Two songs that have really spoken to me recently...can you find the underlying theme here?
Redemption is waiting at your doorstep
He is begging you to let him in now
You can put all of it off again
But where's it gonna get you in the end?
The time is now so maybe you should think things out,
Yea, take some time and think about it now.
This is the only chance to do something about it (something about it)
And don't you put it off (cause you can't live without it)
Cause the time is now
And take your life back with a vengeance
For the first time you cannot have true love
Promise me you'll never sleep again
Cause until you find the answers there's no rest.
To put to death the life you've lived in doubt
I'll show you all the things you've heard about
This is the only chance to do something about it (something about it)
Don't you put it off (cause you can't live without it)
You are on the verge
Let go
Go on staring at the light
If you let go and just believe
You won't make a liar out of me
Come try and show me what you see
What I have is what you need
This is the only chance to do something about it (something about it)
And don't you put it off (cause you can't live without it)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve wandered so aimless, life filled with sin
I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
I’ve walked in darkness, clouds covered me
I had no idea where the way out could be
Then came the sunrise and rolled back the night
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
Just like a blind man I wandered alone
Worries and fear I claimed for my own
Then like a blind man who God gave back his sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light
When death takes me down and I breath here no more
My anthem will sound on that eternal shore
When I join with the angels in heaven on high
Singing “Praise the Lord, I saw the light”
Home, Foo Fighters; Including My Most Needed Confessions
I wish I were with you, I couldn't stay
Every direction leads me away
Pray for tomorrow, but for today
All I want is to be home
Stand in the mirror, you look the same
Just looking for shelter, from the cold and the pain
Someone to cover, safe from the rain
All I want is to be home
Echoes and silence, patience and grace
All of these moments I'll never replace
Fear of my heart, absence of faith
All I want is to be home
People I've loved, I have no regrets
Some I remember, some I forget
Some of them living, some of them dead
All I want is to be home...
I heard this song tonight on ER and it just seemed to touch me. Yes, I understand the Foo Fighters are not a Christian band, but who cares? God uses non-religious and secular evidence to bring glory back to His name.
I'm in this place in life where it feels like I just can't escape. I seem to be holding onto my sin and myself, not letting God change me into the man He wants me to be. I am just tired of it and I want to come home...just like the ER episode was about.
Abbey had made a mistake by sleeping with another man while she was drunk, a sin which she easily falls into as an alcoholic. So, after making the mistake, her husband comes home from Croatia and she thinks that just because he's home, everything will fall back into place. She had been helping a patient who's father was a parapalegic. Abbey had been distracted by her guilt and temptations and had let it affect her work.
As she apologized to the father near the end of the episode, she made a profound statement..."we all make mistakes; it's just that we have to learn how to not make the same one twice." By coming to this realization, Abbey made us examine the inner workings of humans and of God's grace for us. God is incapable of hating us as individuals. He does, however, hate the sins we commit. So, by Christ's death on the cross, we are now able to find salvation from our sins and forgiveness in God's eyes, which as humans we could not possibly have gained from a perfect God.
Forgiveness does not entail perfection. It is inevitable that we should fail, because we are mere humans. However, that gives us no right to keep on living in sin. Forgiveness, rather, entails striving for perfection and admitting that our lives, motives, and actions are inadequate to meet the needs of admittance into heaven.
So, I come now before God and my fellow man, broken, tired, and wanting to return home...God forgive me! Forgive me for forsaking you and for thinking that I can do this alone. Forevermore I will strive for perfection in all aspects and will completely lean on you as my foundation and rock through all my trials, until the time you finally lead me home...oh what a day that will be!
Every direction leads me away
Pray for tomorrow, but for today
All I want is to be home
Stand in the mirror, you look the same
Just looking for shelter, from the cold and the pain
Someone to cover, safe from the rain
All I want is to be home
Echoes and silence, patience and grace
All of these moments I'll never replace
Fear of my heart, absence of faith
All I want is to be home
People I've loved, I have no regrets
Some I remember, some I forget
Some of them living, some of them dead
All I want is to be home...
I heard this song tonight on ER and it just seemed to touch me. Yes, I understand the Foo Fighters are not a Christian band, but who cares? God uses non-religious and secular evidence to bring glory back to His name.
