GivMusic: Bluetree - God of this City

This video was made to share with as many people as possible the story of Bluetree and how they came up with the song God of this City. Aaron Boyd, one of the band members shares his thoughts and then an acoustic version of the song.

This is basically a movement that is happening right now to stop child trafficking. I am sincerely being constantly moved by people, groups, and believers who are standing up daily to fight against, support, and try to end something that has stirred their hearts.

This video starts out by sharing what we as a church could do by standing up together and fighting those things which stir our hearts. We serve a God who is still mighty and powerful, we sing of Him all the time, but when will we start living that way as well? He truly is the King above all Kings and the strength in the weakness, and there is a world that needs to know Him, needs to know that He is mighty to save and loves them more than anything. This band wrote this song as a cry of belief for something they are believing will come to be. They know that there truly is no one like our God, it's time the rest of us joined in the same declaration and professed that greater things are yet to come in each city around this place we call earth, creation, our temporary home.


Here is another video by Aaron sharing his heart and the stirring he has within in....



Wow! How does that make you feel....I know it makes me want to join in the cause!

As Aaron says, churches all over the world are sharing the song and story behind God of this City....so what can you do.....just as we see in the following video, simply go out and start sharing the cause with someone else, in your church, your job, at school, with friends and family.....get stirred and do something about it!

Do we accept the dare?

So I read this blog of a person I would like to meet but have yet to....the thing I relate to so much of what he states in his blog, and his most recent post had this video in it, which honestly left me saying wow, that's a tough prayer, but a necessary one if what we are after is a life of righteousness, holiness, wisdom, and Christ-likeness.

How does this video make you feel?

I know it caused me to be stirred.....



from http://tylermiller.tumblr.com/

This life is not about us

Today I went to a special event at my local church titled SOLO.....upon first thought, you might think, hmmm, must have been an event about being alone, about the lonely road, or maybe even about offering up our best solo from the song of our life, haha, in a way, you almost got it, it was an event for people who consider themselves single, although, it was also open to anyone who wanted to know a little bit more about living a life that is not all alone. The music was great, we worshipped, we sang, we rejoiced, and then came the teaching.

Now at Brentwood, just about everyone who teaches has the same type of practical, applicable approach, and today was Tim Geisland's turn. I had the privilege of meeting him this past Sunday, and today was my second encounter with him and it was even better than the first. He is definitely a guy most of us can learn from. In his teaching he spoke about the fact that we are a chosen people, that we belong to God. From this passage he explained his desire to see the people at Brentwood and around the community and church of God to be able to come together as a family and really learn to be there for one another so that no one person will go about life feeling alone, feeling solo. One of the major things that stood out to me from his teaching was a quote that said that anything we do not do for someone, will affect someone (don't quote me on that one, but it was something to this extent, hehe). Honestly, when it first came up on the screen, I wondered to myself, well I guess that goes because of the ripple effect of life, that anytime we do something, it can affect another in one way or another, and more often than not it does. But when Tim explained it, he stated the importance of this quote within the context of the church. He told of how one person not committing him/herself to another could eventually end up effecting someone in Thailand or El Salvador because the lack of relationship and communion among the church people usually ends up in a lack of relationship and action in the things the church is trying to do outside of the common box. In other words, if there is no one that I am committed to praying for, encouraging, listening, and struggling for, then that means there is potentially someone who is lacking of good communion with a fellow brother or sister in Christ. My being able to commit to another shows the love of Christ through me to that person, who can then turn to another and show them the same love of Christ. It's like a web, that keeps knitting together as one part is completed. Christ led by example in showing his love to all, and commanding us to do the same. However, the extent we can reach as mere humans is often limited because we ourselves are limited. But the thing is that in order to follow through with God's command to us, all we need to do is reach out to at least one person we will commit to and really push for communion with. When I actually got this, when I understood what Tim was explaining, I thought to myself, wow, like when I feel a burden in my heart for a certain person I have met, know, or want to know, and I just feel the need to pray for them.....that is me committing to that person; to pray for them, to offer encouragement to, and to be a friend for. I love how Tim stated that oftentimes we do not commit because we cannot get past the awkwardness of the initial meet and greets, or we cannot go without second guessing the intentions of this stranger who is suddenly talking to us, especially when you are single. I know that as a single, I always used to think of what it meant when a guy talked to me, whether he was interested or not, etc. But we need to get past that, we need to start being true to ourselves and to God and just move past the awkwardness and right into the caring and loving for one another.

