Back to School / Goals / "Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy"

The first day back at Belmont was a good one, albeit quite busy! Classes went well, with two even being canceled, and I really enjoyed seeing all my friends again. There's a lot of work to do to finish out this semester, but to my pleasant surprise, I find that I feel very driven to work hard and accomplish everything I'm striving to do.

Between reunions, classes, homework, errands, and even a vocal ensemble audition, I found time to do some reading. I'm nearing the end of Donald Miller's "Searching For God Knows What," and I have to say that this book is extremely helpful and applicable in my life. I'm very thankful that my recently increased searches into Scripture are pairing so well with the words of Miller, O'Connor, and my other favorite authors.

Lately I've had some realizations about myself, with the help of my friends and my reading. First off, I'm something of a dreamer -- I have a great imagination and the gift of creativity, but it's all too easy for me to get lost with my head in the clouds, daydreaming myself into unrealistic expectations and distracting me from what's really going on. Partially because of this over-thinking trait, I sometimes find myself either dreading the worst or building up too-high hopes when I ought to be living in the present and not being concerned with what might happen.

It can be hard to "take it easy" when I race ahead to conclusions and try to hasten my pace to keep up, but another thing I've started to learn is that fulfillment and satisfaction aren't the sort of things we can claim for ourselves out of effort. On the contrary, it seems that the harder we work to accomplish our self-minded goals and secure our value, the less fulfilled we feel. I know this is true in my life.

(For the record, there are good goals, and I absolutely believe that academic responsibility and success is something for which we ought to travail. Just making it clear that this isn't what I'm talking about when I speak of "self-minded goals".)

Our satisfaction should come from serving God and serving those around us, not by making ourselves feel more accomplished and worthy. I need a heart of Love and Compassion, not of selfish insecurity (because what could be more selfish than constantly worrying over yourself?) or boastful pride.

I pray that we would all feel the Love of Christ, which is all we need. I'm reminded of a hymn (again, one performed beautifully by the band Anathallo on their Hymns album) called "Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy". It seems fitting to end this entry with the lyrics to this beautiful song.

1. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
   Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
   Jesus ready stands to save you,
   Full of pity, love and pow’r.
   • Refrain:
     I will arise and go to Jesus,
     He will embrace me in His arms;
     In the arms of my dear Savior,
     Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
2. Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
   God’s free bounty glorify;
   True belief and true repentance,
   Every grace that brings you nigh.
3. Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
   Lost and ruined by the fall;
   If you tarry till you’re better,
   You will never come at all.
4. View Him prostrate in the garden;
   On the ground your Maker lies;
   On the bloody tree behold Him;
   Sinner, will this not suffice?
5. Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
   Pleads the merit of His blood:
   Venture on Him, venture wholly,
   Let no other trust intrude.
6. Let not conscience make you linger,
   Not of fitness fondly dream;
   All the fitness He requireth
   Is to feel your need of Him.

Amen. All we need is Him.

The End of Spring Break / Jeremiah 29:11

Spring Break is coming to an end. After almost a week and a half of time off from school, tomorrow marks the day I'll move back into my dorm and rejoin life at Belmont. I greet the return to school life with a mix of joy and anxiety -- the former because I'm excited to see my friends and to live in the college environment again, and the latter because I know what's in store for me in this last month of school.

There's classes to attend; papers to write; speeches to draft; an EP to finish, print, and sell; shows to play; a GPA to keep up; friends to enjoy life with; and, of course, the ever-elusive sleep. How I'll manage to accomplish everything is beyond me, but maybe that's worth considering. On my own, I'll struggle to balance everything and end up blowing off one or more of my goals. However, if I stay focused with the help and guidance that comes from the reassuring hand of the Almighty, I just might be able to pull it all off.

Amidst the pre-return turmoil, I started to think about the well-known verse in Jeremiah that speaks of God's plans to prosper us. I could certainly use a plan myself! I looked up the verse and, in doing so, discovered some interesting things.

First, however, the verse in question:

Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Found in Jeremiah 29, this message of the Father's plan for us comes along with a judgment of 70 years' exile and captivity for the people of Judah. It may seem ironic or short-sighted that the verse which adorns many inspirational posters would be found right next to a decree of a lifetime's enslavement, and it certainly is no basket of roses, but I think its placement brings a richer and ultimately more fulfilling message to the verse. Here it is again in fuller context:

Jer 29:10-14 (NIV) This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."

Though we live in a world that is not our own, in which we live a kind of spiritual captivity, there is yet hope for us. The difficult times and seemingly endless trials of daily life are not without meaning or purpose -- God has ordered our steps, as long as we follow in His path.