I'm in this place in life where it feels like I just can't escape. I seem to be holding onto my sin and myself, not letting God change me into the man He wants me to be. I am just tired of it and I want to come home...just like the ER episode was about.
Abbey had made a mistake by sleeping with another man while she was drunk, a sin which she easily falls into as an alcoholic. So, after making the mistake, her husband comes home from Croatia and she thinks that just because he's home, everything will fall back into place. She had been helping a patient who's father was a parapalegic. Abbey had been distracted by her guilt and temptations and had let it affect her work.
As she apologized to the father near the end of the episode, she made a profound statement..."we all make mistakes; it's just that we have to learn how to not make the same one twice." By coming to this realization, Abbey made us examine the inner workings of humans and of God's grace for us. God is incapable of hating us as individuals. He does, however, hate the sins we commit. So, by Christ's death on the cross, we are now able to find salvation from our sins and forgiveness in God's eyes, which as humans we could not possibly have gained from a perfect God.
Forgiveness does not entail perfection. It is inevitable that we should fail, because we are mere humans. However, that gives us no right to keep on living in sin. Forgiveness, rather, entails striving for perfection and admitting that our lives, motives, and actions are inadequate to meet the needs of admittance into heaven.
So, I come now before God and my fellow man, broken, tired, and wanting to return home...God forgive me! Forgive me for forsaking you and for thinking that I can do this alone. Forevermore I will strive for perfection in all aspects and will completely lean on you as my foundation and rock through all my trials, until the time you finally lead me home...oh what a day that will be!
On the Nature of Humanity
So, today we had a heated debate in British literature about human nature. We started speaking about freedom of the press and its application today because of Milton's "Areopagitica." Somehow the discussion turned into a debate about human nature. It made me start thinking...what is the nature of humans?
Well, there are three trains of thought: human beings are inherently good, human beings are inherently neutral, and human beings are inherently evil. All three have good points for and against, but I feel as though one must be true based off of Biblical, experential, and secular proofs. Let me expand on my idea: humans are inherently, or naturally, evil.
Let's start by establishing the idea that we can all agree that humans are capable of both good and evil, almost equally in some areas, and in others in a more lop-sided way. Humans are not perfect, and never can be (except Christ, which is a completely different discussion). Therefore, we can establish the understanding that all humans are potentially good and potentially evil, which all people can agree on with little debate.
Next, we must determine if the natural state of humans is chaos or order, evil or good. Take a child, for our example. A child (until a certain age) is innocent and cannot comprehend the difference between good and evil. They must be taught and disciplined in order to distinguish between the two. Do we teach a child how to do evil or how to do good? That is the question. By examining a child's inherent habits, one can see that we must teach a child how to do good, not how to do evil.
For example, if one child brings a toy car over to play with another child, it does not take very long until the second child begins to covet what he does not have. He tries to steal the other child's toy car and is therefore doing evil. No one tells him that he is doing wrong, or even that there will be consequences. He only does what he knows how to do and doesn't analyze his actions. Children are innocent, not being socialized or affected by their surroundings, and they are therefore the most natural state of humanity that can be found.
So, even if the child doesn't know that what he is doing is wrong, does that make it wrong? The answer is yes, of course. If a person grew up in a society where morality was not taught, or better yet, where the good was taught and not the bad, and the person grew angry with another person and killed him/her, would that not be wrong? It's like this..."If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Of course, because that is the natural state of things. That's why they are called NATURAL LAWS.
Let me pose another question: is it easier to do wrong or right? Is it easier to tell a lie to someone in order to gain an advantage over them? Or is it easier to apologize after hurting someone by lying? The lie takes less effort and feels natural at the time, while the apology is harder but is more beneficial in the long run.
I know I have come to this conclusion in a roundabout way, but it's the best I could do. Post any comments with thoughts, refutations, or revelations from God (jk) that you might have.
Well, there are three trains of thought: human beings are inherently good, human beings are inherently neutral, and human beings are inherently evil. All three have good points for and against, but I feel as though one must be true based off of Biblical, experential, and secular proofs. Let me expand on my idea: humans are inherently, or naturally, evil.
