Currently listening...

My Top 5 Songs from the past week:

1. Taylor Swift - Fifteen
2. Sonicflood - Psalm 91 (this is the live version which isnt as good, but its on itunes and ruckus)
3. Lifehouse - First Time
4. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
5. Edwin McCain - Shooting Stars
   

Switchfoot

So, I came across this really neat quote from Jon Foreman:

"For me, for a little while there, I was afraid of anthems. I was afraid of the big songs. Fear can be a strange thing to try and describe, but I think that the past few years, I’ve really been set free from those fears. I’ve been able to write these quirky, mellow, side project types of songs. But on the new Switchfoot record, I’m trying to write these immortal anthems."

immortal anthems... thats what I want from Switchfoot

BTW, The song "Psalm 91" by Sonicflood is amazing and its on iTunes

Christianity, Lesbians, Gays, all that stuff

Soo, I recently had some conversations with my friends who are pretty liberal (im not). We talked about gay marriage and these are my thoughts. I dont know if I'll still believe this when Im older, but this is where I stand:

as a christian, i believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. its that simple, and i think there is something special when a guy finally meets someone that completes him, or a girl who finds prince charming. but, thats not the way america is... or the world. people who aren't christians marry everyday and experience the benefits. therefore, i support gay/lesbian marriages. i support them because they are being oppressed and unfairly treated. there are many tax breaks and social rules that gays and lesbians cannot take part in... because of one law... thats not just for christians... (dont get me wrong, christian marriage is something sacred and wonderful, but thats only christians) Jesus didnt come to oppress sinners, but to give them freedom and liberty.

for more info: http://equalitymatters.org/

as far as them adopting children, etc... its hard for me to say that a kid in an abusive, broken family is somehow better off than another kid with two dads or moms that love him...

Snow, Mountains, Ridgecrest

This weekend I had the awesome opportunity to go to Ridgecrest, N.C and help with a discipleship focused retreat for middle and highschool students. I went with Jacob, Alex, Cody, Andrew, Ches, Jessica, Aaren, Anna, Abbie, Prisca, and Summer. Mike, his wife Helen, Ashley, Cyndi, and Nanette (cyndi's friend) were our chaparones. Without going into too many of the unimportant details about the trip, I'll describe my feelings and have a massive brain dump.

people or things i enjoyed or thought were funny:

• creating new friends (jessica and cody) and having honest conversations with people I already knew (andrew, jacob, mike)
  
• our room ('cept the toilet... cody...)
  
• frozen lake and ducks/swans
• music1- the music was from buckhead (yea, thats my awesome church) and i actually got a chance to talk to carlos who is an incredible yet humble person (he also wore a funny head wrap when i saw him walking around)
• music2- they sang (its kinda bad that i can remember this) Take it All (Hillsong), From the Inside Out (more Hillsong), Everlasting God (Chris Tomlin?), No One Like You (David Crowder Band), Glory to God (unreleased Steve Fee)... but the whole experience was wonderful (except for the little girl that gave me weird looks when i sang... ) and freeing... it was so inspiring to see kids from my group with smiles on their faces as they sang. simply a smile...
• watching the sheer joy and excitement on Ches's face as he played with snow for the first time
• zaxby's
• getting stuck (temporarily) in an elevator with a bunch of ppl
• harvard taking really neat photos
• rocking out in the minivan
• watching others
• this slide place in the stairway
  
  

things i didn't like or that bothered me (this isnt a rant or anything):

• i was battling a really bad cold, but i discovered something called NyQuill which was an experience...
• i also had an epic battle for a small life... with a friend... over 300 miles away... that drained me...
  
• the food... (it made brittan look really good...)
• large group teaching... it seemed disconnected, the kids (and me) kinda zoned out after about 10 minutes. i honestly felt like i was in class, in a lecture
• small town churches- my hometown church used to be a small town church, but we've been really blessed and grown in numbers and leadership... many of these kids seemed scared to talk about things because as one kid said "if you keep doing it [I dont remember what he was referring to] then you'll go to Hell..." which is true in a sense, but here it seemed to mean dont talk about it, or people will think you are going to hell...
• Throughout the weekend, i kept hearing "churchy" answers to "churchy" questions which really bothered me, i wasn't convinced these kids really knew how to apply these lessons in their everyday lives. one of the points of christianity is not to stop and think about the rules, but to obey God without thinking... pure instinct
• the cold wasnt something i really enjoyed...
• we had to wake up at 6:45 one day...

i enjoyed ridgecrest, and i think God used it to strengthen areas of my life i usually dont get the opportunity to do... such as supporting a teacher and hanging out with highschoolers...

Currently listening...

Soo, just got back from Ridgecrest, NC where I helped with a youth retreat and met a lot of really cool people... more to come later.

Top 5 Artists/Songs that I'm listening to:

1. Matthew West: Only Grace, You Are Everything
2. Taylor Swift: The Way I Loved You, You Belong With Me
   
3. Switchfoot: Dare You to Move, We Are One Tonight
4. David Crowder Band: Stars, O Praise Him
   
5. Steve Fee (Fee): All Because of Jesus, Glory to God (its a new song that he wrote and all the northpoint people have been testing it out)
   

currently listening

oh, im gonna try to regularly update my current listening trend:

Artists:

1. Taylor Swift (duh)
2. Thriving Ivory (getting better every time)
3. U2 (anthemic rock)
4. Backstreet Boys (oldschool...)
5. Lifehouse (chill music)
   

freedom

in my lifelong struggle to live as Christ, I came across this verse:

"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." Galations 5:13

i think we would become more complete Christians if we could only grasp or imagine just what it means to be free in Christ. and to serve... in love...

how often do we selfishly do things for ourselves, for our benefit, at the expense of others? how does competition play into this? do we even know we're doing it?

Love all the time

So I sometimes get these ideas when I'm going to bed and listening to God....

Ive always been fascinated with the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, God lists ten explicit rules to follow: The Ten Commandments. But, in the New Testament, it is replaced by two simple commands: Love God, Love others. I am guilty of trying to obey every rule and avoiding the "dont's" instead of simply loving. Sometimes we can manipulate the definition of "love" to fit our needs.

Love is (1 Corinthians 13):

1. Patient
2. Kind
3. not Envious
   
4. not Boastful
5. not Proud
6. not Rude
7. not Self-seeking
8. not easily angered
9. Keeps no record of wrongs
10. Does not delight in Evil
11. Rejoices with truth
12. Trusts
13. Hopes
14. Perseveres
15. Always...

There's so much detail in the simple verses, but its really thought provoking because for us to love, we must accept every single one. all the time... even when we're hurt, or abandoned... or wronged... when we get too busy to love... when its embarrassing/uncool to love.... when we're prideful about our achievements and accomplishments... "keeps no record of wrongs" is a hard one to follow.

or self seeking...