I believe it was the Beatles who said it best when they said "All you need is love"....because if we could all learn to love one another with the love of Christ, which is a sincere, pure, innocent, no double-standards kind of love, then I honestly think the world would be a better place. How many people suffer from insecurity because they want to be friends with someone they met without secondary intentions, but have been somewhat rejected because their niceness was taken for flirtiness or he/she is hitting on me type of thing? How many people have given up on trusting others because everytime they make a friend, it ends up that person didn't really care to be your friend, it was just a in the moment type of thing? Or what about the people who cannot stand to go to singles events because they always end up turning into meat markets, a competition of who can be the flashiest...? What it all comes down to is that we really do need to ask God as Brandon Heath says "Give me your eyes"...there are so many people out there just wanting a friend, wanting a helpful hand, wanting an ear to listen, wanting a shoulder to lean on, a person to offer a simple hello, or a hug on a bad day....there are hearts that are feeling solo all around us...when are we going to wake up and realize that this life is not about us. We are not here to pamper ourselves, we are here to share the love that we so vividly know, that we have the privilege of understanding, that we know will never leave us empty. There are so many crying out for someone to care for them, not in a lovey dovey type of way, just in a sincere, Christ like way. When will we pick up on the fact that who cares if you feel uncomfortable, that you feel awkward going to talk to someone you don't know, that you don't want to appear as a creeper or stalker by trying to friend a random person.....if you are feeling the nudge then ask God to lead you with boldness. Matter of fact, start asking God to nudge you more often, to get you out of your comfort zone that you may begin showing His love unconditionally to all who need it. No one should have to go about this life solo, we were created in the image of a triune God, a God who interacts with Himself and shows us time and time again how He works through relationship....seriously, I think it's time we started living in the same way!

Ready

For the past few weeks, I can honestly say that I have been having a lot of things running through my mind....and not just any little things, sometimes great, big, major things. I mean I am sure it happens to the best of us, but for me it was honestly beginning to bug me a lot....I just didn't know how to deal with all that was going in and out of my mind. It seemed that there was so much flowing around, but so little concreteness to it all. What is one to do with that? Well, I did the only thing I know how to do whenever questions that seem to have no answer pop in my head...I went to God for a one on one. I was so frustrated today, it seemed like I was hitting some type of wall that I could no longer get past, not because I didn't want to, simply, because I was stuck. Those are honestly the worst...when you are stuck for a while and don't even really realize it, so you keep acting like everything is ok, but in reality you are only making things worst. Yes...this is how I felt---as if I was yelling, screaming for help from the inside out. But who can hear the groanings of our inner self....no one....only the one who created that being. Oftentimes when I find myself in these situations, I hold off for a bit hoping it will all just go away....that always ends in FAILURE though. This time, I chose to act before it got too bad. I went out to the park, stuffed my ears with my headphones, and began to walk. I am almost positive that as people walked by me with a smile on their faces, trying to be friendly, my face portrayed more of a confused, dazed, and distressed look that was anything but friendly. I mean I tried to smile back, but secretly I was just hoping I would not pass any people by because I was there on business. I had things bottling up and boiling inside of me that needed to be said, needed to be released, needed answers! Now when I want to release I usually jog, but when it's more of a conversation type of thing, a good long walk is what takes me because in a walk I look at all my surroundings and look for God in every detail I come across. And I talk, I talk away, usually silently, well this time I had a lot to say, a lot to ask, and a lot that I wanted to hear back. As always, God responded. As I walked and shared with Him how upset I was at living such a complacent life...I told Him everything. I told Him how tired I was of just not acting in life, of holding back from doing things or meeting people because of my fears. I let Him know how stirred I am from the many things that have presented themselves in my life over the past few months and also how I am ready to just take a leap...to jump out and just start living a purposeful life. Needless to say that God responded me with a song that said..."Hang on, hang on...I know you're hope is gone....hang on, hang on, sometimes the heartache makes you stronger." So simple, yet it spoke truth to my heart. In the song it talks about remembering the first time love turned us around, the first time we fell in love with grace, the day when we called out Jesus' name....I felt like God was telling me, hey, I understand what you are feeling, I understand you are tired of living in routine, but remember that time when you first fell in love with me....the promises I made you that I would be with you and that I had a special plan for your life....hang in there, because all this is is part of the heartache that makes you stronger. And let me tell you, that I have become stronger....I have become soooo much stronger. But I ma ready now....I am so ready to stop thinking selfishly of myself. Of asking God to give me what I want, what I need. It's time to come back to the beginning of it all....it's about time that I make it all about Him. With that said, I have decided that everything about me, everything I do, say, and am, I want it all to be about Him. I have a desire to meet other people, to engage in conversations of action, to inspire others and be inspired to take my place in the battlefield and finally charge at the front line. I am ready, and He now knows it, and I believe it!

