Wonder and Amazement

“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” – Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing; 1757

Man, I am continually in life amazed at the gift of music that God has bestowed upon us. Words of worship to pure and Holy Father are timeless. We have used music for centuries. Music is a medium by which we express emotion and adoration. Ever since we have harnessed this raw power of nature that God has given us, this set of melodic tones; we have used it as a means of expression.

There are so many things about music that amaze me. For starters, just the simple nature of sound frequency, or melodic tones, and how our ears and brain process those tones, carefully working so we understand the sounds. Our ears work as a super powered microphone, transducing the sound to electric signals to our brain. But, not to show too much of my nerdiness, I digress from that.

“When we arrive at eternity’s shore, where death is just a memory and tears are no more. We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring, Your bride will come together and we’ll sing You’re beautiful!”- Beautiful; 2007

In worship we communicate to God. Like I said before, we communicate emotion, passion, and adoration through the songs of worship we sing. And again, the words we sing in worship are timeless. Worship of the Father is not constrained by our musical preference, and we too often our caught on that issue that it becomes sinful in the way our churches operate. Whether we are singing a song written in 1757, like “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, or written in 2007, like “Beautiful” by Phil Wickham, the words exceed our preferences. Both songs are two of my favorites. Not because of the style of music they are played in, but because of the truth in the words that I sing.

“When we arrive at eternity’s shore, where death is just a memory and tears are no more,” or “…here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” Two lines from different songs, written by different people, in two different millennia, are true regardless of time, style, preference, or any other worldly constriction we try to put on things. They are true then, now, and forever. Whether the songs are written by John Newton or Hillsong United, truth is just that, truth.

Music is such a brilliant gift and we sometimes overlook the miracle that it is. The physical side of it and the way we can somehow harness nature, by the grace of God, and put our emotion and feeling into a true art. My purpose in this post is not to debate musical styles of worship, but to step back, and see the beauty in the things God has given us. Music is great part of my life, and I praise God for the blessing.

A New Year, A New Decade

It’s that time again! Time to rollover the calendars and start off another year. The one different thing about this year is that it is the dawning of a new decade. A time to start some new trends that we as a society will later regret and look back on the ones that we already do… but also look back on the good times we have shared this decade.

As we stare the coming year of 2010 in the face I take a personal look back at my life this past decade. (In no particular order)

-I have made so many new bonds with people, along with strengthening some old ones. Some friends have come to be more like family.

-I graduated High School in 09 and made the decision to go to school in Tennessee, where I also now work as a Student Ministry intern.

-All of the time spent in middle school and high school, learning ad becoming who I am today.

-I went to China and stood on the Great Wall and saw the Forbidden City… AMAZING!

-I really got to see this country, and all its beauty, through the eyes of someone growing up, trying to find their place in it.

-I earned the rank of Eagle Scout with a lot hard work put forth to do it.

-I gave my life to God’s calling of me to full time ministry! I can see God molding me and I praise him for that.

-I found one of my life loves in learning to play guitar and slowly developing my skills. I found no more of a rewarding use for it than worshiping our God, and leading others to do so as well.

-I voted in my first Presidential Election

-Some of my most fond memories are all of times spent with my youth group and church family over the years.

There are so many memories I could pull out, we would be here forever. I praise God for my family, my parents and the strong bond they have formed with me. As well as my close friends, who are as close to me as family. Josh (Emily too), Floyd, Brittany, Sam, Gregory, Ross, Raquel, Logan, and Colton. I love all of you guys! Also this decade I came to know Jeff, his wife Stephanie, and daughter Karis. I consider Jeff not only as a mentor, but him and his family as dear friends as well.

Everything and everyone I have mentioned have been a major part in my life throughout this decade. Looking back I see where God has blessed me in so many ways, and I look forward to whatever he may have in store for me.

Happy New Year to you all!

Why....?

Wow..., I feel like I set this up and I've just been neglecting putting up new post, but here is a new one, long over due.

Today at lunch I had an interesting event occur at our table. We were sitting there, eating like normal, and this kid came and sat down, no food, just sat and didn't say anything. I don't even know who he is, I've mabey only seen him once before. Anyway, after a minute or two, he raised his head and asked, "Do you think God is real?," at which I replied by vigorously shaking my head yes beacause I had a mouth full of breadsticks. Then ensued a conversation that he began by saying why he didn't think there was a God, and telling us how he saw people using Christianity as a way of just covering your bases, or even how he sees people who praise God when they have a great life, yet hate him when life is bad. We explained how we know God is real because of what he has done in our lives, how we are not just hoping God is real, but that we know he is real and we've felt him. We explained that Christianity is more than religion, but a relationship with Christ. The entire time he respected what we said, as well as us respecting his thoughts. At the end of lunch he took off and didn't give us time to even get a name, but we hoped that at least a seed was planted. At the end of it all it left me remembering why I believe in Christ, and how he saved me from a dark path that was leading me to destruction. I thought of how even when bad things happen God is in control, and I praise him for that. It's amazing how someone asking questions can make you remember why your a Chritian to begin with. So I thought I'd ask, what has God done in your life to show he is there, why do you believe what you believe?