This is a song, Beauty of the Lord, by Jared Anderson. It's written to our Lord (obviously) so the line "You take my breath away" always gets me. God really does take my breath away. There are so few words, so few ways to express how His beauty and His beautiful image in creation steals my breath. The snow drifting from the clouds above and landing on my eyelashes, a prism of ice shining like a diamond, the flaming crimson sun as it sets in the west. God did this all out of His love for us... sigh... it takes my breath away.
Listen here
Jesus Your love
Is one step closer
I will trust
You will never let me go
Jesus Your love
Has won me over
All my trust
Has found no other
I will declare the beauty of the Lord
Nothing compares to the beauty of the Lord
Jesus Your love takes my breath away
Now I'm living everyday for the beauty of the Lord
The beauty of the Lord
You take my breath away
You take my breath away
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Chasen
There's this new band that is really starting to grow on me. Chasen has some great lyrics and such clear voices, if you like Christian, worshipful-type music I would highly suggest them.
Lent Commitment!
Lent starts Ash Wednesday and ends after 3 PM on Good Friday - that's actually 44 days (Sundays aren't technically counted).
So what am I going to do for Lent? What can I sacrifice? The first thing that comes to mind is my love for all things sweet- but how much would that really benefit my relationship with God? (Let's not forget why we give things up). It wouldn't give me that much extra time- I can grab a cookie and shove it down my throat pretty fast.
Know what I think would be the most beneficial? Straight up spending more time with Jesus. 40 min./ day for 40 days. I like that thought. At first I was concerned though- do I have 40 extra minutes in my day? They are pretty jam-packed with stuff. Then conviction hit: Jesus does not deserve spare time in my life- he deserves the prime time. So that's what he's getting- for 40 days at least, and, hopefully for the rest of my life. Some things I will do are: read my Bible, pray/listen, journal to God, walk in His creation and praise Him, or worship Him on my guitar- but I will have no less than 20 minutes of Bible reading. I am sticking to this for 40 days- with God's massive amount of help I am sure!
One more thing came to mind: boys. I am going to sacrifice boys this Lent. Now that sounds pretty scary, so let me explain how and my rationale for it. I will commit to not initiating contact with guys during Lent- I will not purposefully seek them out by emailing, calling, visiting, or anything like that. This doesn't mean I won't respond to them- if they call and leave a message of course I'll call back, of course I'll eat with them or walk to class together- but I will not be initiating this kind of stuff. Why? I think far too often I am the pursuer- not even in a romantic way- just as a friend in general. But I want to focus on having more trust in God- this seems like an eye-opening way to do it.
I am really excited and feel like these two things will help me grow a lot closer to the Lover of my soul!
So what am I going to do for Lent? What can I sacrifice? The first thing that comes to mind is my love for all things sweet- but how much would that really benefit my relationship with God? (Let's not forget why we give things up). It wouldn't give me that much extra time- I can grab a cookie and shove it down my throat pretty fast.
Know what I think would be the most beneficial? Straight up spending more time with Jesus. 40 min./ day for 40 days. I like that thought. At first I was concerned though- do I have 40 extra minutes in my day? They are pretty jam-packed with stuff. Then conviction hit: Jesus does not deserve spare time in my life- he deserves the prime time. So that's what he's getting- for 40 days at least, and, hopefully for the rest of my life. Some things I will do are: read my Bible, pray/listen, journal to God, walk in His creation and praise Him, or worship Him on my guitar- but I will have no less than 20 minutes of Bible reading. I am sticking to this for 40 days- with God's massive amount of help I am sure!
One more thing came to mind: boys. I am going to sacrifice boys this Lent. Now that sounds pretty scary, so let me explain how and my rationale for it. I will commit to not initiating contact with guys during Lent- I will not purposefully seek them out by emailing, calling, visiting, or anything like that. This doesn't mean I won't respond to them- if they call and leave a message of course I'll call back, of course I'll eat with them or walk to class together- but I will not be initiating this kind of stuff. Why? I think far too often I am the pursuer- not even in a romantic way- just as a friend in general. But I want to focus on having more trust in God- this seems like an eye-opening way to do it.
I am really excited and feel like these two things will help me grow a lot closer to the Lover of my soul!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
If life were a horror instead of a gift...
To write these words before thoughts flee my mind...
What if I were born in a different country
or a different race
if I were born on the streets and not a hospital
if my parents died and I had no home
would I be in the same place?
It is so likely that I could
A Nepali, one very heart beats for
abducted
stolen from her family
then stolen from herself
What would that fear be like?
