“As Is” {31 Days of Imperfection – Day 10}

What a great reminder… God takes us ‘as is’!

AS IS

by Peder Eide
Moses was a stutterer
David was a murderer
Jeremiah suicidal
Naked in the street
Paul, he had a problem
The specifics left unsaid
Timothy had stomach-aches
And Lazarus was dead

Samson was a long-haired
Arrogant womanizer
Rahab was scarlet corded
Lady of the street
John the baptist eatin’
bugs and honey on his bread
Gideon a scaredy cat
And Lazarus was dead

 

As is
As is
He chooses us as is
As His
As His
Infuses us as His
With never ending
Love transcending
All our weakness
No excuses
He uses us as is

 

Noah was a drunk man
Abraham an old man
Jacob was a liar man
Leah second best
Jonah should have followed God
But ran away instead
Martha was a worrywart
And Lazarus was dead

(chorus)

Jesus said to stay awake
They went to bed instead
Peter turned and ran away
Jesus hung and bled

As is
As is
He chooses us as is
As His
As His
Infuses us as His

With never ending
Love transcending
All our weaknesses

No excuses
He uses us
No excuses
He chooses us
No excuses
He uses us
As is

What if? {31 Days of Imperfection – Day 7}

I found myself at the kitchen sink last night, finally giving in and doing the dishes that had been staring at me all night long.

Music always makes cleaning more exciting, but in breaking out itunes for a little inspiration, I never expected it might break me. Not in a bad way, but more in the “I think God just punched me in the gut” kind of way. If it hadn’t been for that “revelation” earlier in the day the one about fake imperfection and living in God’s dreams for us rather than the expectations of the world (yea, this one) I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought.  itunes confirmed that I had heard the song before, but as these words came out of the computer, I think they bypassed my ears and went straight to my heart:

What if you lived like you were loved?

What if you did all the things Your heart’s dreaming of?

What if you sang your song at the top of your lungs?

What if you lived…

Like you were loved?

It struck me…  that’s all I’ve been called to do:

To live loved.

And yet, I complicate each day with so many other things.  The question never was, never is, and never will be, “What if I were loved?”  Because WE ARE LOVED.

Yet, we make it the question as we compare ourselves to others…”What if I were like her? then would I be loved?”
We make it the question when we seek approval, we long to be noticed, “What if I wear this outfit or do my hair that way? Then would I be loved?” 
We make it the question when we long for more, “What if I got that new toy or what if I made a little more money?  Maybe THEN I’d feel loved.”

And we forget that WE ARE LOVED! In forgetting that, we struggle to live out the dreams God has for us, we struggle to sing the unique song he’s created our lives to sing.

Dream for a minute, just what might life look like if we truly lived loved?

What kind of chances would you be taking?

What sort of difference could you make?

Would you let go of the secrets that you’ve been keeping,

If love was your shield and strength?

…

What are you waiting for?

There’ll never be, never be a better time.

No one could love you more than He who gave His life

Join me today in answering these questions.  In the comments below, in conversations with your family and friends, in your journal… wherever… answer the questions and then ask God to give you grace to understand YOU ARE LOVED and strength to live like it!

What if you lived like you were loved?

What if you did all the things Your heart’s dreaming of?

What if you sang your song at the top of your lungs?

What if you lived…

Like you were loved?

(What If? by Scott Krippayne)

God-Sighting Saturday

A new worship song penned by a high school youth boldly asking “Use me, God”! And He does!
God works through people.

Women gathered in a slightly older one’s home. Chocolate chip pancakes and an evening in the Word, in sharing, in tears, in joy.
God gives rest.

Beautiful peach roses delivered amazing new neighbors.
God brings joy.

Staff members gathered in prayer midday, back from Haiti, Colorado, Texas, beyond.
God goes with and God brings back.

Stories from Haiti from two beautiful young women. Passion, joy, excitement.
God makes alive.

A neighbor watching. Staffmates acting.
God protects and provides.

Walking with my neighbor-teammate and his daughter on a morning commute. Pure joy in a three year old’s voice as she tells me about “white” day in preschool.
God in simple things.

Same three year old removes her coat to show off her dress as bystanders tell her she’s beautiful … and she is. I look in her eyes and can tell she really believes it. Silent prayers lifted that she never forgets!
God reminds, we’re beautiful too.

Kari Jobe on repeat singing “I want to sit at your feet, drink from the cup in your hands, lay back against you and breathe, feel your heartbeat. This love is so deep, it’s more than I can stand. I melt in your peace, it’s overwhelming”. . Sleep comes.
God is near.