In comparing my own stresses and worries with those of the people of Judah, who were forced to live in bondage for a full 70 years, things don't seem so overwhelming anymore. I can certainly handle what's to come, and I can embrace it with confidence and joy. I know that through the process I will be able to seek God more fully, and gain in return a more complete hope with the promise of a blessed future.

Spring Break / Psalm 115

I'm officially on Spring Break now, and it's been going well. I've been spending a lot of good time with my family, and I got to hang out with my high school friends a bit before they went back to their schools this weekend.

Yesterday was Easter -- the day on which we celebrate the resurrection of Christ Jesus, who was dead and buried for the sake of our sins. When I think about it, it's so unbelievable and exciting to realize the magnitude of this miracle. It's easy to live as if the world were a boring, insignificant, and uninteresting place, but if you really take a look at the wonders of Creation, life, and the incredible things that happen in every day life (let alone the big miracles), there is an overwhelming beauty here.

I'll come right out and say it -- I'm in love with the Psalms. This blog is quickly becoming overtaken with them, and that's fine by me. Today I want to read and study Psalm 115. It's a song of praise to the living God. I think it's fitting for the day after Easter, having just celebrated the Christ who defeated Death.

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say,
"Where is their God?"

3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.

4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.

5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;

6 they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;

7 they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

9 O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.

11 You who fear him, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.

12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,

13 he will bless those who fear the LORD—
small and great alike.

14 May the LORD make you increase,
both you and your children.

15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.

17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
those who go down to silence;

18 it is we who extol the LORD,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the LORD.

I love the poetry in this psalm- the rhythm and repetition are strong, and carry an urgency to the message of praise. We must realize the Greatness of our God! He is not made in our image -- we are made in His. He is not bound by the limitations of physicality or time. He is limitless and powerful beyond compare.

It's silly to think that we should deserve any sort of glory or honor. All that is good is His, not ours! Let us thank our Mighty Lord each day for the blessings and gifts he so freely bestows to us. Had he given us life and nothing more, it would have been enough, yet he gives so much more!

Praise the Lord on High, that he may use you for His purposes and grant you His greatest fruits of Love! "May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 50:1-6 / "The Church Without Christ"

It seems that, once again, I've let myself go too long without posting a blog. It's almost spring break, and I got caught up in classes, work, and the final production stages of my band's EP. I really have no excuse, but at least I'm writing now! The break should provide some good down-time to relax, read, and meditate on the Word (as well as giving me a great opportunity to have fun with friends and take on some more creative projects!).

This morning, as I got up for my 8 AM Ear Training class, I was thinking about how I wanted to start my day right and let it be centered on God. As I considered what it meant to worship a Creator who is outside of time and always with me, I thought of a passage from Psalm 50. This excerpt from a "Psalm of Asaph" is an awe-riddled song of praise to the Masterful One who spoke our world into being. It urges us to realize what a Mighty God we serve,a nd to respect and honor Him. It's a truly great and inspiring piece of poetry -- I've been turning to the Psalms more and more lately, and I always find incredible truths and brilliant, beautiful words within their text.

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

1 The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.

3 Our God comes and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.

4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 "Gather to me my consecrated ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is judge.
Selah

Before ending this blog, I wanted to say a few more things. As I've said before, I'm in the midst of reading "Searching For God Knows What" by Donald Miller. Last night, I read about the need for Christ as a constant part of our lives, not as a figurehead for our own agendas or politics, but as the Perfect, Compassionate Savior who lived and died in order to bring salvation to mankind.

Flannery O'Connor, who may very well be my all-time favorite author, wrote a novel called Wise Blood in which a young man named Hazel Motes decides to start "The Church Without Christ," an organization in which the individual selects his own personal interpretation of the Bible as Gospel Truth. Guilt and sinfulness need not exist, and Jesus can be whatever you'd like him to be -- especially if you'd rather he didn't exist.

The book shows this "Church Without Christ" to be not only a ridiculous sham, but a frighteningly realistic picture of how we often attempt to conform the Word and Being of God to our own desires. I don't won't to live as if I'm in such a Church. I need to be constantly confronted with my own fallenness, my desperate need for my precious Savior.

The God who exists beyond our time and space, who summoned the earth into being with the word of creation, is very much alive. His Son, who interacts with us through the Living and Holy Spirit, is the one hope for our sinful and selfish souls. It is only through the death of our old selves that we can be restored. It is only through Christ's resurrection that we may learn to truly Live.

"Our God comes and will not be silent."

James 3:13-18 - the Lifeboat

I wanted to have a brief study today before heading out to meet some friends at a show. As you may know, James is one of my favorite books in the Bible. I was reading through it and a passage stuck out to me today.

In what we refer to as Chapter 3, Verses 13-18 of James' letter to the church, James speaks of the Wisdom of Heaven as it compares to earthly "wisdom"...