Frustrations unleashed

I know it has been a little while, and I usually come on here and say something good...but there has been something that has been on my mind that has disturbed me, been stirring me, and that simply frustrates the heck out of me....

Have you ever been in the position where there was a person you really wanted to meet, someone whom you simply want to talk to that you think you could have a grand conversation with, someone you think you could get along with, or even someone you would like to get to know as a friend, but for one reason or another, it just seems so impossible for the two of you to ever meet....? That is a situation I feel I am currently in....and actually in more than one scenario.....I mean, it is really beginning to bug me that because of awkwardness that one is trying to avoid, one also chooses to sacrifice the possibility of a potential good thing. Because one does not want to be rejected, because one does not want to be looked at as weird, as a stalker, or creeper, one does not take risks in opening up and meeting people they really want to meet. Why is it that we feel we cannot just approach someone with innocent, pure intentions? Why is it that we are so afraid of rejection, when there is nothing to loose from the rejection of someone you don't even really know? Why is it that we are afraid of loosing something that we don't even have yet? I have no clue! But it bothers me that this is how many of us think and feel. We go about our lives living in a way that is restrained, limited, held back, and full of regrets. We do not take leaps that lead to high risks because we do not want to get hurt or dirty in any way. Yet, how will we ever discover new things, how will we ever uncover new friendships, new ideas, new conversations, new thoughts and encouragements, if we do not at least give it a chance? And what do I mean by chance, you may ask? Well, I am saying that I want to live a life without so much fear....I am so sick an tired of being afraid, of holding back only because I am afraid of what will happen, that it may not turn out the way I imagined.....so what? If it does not turn out that way, perhaps it will turn out better, does not God have the best intentions for our live if we are living under His guidance? Yes. But even in this, it takes work on our part, and it may take some rejection, but little by little we will discover what needs to be discovered, we will meet those we were truly destined to meet, and we will uncover truths we truly sought for. This is one of those complex but not really dilemmas. It's like you know you can just take the risk and talk to that person, but then at the same time, you are having an inner struggle with yourself, one way pulling towards taking the risk because you have nothing to really loose, the other pulling towards staying as far away as possible in order to not suffer. Life would just be so much easier if people saw things for what they simply are. If I am talking to you, that is it, I'm not hitting on you, not looking to bug you, not stalking you, simply want to get to know a potential friend. That's it. Life would be so much easier and so much better if we could all just trust one another to such a point. Perhaps one day we will revert to such pleasant times, but for now, I remain frustrated, turning only to God for comfort and understanding. Sorry, this was def more of vent, but I've got to unleash it somewhere, hehe!

We are all pieces in His chess game...

It is surprising how much one can learn from an old story when reading it again.....in my quiet time I always ask God to reveal Himself to me through his word that I might understand something new, and He never fails in doing so. I was reading the story of Joseph today and man oh man, this guy was amazing, there is just so much to learn from him. He is the kind of person that suffered so much, yet, God blessed him tremendously. One of the things I noticed today was when the story tells about Joseph going to see the Pharoah in order to interpret his dreams. At this moment I realized something....Joseph started out as a dreamer...rememeber when he had his own dreams and shared them with his family, but they didn't believe him, well no where in that part of the story does it emphasize that he was interpreting those dreams, cause he had no idea what they really meant. But when we get to the part about Pharoahs dreams, Joseph first states that He is not the one who can interpret, but it is God through him that will explain what the dreams mean. So he is not taking any credit for this gift.....but yeah, he started out as a dreamer, then God enabled him to interpret dreams, and as if that were not enough, he also gives him the wisdom to be a strategic planner. Once Joseph explains the dreams he offers Pharoah a suggestion on how to deal with the issues that are coming. Amazing! So what is the main point to learn from this story....first of all that all things happen in God's timing. Sometimes I find myself in the same position as Joseph.....waiting for my dreams to come true, waiting for the promises of God in my life to shine through, but I struggle with it, because in the midst of God asking me to patiently wait on Him and His plans, I begin to fidget because I want action now....I can learn a thing or two from Joseph..he not only waited and trusted in God but he lived life one day at a time and God opened doors for him left and right! Although the road to success was difficult and filled with pain, Joseph never turned his back on God, he never gave up on the hope of a better tomorrow. I need to learn to live like that. I need to learn to believe that God's plans will come to be, however, they will happen when He wants them to. Joseph was 30 when his time to shine came.....so who is to say I am getting older and nothing is happening....no, God is in control, He knows what is best for me, He knows that I am not ready yet, He is still preparing my heart from dreamer only status to a understander, interpreter, and doer. At the right time, God will accomplish His plan for me....in the meantime, all I need to do is wait, live life with no regrets, work and serve where ever I can to learn and grow, and then, when I am ready, God will make a move with me and I will be no longer just a pawn waiting, but a key piece in the game! Can't wait!

