The Byrds

I'm a huge classic rock fan! Today I was listening to some music via Pandora and it was on my classic rock station. I was rocking out to music and cleaning, when all of a sudden something hit me....not literally. But anywho, I quit cleaning and did a bit of research. The song I was listening to back in the 60's became a number one single in the U.S. and is still very popular and played all over. Why was this shocking to me...well take a listen.

The lyrics to the song are adapted straight out of Ecclesiastes 3! Don't believe me?! Go read it yourself! It is awesome! It just got me to thinking...even though this song is considered secular, it has biblical lyrics. People (believers and non-believers alike) loved the song...hence, why it became a number one single. it just showed me how everyone truly does have a inner passion for God, even if they don't know about it. And, the bible is relevant even today.

Think about it, there is a time for everything. A time to be happy, sad, glad, mad, anxious, everything. Expressing emotions is good, even the bible agrees with that. We just shouldn't do anything sinful, like rebel against our parents when we are mad. Anyways, I just thought that was so cool. I also liked how the video had clips from Forrest Gump (which by the way is the topic for tomorrow.) The story truly shows all seasons of emotions (and it's hilarious!)

Have a great Friday!

The Least

Happy Thursday! Take a moment to just watch this video

I was going to talk about something totally different today until I saw this. It hit me, because it reminded me of me and almost every other church goer. We go to church, get extremely moved by what the pastor says, chat for ever with friends, either go home or go to someone from church's home, completely forget what the pastor talked about just a few hours earlier, and continue on with our lives.

In the video you see all these people with signs. It reminds me of Brandon Heath's song Give Me Your Eyes (youtube it if you have time.) We listen to the pastor preach about loving others, telling others about God. But when we fail to apply the sermon's to our lives it is meaningless. There are so many people out there that need God's love, that need to be loved and reached out to! God says, "whatever you did for the least of these, you did to me" Matthew 25:40. So instead of just playing church and listening to sermons, live them out. Let them move you and impact your life, then go and share that love with others who need it!

Try to do something, even if it's small, just to show others (including strangers) God's love and that you care!

Yadah, Yadah, Yadah

Yadah. A synonym for the way the teacher on Peanuts/Charlie Brown talks right?! Yup. But it also is a Hebrew word. It means praise. OOOOHHH...big deal right?! Right!

Today at NCU chapel it was entirely worship led by Jonathan Lee. He is a great guy, truly passionate about God. He was the one who told me about Yadah. It is great! Yadah literally means to worship God with and extended hand. Jonathan also had something else to say to make that word even more impactful. We should reach our arms out to God in praise (Yadah) to praise him for future blessings. That really hit me.

It tends to be easy to praise God when life is going well, but it is also easy to forget God and think you are doing good on your own. When times are rough it forces us to rely on God more, but it is also harder to praise. Today we focused on Yadah to praise God for what He will do in the future. Putting our trust in Him that He will make things better.

Here's a few verses where praise means yadah:

"I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." -Psalm 69:30

"I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." -Psalm 63:5

So even if it is rough, spend time with God. Lift your hands up to Him. Give your situation to Him. Praise Him for all the wonderful things He will do. That's when you give God the most ability to do great things.

And just remember that if God has done something awesome in your life, He will continue to do awesome things and bless you in amazing ways! (Philippians 1:6)

100 Years

Sorry I haven't posted in ages.

My good friend Jillian Schmid spoke last Wednesday night at church. She did a talk based on Nickelback's Saving Me. It was really great. She talked about how God tells us to number our days. I'm kinda gonna go off of what she said. First check out this video:

I absolutely love this video. It also reminded me of what Jillian had to say.

God has determined our days. Job 14:5 says, "A person's days are determined; you [God] have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed." And then in Psalm the idea is furthered, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). Now I can almost guarantee that none of us will live exactly 100 years. We don't know when we will die, we could die tomorrow or live for many years to come. However, what I think the writer of Psalm 90 was trying to say is that we should all live like we were dying (also a good song by Tim McGraw, check it out.) We should live life with no regrets.

Say you knew you were dying, would you have any regrets? Pslam 144:4 talks about how are lives are, "like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow." Our lives are only a millisecond in comparison to eternity. Are we going to make them matter? Instead of wasting time, live your life for God. Spread the Gospel every moment you get. Live for God.

Life is short, are you going to make it count?