hands+tears

I Will Rise

2009-05-28T21:01:00.001-04:00

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
[x2]

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

A lot of kids would shut off all their listening ears to me if I mentioned the name Chris Tomlin in a positive light.
A lot of kids would do far less then appreciate his musical style, his voice, his chord progressions, his time signature, be what it may. A lot of times we get caught up in a first impression. One friend I had said that he didn't like Chris Tomlin because of his rendition of the familiar hymn Amazing Grace. That was his sole problem. But the excuse that permeated people's complaints the most was simply that it was "CCM" (christian contemporary music) and CCM stinks so therefore Chris Tomlin must follow suit.
I would like to challenge you to abandon all remnants you have picked up over the course of your life of the "problems" kids seem to have now with Christian Contemporary Music. There is a difference between shutting off bad music, and judging a book by it's cover. So next time you turn on WgTS or K-LOVE or whatever the Christian Music Station it is in your area, listen to the lyrics of every song. digest it and really think about what it means to you. And sometimes it means branching out of radio stations (actually a lot of the time it means branching out) to artists like Leeland and Mat Kearney. This is a challenge I give to you, to not judge a book by it's cover, but to take to heart the music about your precious Savior.

Keepin' It Real

2009-05-17T22:02:00.002-04:00

Well here I am. I've proclaimed that I was a "Christian" for my entire life. Yet recently I have started to see the church as something superficial, something fake. All the worship we do, the pastor's sermons just don't seem to be what God wants, at least to me. Now, I'm not saying that worship and getting into the word isn't important. It's just that regular attendance at the Sunday morning services seem to be the only thing that makes one a "Christian". Yet, read through the book of James. Hey, even read through the gospels. You'll soon see that the things that impact people the greatest and brings more people into the Kingdom is getting out and SERVING. Sunday mornings are great preparation for serving, but it's just that, preparation. What good are we doing our Lord if we just sit passively everyday of the week? None. Now I believe that what God is telling you to do is extremely individual and I'm not saying you absolutely need to go out into the world and do things. He could be calling you to serve the people in the church, I don't know. The church seems to be leading me to doubt it's ability to do His will.

I guess it all started when I started noticing one of my friends who is very on fire for God seemed to be further insulating himself in the church and the Word. I know he absolutely loves God with all his heart but it is a bit unnerving to see him change so radically into something I've questioned. Maybe I don't listen to God enough, don't pray enough, don't study the Bible enough. Anyway, then I joined him and a few other friends in doing a little interpretive dance to Set Me Free by Casting Crowns. The entire thing sort of transformed everybody into a dysfunctional group. It changed people for the worse. My friend was so stressed out about reaching people and pointing them towards God even though we were doing it for a largely "Christian" audience. It scared me so bad. I could honestly feel a demonic presence surrounding the whole thing.

From that point onward, my beliefs were shaken down to their foundations. I've started questioning the true nature of worship, of service, of discipleship, of fellowship. I've started to look at myself and started to compare it to what the Bible tells us. I've started to see that if I continue to walk a regular "Christian" life I won't ever find the true nature of what God wants for my life. The traditions and theology have honestly blinded me because thats what I've been told by everyone. I need to listen to God and God alone in order to do that. I've thirsted so badly for something so tangible, so real that I can talk to someone and tell them that is what I love so much. That that is what fuels my passion. That that is what consumes my every thought and is the only thing deserving of my love. I'm sick of the "Christian" label because it blinds people to the true nature of God, non-believers and believers alike. Right now, I'm trying my hardest to let God show me his love in ways I have never imagined. I'm telling him to show me his love, his existence, his reality. I sit and wait and listen to his voice, although I often times ignore to listen to the world instead.

Again, church is good and it is of God but it can hinder us as well as help us. And church helps us a great deal and we should be proud to be Christians. Although I think a better way to describe ourselves is "Christ Followers". Plain and simple that's what God wants. He wants us to follow Him whole-heartedly. So, next time you read the Bible, go to church, worship, just try to pour your heart out and let it be filled with the divine goodness, divine love, divine wisdom, divine knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let your mind wander

2009-01-21T09:13:00.003-05:00

There are some times where I thank God that no one can read my thoughts.
There are sometimes where I think...man...I wish I could read their thoughts.
And there are sometimes where I think, I wish other people could read their thoughts.

Kind of a roundabout way of explaining what I'm trying to say.
This past Sunday, I just looked around our (fairly) large auditorium at everbody worshiping their amazing God, and all of a sudden, all I could say to myself was, 'I wish I knew what they were thinking.' Because they probably had reason to lift their hands, to jump so high and to sing so loud. Sometimes they are just doing it for show, I know, but most of the folks there that day were lifting their hands in pure worship to their Father. In that moment I was struggling to accept that my worship was good enough. Everyone else around me seemed so much more...into it.

A lot of times when I'm praying...reading the bible...singing...just thinking...etc...I keep wondering if I'm doing it right. I've heard all the pastors pray time and time again, and my prayers are not as 'glorious' as theirs. Magnificent words just roll off their tongue, and in comparison, my prayers are more like a little kids English project. It only takes me 30 minutes to read the bible/meditate/etc. in the morning. But Dad does it for 2 hours. I raise my hands when I sing, but that Mrs. Smith, she dances in the aisles.
Does that mean my worship isn't good enough?

The truth is, there are three answers to this:
People worship God differently.
Just because they look more expressive doesn't mean they are worshipping God anymore sincerely. I've seen people stand there like stone statues and yet I know that in their heart they are truely meditating and soaking up the words of the songs. But the truth is, there is importance in being expressive, and we shouldn't feel constrained by what other people will think about us if we shout louder, or bow lower, or dance harder. However, just because we don't do that doesn't mean we are somehow 'worse worshippers'.
When we do this, we shouldn't feel discouraged if someone is worshiping 'better' then you, because, the truth is, they aren't. The truth is, God cares about the sincerity of our worship.

However, this is no excuse to sit there with your arms crossed, to have 5 minute prayers (or better yet, 30 second prayers) and to only read 1 verse a day or whatever it is). God loves hearing from his children, we show our love to him by being expressive, and we cannot grow in our relationship with God without reading his Word. But we don't need to be discouraged. We need to worship with our whole hearts.

I would reccomend reading these, because it shows how important expressiveness is in worship:
Growing in Physical Expressiveness
Expressing Love to God in Worship
When God Comes to Church

Cope

2009-01-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

I notice in life a person always tends to do one of three things when they face a problem.
1. The person blames others, their self, or God and continues to bring up the problem for awhile.

2. The person tries to be optimistic and bottles up inside until they blow up.

3. The person faces the problem head on and realizes their mistakes.

The third one I mentioned is close on how we should deal with problems that occur. We need to first realize we are a wretch without God and so we need to ask God for help with are struggles by asking Him in prayer. We need to read the Bible so we can learn from are struggles and help us grow closer to God so we don't keep making the same mistakes. We need to realize that being a Christian we are united with Christ and should realize are worth in Him is priceless. It is also good to have fellowship with other Christians and to go to them at times with your struggles. For thoughs of us who are teens or younger we should always talk to are parents even though it can be difficult it is well worth it it.

So thoughs are my thoughts on cope-ing.

The house is on fire!

2009-01-02T14:07:00.002-05:00

Sorry I have not been on for a while, I've had some distractions lately. On December 16th 2008 my house burnt to the ground. It was 2 a.m. and providentially both my parents and all 10 children (of which I am the oldest) escaped unscathed. Nothing else did. We lost everything and coincidentally, our insurance premiums were defaulted a month before due to financial difficulty. Yet through it all we saw and still see God's hand all over the situation. We watched from the neighbors house as all that my father, my brothers and I had built go up in smoke. My mother had had my 9th sibling only a few days before and the ninth was her due date.

The people in our community and surrounding area immediately rose up to help us and we were quickly outfitted with clothes and other immediate necessary needs and help overwhelmed us. An account was set up at the local bank and it currently has $15,000 of $20 and $30 donations from caring people all over the state and country. This is a testimony to community and family and most of all... God.

Worship Made Our Own.

2009-01-01T13:35:00.002-05:00

Hey guys, Kassandra here =]

Happy New Year! I’ve been out of the loop for awhile. I got extremely sick, and that put me out of any social anything for weeks, which also meant no church. To be quite honest, I got to the point where I stopped going to church altogether for at least a month (maybe a month and a half).