Life-Catch-Up Data Download

So I am aware that I have not written in quite some time, but what can I say, there has been a lot of other stuff filling up my days.....I know, I'm ashamed in a way that I have not made time to write out my thoughts being that I love doing it so much and that this is also a place where I get to vent out a bit. Anyways...I just got back from my trip to Gatlinburg, TN!!! Haha, me and Chelle went there for Spring Break...! Weird? Maybe....Fun? Absolutely the most fun I have had in a while!!! We did so much....We started out by having dinner Monday night at Bubba Gumps.......amazing! We had "I'm Stuffed Shrimp" and the Shrimp Sampler Platter...both were very good if you like shrimp. Later that night we walked around the strip and just laughed at all the country and redneck things in sight. Then we went home, started watching Across the Universe - one of my favorite movies....and went to bed. On Tuesday we both got up early cause it was big adventure day. We set out toward Hartford, TN, drove the Parkway and enjoyed the mountain side scenary. Upon arriving in Hartford, we picked up some wetsuits at Big Creek Expeditions and then hit the road with a group of 12 other colleged kids for the edge of Pigeon River where we went white water rafting for 2 hours! Fun...yes! As soon as we got out of our wetsuits and into our shorts and tee, we ran over to Hummer Tours where we jumped on an Army Hummer and headed for the mountains where we first enjoyed a safe four-wheelin experience and then waited for rescue for half an hour after teh transmission blew out because of a huge dip in the mud....after our little trip in the woods we got some grub at a little cafe down the road, ate some chili and a burger that both of us would later regret eating....When we got to the hotel, all we wanted was to chillax, so we hit the hot-tub and shower, then continued watching a movie until we fell asleep...On Wednesday, we actually got to sleep in a little, which ended up sucking a bit because we missed the maid service, which at the time did not seem bad, but would later hit us hard (i'll explain in a bit) I fixed the bed and put up the bathroom towels myself in an attempt to make up for the lack of maids, haha! Then we head to town where we walked around, hit up the Star Cars and Wax Museum, which by the way, was wicked cool, went up the Skylift, where I initially freaked out at the realization of the height and lack of safe-buckling, then shopped around for a while until it was time to go get ready for dinner. Tired as we were, when we got back to the cabin, we sat and watched another movie to pass the time and chill a bit, then got ready and walked to the Hard Rock Cafe, where I walked out a new VIP member by the end of the night (so if you ever need to cut in line, hit me up, lol)<---insert sarcasm here, but actually, I really can help you cut in line....that's the thing about VIP. It was a good night overall, a bit nippy to walk back in, but overall fun, well except for the part that hit up hard later on because we missed the maid service...yeah, so we ran out of toilet paper, went to the front desk to get some, found out the office was locked and no one appeared to be there, and it was past midnight, so everything in town was closed or closing......yup.....talk about suckkkkky, luckily we called the front desk (thank you smartness for kicking in) and found out someone was in the office but not in a visible place, went back over there and got some flippin TP.....so to say, the night ended well. Thursday we got up with the intention of checking out at 11 am, then hitting the strip for some coffee before getting on our way. We did get coffee at our fav little spto "The Mayfield Shop" and also had a footlong corndog, yes, you read it right....foot long....let's just say Michelle set me up and took a bad pic of me.....check facebook for that hah! As we were on our way out, we then noticed an Old Time photo shop and Chelle insisted that we take a pic.....so we went in and ended our time in Gatlinburg by taking what I like to call a "Ho" pic, lol! They look pretty hot, but it was just silly, haha! Aw, the memories....you will never be forgotten!!!

My next post will probably not be about my days....this was def just a catch up on my life post.....
PAZ