Brutally Honest

I'm not gonna talk about how long its been since I last wrote. I've been busy. Well, I guess I just did. Crap! Anyhow, I been thinking recently. I've been thinking a lot about the time that I've spent here at Liberty so far. It has been a fun time. I've met some awesome people, had some awesome times, and done some awesome new things. First, I would like to address these people. Thank you for the awesome times we have had together. I love you and I can't wait till we hang out next. This blog really doesn't have anything to do with you guys.

You see, I've been thinking about my cultural progression here at Liberty and honestly I've become a bit dissatisfied. I feel as though the more time I spend at Liberty I should be meeting more people and having more fun times. I can't help but think though that I feel that in reality the more time I spend here the more people I find out I don't want to hang out with. Honestly, there are a lot of people on Liberty's campus that aren't worth the time; however, this is not the majority. The difficult fact is that I feel like the majority of people that I meet are not people that I feel excited about getting to know, but people that I don't really care for.

Don't here me saying that Liberty students are horrible people. Because, the horrible person is me. Outside of Christ I am definitely full of sin. I learn this fact even better each day. There is no good thought inside of me. And because of this my pride gets in the way of my enjoyment of hanging out with other members of God's creation. I think of myself as being on a different level than these people. Why because God maybe has revealed more to me than them? How much of an idiot must I be? I would bet that God really hasn't revealed more to them than me. Maybe I need to come to understand them better because they understand more than I. So that's what this is. This is a cry for help. Not necessarily to those around me, but ultimately to my Father. Break me.

Robots In Disguise

Just in case you haven't seen this you should watch it. Because I'm excited and you should be excited also. I mean, who doesn't love Transformers? If you do not remotely like Transformers in any way, then I would submit that you my friend are not human. Anyhow, here's the trailer.

Trusting Him

Hey guys! I'm alive. I know, imagine that. It's been a hot minute since I last posted. I offer no apologies. I've been busy. Is that an apology? I hope not. Honestly, I don't really know what to write about. I've been thinking about a lot of different things lately. Oh, here's a good one. Try this on for size.

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about trusting God. Probably because I've found myself in a good number of situations where I had to do just that, trust God. Not that I've had some sort of major catastrophe in my life or anything. I've just had a lot of things that should be out of my control that I need to trust God for.

For instance, as I talk to you right now I am probably coughing for the 4 thousandth time today (I am). I'm kinda getting over being sick. Ok, I am getting over it, and I was sick. I've had some sinus issues since this past Wednesday. I'm talking about the spitting out a ton of blood and drainage every morning kind of sinus trouble. I mean, its not really that big of a deal except that I am singing for worship this Sunday at conVerge (my church in Lynchburg). You see, I feel like I should be freaking out. I mean, I've been trying to sing today and it hasn't been good news. I can get a couple of lines out at most until I turn into a huge coughing mess.

Even though I have about 20 hours until I have to start practicing for a couple of hours or so before service I'm not worried. I'm not going to pretend for a second that God isn't completely in control of everything and that He's not going to work all of this out for His glory and my good. This is what it means to trust Him. So many times we tell others or we tell ourselves that God is in control, but we in no way mean it. If we did mean it we would understand that it's meaningless to worry. How can you think for second He doesn't know exactly what's happening and how it will be resolved? Do you think this took God by surprise? I firmly believe it didn't. Well I've got to go get ready for a concert. AdIoS!

Learning How To Die

So, I'm fully convinced no one ever reads this any more. This might be because I really am saying nothing, which is what I tend to do most of the time anyhow. Regardless, I don't really care. I like hearing myself talk, and by that I mean type.

Any ways, I just really like the lyrics to this song. Maybe you imaginary folks know it. Maybe you don't. It's a song by Jon Foreman off of his "Winter" album. The track is entitled "Learning How To Die". I love the thesis of this song. It makes you think.

Learning How To Die

I'm gonna miss you
I'm gonna miss you when you're gone
She said, "I love you"
I'm gonna miss hearing your songs

And I said, "Please"
Don't talk about the end
Don't talk about how every little thing goes away

She said, "Friend,
All along-
Thought I was learning how to take
How to bend not how to break
How to live not how to cry
But really
I've been learning how to die
I've been learning how to die"

"Hey everyone,
I got nowhere to go
The grave is lazy
He takes our bodies slowly"

And I said, "Please"
Don't talk about the end
Don't talk about how every little thing goes away

She said, "Friend,
All along-
Thought I was learning how to take
How to bend not how to break
How to live not how to cry
But really
I've been learning how to die
I've been learning how to...
Die
Die
I've been learning how to die."

Not Walking Hand in Hand

So I am currently in the process of reading through C.S. Lewis' (my favorite author) science fiction series. Some of you may not know that he had a science fiction series, but to those who do, congrats. Right now I am about halfway through the second book of three. Anyhow there was an awesome quote in Perelandra which I cannot help but sharing. 

Let me try and give you the setting for all of this. Basically, Random, the main character, is explaining to this human-like woman from another world the idea of evil and good and the choice between the two. You see this person was completely innocent. In her world there is no idea of evil. There is no idea of pain. But anyhow, here the quote...

"I thought that I was carried in the will of Him I love, but now I see that I walk with it. I thought that the good things He sent me drew me into them as the waves lift the islands; but now I see that it is I who plunge into them with my own legs and arms, as when we go swimming. I feel as if I were living in that roofless world of yours (Earth) where men walk undefended beneath naked heaven. It is a delight with terror in it! One's own self to be walking from one good to another, walking beside Him as Himself may walk, not even holding hands. How has He made me so seperate from Himself? How did it enter His mind to concieve such a thing? The world is so much larger than I thought. I thought we went along paths - but it seems there are no paths. The going itself is the path." 

Taking Joy in Joy

To be put most plainly, I'm glad that my God is not a God that deprives me of joy. In fact, it is my belief that God takes great joy in us finding joy. Now, when I speak of this joy I am only speaking of what I call secondary joy. You see the only primary joy that will make us happy is Jesus Christ Himself. He is our main joy. He is the reason to live today and the reason to have peace in death.

But this is not our only joy. God loves us so much that He has given us other things to enjoy. Ultimately all these things point back to Him; however, humanity over time has taken these secondary joys and put them in place of God the Creator and Sustainer. It is only when we have God as our primary joy that we can fully experience any secondary joy.

Today I reconnected with a joy that I have not tasted in quite a while. It was an enjoyable experience for me, but overall it draws me closer to my Savior. I am silenced in awe just to think that He loved me enough to create things like this for me to enjoy. God is love. Not some abstract form of love, but a form of love that causes Him to give up His only Son to bring us back to Him. Beyond even this, He creates these beautiful roadsigns in life which point us back to the love that He's had for us since the beginning of time. O how He loves you and me.

Mae + Babies

I like Mae and I like funny babies. If you share my likes watch it. If you don't still watch.