So I'm feeling a little under the weather and I have this terrible feeling I won't be getting any more sleep then normal. It sucks. But what can you do? Drink a lot of ginger tea thats what.
So I bought some new converse high tops today. Pretty sweet. I might have to do some editing. They're double layered and two pairs of laces will only make me mad. So the bottom laces must go. Black laces look cooler anyway. Converse Chuck Taylors are the great shoe ever made. I've been wearing them for 10 years and I don't see myself having footwear loyalty anywhere else. The day the quit making these shoes will be the worst day of my life.
Here's a song I love. "Carmi Times" by Side Walk Slam
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Real
Two post in one day. Consider yourself lucky. But I'm waiting up for my brother so here we are.
So I had been rockin' a mostly vegetarian diet for a little while now and I've recently gave it up. It was a tougher choice to stop then it was to start. The reason I had started was it was a conviction and a way to practice spiritual discipline. Which sounds weird that God would have one stop eating meat.... but it's true and I was convicted when I started. But for the last couple of weeks I had been struggling with the idea of why I was still doing it. And I think it was less about spiritual discipline now and more about being fashionable. It wasn't a martyrdom but it was more something I could say about myself and it no longer had the meaning to my life like it had whence I started and so.... I enjoyed a hamburger on Friday night... and on Saturday night.
I think the discipline gained from when I started were very good and have carried over in other dimensions of my life and I think my eating habits are a little bit better then when I started (maybe very little). I think God can use many different things to help us grow in lives and relationship with him and I'm glad this was a way he used with me.
But I can wait to get my hands on some Shepherds Pie!
So I had been rockin' a mostly vegetarian diet for a little while now and I've recently gave it up. It was a tougher choice to stop then it was to start. The reason I had started was it was a conviction and a way to practice spiritual discipline. Which sounds weird that God would have one stop eating meat.... but it's true and I was convicted when I started. But for the last couple of weeks I had been struggling with the idea of why I was still doing it. And I think it was less about spiritual discipline now and more about being fashionable. It wasn't a martyrdom but it was more something I could say about myself and it no longer had the meaning to my life like it had whence I started and so.... I enjoyed a hamburger on Friday night... and on Saturday night.
I think the discipline gained from when I started were very good and have carried over in other dimensions of my life and I think my eating habits are a little bit better then when I started (maybe very little). I think God can use many different things to help us grow in lives and relationship with him and I'm glad this was a way he used with me.
But I can wait to get my hands on some Shepherds Pie!
As Cities Burn - Come Now, Sleep
I'm not one to write record reviews. I'm just not very good at conveying why an album is kick ass. It's not my style. But I can tell you why I personally enjoy certain record. Thus, As Cities Burn.
There are moments I enjoyed on the first As Cities Burn record and I really grabbed the new one on a whim. And I'll say "Come Now, Sleep" isn't the most musically inspiring record I've ever heard. The songs are about as standard post hardcore/emo as one can find. But the lyrical content of this record is really appealing to me. Usually my second listen through an album is with the lyric sheet to what it is any band/artist is saying. This is one of those records that lyrically move me. It's a very honest reflection on the difficulties of being a follower of Christ and that appeals to me.
"Remember we used to speak.
Now I'm starting to think,
Your voice was really my own,
Bouncing off the ceiling back to me.
God, does grace reach to this side of madness?
'Cause I know this can't be,
The great peace we all seek." (Contact)
"Cause I was a pharisee,
I never saw my need for grace;
Then your love came to me
stood next to mine, and I saw that I was poor." (Empire)
"They're steady, steady breathers,
Who won't lift a finger for the gasping weaker.
You just hoard your hollow completion,
Like it's something wearing thin.
Like it's gonna get you in, When heaven comes.
'Cause when heaven comes,
I swear it comes in love.
Grace make your way to the well,
To those who deserve it.
After all they've earned it.
But vain, it's in vain,
'Cause they don't need it." (Hoard)
"forget about being honest
forget about being passionate
wear that smile like you feel it
even when you don't" (This is It, This is It)
"Is your love really Love?
Is my love really Love?
I think our love isn't Love,
Unless it's Love to the end.
Is your god really God?
Is my god really God?
I think our god isn't God,
If he fits inside our heads." (Clouds)
"If I make it to heaven
I may be as bloody as hell.
Would you still take me?
I'm afraid that you might say,
"Depart from me, I never knew you."
All the love I want to give,
Gets caught between every rib.
What does that make me?
I have good intentions,
But no exit for them to come out right through." (Wrong Body)
"I'm sure if you wanted to stop love,
You could just untie your end and let it go.
But, my God, you don't.
Yeah, I think I love you for it." (Our World is Grey)
Lyrically I love this record and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in rock music.
There are moments I enjoyed on the first As Cities Burn record and I really grabbed the new one on a whim. And I'll say "Come Now, Sleep" isn't the most musically inspiring record I've ever heard. The songs are about as standard post hardcore/emo as one can find. But the lyrical content of this record is really appealing to me. Usually my second listen through an album is with the lyric sheet to what it is any band/artist is saying. This is one of those records that lyrically move me. It's a very honest reflection on the difficulties of being a follower of Christ and that appeals to me.
"Remember we used to speak.
Now I'm starting to think,
Your voice was really my own,
Bouncing off the ceiling back to me.
God, does grace reach to this side of madness?