I started feeling empty even when returned to church. The worship felt forced with me and everyone else in the room. I kept thinking a thought that’s been with me all my years of worship in a structured setting: Is worship meant to be in a structured setting, anyway?
Now, I know what you may be thinking, “There is NOTHING wrong with worshiping with fellow believers! That’s how it’s supposed to be! That’s how it’s going to be in heaven!”

Putting aside the deeper theological ideas that perhaps heaven isn’t anything like we expect it to be based off the Bible (for the Bible seems to most definitely be using metaphors to describe heaven, as it is something that we as humans cannot fully comprehend), you’ve got to realize that heaven is a perfect setting. We are able to worship as one in heaven because we won’t have the shackles that being human put upon us. We won’t be sinful, but rather “perfect” (and I use that word hesitantly) beings that will not have the usual distractions that we have on earth during worship.

How many times have you looked over while “worshiping” to see that no one is very into it? Do you become distraught?
If you were alone in your room, worshiping God Almighty, would you have anyone to look over at? Would you have anyone to cause you distress and, subsequently, distraction?

Now think again: How many times DO you just sit alone in your room and worship God Almighty? I think it would be safe to say that none of us do as often as we should, that’s certain.

While I’m not saying that worship in a church setting is bad, I think it is better to be a thing done alone, between us and God. I think a balance between the two is necessary to become as close to Christ our Lord as we can on this Earth.

With the New Year comes resolutions. I'm not a fan of them, because they end up being a list of rules that remind me of the Pharisees and empty promises/things to follow. Instead of giving yourself rules to go by, make your resolution something real. Try to spend adequate alone time with God not only praying, but worshiping, thanking, loving, praising…today.

The Grip

2008-12-16T20:17:00.001-05:00

Today I’m writing to you to pull at your heart strings a little. To help you get a grip. Everyone struggles with something in life and I would like to paint a picture in your mind by telling you a story and at the end you decide if it’s true.

So their is this person who has alot of problems. They live by this motto: Go with the flow. This person drinks, does drugs, is no longer abstinence till married, cuts, is bulimic , anorexic …etc. Everything that the world tells this person to be is what they are. They listen to secular music watch junk on tv and does what it says.

So my question is to you do think this is a true story?

Well it is in a way. See this is the effect of the world on people. It is sin. Are sinful nature makes sin look good but being a Christian changes that. Still we fall because we are not perfect.

To get at your heart strings this is real and these effects of sin are even effecting churches around the world.

So what do we do? Well we should continue to serve God in everything we do and should do are best to grow closer to God. Another thing we should do is learn to invest in people and not in material things.

People last and material things don’t!

I have met a guy who always tells me how great it be if I spent more time making money by investing in stocks and working longer. I realize though that money doesn’t last but people do and even if I only effect one person’s life I can say it is priceless for it last forever.

So I hope after you have finished reading this that you continue to grow closer to God.

Taking a Shortcut

2008-12-15T14:15:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, a friend of mine, a middle aged man who our family has known for over 20 years was found dead outside. His own pistol was lying a few feet away from him.
It was a suicide.
His memorial service was a week later, and I had a chance to talk to another old friend there who has MS. Through his weakness, he began ministering to me. He explained how many times he himself had put a gun to his head...but eventually put it down. He had decided against suicide because of the devastating consequences he would leave the people around him in. What a confusing message he would send. God his strength, the LORD is his victory. There is victory...then...no victory anymore? Along with the fact that the only reason someone will commit suicide is because they are listening to Satan's lies. That is it plain and simple.
One of the things that really stuck out to me was his analogy of running on a racetrack. Your legs are killing you. Sometimes hurdles pop up in front of you, sometimes you have to scramble over logs or hills, sometimes you have to climb ropes, sometimes you have to swing across the monkey bars, and sometimes you slip and fall. And sometimes we think it's just too hard. We want it all to stop, right now. It just so happens that there's a shortcut, it's always available. God said you need to finish the race, but it's to hard...just too hard, and you want to take that shortcut.
It's easier, it takes away the pain, but it's not right. We're not supposed to take it. God has given us the life we have, and we have to finish the race.
I have full faith that our family's dear friend is in heaven now, but devastation has hit the people at home in many different ways.

We shouldn't take the shortcut. God is always there to fly to. Satan tries to lie and penetrate our faith, but no; his words are not true. In these times,we need to lift our eyes to God, not to the shortcuts or the easy way out, but to him in these dark times.

Saturday Stuff (November 29th, 2008)

2008-11-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

Stuff to think about:

Give this Thanks

2008-11-29T21:22:00.001-05:00

I've seen it everywhere.

"Give thanks for all the blessings you have"
"make a list of all the things you're grateful for this year"
"Your blessed so much. Think of all those kids in India who don't even have water"

Hm.
If you're like me, most of that blows right past me. I've never made one of those lists. I think about Africa sometimes, but I don't really think to much. For me, Thanksgiving is a passing holiday. Here today, gone tomorrow, half the time, I really don't even consider my "blessings."
But sometimes...you have to think about things.

To bad most kids I know think they can go through life not thinking about much, or at least through their highschool years. The truth is, that's not how to live. You cannot live your life without thinking. It becomes just a waste of time. If we seek to do things with our lives, we must think.
One of the things we need to think about, especially in this particular season is how much we have. You've probably heard that a million times, but how many times have you thought through the implications of it. How many times have you thought through the crying out to God these men and women in third world countries are doing every second of their lives as they live in such horrendous conditions. And there are people there who don't know Christ, imagine living your life in such conditions with no God to fly to.
I go to the gym *almost* everyday. Most of them have no such option.
I have what they call "meat" on me. Those kids down there are sticks because of hunger.
I have clothes...yeah the list goes on and on.
And it's not like this has no effect unless I compare myself to other people. The fact is, flat out, we are God's people right? We are his? He is our God. We belong to him. We have ties with him that are amazing, different from any other relationship, and he wants to hear his children's gratitude and praise. We owe it to him too.
So,
Think
and
Think again.

That is reason to praise.

Beaten,broken,and put back together.

2008-11-22T20:22:00.001-05:00

Just like a board after a few hits it breaks just like I fall apart after being hit a few times. I use to think that after the pain subsided I would be numb and I would no longer feel the pain but the truth is the pain it doesn’t go away. So you may be broken and beaten having fallen apart. So what’s next? Well its time to seek God and that’s something that will happen over and over again. You got to die to live and live to die to fight sin. So you die to sin and are alive in Christ but you can also look at it as living in sin and dieing so you can live to serve God. So you might be thinking of why I am writing this to you. Well I’m writing to whom it may concern and apparently that includes you since you are reading this. Being put back together is a painful process. It is like welding two pieces of metal together. A flame melts the metal and as the medal dries it becomes solid and the two pieces become one again. I use metal because its stronger then wood. Your heart may be broken but when a friend helps you its like your heart is medal and is no longer easily broken. Then when you have God your heart becomes like a diamond nothing can break a diamond but a diamond. So your life is good for a while and then all the sudden something terrible happens. Now that diamond heart is shattered like glass. It takes time for your heart to heal but it does. Like the song Broken Wing from a Thousand Foot Krutch says “you’re a broken wing, not a broken thing, you can heal in time, if you try.” All it takes is one prayer. No matter what you’ve done, are doing or are going to do God will forgive you all you have to do is ask. He will forgive you. Look at the word forgiveness. If you look at the middle of the word you will see that give is ion the middle of For-give-ness. Forgiveness from God is God giving you His love and acceptance. As God’s adopted son or daughter you can come to God because of what Christ did for you. He’s your father so as the Bible says “ Let the little ones come to Me.” That in itself is amazing being able to come no matter what.

From Your Brother in Christ who are Believer’s in the One True God.

Daniel

P.S. If you every need someone to talk to I’m here for you.

Saturday Stuff (on Monday...November 15th)

2008-11-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

I seem to have a problem with getting Saturday Stuff...posted on Saturday, but nevertheless, here it is.
I don't know this person, but she writes wonderful songs.