The men atop me, clawing and breathing like animals
and when I am finally free for another day, but
I cannot lift my head from the shame which bows it down
shunned by society for sins I scream against
but there is no one to help me out
all ears deafened to my pleading scream
I cry out “save me”
everybody hears but no one walks my way
no, they all forge on and rush away
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Munchies
As Haiti begins to fade from the headlines and our country turns its attention to things like the Super Bowl, the Olympics and American Idol, will we now turn our backs on Haiti? Will there still be vigils, concerts, and fundraisers? Or will we simply begin to move on?
The tragedy in Haiti began well before an earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince at 4:53 p.m. on January 12, killing as many as 200,000 and leaving millions inured and homeless. An earthquake of a magnitude equivalent to the Haiti disaster (7.0) hit the San Francisco area in 1989, but only 63 people were killed. Haiti was already the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere. With an average income of only $520 a year, Haiti was among the poorest nations in the world and lacked basic education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
It is important that we not let mere charity replace true justice. The longstanding tragedy of this story is that it takes a tsunami or earthquake for us to wake up to the realities and vulnerabilities of extreme poverty and inequity. Perhaps the "good news about Haiti" is that we don't have to wait for another earthquake to get serious about poverty and injustice.
It can be hard to sustain a commitment of faith and justice when we aren’t flooded with a constant flow of stories, images and reminders. Pop stars return to selling albums, the television reverts back to new programs, elected leaders focus on the next campaign, and each of us naturally return to our own day-to-day lives.
What would it look like to move justice from an afterthought to the center of our community life? To re-examine how we view, spend and even earn money? To encourage our elected leaders to make international development a priority? And to truly pursue and carry out Christ’s “good news for the poor?”
The Hole in Our Gospel
- Relevant Magazine
The tragedy in Haiti began well before an earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince at 4:53 p.m. on January 12, killing as many as 200,000 and leaving millions inured and homeless. An earthquake of a magnitude equivalent to the Haiti disaster (7.0) hit the San Francisco area in 1989, but only 63 people were killed. Haiti was already the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere. With an average income of only $520 a year, Haiti was among the poorest nations in the world and lacked basic education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
It is important that we not let mere charity replace true justice. The longstanding tragedy of this story is that it takes a tsunami or earthquake for us to wake up to the realities and vulnerabilities of extreme poverty and inequity. Perhaps the "good news about Haiti" is that we don't have to wait for another earthquake to get serious about poverty and injustice.
It can be hard to sustain a commitment of faith and justice when we aren’t flooded with a constant flow of stories, images and reminders. Pop stars return to selling albums, the television reverts back to new programs, elected leaders focus on the next campaign, and each of us naturally return to our own day-to-day lives.
What would it look like to move justice from an afterthought to the center of our community life? To re-examine how we view, spend and even earn money? To encourage our elected leaders to make international development a priority? And to truly pursue and carry out Christ’s “good news for the poor?”
The Hole in Our Gospel
- Relevant Magazine
Monday, February 8, 2010
Starving dogs, Chapel Speakers, and celibacy: to lose one dream or many?
I don't have a clever way to tie these two topics together- they are only two things that I want to talk about, that have recently impacted me- I'll start with the dog.
The other day I was running around in the biting cold, grabbing stuff for our superbowl event, on my way over to the garage I saw something that stirred my heart: a dog. He was less than a hundred meters away, my heart sped up- I love animals and rarely get to see them here at college (besides the evil black squirrels). I start calling the dog, he is hesitant, almost like the dogs in Latin American countries that roam the streets, abused and chided everywhere they go. I kneel down and sweeten my voice- summoning him with all of my unction. He trepadaitously trots on over to me, though his tail is in between his legs, as if he's already done something wrong, my heart is strangely saddened by that. As he is standing next to me sticking his nose out I begin to notice other things; he is an athletic dog- the kind that might belong in a "beware of the dog" yard, but his fur is coming off in random patches, and his ribs jut out, trying to make their way to the surface, through his patchy fur. I pet him- his fur isn't like the other dogs I've known- it is not soft or silky, their is no healthy sheen from eating premium dog food in his coat- that doesn't matter- it isn't his appearance, but the reason for why he looks this way- the dog is apparently hungry and homeless. How I wish I could take him home, but I remember I am on my way to get disposable cups, or some other wretched invention like that- and I am "working" so I can't give this dog the attention he needs and wants- I can't loiter, I must go back to my job. How I hope that someday I can love those like this dog, in a tangible way- that it could be my full-time occupation... and, if God wills, it certainly will be someday.
