Who is this Jamin guy anyway?
I am the husband of one and the father of nine. I was created to sing, to worship, to encourage, and to be steady. I am the Owner & Executive Director of Trinity Arts Center, a multi-disciplinary Arts Center in Eastern Tennessee, and the President of Trinity Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization focused on funding arts education and performance. I've been involved with four music projects in my life -- Hot Pink Turtle, Spin Radio, Stand Like Stone, and of course, Jamin Rathbun.

In 2013, I added my Twitter feed to this site (below). To view the old content, just scroll down past the Twitter timeline. To keep in the loop on new posts, thoughts, and updates, just follow me on Twitter using the button below. Thanks!

Tweets by @jaminrathbun

box_bible bible

Just kicking around the idea of freedom and service today. Why is it that God's truth often seems to combine, or give new perspective to, terms that we tend to use in an entirely different manner? This whole idea of free servants, I think, is a good example.

(Note: See my post on February 13th for another example -- quiet ambition.)

Freedom, I think for all of us, has value. We like the idea of having it... To make our own choices, to do our own thing, to escape the things that confine us. Slavery (or service), on the other hand, probably isn't the feature of Christianity that drew us in but -- the reality is that God calls us to both... Freedom and service. An additional reality is that service, once we get the hang of it, just may be the most rewarding aspect of the Christian life. Who knew? = )

Anyway... First, the part we know we like:

Colossians 2:13-14
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us... He took it away, nailing it to the cross.

A little footnote here... It's ridiculous how long it takes us (I'm talking about myself here) to begin to find the freedom that Christ offers. How silly of us (again, me) to think that this great gift is somehow dependent on something we've done or can do. He forgave us. He took the Law (and our sins), and nailed them to the cross.

1 Peter 3:18
For Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God...

Ephesians 1:4-6
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will -- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.

Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Can I get an Amen? = )
By the way... We can't talk about freedom without mentioning this:

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

There's another related passage... It's a long one but -- I'll just post the key part. You can check out the rest on your own.

Romans 3:19-24
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law -- rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Now the passage that turns the corner. Paul included it at the end of Galatians 5... I figured I'd include it too. = )

Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature -- rather, serve one another in love.

I know I've cited some of these in other posts but here are a handful more that refer to the good works we are called to and describe what "maturity" looks like...

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2 Peter 1:5-7
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

Philippians 3:12
I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to win.

1 Peter 4:7-10
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27
I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

There's so many more that come to mind but this post is way too long already and -- that last one is a great place to stop for today. It's another example of God trying to teach us to think different, to see things in a new light, to see the Truth of God's Word and apply it faithfully to our lives, trusting that He will do what He says He will do, even if we don't quite understand how it all works together. = )

Father teach us and help us to hear what you'd have us hear. Amen.

box_music music

Desperation Band
I was introduced to these guys through Vertical Music a while back when I realized that Jared Anderson (one of the members) wrote one of my favorite recent songs, Beauty Of The Lord. Anyway, that revelation piqued my interest as to what else Jared had to offer. Turns out, that's quite a bit -- The Whole Earth, for example. = )

Anyway... Desperation Band is a collaboration by David Perkins, Jared Anderson, Jon Egan, and Glenn Packiam (all worship leaders and/or associate pastors at New Life Church in Colorado Springs). From what I gather, the four came together to lead worship for the Desperation Conference and have produced 2 live recordings from those events. There's a lot of good stuff here. Definitely worth a listen.






© 2006-2010 Jamin Rathbun & Superdink.com. All rights reserved.
Have something to say?



spacer


Recommended Music:

David Crowder Band
A Collision
Illuminate
Can You Hear Us

Chris Tomlin
See The Morning
Arriving
Live From Austin
The Noise We Make
Not To Us

Matt Redman
The Heart of Worship
Facedown
Where Angels Fear...

Charlie Hall
Flying Into Daybreak

Bethany Dillon
Imagination

Starfield
Beauty In The Broken

Brenton Brown
Everlasting God

Ross Parsley
I Am Free

Matt Maher
The End & The Beginning
Welcome To Life
Overflow

Jars Of Clay
Redemption Songs

top_spacer
legend_top
mm_leftmm_spacermm_2005mm_spacermm_01mm_spacermm_02mm_spacermm_03mm_spacermm_04mm_spacermm_05mm_spacermm_06mm_spacermm_07mm_spacermm_08mm_spacermm_09mm_spacermm_10mm_spacermm_11mm_spacermm_12mm_spacermm_2007
dm_leftdm_spacerdm_01_bdm_spacerdm_02_mbdm_spacerdm_03_mbdm_spacerdm_04dm_spacerdm_05dm_spacerdm_06_bdm_spacerdm_07_bsdm_spacerdm_08_bdm_spacerdm_09_bsdm_spacerdm_10_bdm_spacerdm_11dm_spacerdm_12dm_spacerdm_13_bdm_spacerdm_14_mbsdm_spacerdm_15_bsdm_spacerdm_16_bsdm_spacerdm_17_mbdm_spacerdm_18dm_spacerdm_19dm_spacerdm_20_bdm_spacerdm_21_bdm_spacerdm_22_bsdm_spacerdm_23_bdm_spacerdm_24_bsdm_spacerdm_25dm_spacerdm_26dm_spacerdm_27_mbsdm_spacerdm_28_mbdm_spacerdm_29_bdm_spacerdm_30_bdm_spacerdm_31_bs
content_leftcontent_spacer
content_spacer