Complacency

2008-11-13T23:52:00.000-05:00

I find myself at a loss. I'm a contributor to this blog, which is about worship, yet I find myself complacent every Sunday when the time comes to worship. My heart just isn't in the right place and I find myself mouthing the words. My mind is running a hundred miles an hour about worldly troubles and I lose myself in them. I'm not sincerely giving thanks like I should.

Now, how would I overcome this? I really don't know. Like I've already stated, I'm at a huge loss. How can I be so focused on the most menial of troubles and not be focused on how great God is? This puzzles me. I can't understand. I don't think anyone can. When we even get a glimpse of how huge God is (and we by no means can come close to understanding even a fraction of a percent of that) our worldly troubles don't make any sense.

Maybe I just stumbled upon the secret to bucking my complacency. I'll have to pray about it just like everything else. One thing I do know for certain, although I often forget this, is that God is always there by your side. I pray that you would remember that fact if you're hitting a rut in your worship. God is good, God is great, God transcends any superlatives that we can conceive. God is indescribable.

May the Glory of God be with you now and forever, Amen.

Causes

2008-11-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

Today I wrote love on my arms to raise awarness for the cause To Write Love on Her arms which is about sucide, depression, and other stuff like that. Tomorrow I'm doing The World Vision Thirty hour Famine to raise awareness for the hungry. Causes like these are a great idea and so I would like to challenge you to support a cause if you havn't already done one or helped support one this year.

Heh...

2008-11-05T11:25:00.000-05:00

I felt really…awkward I suppose, putting up that last post, just because it was talking about how between each Sundays we have had 7 days for God to lavish his grace upon us. However, it just so happens that yesterday, Tuesday, November 4th, Democrats dominated the senate, congress, and even the White House. For some of us, that might be a good thing, but for some of us, it isn’t.

I probably don’t have to tell you my personal beliefs, and I think there are many in the same boat. One friend commented on the results:

“Millions will die, America will fall, socialism will rise....

...But we're all winners! :D”

I have to agree with his first part there…yes it will probably happen, but another friend gave a more mature answer:

"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." - Psalm 55:22

As the election results roll in tonight, I suggest we remember this verse. Let's put our trust in God, not in our fellow citizens or our elected leaders. No matter what the results are tonight, if this is our attitude, we cannot fail.

"One and God make a majority." - Frederick Douglass”

I really appreciated what he had to say because it made me think a lot about how it doesn’t even really matter, to some extent. A president, here for 4 years, does not eliminate God’s presence, or God’s will being carried out.

And just because we have elected a man half of us wish wasn’t elected, that doesn’t mean we become bitter and rot inside because of it.
Some verses I found really, well, comforting at this time were these:

Romans 13:1 "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

1 Peter 2:13-14 "Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good."

Psalm 121:1-2 "I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So, no matter who’s sitting in the Oval Office, God’s sitting way higher, on His throne in Heaven. And, just to let you know, the Throne inn Heaven is much more powerful, rules so much more, and is capabale of things Barack Obama couldn’t even dream of doing.
Keep your eyes on Heaven. Remember that God is still here, Barack was put here by God, and soon, it won’t matter who was president in 2008.

So remember this when we worship. God is still here, his gift of life didn’t suddenly vanish, His son’s work on the cross wasn’t magically erased. Obama can’t do that with his tiny packet of power that God gave him. This is a reason to give glory to our God.

We, who were called to be your people...

2008-11-05T10:38:00.001-05:00

Revelation 4:6-11

“In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." 9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

So, obviously, these four creatures and elders had a reason to worship God…they felt something tugging at them. I mean, God wasn’t threatening them in any way “say I’m holy or I’ll blow you up” or anything like that. They did it all by themselves. As soon as they saw God, bam…they knew they were in the presence of their LORD.

It’s funny though…I don’t know why but the situation is just slightly different at my church, at my youth-group, at our little home-group session...in the car with Chris Tomlin CD playing. It seems so strange…I don’t know what’s going on.

As hands+tears, we are talking about how worship is not just happening on Sunday, but your worship service shouldn’t be then, completely ignored. So, I’m gonna talk a little bit about the musical aspect of worship.

Some might say, well, it’s different. I mean, seriously, those creatures were like, in the presence of God, y’know, I mean, it wasn’t hard to worship because they had the Creator Himself, like, right there man. You don’t get that at our youthgroup meeting. I mean, dude, our band needs help and we sing the dumbest songs ever. And Christian Music man, well, that stuff is like Secular Music rejects. They need help. It’d be different if I was like, actually in heaven, y’know. Right man?

Well…no…actually…not right. Trying to condense this into one post will be interesting.

So…what is worship anyway? If it isn’t just what happens every Sunday where we sing happy songs about the cross, then, well what is it? Personally, I like Bob Kauflin’s definition. (whoah, all of our three readers are dropping their jaws, Jo likes Mr. Kauflin’s definition of worship, dude, I think she like…worships Mr. Kauflin himself…” Well no, I’m not as bad as that :P)

It goes like this: Christian worship is the response of God’s redeemed people to His self-revelation that exalts God’s glory in Christ in our minds, affections, and wills, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then all our three readers are going…whoah whoah, wait, I didn’t know all of that was going on when I was sitting there in church. It just seemed like a buncha peeps singing to me. And in truth, it might not be happening in your church in some of the people’s hearts, but this is what worship should look like. So let’s break this down a little.

Christian worship is the response of God’s redeemed people.

Ok, already we’ve hit something. It’s the response of God’s redeemed people. That’s a big concept right there. What comes into play right here is our knowledge about propitiation which is and awesome thing. As Christians, we should all be familiar to this to some extent. Now the first thing we need to do is build that knowledge, because the more we know about it, the more amazed we will be. But we are singing for a reason. We aren’t just blathering away, alright, Sunday seems like a good day to sing, we’re Christians so it seems a good idea to sing about God, hm maybe throw in some biblical stuff in the lyrics, sounds good to me.

No, not at all. We sing because we can’t help it. Every week we’ve had 7 days for God to lavish his grace on us. Just this past week, God comforted me when I was feeling depressed about our family’s financial state, and that made me want to sing a little bit louder. I was feeling worn down with a lot of different personal matters, but I read in Psalms about how God is triumphant always in the end; I raised my hands. We sung the song “God Over All” published by Sovereign Grace Ministries. I wanted to jump up and down by the chorus. Why? Because I had something to sing about. Because I had an amazing god to sing to.

But why aren’t kids doing this now? I’m not putting myself out as any example, because there have been way to many times where I have not felt like worshiping. I am just to depressed, these songs are just to boring, I’d rather think about my new iPod I just got, or the painting we have to do in our house. How come this is happening? One of the main reasons is:

it’s just not cool.

I mean, seriously, like how many people are watching me right now? They might think I’m a freak.

Well, the thing is, when we realize how amazing God is, when we know how wretched and small we are, when we realize that an awesome God wanted to save some puny people from sins they utterly and completely deserved punishment for, other people’s opinion’s just seem to slip away. I want to worship God, because He is so good to me.

It may not be cool to fall down on your face

But it isn’t worship to mumble.

That’s why we need to SING OUT to our God, not cross our arms and just kind of mouth the words here and there. The elders in Revelation didn’t care what other people thought, they knew they owed their lives to this awesome God. They faces fell to the ground.

Saturday Stuff (on Sunday...November 2nd, 2008)

2008-11-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

Love this guy:

The Benefits of Secular Music

2008-10-31T12:02:00.000-04:00

Ever since I was ten, I’ve found songwriting to be a great place to vent my emotions, whether that’s joy, anger, depression, praise, or anything really. I jot down it all. At first, my entire goal was to write songs that explicitly mentioned God. In fact, one of the main reasons I started writing was because I had gotten into a debate with my friends (who were a lot older and more mature then me, a very bad idea…) about Christian music. I was determined to write Christian songs that had just as much quality as the popular secular ones.

It’s certainly safe to say that, well, this task wasn’t exactly easy for my ten year old self. I hadn’t listened to much music in my life past what they played on K-love, and, even then I barely even paid attention. I had written maybe three short poems in my life. But still, I though I could be up there with the big guys.

Now, years later, I think I write…moderately mediocre songs. I try to use more then 4 or 5 chords in a song, sometimes it happens; other times it doesn’t. But, the biggest thing that has changed in these years is that I found a little nugget of truth that’s changed my outlook on songwriting, and lyrics in general. In the younger years, I thought that any band or artist, or any song, including those I wrote, if they didn’t mention God extremely plainly, like GOD IS MINE//I AM HIS//HE IS MY ROCK//HE DIED FOR THIS//SINNER!!!! I’VE COME TO THIS PLACE//LOOKING FOR GRACE//LORD, SHOW ME YOUR FACE//ALL MY DAYS….