The chapel speaker was good- but what I really want to write about was the song he sang at the end. I wasn't looking at him, and he wasn't looking out to engage the crowd, we merely closed our physical eyes as he sang. I think that maybe, just maybe, that mere closure caused my spiritual eyes to open wider- to truly see the song, to see God and I living the song, rather than seeing the singer and stopping there. The song was an untitled hymn by Chris Rice "Come to Jesus", how Carlos Garcia's voice soared triumphantly and lowered into rich tones as he sang out this beautiful song. If we come, fall on, dance, cry, fly to Jesus we will live- that is a constant refrain in the song- it helped me to realize, or to remember, that only in Jesus can everything result in true life- when we run to others for comfort we are so often let down- a little part of us dies rather than being revived. And that is why we must always, why I must, sing, come, fall on, dance, cry to, dance for, and fly to Jesus FIRST; it doesn't mean I can never sing for others- it only means I must sing for Him first, in every song. When we "can't contain our joy inside" we should dance for Jesus- he won't judge or critique our passionate abandon for him- he will delight in it even as he dances with us. Others won't. Others can't fully know the joy within our hearts- there is always a veil in between us and every other person- except for God: Jesus came down and tore that veil for us! I wasn't planning on writing this- I thought I would write about how this song made me yearn once again to sing, it made me pray my prayer of old that I could sing, for my King. I don't want to sing well just to do it- but only to praise my Savior more gloriously; well enough that my pitch will not detract, but not so stunning as to distract from the worship of our Lord. I also had a revelation of sorts about celibacy that I'd like to write about, but this is far too long already, though it has been quite cathartic to write these thoughts down. Praise be to God!
The other day I was running around in the biting cold, grabbing stuff for our superbowl event, on my way over to the garage I saw something that stirred my heart: a dog. He was less than a hundred meters away, my heart sped up- I love animals and rarely get to see them here at college (besides the evil black squirrels). I start calling the dog, he is hesitant, almost like the dogs in Latin American countries that roam the streets, abused and chided everywhere they go. I kneel down and sweeten my voice- summoning him with all of my unction. He trepadaitously trots on over to me, though his tail is in between his legs, as if he's already done something wrong, my heart is strangely saddened by that. As he is standing next to me sticking his nose out I begin to notice other things; he is an athletic dog- the kind that might belong in a "beware of the dog" yard, but his fur is coming off in random patches, and his ribs jut out, trying to make their way to the surface, through his patchy fur. I pet him- his fur isn't like the other dogs I've known- it is not soft or silky, their is no healthy sheen from eating premium dog food in his coat- that doesn't matter- it isn't his appearance, but the reason for why he looks this way- the dog is apparently hungry and homeless. How I wish I could take him home, but I remember I am on my way to get disposable cups, or some other wretched invention like that- and I am "working" so I can't give this dog the attention he needs and wants- I can't loiter, I must go back to my job. How I hope that someday I can love those like this dog, in a tangible way- that it could be my full-time occupation... and, if God wills, it certainly will be someday.
The chapel speaker was good- but what I really want to write about was the song he sang at the end. I wasn't looking at him, and he wasn't looking out to engage the crowd, we merely closed our physical eyes as he sang. I think that maybe, just maybe, that mere closure caused my spiritual eyes to open wider- to truly see the song, to see God and I living the song, rather than seeing the singer and stopping there. The song was an untitled hymn by Chris Rice "Come to Jesus", how Carlos Garcia's voice soared triumphantly and lowered into rich tones as he sang out this beautiful song. If we come, fall on, dance, cry, fly to Jesus we will live- that is a constant refrain in the song- it helped me to realize, or to remember, that only in Jesus can everything result in true life- when we run to others for comfort we are so often let down- a little part of us dies rather than being revived. And that is why we must always, why I must, sing, come, fall on, dance, cry to, dance for, and fly to Jesus FIRST; it doesn't mean I can never sing for others- it only means I must sing for Him first, in every song. When we "can't contain our joy inside" we should dance for Jesus- he won't judge or critique our passionate abandon for him- he will delight in it even as he dances with us. Others won't. Others can't fully know the joy within our hearts- there is always a veil in between us and every other person- except for God: Jesus came down and tore that veil for us! I wasn't planning on writing this- I thought I would write about how this song made me yearn once again to sing, it made me pray my prayer of old that I could sing, for my King. I don't want to sing well just to do it- but only to praise my Savior more gloriously; well enough that my pitch will not detract, but not so stunning as to distract from the worship of our Lord. I also had a revelation of sorts about celibacy that I'd like to write about, but this is far too long already, though it has been quite cathartic to write these thoughts down. Praise be to God!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Ticket-Take it!
Life is a ticket to the greatest show on earth
Blood, sweat, and tears, partial price for this ticket
but rewards so far beyond the price
Life is our pass to the most worthy show
and to think some relinquish their ticket so easily...
Blood, sweat, and tears, partial price for this ticket
but rewards so far beyond the price
Life is our pass to the most worthy show
and to think some relinquish their ticket so easily...
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