we
thought we would add to the fun!

Yesterday morning Julie was having some tightness in her belly which
we thought may have been contractions. She went to the doc to get
checked up and everything was fine so they told her to go home, drink
plenty of fluids and get some rest.

Last night about 1030, the contractions came back stronger and this
time, were very painful for Julie and they were as close as 2 minutes
apart. She tried to go to sleep but to no avail, so at 4 this morning,
we made our way back to the hospital and this time, the doctor decided
it would be a good idea to admit her.

The doctor said she needed to stay on bed rest and to try and get the
contractions more spread out. He also said that if the contractions
don't slow down, the baby could be born as early as today but as far
in the future as 6 weeks. After a serious of IV's, shots, and my
personal fav...steroids, they are now pretty spread apart at about one
every 20 minutes, and Julie is not in really any pain at all. Julie is
at 31 weeks tomorrow so the longer the little one stays in the womb,
the better.

We will be at Glendale Adventist until the doc says otherwise. We
would appreciate your prayers greatly. Julie is doing very well right
now and the baby is doing fantastic as well. We know that we serve a
great and gracious God who does exactly what He pleases on His own
timing. :) We are planning our ways, and the Lord is directing our
steps. Visitors are welcome, but it would probably be a good idea to
call first. You can call me on my cel phone or on Julie's
phone.

We are looking forward to adding to the group! I'll keep y'all updated
as much as I can. God bless.

In light of the recent tragedies that have happened in the United States over the past weeks with the hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, namely Katrina and Rita, it is hard not to think of the memory of 9-11. So many people have been affected and have been looking around for answers to questions like, "Why did this happen?" or "What are we going to do now?" Even further, you begin to hear questions from people you never thought to have an interest in religion such as, "Where is God now?" or "Why does God allow things like this to happen? Doesn't He care?! How can God exist and all this trajedy come upon us? Isn't He watching?" Sometimes these events actually bring people to their knees and allow them to realize their desparate need for a Savior. They begin to understand that they are completely bankrupt without him and no pleasure or financial security in the world could ever give them eternal joy. Why are their eyes opened? For the first time, everything is stripped away and it's just them and God, and they can't put their agenda in the way anymore because all is lost. So why doesn't everyone turn to the Lord in times of peril and great need? Because their hearts are desparately wicked and so hard that they do not want to release their grasp on their suppression of the truth.

I do want to answer the question of "Why does God allow things like this to happen?" The answer to that question will continue to circle around the issue of why God does anything. The easy answer is, "for His glory." But why? How in the world does God get glory from watching people suffer? That's the wrong question. God doesn't get excited by watching people suffer, it doesn't give Him some sort of boost of energy when He is about to send something that is going to wipe out people. God exercises His judgement on things because the end result will ultimately give Him the most glory, whether WE see it or not. Why is there a hell? Why is there sin in the world? Didn't God know Adam and Eve would sin? Of course He did! God knows all things. Then why? Think of it this way, if there was no sin in the world, would we be able to know everything about God? We would know nothing of God's judgement, and on top of that, we would know nothing of His great mercy and grace. If there was no sin, Jesus never had to come, and if that didn't happen, we would have no salvation. God is receiving the glory by revealing Himself fully to mankind.

In essence, God is more concerned for His glory than our comfort and He receives just as much glory by exercizing His judgement by someone burning in hell as He does by granting salvation to an unworthy sinner and having them rejoice eternally and praise God for the rest of time. Sound harsh? Remember how small you are in comparison to the eternal Godhead, and His plan for the world. That makes the picture a little more clear. If God did not bring justice to an unbeliever by having them go to hell, He would be not only compromising the purity of heaven, but He would no longer be a perfect God and we would all be dead in our sins. Praise God for being in control because if anyone else were, we'd all be in deep trouble.

I once was lost, but now am found. I once was blind, but now I see. I once was dead, but now I live. Hallelujah! Praise be to our great God and Savior Jesus Christ now and forevermore.

May we only desire to give glory to God and enjoy Him forever.

In the Master's Service,
IPM

The beginning of a beautiful friendship

First time on here and I have no idea what to say. All I can think of is quoting something either very trite or something that will leave an impression on your mind that will probe your intellect in order to get you to return. Odds are I will most likely just continue to ramble until one of 3 things happens, A) something incredibly awesome or memorable comes to mind, B) I get bored, or C) I run out of room on this page. My guess is B will happen first.

I am just constantly reminded of the great and glorious truth that this life is a vapor and a passing pleasure. Sure, I am so grateful and stoked that the Lord has chosen me to continue to live and breathe on this earth for the "blink of an eye" that we call life. But I can't help but think of the future that awaits me and everyone else all over the world, past, present, and future who believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself to come to this earth and be the perfect example of a human being. Also, that this same man died and was resurrected on the third day and by placing our faith in Him and abandoning our sin, we are able to have eternal life! This is what keeps me going and pressing on to live for Jesus, is the thought that MAYBE NOW, as I write or as you read, the Lord Almighty could come back in all His glory and call His church home. There and only there can we be without sin, sorrow, and all other plagues of this earth. Praise God that we don't have to live in these sin cursed bodies for all eternity, but that we will received a glorified body, a glorified mind in order to understand and praise God forevermore with the clearest mind and the purest heart. My soul longs for this day! Does this not cause your heart to be stoked?! It does for me. Oh what a day that will be!

I once was lost, but now am found. I once was blind, but now I see. I once was dead, but now I live. Hallelujah! Praise be to our great God and Savior Jesus Christ now and forevermore.

May we only desire to give glory to God and enjoy Him forever.

In the Master's Service,
IPM