Er, well, you get the idea. If a song didn’t have those kinda words, it was inherently evil. That was my firm believe deep down in my heart for so long. Friends tried to set me straight. “Why don’t you fill your mind with ‘I love my baby so much sexy baby’ 24/7???? You listen to all that Chris Tomlin junk? You’re so dumb!” Well, yes…and no…

One song I enjoy a lot is the Jonas Brother’s “A Little Bit Longer.” Now, I don’t really listen to these boys often, but I do have one or two rotating around in my playlist. It could easily be argued that the song mentions heaven in the last verse, and that would make sense because they are Christians. However, that’s not really the point. The point is this: “A Little Bit Longer” was written for people who have on going troubles that only time will take away. One of the specific groups was diabetics. That concept, that song, has got me through a lot. Even though the song didn’t just come right out and say it (because 100 years from now, I’ll be with My Jesus a lot longer then 100 years, and no diabetes will creep up on me then) (and no I don’t have diabetes) it got me thinking. Yes there is a whole other discussion about Christian artists writing vague songs to appeal to secular listeners, again, that’s not the point. I was lifted to God, without the Jonas Brother’s saying ‘be lifted to God.’ Simple as that.

The lyrics of a song can glorify God easily, easily without trying. Think about it. Even if they aren’t Christians like Kevin, Nick and Joe are, the words can still be used for the glory of God. Another example I like to use is the song “Stop and Stare” by Onerepublic. I couldn’t understand what this song meant for the life of me, that is, until I read the book “Do Hard Things.” Yeah, kinda random, I know but listen. If you haven’t read Do Hard Things, I highly encourage it. In this book, Brett and Alex Harris talk about teens held down in very prime years by expectations. It challenges kids to break out of this mold we’ve been shoved into by the rest of the world.
Now, look at the lyrics to Stop and Stare:

This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands, just take the wheel...
And every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal... for the life I lead
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're 'here' not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can u see what I see
They're tryin to come back, all my senses push
Un-tie the weight bags, I never thought I could...
Steady feet, don't fail me now
Gonna run till you can't walk
But something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down...
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need
What you need, what you need
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see...

Well, I saw a little similarity, didn’t you?
The thing is, the moajority of my music playlist is Christian music. My absolute favorite artist is Chris Tomlin, a close second would be Leeland. I don’t like listening to most of the songs by the Jonas brothers, because most of them are saying the same thing.
“I’m speechless
Over the edge, I’m just restless
I never thought that I’d catch this
Lovebug again…”

It’s not like I don’t have enough hormones, and stuff like that just makes them dance more furiously. Filling my head with it…over….and over……and….over…again…just makes me want it more in real life. It’s not just the songs and the quality I want, it’s the love I want in real people around me. And, well, I don’t want that.
But that doesn’t mean a secular artist should be dismissed as trash.
Think about it like Joseph did:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

 Genesis 50:20

Even if the song doesn’t say “Jesus died for me”, is the song like “A Little bit Longer”, one that will help you to look to God anyway?

A Bias Against...Music Packed with Truth?

2008-10-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

(Slight intro: Because it's a fifth week, we are doing a few more posts then usual. The theme is contemporary music, which we'll be looking at through a lot of different lenses over the course of the next 4 days. Now the post: )

If a middle aged man walked up to you one day, out of the blue, declaring that your hair was just to simple. Those short brown curls were doing nothing for him. Where is the variety? Where is the style? Where’s the creativity? You probably didn’t even touch your hair from when you woke up to this afternoon besides washing it. You didn’t style it, you didn’t brush it, you didn’t use a blow drier, you didn’t even add gel. What kind of person in their right mind would even enjoy that bland…plain…stale…boring hair? He stomps off in a huff, barely even giving you a chance to say a word. Although…as he walks off, you can’t help notice his hair…or rather not notice it, because there is none. This guy is bald.

Well, that is a slightly odd story, but it’s happened to many times to me, and many other Christian teens of today. Almost every single kid I know over the age of fifteen claims that Christian music is bland, plain and stale, and, well…just more and more and more and more of the same. The instrumentals aspect of it all involves no creativity, no Christian Contemporary song uses more then 4 chords (either it’s the C-F-C-G pattern or the C-Amin-F-G, or a combination of the four chords in some other order) and the vocalists are nothing special. Christian music stinks.

Yes, that’s all I’ve heard from kids I know, and yes, they are Christians. Yet they choose to stuff their faces with the love-songs of today. Constantly. Over and Over. What’s wrong with this picture?

You know that old saying, jumping from the frying pan to the fire? Well, that’s what kids are doing when they deny Christian music and say secular music is so much way more like betterer and only dolts and old fogeys listen to Christian Music. Honestly, I can enjoy Christian music…and I’m certainly what you would call a ‘musical person.’ Some of my favorite bands to listen to are Leeland, Mat Kearney, Jason Gray, the New Frontiers, Lecrae, Chris Tomlin, Switchfoot, Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, and many others. Now, there’s a lot of different styles embedded in all the bands/artists I just mentioned, however, according to the kids I know, every single one of those bands is extremely low quality. Why? I really don’t even know. All of them (you might be able to pick a bone with me about Chris Tomlin, but honestly, I need that kind of music, often. What is so bad about praise to God lifted up to the same level as the other music you listen to?) use more then four chords in every song. I love their voices, more then a lot of secular artists (and a lot of Christian artists too, I’m not saying all of CCM is angelic, of course) and their music is very creative, to say the least. I’m really underplaying these people’s quality.

Now, let’s take a look at some non-Christian music. Just for kicks, I turned a secular station on that that plays a lot of hit songs of many different genres but mostly rock, Pop and a little Hip Hop (that rhymed :D ) The first song that came on? Broken – Lifehouse. I like this guys voice, though on the gravely side. Musicality? About as creative as your average Philips Craig and Dean song. Melody? Well, there are all of….3 chords in that song. Guess what. Chris Tomlin’s recent hit, “God Almighty” has 5. Oh, and the words are a lot better in the latter, let me tell you. A few hip hop songs played, and if anyone would like to contest Christian Rap’s quality, I have about a kajillion artists I would like you to take a listen to.

I really am not sure why so many Christian kids today are so eager to grab the closest O.A.R. album over the closest Jars of Clay CD, Caedmon’s Call or Clear. Truly, the quality difference is not even existent. Every Christian artist you call junky or bland, there is an equally junky/bland secular artist to pair up with it. Why are we so biased against the music singing God’s Word?

The effects of music!

2008-10-27T20:02:00.000-04:00

The Bible states clearly that "What you reap is what you sow.". With secular music you fill your mind with some very dangerous things such as the following: Women are objects, cursing is good or cool, drugs and illegal drugs are good for you both physically and mentally. Also alcohol is a good thing especially when you get drunk or get crunk. The word crunk by the way means to get high and drunk. If we fill are minds with these things we will eventually do those things or similar things that are mentioned in secular music.

Now not all secular music is wrong because they do not speak of such things that are sinful.

My question for you is why support a artist who in other songs speaks and does things that are sinful? Now you may say that everyone one sins so I guess listening to christian artist and people is sinful. The truth is it isn't sinful. The reason why it isn't sinful to listen to christian music even though they sin too is because they are striving to serve God. Are primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Christian artist are sinners to but they are in their music glorifying God and are enjoying it.

A secular artist is wrapped up in their pride and so is living in sin and does not care about God or maybe doesn't think that God exist.

A christian artist is trying to help those who listen to their music and give advice. They also show that God is their for His people.

So you should listen to Christian artist and listen to christian people as long as it isn't going against God's Word.

You can also listen to secular music as long as it is not against God's Word But keep in mind "What you reap is what you sow."

Your Brother in Christ for all who are believers in the One True God.

Written by Daniel N.

