The Friday Five

1. Music: Take The World, But Give Me Jesus by Ascend The Hill. This is a great, relatively unknown album featuring contemporary arrangements of some classic hymns. The difficulty in updating classic hymns is that it's really easy to end up with a hymn that doesn't sound like itself. However, Ascend The Hill manages to create a really good album, even when they stretch the boundaries of what we would expect from hymns. I especially like that they took on some of the more doctrinally rich hymns from the 2000 years of history the church has to work with.
2. Book: Lords Of The Sith by Paul Kemp. Everybody knows I love Star Wars. However, I haven't been one to read the books over the years. However, it's a little more manageable now that Disney & Lucasfilm scrapped the old "expanded universe" in favor of creating a new canon with more continuity. Now to the real reason why this book is great & why I'd recommend it to even a fan who typically only watches the movies: Vader. The book is primarily about the relationship between Darth Vader & the Emperor. On top of that it feels like a Star Wars movie. It's action-packed while also being very character driven. I don't read a whole lot of stuff just for fun or entertainment, but this one was great. I finished it in a couple of sittings. Pro-tip: Read it while listening to the soundtrack of any of the Star Wars movies. It will bring it to life even more as you find your reading syncing up with John Williams' score.
3. Social Media: ParentCue On Instagram. ParentCue comes to you from the people at Orange, some of the leaders in family ministry content for churches. ParentCue, as you might expect, is directed at parents. Their Instagram account is one of my favorite's to follow.
4. Quote. "When I count other people's blessings, I tend to lose sight of mine." Andy Stanley
5. Bible Study Resource: Blue Letter Bible. This site is one of my go to study helps for both personal study & sermon prep. Blue Letter Bible has tons of translations, linguistic helps, & commentaries. It's user friendly, & you don't have to have a PhD to navigate it & find it useful, even the linguistic sections that focus on the Greek & Hebrew. If you're looking to go a little deeper with some of your studies, this is a resource I'd recommend to anyone.