Let's start by establishing the idea that we can all agree that humans are capable of both good and evil, almost equally in some areas, and in others in a more lop-sided way. Humans are not perfect, and never can be (except Christ, which is a completely different discussion). Therefore, we can establish the understanding that all humans are potentially good and potentially evil, which all people can agree on with little debate.
Next, we must determine if the natural state of humans is chaos or order, evil or good. Take a child, for our example. A child (until a certain age) is innocent and cannot comprehend the difference between good and evil. They must be taught and disciplined in order to distinguish between the two. Do we teach a child how to do evil or how to do good? That is the question. By examining a child's inherent habits, one can see that we must teach a child how to do good, not how to do evil.
For example, if one child brings a toy car over to play with another child, it does not take very long until the second child begins to covet what he does not have. He tries to steal the other child's toy car and is therefore doing evil. No one tells him that he is doing wrong, or even that there will be consequences. He only does what he knows how to do and doesn't analyze his actions. Children are innocent, not being socialized or affected by their surroundings, and they are therefore the most natural state of humanity that can be found.
So, even if the child doesn't know that what he is doing is wrong, does that make it wrong? The answer is yes, of course. If a person grew up in a society where morality was not taught, or better yet, where the good was taught and not the bad, and the person grew angry with another person and killed him/her, would that not be wrong? It's like this..."If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Of course, because that is the natural state of things. That's why they are called NATURAL LAWS.
Let me pose another question: is it easier to do wrong or right? Is it easier to tell a lie to someone in order to gain an advantage over them? Or is it easier to apologize after hurting someone by lying? The lie takes less effort and feels natural at the time, while the apology is harder but is more beneficial in the long run.
I know I have come to this conclusion in a roundabout way, but it's the best I could do. Post any comments with thoughts, refutations, or revelations from God (jk) that you might have.
Solution, Hillsong United
It is not a human right
To stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need
It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet
Singing Hey Now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey Now
As we hold to our confession
Woah-oh-oh, God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah
Higher than a circumstance
Your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest line and dollar signs
Your love is all we need
Only you can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only you can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a father to the fatherless
Our savior and our king
We will be your hands, we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We will be your hands , we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We will run we will run
We will be your hands we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be your light
We will be your light
To stare not fight
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find
The Mercy for the need
It is not too far a cry
To much to try
To help the least of these
Politics will not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet
Singing Hey Now
Fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey Now
As we hold to our confession
Woah-oh-oh, God be the solution
Woah-oh-oh
We will be Your hands and be Your feet.
Yeah, yeah
Higher than a circumstance
Your promise stands
Your love for all to see
Higher than protest line and dollar signs
Your love is all we need
Only you can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see
Erase complete the sinners past
And set the captives free
Only you can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing
Be a father to the fatherless
Our savior and our king
We will be your hands, we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We will be your hands , we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place, we will be your light
We will be your light
We will run we will run
We will be your hands we will be your feet
We will run this race for the least of these
In the darkest place we will be your light
We will be your light
"Be Obscure Clearly" - E.B. White
I had to go help out with my little brother's fourth grade class today. I taught them how to write from a prompt, how to get that first good idea from the many floating around in their heads, and how to elaborate on their ideas that they came up with. We did some free-writing, clustering, and brain-storming until something donned on me...I love to write!
"Really, David?" you may ask. "Well that is the world's greatest and most controversial discovery since sliced bread!" (too cliche?) Well, thank you readers for that sarcastic comment...but it's really true.
I asked the kids why we write. What is the purpose of writing things down on a piece of paper, stringing along words into phrases and sentences and paragraphs and essays? I had to answer this question myself, because what kind of teacher goes up in front of his or her students and asks a question that they themselves have no answer to? A bad kind. I thought about why I, David, me, personally, like to write and my answer...there are too many reasons.
I write because I can.
I write because I need to.
I write to express myself.
I write to glorify my Father.
I write because it's easier than talking about stuff sometimes.
I write because I'm gifted at it.
I write because I suck at it.
I write because it makes no sense, and all the sense in the world.
I write because I'm told to.
I write because no one tells me to.
I write to feel.
I write to escape.
I write to find myself and lose myself at the same time.
I write...