Guys Rappin for the Lamb (Saturday Stuff, October 25th

2008-10-25T18:38:00.000-04:00

After you get over that pathetically cheesy title, here's some videos of some guys freestyling for God:

Aunt Sue

2008-10-24T20:03:00.000-04:00

I, a new poster and contributor to this site, live in eastern Washington in an awesome community of strong believers and co-laborers in Christ. Recently we, as a church (a.k.a. community, everyone in the community is in the church), went through a very trying experience that tested our faith to its limit. This post is about the situation, the pain, the turmoil god brought us through and how we, by the grace of god, chose to praise him through it. Bear with me if this seems long but please read it all, this is very inspiring.

It all began nearly three years ago when Mrs. Sue Chambers a dearly beloved sister in the Lord and English teacher we had learned to respect for years collapsed in the church basement. I remember running to tell somebody and quickly masses of helpful people were gathered around her. Mrs. Johnson, another great woman of God, cradled Mrs. Chambers head until help could arrive. Her brave husband, Dave Chambers then came to take her to the hospital where they would find out what had happened. Thankfully, Sue came to consciousness quickly and they were able to make it to the hospital with no incident.

The now alert Sue and Dave were directed down to Santa Rosa for a final diagnosis and it was shocking. Sue Chambers, our beloved sister had unerringly terminal brain cancer and was given 6 months to live. Our community was no less effected by it and quickly got on the wall in prayer, fasting… you name it, we did it.

During this time the normally strong and silent Dave Chambers underwent a massive transformation. He was still strong, no, stronger but the Dave that went down to Santa Rosa came back a different man. He was outgoing, outspoken and not afraid to share his faith and beyond that, unwilling not to share. Mrs. Chambers was the same way and together the dynamic duo decided to call on God to help them brave this experience. “God is good”, they would say. Questions came to my mind. How can they say God is good when he lets this happen? Over time those seemingly insurmountable questions were answered above and beyond. The way they pressed through and took hold of Gods word. As Mrs. Chambers got worse and worse, losing some of her hair to chemo therapy. The way she sung in worship when her speech could hardly function and the way Dave, her husband, held her hand all the way, trusting in God with the pain just as evident on his face as hers.

This couple effected our community in a way I am be proud to say I was a part of, whatever the emotional hurt. Revival dominated our church, you know something is different when you jump up and start dancing around the room during worship (yes this actually happened but I was one of over 50 doing it!). A man I had hardly known, despite him being my neighbor, started 24 hour prayer for a week and from then on at 6:30 every morning and 8:00 every night specifically over Sue but now this prayer time continues and God shows up morning and night. He and his family have transformed along with the rest of the community and he is now the principle prayer warrior for our church. The list goes on and you can contact me if you want to hear more (which I highly recommend. It is a very inspirational story!).

No, this story does not have the typical “happy ending” that she was healed or brought hundreds to Christ. Sue Imrie Chambers died on August 31st 2008 after a two and a half year battle with cancer. That in itself incredible that she lived two years longer than the doctors predicted, but the real miracle happened in the hearts of this community. This tiny gathering of people out in the mountains will never be the same as is the case with me. I believe that her work and main message she wanted to communicate to us was this. She summed it up in her final words here on earth. Holding her husbands hand and barely gaining the strength to speak she whispered, “Be king to one another.” I think of this everyday and it inspires me with the passion to strive to have just a fraction of the faith it took to say those parting words. To not focus on myself in my time of dire need, but others. Sue’s immortal life is a humbling and moving story, or in my case, experience for us all. Let us honor that and persevere to become a living memorial for all those who have prepared the way and gone before us.

In Christ Alone,

Solo deo gloria,

-Josiah-

(You can contact Josiah to learn more or comment at blackmail.Josiah@gmail.com).

The hardest things of all!

2008-10-22T12:40:00.000-04:00

The hardest things of all is accepting change, understanding your worth, and understanding who God is.Its anything but easy to do as what one says that he or she will do. Most people blame God when something goes wrong or they blame some one else. What they don't realize is its all apart of God's plan for you, me, and everyone else. Its a good plan for those who love God but for thoughs who don't love God it means punishment or it can mean thoughs who don't love God will learn to love God later on. When 9/11 happened alot of people panicked and alot of people prayed. After 9/11 things slowly started to change to people no longer praying and panicking when really people should still be praying even though the problem has been taken care of. Why God allowed 9/11 is because it was apart of His will. I myself say that it is also because He used 9/11 to change peoples lives. God is loving but He is also serves justice. To understand God you must seek Him in prayer and by reading the Bible. Also going to church is helpful and is of great importance to help you understand God. Understanding your worth you must realize that you are made by God and no one is like you. If anyone has questions I am here to help you understand your worth, who God is and how to accept change. I am also here to help you with whatever I can but before you come to me come to God in prayer and remmeber to seek Him first.

Saturday Stuff (October 18th 2008)

2008-10-18T22:28:00.001-04:00

I love Bob Kauflin...nuff said...
(I'd reccomend looking up DGconferences on youtube and just looking at all of the videos that you can)

God's Role in Worship?

2008-10-15T21:49:00.001-04:00

God’s Role in Worship

Sometimes God works in ways that are not as apparent as you would like them to be.

I’m the pianist/keyboardist in the worship band at my school. So far, the year has been rough. Sound difficulties, lack of practice time, and not-so-great organizational skills has made for a disappointing year of chapel worship.

I’ve realized, though, that we have had an attitude which was completely wrong.
For the first few weeks, we relied solely on our talent to get us through. We never prayed before or after practice, and we didn’t call on the Lord for blessing during worship. In fact, it was quite ironic that a worship band had their faces almost completely turned from God.

Sound problems arose. The monitors kept giving terrible feedback. The levels in the house could never quite be worked out. The electric guitar was too loud, the vocals were too soft, the piano couldn’t be heard, and the bass made an awful buzzing sound that was a constant, resonant reminder of our need for the Lord’s guidance—because really, we were doing everything right, and there was no reason for things to be going haywire.

We felt that we had refocused our minds and attitudes. With God on our side, we were going to be the most amazing sounding band the school had seen yet. Right?

Wrong. Very wrong.

Because many of the members of the band had sports and obligations, practice was neglected. We failed to get songs together before the day of chapel. We also did not have the sound settings worked out, for every time we got them just right, an elementary or middle school teacher would go back to the soundboard and mess with them in order to benefit the services for the grades below high school. Although we began and ended every practice with prayer, our hearts were still not in the right place. We figured that because we looked to God for guidance, we must sound amazing. Yet week after week, many people would come to us and tell us that chapel worship did not sound good at all. We were perplexed, really. We’ve had God by our sides through this entire process, we thought. Why are things STILL not working the way that they should be?

It took a most difficult chapel today to change our minds and attitudes.

Last week, the Bible teacher approached the band and asked us to play for the entire duration of the chapel service. He asked us to make sure that we had a PowerPoint slide with all of the songs ready, and we told him that we would be able to get enough practices in to do it the following week.

The past week, we practiced once. We were supposed to practice Friday and Saturday, but no one was so dedicated that they would miss their sports and other activities for practice. Also, no one bothered to work up a PowerPoint. When the time to play rolled around, none of us had a clue what we were doing.

It took humiliation served to us by our peers on a silver platter, along with a stern scolding from the Bible teacher, to get our attitudes finally in the right place.

Although Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who give me strength,” the scripture did not mean that we should use God as a crutch and neglect the responsibilities he entrusted with us.

God gave talent to every member of the band. He expected us to be good stewards of our talents, as is demonstrated in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. Instead of using what God had given us, we asked Him to do all of the work for us, essentially.

Whatever God has given you, whatever he has blessed you with, praise him to the end of your days and never ask him to do for you what he gave you the ability to do for yourself.

When a worship leader keeps his eyes focused on God and prays for guidance rather than assistance, they are able to lead others into worship with the fullest potential.

I cannot wait to see the day that God uses our band to spark a revival within the student body. Although it is a cliché prayer, praying for God to move your peers in big ways is a great and powerful thing.

Throughout the week, keep your mind and heart focused on God. Also, be sure to look at every talent and ability He has blessed you with, and examine your life. Are you using your talents to their fullest potential? No? Well…

Get Motivated.

God Bless!
Hands+Tears

Saturday Stuff (October 11)

2008-10-13T14:49:00.000-04:00

I don’t think I have to say much…this video embodies everything this blog is about.
It’s powerful.