'Cause I know this can't be,
The great peace we all seek." (Contact)
"Cause I was a pharisee,
I never saw my need for grace;
Then your love came to me
stood next to mine, and I saw that I was poor." (Empire)
"They're steady, steady breathers,
Who won't lift a finger for the gasping weaker.
You just hoard your hollow completion,
Like it's something wearing thin.
Like it's gonna get you in, When heaven comes.
'Cause when heaven comes,
I swear it comes in love.
Grace make your way to the well,
To those who deserve it.
After all they've earned it.
But vain, it's in vain,
'Cause they don't need it." (Hoard)
"forget about being honest
forget about being passionate
wear that smile like you feel it
even when you don't" (This is It, This is It)
"Is your love really Love?
Is my love really Love?
I think our love isn't Love,
Unless it's Love to the end.
Is your god really God?
Is my god really God?
I think our god isn't God,
If he fits inside our heads." (Clouds)
"If I make it to heaven
I may be as bloody as hell.
Would you still take me?
I'm afraid that you might say,
"Depart from me, I never knew you."
All the love I want to give,
Gets caught between every rib.
What does that make me?
I have good intentions,
But no exit for them to come out right through." (Wrong Body)
"I'm sure if you wanted to stop love,
You could just untie your end and let it go.
But, my God, you don't.
Yeah, I think I love you for it." (Our World is Grey)
Lyrically I love this record and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in rock music.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter Thoughts
So it's Easter morning and while I'm in thought I'd figure I'd share them with the fine readers of this here blog.
I've been thinking this week about the Easter season and a little... saddened that my attitude going to into Easter this year seemed to be the complete opposite of what it was last year. And there are a handful of reasons why but mostly I've come to mindset that my life this year is in such a different place then it was last year that to have the same response would have meant no growth. Last year at this time I sat on my bed listening to Amazing Grace, reading Isaiah 53 with tears streaming down my face. Last year was probably the first time in my life I fully realized what it was God had done for me and what that meant for me.
This year I've just come of a lent fast that really challenged me as a person. I spent a lot of time in praying and a lot of time learning things about myself that I had managed to ignore. I come to this Easter still grateful for the Salvation I have through Christ's resurrection (I'll still tear up when I hear Amazing Grace). I feel blessed for the friends I've made since last year and for the places I am. This year at Easter I look forward to the things God is doing and going to be doing in my life, to the changes he's bringing, and I take this moment to thank him for his Love.
"The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures."
Isaiah 52:13- 53:12
"See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. But many were amazed when they saw him.His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about. Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels."
I've been thinking this week about the Easter season and a little... saddened that my attitude going to into Easter this year seemed to be the complete opposite of what it was last year. And there are a handful of reasons why but mostly I've come to mindset that my life this year is in such a different place then it was last year that to have the same response would have meant no growth. Last year at this time I sat on my bed listening to Amazing Grace, reading Isaiah 53 with tears streaming down my face. Last year was probably the first time in my life I fully realized what it was God had done for me and what that meant for me.
This year I've just come of a lent fast that really challenged me as a person. I spent a lot of time in praying and a lot of time learning things about myself that I had managed to ignore. I come to this Easter still grateful for the Salvation I have through Christ's resurrection (I'll still tear up when I hear Amazing Grace). I feel blessed for the friends I've made since last year and for the places I am. This year at Easter I look forward to the things God is doing and going to be doing in my life, to the changes he's bringing, and I take this moment to thank him for his Love.
"The Lord has promised good to me...
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be...
as long as life endures."
Isaiah 52:13- 53:12
"See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. But many were amazed when they saw him.His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about. Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels."
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
This video blew me away.
I won't say I've been sick the last 2 days but I certainly don't feel right. Something is off. That's about as good an explanation as I can give.
I've been writing a lot since I've gotten back from Florida. It's a good release and even if I'm writing utter crap at least I'm writing.
And now to the point of this blog. I'm a big fan of people being creative and it doesn't really get more creative then this. This is a video of DJ Ramsey using tape decks.
I've been writing a lot since I've gotten back from Florida. It's a good release and even if I'm writing utter crap at least I'm writing.
And now to the point of this blog. I'm a big fan of people being creative and it doesn't really get more creative then this. This is a video of DJ Ramsey using tape decks.
Monday, March 17, 2008
I'm back from Disney
I meant to post last night but getting to bed was more important then speaking mainly nonsense. My trip to Florida was exciting. I've come to the conclusion that the idea of going to Disney is more exciting then being at Disney. Maybe I need an older, less family crowd to go with for it to be as exciting as the idea of going. But that did not upset my trip (well, not for long anyway). It was, for the most part, relaxing. It took going to Disney to meet someone at church (it's weird when you recognize someone you've never actually meet and they happen to live near you and go to you church). I met and talked to Emery at the Magic Kingdom (again a random experience). I read a book on the trip down and a book on the trip back. I felt accomplished. All in all it was a good vacation (except the sunburn on my ears).
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A Simple Idea
I have a handful of friends that I could talk to for days on end without ceasing, on any topic and enjoy every moment of it. It's not that I forget about these people because I notice it when I haven't talked to them in a while. But man... when you get to talk to them again and it's like no time has passed and you're talking for hours about nothing important at all and deep meaningful real life things. It's awesome. This is how I like to think of God.
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