"OK, David, you must be going crazy." you may be saying with wrinkles forming on your forehead. "How can you be gifted at something and yet still suck? How can you make no sense, but also all the sense in the world?" Good questions. The answer is...the answer is...what is the answer?
Well, let's see. We are all imperfect. Correct? So, that means we have indefinitely screwed up before, right? Well, I may have gotten a lot right in writing, maybe even only made one mistake ever (extremely hypothetically). But, it only takes one mistake to make you imperfect in that subject. Whether it be lying, or helping, or basketball, we have all screwed up in every aspect of our lives. Therefore, we eternally suck, no matter how gifted we are at something. There is always someone better than us out there in the world at something...and we'll never find them.
I may have come to that conclusion in a roundabout way, but that was my goal, I think. The truth is, writing is now an integral part of me. I've been published once, and I may never be published again. And if I'm not, oh well...I can write about it.
"Really, David?" you may ask. "Well that is the world's greatest and most controversial discovery since sliced bread!" (too cliche?) Well, thank you readers for that sarcastic comment...but it's really true.
I asked the kids why we write. What is the purpose of writing things down on a piece of paper, stringing along words into phrases and sentences and paragraphs and essays? I had to answer this question myself, because what kind of teacher goes up in front of his or her students and asks a question that they themselves have no answer to? A bad kind. I thought about why I, David, me, personally, like to write and my answer...there are too many reasons.
I write because I can.
I write because I need to.
I write to express myself.
I write to glorify my Father.
I write because it's easier than talking about stuff sometimes.
I write because I'm gifted at it.
I write because I suck at it.
I write because it makes no sense, and all the sense in the world.
I write because I'm told to.
I write because no one tells me to.
I write to feel.
I write to escape.
I write to find myself and lose myself at the same time.
I write...
"OK, David, you must be going crazy." you may be saying with wrinkles forming on your forehead. "How can you be gifted at something and yet still suck? How can you make no sense, but also all the sense in the world?" Good questions. The answer is...the answer is...what is the answer?
Well, let's see. We are all imperfect. Correct? So, that means we have indefinitely screwed up before, right? Well, I may have gotten a lot right in writing, maybe even only made one mistake ever (extremely hypothetically). But, it only takes one mistake to make you imperfect in that subject. Whether it be lying, or helping, or basketball, we have all screwed up in every aspect of our lives. Therefore, we eternally suck, no matter how gifted we are at something. There is always someone better than us out there in the world at something...and we'll never find them.
I may have come to that conclusion in a roundabout way, but that was my goal, I think. The truth is, writing is now an integral part of me. I've been published once, and I may never be published again. And if I'm not, oh well...I can write about it.
Fall in Line, Seven Places
If you're sitting down on your feet
Let's wake up those who are asleep
March on, left to right to left again
Our feet in sync to this rhythym
Conducted by the hand of the saving One
Report, fall in line, big mission with little time
Salute, stand tall, with one voice answers the call
Hear us say Jesus (We've got something to say)
Where are we while the world caves in?
Are we showing love or hate, are we enemy or friend
What was black and white has now turned grey
Let's right this wrong with love today
Stand our ground but with a helping hand
Hallelujah!
So sing it out now, with one voice loud and clear
Sing hallelujah, for our Redemption's near
It's time for us to stand up and speak the truth of His love
It's time to let the world know we've got something to say
It's time for us to lift our hands until the world understands
Jesus the reigning King is alive and well today.
Let's wake up those who are asleep
March on, left to right to left again
Our feet in sync to this rhythym
Conducted by the hand of the saving One
Report, fall in line, big mission with little time
Salute, stand tall, with one voice answers the call
Hear us say Jesus (We've got something to say)
Where are we while the world caves in?
Are we showing love or hate, are we enemy or friend
What was black and white has now turned grey
Let's right this wrong with love today
Stand our ground but with a helping hand
Hallelujah!
So sing it out now, with one voice loud and clear
Sing hallelujah, for our Redemption's near
It's time for us to stand up and speak the truth of His love
It's time to let the world know we've got something to say
It's time for us to lift our hands until the world understands
Jesus the reigning King is alive and well today.