(this may seem a odd title, understanding that it's not Saturday, but I'll probably be posting stuff on Saturday's too, that aren't really 'posts,' just fun stuff)

A vacation of some type...

2008-10-05T18:33:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, for the following Wednesday there won't be a blog post because we the authors are figuring some things out, like what the posts are going to be about, so, sit tight and check back often!
Tell your friends too. :)

Jo

Random Ramble

2008-09-25T21:07:00.000-04:00

This isn't just a place where we =tell you stuff.
We'd really appriciate your comments/emails (hands.plus.tears@gmail.com)/reviews on your own blogs?/whatever.
So if you have questions/comments/concerns, please let us know.
Even if you have a topic you want us to post about, or a question you want us to answer, we might start a Question and Answer day every week besides the Wednesday posts. If you have anything to say, go ahead and contact us or comment. We'd love to hear from you!
So that's my random ramble....speak up!
:)
May God bless you all,
Jo

Living the Life

2008-09-24T22:32:00.001-04:00

Everyone's probably heard of the verse 1 Corinthians 10:31
"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

This verse was sort of a 'motto' or a key verse for my basketball team about two years ago. In general, I thought it was a pretty hardcore creed showin what us Christian peeps was all about.
But, I really had no clue what was buried under the simple meaning I understood. Honestly, I didn't really know what the scripture meant. Seriously...how do you eat a chicken wing to God's glory? How do you show other people you have Christ by gulping a grape soda?
I didn't know, but I interpreted it in my immature mind that it basically meant do you all you can to show others that Christ is your Lord.
There were a couple of things I, well frankly, got wrong.

The first thing I'm going to show you is that giving Glory to God doesn't have to be in front of other people.
Every time I thought about that verse, the first thing that came to mind was Atheists, maybe a hamburger, and Mormons. Because after all, they were the ones that needed to see how much God deserved, and how much he changed me. But y’know, there’s also that one verse that says:

Matthew 7:5
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

If you’ve ever read the ‘Gospel Primer’ by Milton Vincent, you know what it is to preach the gospel to yourself. The importance of preaching the gospel to yourself, and continually, at that, is so great, that it is an essential part of the Christian faith.

C.J. Mahaney taught a sermon at our church a couple weeks back about talking to yourself, specifically in troubling times. He showed that our soul is having a constant conversation with us. But our soul doesn’t often talk about the gospel. It tells us how poor we are and how uncomfortable something might be to do, it tells us what we want to hear. But no, this is not what we need to listen to. Mr. C.J. talked about how we need to bounce back and tell our soul the gospel, not how hard it is on us.

Paul Tripp says on this topic:

“No one is more influential in your life then you are, because no one talks to you more then you do”

If we ourselves are the most influential in our lives, should we be constantly feeding ourselves the truth about God? We need to challenge, rebuke and command our souls to trust in Him.

The second thing is essentially, the more we preach the gospel to ourselves, the more it shines out to other people.

Have you ever thought about how the more inviting and enjoyable you are, the more people will want to be around you? And have you ever thought that the more different you are (in a Christian way), the more people will notice you are not like them?

I always wondered why no one asked me if I was a Christian or not. It happened in the Christian movies, and in Adventures in Odyssey tapes, but it never happened to me. What was going on? Did people just not actually do that in real life? Was I just never around non-Christians?

The answers to both of those questions is no. It wasn’t something wrong with them, it was something wrong with me. Even to my Christian friends, I wasn’t as enjoyable because I didn’t live like one. I always wanted to talk about TV shows. I didn’t really care about God, what they had taught in Sunday School, or about the seniors who the youthgroup visited at the nursing home. I didn’t care about the gospel.

It’s funny, how this whole thing is circular, you know?

I won’t be able to worship, I won’t be able to evangelize, I won’t be able to live my life to the glory of God, in anyway. It’s not just about worship, you cannot do anything for God unless you live it for him everyday

Reccomended Reading: “The Spirit of Depression” – Martyn Lloyd Jones

Every Wednesday

2008-09-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

Just so our three blog readers know ( :P )

We are trying to get a post out every week, and aiming for Wednesday.

So that's when you can expect a new post. That is, a long post that actually is might be important for you to read, not like a post I am making now that is going on and on for no reason.

Of course, we'll post if we are going on vacation, or doing extra posts for special occasions, whatever's going on, we'll let yall know.

Thanks a trillion! ( oh gracious that was sappy)

:D You're reading and spreading the word about this blog is greatly appriciated.

Chloe

Who I am

2008-09-15T22:30:00.001-04:00

My name is Daniel.
I am 17 until March 4th. I go to a Presbyterian church. My goal is to become a pastor. I like to glorify God by helping others though their struggles.

I am a Jesus Freak, a servant for God, a follower of The Way, a Christian, a rebelutionaire, a warrior for God, a brother in Christ and one of God's adopted sons.

My purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

Help?!!!

2008-09-15T22:22:00.000-04:00

Need some help comment on this post and I will try to answer any questions you have.

Please be patient as it may take awhile to answer your question due to how many questions are being posted throughtout the week.

P.S. Make sure your question/questions are without foul language. Also all questions will be answered in a Biblical perspective. Thank you

Hero

2008-09-15T22:12:00.000-04:00

Before I talk about the topic Hero I want to say thanks to God for giving me the privelge to serve Him by writing for Hands+Tears, Jo who created this blog and inviteding me to be a writter for it, and you for reading the post/posts on this blog.

Topic: Hero

What do you think when you hear the word hero? Do think Superman or Batman? What makes a person a hero? Is it super powers, cool gadgets, or is it the costume? Well to explain what I think makes a person a hero let me tell you a little bit of my life.

Before I was born the doctor told my mom that she should have an abortion; in other words kill me. The doctors said I would be born abnormal and have all types of problems, but my mom told the doctor no and I was born completely normal. My mom is a hero because she basically saved my life.

Later on in life, around the time I was about five or six years old, I asked Christ to come into my life and He did. God is actually more then a hero because He created me and He saved me from my sins. As I got older I started being a better Christian and started serving others. But as time went on I started feeling depressed because I felt like I was a slave; it seemed as if I was always stuck doing everything for everyone else. Then one-day between the ages ten and thirteen I tried to kill myself. I took a knife out and was going to plunge it into my heart but my dad walked into the kitchen and told me suicide was not the answer. We talked for a while and after the talk I realized my dad was right -my life is not my own. I am bought with a price and that price is the cost of Christ dying on the cross. I am made in God’s image and I am also one of his adopted sons. My dad is a hero because he saved my life and helped me through my depression.

After a little while I met people who cut themselves, do drugs and tons other things that are just so horrible to hear about and I realized I wanted to help these people; I wanted to be a hero. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was already a hero having fought with depression and having defeated it day after day. So I helped these people and some changed and others didn’t but I know that God is taking care of them. One day a friend of mine asked me for a clean slate. How many of you want a clean slate? I do and guess what! I got it and so can you! Just ask God to forgive you and He will. Ask Him for strength and He will give it to you so that you can forgive yourself. My challenge for you is to stop doing what you’re doing that is wrong; stop cutting yourself, stop doing drugs, and stop doing whatever else I forgot to mention. Ask for forgiveness and then forgive yourself. I know it’s hard. I have struggled with it many times but it’s the greatest thing to be free from sin and to really know that in your heart that you are forgiven. If you’re still struggling write down your sins on a piece of paper and burn it.

If you ever need some one to talk to you can always talk to me. I’m here to help you not to hurt you but remember God has always been there for you and He is there for you now and always will be there for you so turn to Him first because He never fails. While others sadly can fail you God won't ever fail you for He is God almighty the One True God. Last thing I have to say is I believe each of you are a hero in one way or another and if you don’t think that you are then go out there be a hero and help your friends or other people you know who are hurting inside.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

The Life...(Wait now it makes sense)

2008-08-16T16:51:00.000-04:00

Two years ago, I went to my first sleepover. It wasn't like sleepover's are bad or anything, it just seemed like whenever someone had one, they were a million miles away in the boonies. But finally I got to go to a sleepover to celebrate the end of the year for the basketball team. It was just me and about 6 or 7 other girls. Nothing special. A few of the team members couldn't be there, but we had fun that night.

