Light & Sound

Words inspire the actions that change the world. The discussions we have are often the litmus test for how are actions will impact our surroundings, and they are important. Words are an action themselves, an action unlike any other because they reveal more about ourselves than almost anything else. Music, sermons, talk radio, and television are driven by sound while painting, computer graphics, and the covers of the albums we love are driven by light. Light & Sound. God said, "Let there be light." Thinking about how we express ourselves - most passionately through art and music - I realized that is a reflection of God in us. He spoke (sound) & there was (light). Art and music find their roots in God's beauty. We take what he made and can cultivate our own sounds and pictures, what a gift!

Consecution: The EP

The hard work starts soon of using my time off from school this summer to do something that has been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember; record an album. As I look through all the songs I have put together over the last 10 years or so I have chosen six that I will work through one by one with the help of friends. Really excited to start the process and hopefully create something worth listening to. The idea behind this is to not just put out a few songs that I've composed recently, but a series of songs that express who I was, who I am, and who I am becoming. Each song will be in the order it was formed. The earliest as in 2003 and the most recent just this month. The name of the EP will be Consecution, a word that simply means sequence. Consecution truly conveys the idea of the songs presenting the progression of my life. The names of the songs have been altered to fit the mold of the entirety of the work. If you are interested in getting involved and helping me do better than I could on my own, don't hesitate to ask.

Working Titles are as follows: Consecution
1.) Saline Snapple
2.) Seal the Deal
3.) Tug of Peace
4.) Disappear
5.) Flighter Jet
6.) Dear Redemption,

If you save your lose change you might even be able to save up 7 or 8 dollars to buy one later this year :)

When God "Re-Appears"

It's been one of those weeks. A good one. I've been able to step back and take tally of all the amazing friends, family, and those in between and experience a heart of gratitude. If there isn't a God, the randomness of how the beauty we see in people and things can stir our hearts is some kinda rare (impossible IMO) randomness. I can honestly say I don't understand my own self, the essence of who I am and how I live. I can't begin to calculate why some weeks I feel as if God is closer than my own thoughts and others feel as if I've bought into a lie. What I do understand is that the down times make the up times that much sweeter, the more times God "re-appears" the more I trust that he is there even when I don't feel like he is. If its as if God knows that the only way for me to grow in my desire of Him is to be reminded of how much better life is with him, than it is without him. My faith in the gospel never waivers, but my emotions do, my world-view does, and my thoughts certainly are far from predictable. It is so important to write down some thoughts each day. Whether it's a journal, diary, life log, blog, or what have you. It is an essential tool to remembering what it was like not to know; remembering what it felt like when you didn't feel like you do now. The better we understand the gospel the better we understand ourselves, the better we understand ourselves, the better we understand & accept the unfathomable methods in which God shows his love to us day in & day out, moment to moment, and from this life into the next.

Why Have a Blog?

Writing something worthwhile is always my goal when I click the "New Post" button on this webpage. In some ways I know my blog helps me more than it could ever help someone else, and I'm thankful for that. In order for it to be helpful to me it has to be helpful to someone else or it becomes meaningless. Admittedly, my attempt to write something worthwhile could often be equated with something that will make me seem intellectual, interesting, or wise to the readers. I wish that it wasn't that way because if what I write is about my image then it really isn't helping anyone, including myself. If I'm honest my image is nowhere near what I would like it to be, and that creeps into my online post. I've always set out with the intentions of using this site as a medium to communicate what I'm feeling, learning, and experiencing with others in an effort to shed light on how hard it can be to follow Jesus, but also how joyful it is.

The challenge isn't writing something that is interesting or intellectual, anyone can do that. The challenge is having the courage to be honest with whoever reads these post without knowing who that will be. The challenge is showing the grace of God in my life. Because if you don't know what I truly am, you can't see real grace for me, from God. This morning in my sermon I said, "I am the poster child for self-reliance." I don't pray as much as I think a pastor should because somewhere in my heart I still haven't believed that God is in control. That's a dangerous thing to say out loud, but it's the truth. The astonishing thing is that God still hears my prayers, he still patiently shows me how to believe the gospel more fully, and he still speaks to me when I slow down and listen. The sermon I preached today was on the verse "I can do all things through him who strengthens me;" This may sound backwards but God was saying to me "through Jesus you can have the strength to do nothing."  To pray to God, to really pray is more than just asking for help, but believing that God is powerful enough to do what I cannot.

One of the reasons I spend time hitting buttons and posting them on the interwebs is because I am a realtime thinker, which simply means that I usually don't understand what I'm thinking until I tell someone else. I also know that when people are honest with me about their struggles I find a closeness to God. It takes me off the island of "God Couldn't Love Me" and into a life where other people actually have problems too.