Music...Thank God...

I must thank God for music everyday...I just can't get over how it can affect you so much...It makes me want to do things I would not do in a quiet room (mostly because of my ADD) but I will just go nuts and head bang to some hard stuff, or bob and sway to the feel good stuff...Music does something to me...It makes me want to be the person I never thought I could be and I truly believe God uses music as a median to speak to us, as well as something we can communicate to God with…I’m in a worship band and I like to play my guitar anytime, and I know those are times I feel closest to God…The times I can just feel the music flowing through my soul into worship…The times I don’t give a rip what I look like or what people think of me…I know sometimes I let music become a god in itself, and that is something I have to work on, but I really love those times of pure spiritual movement that come with music…So, as personal advice, next time you feel moved with music, don’t stall, just let it all out…You will find that it was well worth it…In the words of Kevin Young of Disciple, “Everyone, worship God in your own way…”

Let the moshing begin again…

Worship = Wonder

Once again, Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz) produces yet another thought provoking, mind-blowing view of Christianity…I love getting my mind blown :)… So, there is this chapter called Worship: The Mystical Wonder, it’s like chapter 17 I think…But anyways, it basically plays along the idea that worship is more than just getting up and singing to God with certain songs picked out by the band or singer leading worship…Rather, it’s anytime you realize that the “Wonder of God happens right above our arithmetic and formula. The more I climb outside my pat answers, the more invigorating the view (sunset, sunrise), the more my heart enters into worship.” That got me thinking about all the times I sit outside and look at the stars at night…A frequent in the summer at bonfires…There is just something about the stars that just shuts me up…I am staring at things a heck of a long way away in a universe that is way bigger than my mind can comprehend….There are things out there that never will be found and places never searched, all the while I get to look at it in wonder, and worship God for it all, thanking Him for creating my insignificant, tiny self on this tiny earth and giving me eternal life along with it…Wait for it…Yep, my mind just blew… :) Besides…the stars are just freaking cool looking, and when you throw some shooting ones in with the Northern Lights, it makes for one heck of a night…(true story)…
I think a lot of the time no one lets go of the pat answers to explain things and such…I think people, including me, try to “chart God on a grid” and have a correct answer for why he does what he does…Not enough time is spent just sitting in awe of Him and letting your mind run over all the things He did, does, and will do forever…And I won’t even go into how “forever” blows my mind…Really, we must realize that God is in control of everything, no matter how hard it is to understand that…One of the best quotes ever in the chapter… "There are things you cannot understand, and you must learn to live with this. Not only must you learn to live with this, you must learn to enjoy this."
I think this is my main struggle at the moment, just letting go of the way I want to explain things and understand them, and just let awe, wonder, and praise fill my entire being and realize God is one huge dude....

I Want A Faith Like That...

Lately I have been all over the place spiritually...I really have let Satan get a hold of me and let me slip on the small things and then progress to bigger things…Let me tell you, it sucks…And when I get down sometimes, I throw in some music to try and feel better, which by the way, is something that only temporarily fixes a problem, (not a recommendation for use as a problem fixer)…Anyways, I threw in Jonah 33 and went to really one of the only songs I know by them, “Faith Like That”…As I listened to the words, it hit me that I really have not been in the right mind…I haven’t been longing for the right things…The song talks about wanting to be like the first Christians, the first followers of Jesus, the ones who completely gave all they had, gave their lives for something they realized was and is bigger than themselves…I long to have that mindset…I want to be sold out for Christ and have his love and power permeate through my pores…I don’t want to be able to hide from the one thing in me that is so powerful and huge that anyone who sees will believe…I know in a way I am sitting here whining about my own little spiritual battle, and I’m wallowing in my sin and feeling sorry for myself…I know there are starving children in Africa who need the love of Christ (high five Jerm) and who need someone to love on them and make them feel like they are someone…So, it seems like I am in my own little shell just rolling around and not getting anywhere…Non of this is good, of course, because it is a lie from Satan that I should dwell on my sins and beat myself up for them…All I have to do is give all to God and so completely trust his every move and judgment that I no longer question life and its meaning…I no longer fall back into petty sin…I only move forward…Basically, I want to have the faith of old…the faith that does not question…the faith that only reflects God and who He really is…

I Have heard about the days of old
About the men who followed You
And how they saw the Supernatural
And became the chosen few

So I come before You now
Tearing off my earthly crowns
For this one thing I have Found

I want Faith Like That
To see the dead rise
Or to see You pass by
Oh I, I want Faith Like That
Whatever the cost
I'll suffer the loss,
Oh I want Faith Like That

:Jonah 33- "Faith Like That"