You know what, I don't think I even cared about anything other myself that entire time. I want to go next, I want to get the best flavor of soda, I want to...you get the idea. I've kind of had that attitude for the past three years. Yeah, I guess God's there, but whenever I don't need him, I'll just leave him behind. The only time I thought about God was when my dad talked about it, or the pastor preached his sermon. But I left my Lord on the steps of the church building and waved him goodbye until next week. I didn't really care about caring about Godly things. I just shrugged that sort of stuff off, like worship and the preaching, and praying, and devotions, I was indifferent to. Whatever.

Haha, oh was I lost. I was in such deep quicksand. I had "accepted Jesus" right? That's all you have to do right? Then just do what you feel like, as long as you don't kill anybody.

Until just a few months ago, I wasn't a Christian. I didn't really care about Christianity. In all honesty, I knew that if anyone ever came up to me and told me I would die if I believed in God, I would probably just give it up. What made me realize the lies I was telling myself was what I saw in my friends, how they lived differently then me. How they actually cared about what they said. How people didn't have to tell them to be Godly, they just were. No one had to say "ok everyone, talk about the Cross right now" They just did.

Many people have grown up in a Christian home, they get the Christian words, the lingo, they do stuff just cause that's what mom and dad say, whatever, they might "accept" Jesus, but they never actually learn how to live for Christ. Living for Christ goes way past Sunday. A little bit after actually realizing how lost I really was, I was able to attend the worshipGod08 conference. It lasted four days, and already, on the second day, I felt something very foreign, but wonderful inside me. I wanted to praise God. I wanted to go into the middle of the street and just scream it. Jesus is Lord! I did! I didn't care about myself, I didn't care what anyone thought, I just wanted to praise Him! And at that moment I thought, so this is what worship is really like. It's not a stuffy room with lame music, it's lifting your hearts up.

But you don't just lift your hearts up on Sunday and them give them away all the rest of the week. Every single day, our focus is God.

If you're not a Christian, it is certainly hard to explain. You might've heard that phrase before, but it means nothing until you actually experience that longing to worship our Lord no matter when it is, where we are, what's happening around us.

God's my Buddy

2008-08-13T17:46:00.001-04:00

Cathedrals weren’t the same as the little churches we see tucked away on the side of the street. Obviously, the cathedral builders had much more money to spend, but these gigantic buildings with pointing ceilings that soared so in the sky, were made to make everyone who stepped into the mighty doors feel puny. The very purpose of these massive structures was, essentially, to shrink the size of humans.The monks, or the pope or the church owners/pastors, they weren’t trying to make all the people coming to feel low below them or anything, all they had in mind was glorifying God. When you entered these immense buildings, it magnified your smallness, your tinyness. Of course, as a lot of things happen to function, it works two ways. You get smaller, and when you look up and see God…he’s bigger and more amazing then you ever have seen him before. It’s not as the Creator needs help from buildings to be awe-inspiring, we just dumb him down. However harsh that sounds, our minds continue to degrade God. He is holy and mighty above anything we could possibly ever amount to. It almost feels like the cathedrals were made for someone bigger then us. Like a bug going into a person’s house. It almost seems too big. But is the house of God ever on our level? Now these majestic buildings were (and still are) accompanied by equally majestic music. The organs, the beautiful horns, the soaring melodies, the strong voices of the choir, these were old hymns. It was a big song for a big God.It would actually be really good to listen to a few of them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNcYbrTgscc ß note the big building they’re inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuvWSbJBJKY&feature=related ß same hereWhen you listen to these songs, when you feel the bigness, the immenseness that fills those buildings, you can only think….wow. Wow…wow…. After listening to the two songs above…God seems amazing…right?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfZhXz69xYQ

Oh goodness, the only thought that crosses my mind is ‘God is our Buddy.’ This is what CCM is trying to tell you. God is your buddy. He loves yaThis is another example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_DbnBCVGPcWell…After that….Does God seem big?Does God seem mighty?Does He seem like the kind of person who can make mountains stand on their head and fling lightning across the sky? God is not given his due glory. God shouldn’t ever ever have to be reduced to going to the movies with us, or being our ‘best friend.’ (in the most casual sense)Intentional or not, these songs can only bring these thoughts into our head. Maybe it came from the idea of Abba (daddy) Father. Maybe, but the truth is, God is holy.I love this passage in Isaiah 6 :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. 2 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. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"If, when you heard about Isaiah, or continue to hear and read about him, do any of us view Isaiah the prophet as sinful, Satanist or worldy? Not really, yet even he feels the burden of his sin, his blackness, his punyness in the presence of such a mighty and powerful being. This is one of the issues that can come up when worshiping God. The words might sound nice, but not when it brings God down to nothing (our level). That’s a possibility, but not unavoidable. Anyone who says all Christian worship songs are like “I am a Friend of God’ has never heard Delirious?, virtually any of Hillsong’s songs, etc. etc. If you feed your brain constantly with this, the mindset and the thinking get's forced in too. It becomes easy and natural to think of God as casual. Even if we don't know it. I'm not saying that we should only listen to hymns. Strap ourselves to a pair of headphones and blast organ into our ears for ever. Certainly not. In fact, God is immanent and transcendent. He isn't just transcendent, what I'm saying is that there is a potential hazard in only dwelling on God-punyizing worship. You might want to ask yourself the following questions about a song you are doubting:

Does this song promote a ‘warm and fuzzy feeling’ about God?
Does this song refer to God as a friend/buddy/in a very casual way?
Is this song by Philips, Craig and Dean?

(by the way, that last one was a joke…sort of)
I would encourage you to look at a couple of songs (as examples of God-bigifying songs):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy9CGymYvuAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSZdflfRTNAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G7AKpKayac
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BbW4xwkQOLQ (not necessarily a worship song, but you get the idea)

He Spins Me, oh He Spins Me

2008-08-08T07:23:00.000-04:00

I just found out about this video yesterday. In all honesty I was expecting the (ungodly) usual of kicking old ladies in the face, a guy with colon cancer in the stomach, more beating, and more supernatural "HEALING"
Then I actually watched it, and, well you can see for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL2q-8G_I5M

So, apparently, Jesus spins you around like a record. And that's pretty much the peak of theology and truth given to these people going to Todd Bentley's "Revivals"
Well, I am not going to say much about Todd Bentley's actual healing...ministry, although it's not a ministry, if you're thinking like bringing people to the true Christ ministry, but rather I'm really talking about what he's doing in this 'worship' scene.
So these people are jumping up and down in this meeting waving their socks all over the place because this "Angel of Light" (2 Corinthians 11: 14) is telling them to. The first question I want to ask is, why? Why are these people getting all excited about Jesus spinning them? Because Jesus died, he was murdered, so they could be alive where they are now? Because they don't have to fear going into the throne room of God with the blood of all the people they murdered on their hands? Is that what the singing of his grace, how amazed they are?

Well, you probably know where I'm going. I don't think any of that was in anyone's heart. Sure enough they were distracted, they weren't worshiping. Maybe something like 'why the heck am I waving my dirty sock around my head' or 'this is an awesome song and they added Jesus. Yay this is an awesome song' etc. etc.
It's not exactly the goal of true believers in Christ to get people worked up about the 80's and dirty socks.
Bob Kauflin put it well in his book 'Worship Matters' (pg. 122)

"We don't want to motivate people to worship God through manipulation [or to get them engaged but not worship god at all] I can try to manipulate them through music style...insincere emotion...mysticism (let's close our eyes and act like something really significant is happening though no one's sure what it is) and performance (that electric guitar solo before the modulation on verse 4 is guaranteed to get people worshiping)"

You see, it's not just about how cool something sounds that makes it good worship. But you know what, I doubt that's what even Todd Bentley was trying to do.
All that song was, all those 'Revivals" are are merely ploys to get people to buy into it. The happy 'cool' sound to the pointless song is mainly aimed at teenagers, or otherwise 'hip' people. If you're cool, you dance. If you're cool, you sing Jesus spins me. If you're cool, you twirl your socks. That's all there is to it. Oh and guess what, you get the added bonus of looking like your praising God. These people don't understand who God is. Even Satan can appear as an angel of light. Because if someone goes into one of Todd Bentley's services and comes out decided they want to follow Christ, as soon as they get into the real world they will either continue using false doctrine and never really believe, or they will realize how false and fake this teaching is and lose interest.