Open Wide, Future of Forestry
You have walked so deep a canyon
Deep a canyon now
In the end you know that you've been found
You're found
Heaven sure fell hard upon you
Hard upon you now
In the end you know that you've been found
You're found
Oh, you belong now
Oh, you are free
So open wide the arms you're given
You're too alive to just stand still
Open wide your heart as you breathe in
You're too alive to just stay here
You wondered how your searching heart
Your searching heart would roam
Coming to the place that you'd call home
You're home
You're shaken up
Awaken
You gotta live, you gotta love
Deep a canyon now
In the end you know that you've been found
You're found
Heaven sure fell hard upon you
Hard upon you now
In the end you know that you've been found
You're found
Oh, you belong now
Oh, you are free
So open wide the arms you're given
You're too alive to just stand still
Open wide your heart as you breathe in
You're too alive to just stay here
You wondered how your searching heart
Your searching heart would roam
Coming to the place that you'd call home
You're home
You're shaken up
Awaken
You gotta live, you gotta love
Soccer Practices, Dance Recitals, and Dentists' Appointments
Did you ever see that movie, "The Phantom Toll Booth"? This normal kid finds an extraordinary box in his room and it turns into a toll booth to another demension. He drives in and turns into a cartoon (every kid's dream) and finds himself in this fantastical world with strange characters and animals. Somewhat early on, as he is driving along, minding his own business, he takes a wrong turn and finds himself in a place called the "Doldrums." It is a place full of do-nothings and have-nots, a horrible waiting place where time seems to slow to a standstill and you have not a care in the world...which can become dangerous. It reminds me of a part in one of Dr. Seuss's books:
"The Waiting Place……for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come,
or a plane to go
or the mail to come,
or the rain to go
or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break
or a string of pearls,
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting."
It's a horrid place to be in, but we all have to be there at one time or another. People wait for their lives to get spiced up, to get knocked off their feet, for a change, when in reality, what they were waiting for was already in their lives to begin with. That's another mistake people make: looking into the future rather than acknowledging that what they truly want and need is in the here and now.
Our culture has become so dependent on time and the go, go, go mentality that it's easy to get caught up in the moment, to look too far ahead. Heck, I'm guilty of it a lot of the time. I fail to look around me and really be thankful for what I have been given, and I begin to want a change because my life is boring and stagnant. No one has any right to say that life is boring and stagnant (except if you're sitting in Algebra class, but that's another story). There is just no excuse. Life is vibrant, colorful, and energizing. Don't believe me? Watch a sunrise, or dive into a waterfall, or play with a butterfly, or smell a flower, or breathe. Just slow down for God's sake!
God has so gifted us with so many gifts of life that we are always looking to him for change, and sometimes he's telling us to smell the roses...literally! Maybe the waiting place isn't that bad after all. I mean, it seems like it can get boring, but in reality, we need to take one look around and thank God for the short, fleeting chance he has given us to admire His creation before we have to go back to a routine of soccer practices, dance recitals, and dentists' appointments...
"The Waiting Place……for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come,
or a plane to go
or the mail to come,
or the rain to go
or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break
or a string of pearls,
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting."
It's a horrid place to be in, but we all have to be there at one time or another. People wait for their lives to get spiced up, to get knocked off their feet, for a change, when in reality, what they were waiting for was already in their lives to begin with. That's another mistake people make: looking into the future rather than acknowledging that what they truly want and need is in the here and now.
Our culture has become so dependent on time and the go, go, go mentality that it's easy to get caught up in the moment, to look too far ahead. Heck, I'm guilty of it a lot of the time. I fail to look around me and really be thankful for what I have been given, and I begin to want a change because my life is boring and stagnant. No one has any right to say that life is boring and stagnant (except if you're sitting in Algebra class, but that's another story). There is just no excuse. Life is vibrant, colorful, and energizing. Don't believe me? Watch a sunrise, or dive into a waterfall, or play with a butterfly, or smell a flower, or breathe. Just slow down for God's sake!
God has so gifted us with so many gifts of life that we are always looking to him for change, and sometimes he's telling us to smell the roses...literally! Maybe the waiting place isn't that bad after all. I mean, it seems like it can get boring, but in reality, we need to take one look around and thank God for the short, fleeting chance he has given us to admire His creation before we have to go back to a routine of soccer practices, dance recitals, and dentists' appointments...
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