Where did you sight God this week?

The Walls that Divide

This afternoon, I found myself thinking about a lot of things.

Mostly… about the walls that often divide us… walls in schools, homes, churches, friendships, and more.

These walls often come from areas of pain in our individual lives.

Following is a musical response I wrote this afternoon… not perfect… recorded only on my computer in my spare bedroom… voice cracking at times due to the cold I think I’m starting to get… but for whatever it’s worth… here’s my prayer that God would begin to restore our lives and as he does so, restore some of the brokenness in our relationships and in our world.

(If you’re reading this in some kind of blog reader, you’ll likely have to go to my actual website to listen.)

 

 

 

The Walls That Divide

Verse 1: The rain outside my window
Echoes rain inside
Of souls I walk past
Each and every day
Their storms of life
Overwhelm
Darkness looms
Shame destroys
Lord, please shine your light

 

Chorus: Break through the walls ’round our hearts
The hurt and the pain I see everyday
Restore our lives, I pray
Break through the walls that divide
Teach us to love, to care, and to serve
Restore our world today
Please break through

 

Verse 2: I am so frustrated by all the hurt I see
People caring less and less about humanity
How did we get so rotten?
How did we get so mean?
Gossip and lies
Please, open our eyes
Lord, please make us clean (Chorus)

 

Verse 3: Alone we are so powerless
Together we are strong
And with God on our side we will be defeated no more
Let us stand up and fight the enemy that seeks to destroy.
Instead, Lord, restore. Please have your way in me. (Chorus)

 

Bridge:
Break through.
Break through.
Break through, today.
Break through the hate
Break through the judgement.
Break through the walls that divide.  (Chorus)

 

 

Joyfullyblessed by music

There’s just something about music that calms my soul.

 

St. Augustine once said, “He who sings, prays twice.” 

 

As people gathered in Trinity Lutheran Church in Lockport, NY tonight, many prayers, with voice and song, were raised up for the homeless in Western New York.  It was such a fun night tonight.  Various musicians from all over WNY gathered together in a concert to benefit Lockport CARES, a homeless shelter in Lockport.  Everyone was great and I especially want to brag on the awesome First Trinity Youth Band who got the evening off to a rockin’ awesome start!  They did such a great job setting the tone for the evening of praise to God! 

 

If you want to know more about Lockport CARES or how you can support them as they help the homeless, check out their website.

“Don’t Leave Messiah in the Manger”

I wrote this song a couple year ago to sing at Christmas time in my church back home.  It’s easy I think, even as Christians, to choose to do exactly what the title of this song tells us NOT to do… to leave Jesus in the manger.

 

Christmas comes and we get excited about that little baby that’s come to save us (and all the gifts we give and receive)… but then the rest of the year, it’s just “that God-guy over there”… Whether consciously or not, it’s easy to think, "He’s not powerful enough…. He’s not mighty enough… he’s just that baby in the barn that we sing about at Christmas.” 

Well, I wonder what might happen if we stop trying to keep Jesus confined to being “just a baby in a manger”.   I wonder what would happen if we let Jesus be the Savior and King in our everyday lives that he came into this world to be. 

As Christmas passes this year, please, don’t leave your Savior “away in a manger.”  Let him come near… who knows just what could happen?!?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t Leave Messiah in the Manger

We sing , “away in a manger” There’s “no crib for a bed.”
Where our Lord Jesus Christ, “laid down his sweet head”
But those “stars in the night sky”, that “looked down where he lay,”
Are the same stars that shine on us today.

 

We say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
We sing “Away in a Manger” year after year
But I wonder what might happen if we let Jesus near
And don’t leave him far away in that manger

 

“O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie,”
But could really be that still with so many travelers passing by?
Yet, they didn’t seem to notice that their King was drawing nigh
As Mary laid that boy in that manger.

 

We say Merry Christmas and Happy New year
But that “little town,” Bethlehem seems so far from here.
I just wonder what might happen if we let Jesus near
And didn’t leave him far away in that manger

 

That “Silent” night, that “Holy” night on which our Savior came
How’s that fit our chaotic life… with war, hurt, and pain
I bet it wasn’t a silent night when they hung him on that cross
Made of wood, just like that humble manger.