James 3: 13-18

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

All too often, we rive to impress others and appear professional, important, cool, or powerful. I've been reading Donald Miller's "Searching for God Knows What" lately, and he refers to this as the "lifeboat" mindset. We act as though we are passengers in a too-full lifeboat -- as if we must prove our worth so as not to be thrown overboard. Jesus, Miller insists, throws this ideal off balance, and tells us to humble ourselves and treat others with the utmost respect. I have a sneaking suspicion that James would agree with this wholeheartedly.

In this part of his letter, James cautions us not to let seeds of envy or selfish ambition grow within our hearts. We were not made to compete or hate. Rather, we were created to be beings of love and peace, worshiping in unity the Magnificent One who created us.

This is something to drill into our heads, to come back to time and time again. As long as we forget who we are and what we're really made for, we need to be continually reminded of how we ought to live. May we turn over the lifeboat and seek true Wisdom! We are not saved by our own righteousness, but by the Life Himself.

A Beautiful Snowy Day: Psalm 92

There's about 5 inches of snow on there ground. I'm at my house in Brentwood, here to work in the studio and be with my family. My brother and many of his friends are having a great time right now sledding down our big hill -- I'm definitely joining them soon.

It looks beautiful outside, as if the entire world were covered with giant white pillows. I have a strong fondness for snow, especially since we rarely see it here. It makes me feel comforted, happy, and filled with a childlike excitement. I remember drinking hot cocoa and celebrating school cancellations (too bad this snow didn't come a few days earlier to cancel a class or two at Belmont!), and going sledding all day.

In thinking about the beauty of the snow, I wanted to find something from scripture that matched how I felt. I've felt very inspired by the Psalms lately, and their poetic style seemed to fit, so I looked through them until I found one that said a lot of what I'm feeling today. It's also quite fitting for today, because it is indeed the original Sabbath day, and the recurring theme of music coincides with my work here in the studio.

Psalm 92

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to your name, O Most High,

2 to proclaim your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,

3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.

4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

5 How great are your works, O LORD,
how profound your thoughts!

6 The senseless man does not know,
fools do not understand,

7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be forever destroyed.

8 But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

9 For surely your enemies, O LORD,
surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.

10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
fine oils have been poured upon me.

11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

13 planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,

15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."

Truly, our Lord is worthy of the highest praise we can give. His power, beauty, and wisdom are beyond compare or comprehension. I will sing for joy at the wonderful things he has done for me, and in admiration at the works of His hands.

I Need Thee Every Hour

It's late, I'm tired, and things have been pretty crazy. Good, bad, absurd, and confusing events are going on all around me, and while I finish my take-home test I started singing this hymn (the band Anathallo does a fantastic performance of it)

I Need Thee Every Hour
by Annie Hawks

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessèd Son.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

Face to Face -1 Corinthians 13

Life is good. Driving back from seeing a great movie tonight (Be Kind Rewind) with my good friend Ryan, I felt a strong sense of happiness and peace. The feelings of tension and doubt that had plagued me earlier this week are gone, as are the stresses of midterms and the unrelenting pace of weekday life. It seems silly that I'd just now let this sink in, but maybe I was too caught up in my own affairs and pressures to realize it.

I am truly thankful for all that I am blessed with. My wonderful and loving Grandmother (who, along with my Granddaddy, lives in my family's home in Brentwood), often asks me if I take the time to truly count my blessings and thank God for all that I've been given. I tried to count them tonight, and felt awed at how much I've been given. I realized that even if I was naked, hungry, and isolated in a barren land, there would still be an infinite amount of thanks to be offered to the Father who Loves me, because of how deep and powerful that Love is.

As a creative person, I understand the joy and pride that comes from seeing something good come from one's own work. In that sense, I have the smallest taste of the love of my Creator, which beams down upon each one of us -- his beautiful and beloved ones.

With the sacrificial death of His only Son, our broken images became a true and perfect reflection of their creator, and though at this moment we can only see "as through a mirror dimly," we shall soon see our completed selves face to face with God.

I feel this great hope and promise that rises within me, calling me to worship and praise the Mighty One who ordained me for his Purpose. There is nothing more exciting to me than this thought -- that I am special, adored, and made to accomplish something truly important for the sake of the Lord I long to serve! The family, friends, talents, and even the material gifts I've been undeservingly blessed with should not be taken for granted, but should be cause for praise every second.

1 Corinthians 13

Love

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

May I live in a continual state of thankfulness, overflowing with Love as a more perfect embodiment of these verses. Let me count my blessings until I can count no more, and celebrate the Father who has gifted me with so much. Hallelujah to our Lord!