All of Todd Bentley's "revivals" are for his own glory. He even claims to be able to control God.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeLabIBf9Aw

But I'm not here simply to tell you the problems that are packed into Todd Bentley's ministry. The point right now is about the worship.
That's why the rate is so high for college students and young adults and singles to fall away from the faith they had in childhood. Why? because they never are getting the gospel in the first place. They are getting all the motions. They go to a church, the sing songs, they here about voodoo monsters being cast out, and they say cool, so this is what I am. But they never...ever...really have true faith. This is the importance of true worship, true teaching, and having a guard for, frankly, heritics like Mr. Bentley.

If you want to learn more about the falasies in Todd Bently's ministry, I'd suggest listening to "The Lawman" witnessing at one of his revivals.
Part 1: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t_EqqP8YzVU
Part 2: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tw80YxifRJ4&feature=related
Another Video worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmzl6VmyU4&feature=related

NewSongCafe

2008-08-04T12:29:00.000-04:00

This is just a post telling you about a great resource for worship leaders, muscians, or anyone who wants to learn to play Christian Songs. It's called NewSongCafe, and they get the artists to come in, play and teach their songs.
You can find their videos here: www.worshiptogether.com
Their youtube channel is: http://www.youtube.com/user/NewSongCafe

The Main Idea.

2008-08-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

I have many many post ideas that will be coming up, but this is sort of where all those ideas branch from. Just a note. Anyway:

Don’t you love it when you hear a really good talk, a really good sermon, in a really powerful worship service, and you try to explain it.
“It was so amazing. I’ve never felt so excited about worship before. He just spoke so well…it was…just…really good.”

Well yeah, that’s kind of how I’m feeling right now. You just had to be there. We just finished the WorshipGod08 conference, and it was amazing. Bob Kauflin is anointed by God, it’s really spectacular how he just draws you in right away and engages you. As a worship leader, it’s just breath-taking, singing those songs with him and the little church band. Unfortunately, I can’t say all what’s been said in the sessions here. However, you can find a lot of stuff on this site: www.worshipgodconference.com
But the most important thing of all worship is simply this: meaning what you’re singing, saying and living. I’m mainly talking about singing right now. And there are two different aspects of it that I just want to touch on. And it’s just touching. If you want something in depth, go to Bob Kauflin’s blog, because he’s way smarter about worship then I will ever be. This is merely an encouragement to you. (what, is that a death sentence? A blogger telling people to read someone else’s blog?)
:P
But anyway, the first thing is simply this: what you think while you are worshiping.
Frankly, you will not die if you do not sing the words written. Often times, I just want to listen, and hear the truths sung to me. It is much easier for me to weigh the words like that. But a lot of people just love singing. I love singing, I’m sure there are other people out there that love singing, but I don’t know how many times I sing because I like music. That’s right, music. Not God, not that these songs are my war cry, my victory song, my chant, my anthem, but that music sounds good to me. And, by the way, this song has a cool melody in the chorus.
I just like this song.

It’s sad, but it’s awfully true. We should be singing these songs because we have mercies to sing of. We have problems to lay at Jesus’ feet. We have things we don’t understand, but all we know is that God reigns, God saves, and we will rejoice in that. Yet, we still think worship time is the time to be thinking about lunch, or our friends, or our kids, or why our expecting mom’s would crave pickles and chocolate sauce.
The only reason that worship band is up there, and those lyrics are flashing across the screen, and those mixing and tech guys are doing what they do, is to help you worship God. They want to assist you, get you thinking. That is, about the Truth, not the latest style of converse shoes.

It’s funny how our minds work. See, since I told you ‘think about what your singing and the truths,’ you will be doing one of a couple of things. You may just think about the bible in general. ‘oh that was a nice story. Oh yeah, Jesus died on the cross.’ You might be imaging the scene. Like from the song ‘Amazing Grace’ and the chorus Chris Tomlin added. ‘My chains are gone, I’ve been set free…’ Then you picture some slave being released, maybe even the movie Amazing Grace popping into your head. Both of the previous options are not good. Why? Because they don’t make you grow. Martin Luther didn’t sit down one day and decide what the right way is to worship, and then we caught on. No, it’s a. What gives God glory and b. what makes you grow in a relationship with God. (that is the most watered down definition of worship you will ever find)
The entire point of this is: you can sing, you can shout, you can cry, you can jump, but why are you doing it? Well, because that’s just what you do first thing in a church service. It’s just what you do. No thought put into it, it just happens. So worship, so praise to the God who took us out of black and put us into light, it just happens? You don’t even think about what you’re doing, you just do it?

If this is what is happening my friends, then there is a serious problem. Why? Because we have a clear reason to sing. Every Sunday, you’ve had seven days of mercies, or new mercies to happen, for God to give you. Those mercies should make you sing. Them alone.
So, where does this put us? If you are truly a Christian, and know that God saw that speck and decided to save it from the flames, and you follow God will all that’s in you, then it only puts us in one position. When we go into that auditorium, that classroom, that living room, whatever it may be, on Sunday Morning, we go because we want to sing. We WANT TO SING! We want to let it all out! We don’t care about who made the soccer team, or who has a dirty shirt on, because does it really matter? No, not in the slightests. What matters is that God Reigns. He saved you. And you want to sing to him, you will sing to him with every breath that is in you.

Inro to 08

2008-07-30T23:23:00.000-04:00

I’m in the middle of the WorshipGOD08 conference, so this will be brief.

But I just want to say, a. this is amazing. B. Bob Kauflin is touched by God, c. Everyone should attend this conference in two years and d. The intro/main session we had tonight was really powerful. Craig Cabaniss gave a really interesting message about a lot of different things, but he spoke from Psalm 33. The main thing that stuck out to me was that God actually chose us. He described waking up on Sunday morning and driving to church, seeing a man mowing his lawn, or a family in the park and asking “Why aren’t I that man, or that family? Why am I not spending this morning fooling around the park? Why did you choose me to be in love with you?”

That alone should be reason enough to sing.

I wish I could just say all that he had said, but it wouldn’t be the same and it would take all night.

Those of you who went to the conference, you know what I mean.

And those of you who didn’t, well, you should when it comes up again.

Song of the day -- Enter this Temple by Leeland

2008-07-27T14:52:00.000-04:00

Enter this Temple is such a wonderful song.
Simple as that.

I think Leeland is taking a step farther then a lot of popular music today is taking. We are so blessed to have them making songs like this that glorify God.

"Enter this temple

Come touch your people
We need to be where you are"

The presence of God is an interesting thing, and I certainly think this song captures what it's about.

And if you're wondering, that was a *hinthint* for next post.

Here is a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlwK4yEcB94

hands+tears

2008-07-26T20:52:00.000-04:00

Hands+tears.
Yeah that makes a whole lot of sense.
That sounds like someone cupping their hands together and someone cried into that little bowl they made out of their hands.
Well you could look at it that way, but we're not here to tell you about someone catching tears. It's a little bit more then that.

A couple of months ago, if I went to church, I expected to have a *pleasant* time, write some notes from the sermon, and stand up during worship. Well, I usually had a pleasant time. Sure, I'd rather be somewhere else but I got to see my friends afterwards so it's all good. I always wrote notes. I never didn't write notes. Of course, I never touched my notes past 1:00 on Sunday afternoon. I always had comments about worship. Either the electric guitar was to loud, the songs were all the same, the worship leader was boring, the singers couldn't sing, the singers were off, and the pianist couldn't play the piano.
And I didn't really care about what the songs were saying. I'd heard them a million times, I knew them, I didn't even think about them when they rolled off my tounge, I was really listening to the instruments for a slip-up. I was going to find fault with anyone who came up to give a word of prophecy. And you know what, no one cared. Not many people knew, but those who did, didn't really give a hoot.
I was a kid. My parents were closing their eyes and singing. I might've closed my eyes once or twice, but I sure wasn't thinking about the godly truths I was singing. I wasn't even a teenager. I didn't know, right? And I didn't care.

What was going on with me wasn't just an uninterest. It wasn't the worship teams fault. It wasn't the soundboard-runner-guy's fault. I didn't want to please God. I didn't want to worship. I didn't care.

I really didn't care.
That was several months ago. Since then, God has revealed himself to me in more ways then I ever thought could happen.

The real point of hands+tears is just this: talking to kids about worship.

There are more posts coming soon. Please check back, and spread the word.

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