 

Christ came to Bethlehem, but went to Calvary
There he died and rose again, to give life eternally
While it may not have been silent, it was completely holy
Cause our Lord didn’t stay in that manger

 

Yes, Christ came at Christmas, so many years past
But we forget the gift he brought before New Years has past
Let’s sing about His humble birth, day after day
And refuse to leave him away in a manger
Don’t let your Savior be a stranger
Refuse to leave Messiah in the manger.

 

Be near me Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Ps 73:28 “But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds”

Hope {Day 28} – My Hope by Matt Redman

A beautiful song by Matt Redman called My Hope. ENJOY!

 

 

My Hope by Matt Redman

Verse 1

My hope is built on nothing else
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly live on Jesus name

 

Chorus

When the mountains are falling
when the waters are rising
I shall be safe in you
Through the nations are quaking
Every kingdom be shaken
Still I will rest in you

 

Verse 2

When darkness seems to hide your face
I rest on Your unchanging grace
In every high and storming gate
My anchor holds within the veil

Collision: Mend the Broken

Well we did it!  We survived the first “road trip” planned by Bekah.   As promised yesterday, I wanted to share a little bit about my experience this weekend at Acquire the Fire in Cleveland, OH with 16 teens and 2 other awesome adult leaders.  The theme this year for this conference was Mend the Broken.

 

I guess I’ll just go through the weekend chronologically to give you an idea of what we experienced and learned.

 

The first session on Friday night started with worship led by a band called School Of Worship.  They led us in worship all weekend and it was always an amazing time to just enter into God’s presence and give him praise before hearing Mike Guzzardo share God’s Word with us.  Friday night Mike shared with us that our lives are kind of like broken down cars that need refurbished.  First we have to let God take us out of the junkyard so that he can begin to take us a part and clean every little part of us…. it takes time and he has to get into every little deep place, but then, once we’re clean on the inside, he can begin to rebuild us in a way where we can think and live how he originally intended us. 

 

The night ended with a Newsboys Concert during which we got to be a part of the video recording for a music video.  They said they only use a live audience for a music video once every 2 or 3 years and they picked Acquire the Fire- Cleveland, OH to be that audience.  Watch for their video for the song “Miracles” coming out soon and see if you see any of First Trinity Crossroads group in  there!

 

After that we headed back to Lutheran High School West in Rocky Road, OH which was gracious enough to let us use their facilities to sleep and shower this weekend!  A youth group from Hosanna Lutheran Church nearby also joined us Friday night at Lutheran West.

Saturday morning started bright and early (for high schoolers) at 8:00 am and was broken into three sessions all including worship, a message, and part of a drama that continued all throughout the day. 

 

The first session Saturday tackled some difficult issues that teenagers (and all of us) face today regarding pornography, sex before marriage, same sex attraction and more. Teens were challenged to join “The Resistance” when they struggle with these or any sins in their lives committing to purity in heart, mind and body.  An organization called CovenantEyes.com also provided students with a 30-day trial of an internet filtering and accountability software that they produce.

 

The afternoon session was about failure and how we deal with it.  We were reminded that just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean we won’t fail (see Proverbs 24:15) it means that God helps us get up when we fail and that we don’t have to be defined by our failures. 

The afternoon also included 2 concerts, one by Young Joshua and the other by Jimmy Needham. 

 

After dinner we went back for the last session which was about how our world tries to get us to focus on The Me-World .. my problems, my stuff, my fun.   God calls us in our new refurbished  life to focus on the HE-World …. the things of God’s heart… whether that’s serving your neighbor next door or going overseas, we all can start now making changes in our lives to shift and “get away from ME”.

 

Our weekend wrapped up by attending St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Chesterfield, OH on our way back to NY.  They were very welcoming, had a beautiful sanctuary and there was some AMAZING scenery on our drive  between the high way and the church.  Think, curvy hilly roads with gorgeous houses lined with trees still dressed in autumn colors yet covered with snow.  BEAUTIFUL!  Definitely added meaning to the term “scenic route”. 

 

Overall it was an AWESOME weekend filled with fun and, I pray, spiritual growth.  Those of you from First Trinity, take a chance to ask one of the kids about it… them sharing with you is one thing that can help continue the growth that began this weekend. Thanks again for your prayers and support!

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s a video summary put out by the Acquire the Fire organization. (You can see some of our group members at around 1:42).

Hope {Day 19} – Made New

I’ve heard the stories again and again.

Each one so distinct and unique, yet, so similar at the core.

Something happened-

Many things maybe.

Something so horrifying it rarely,

if ever,

gets any attention in conversation.

Yet, it gets all the attention in the heart.

 

Neglect.

Rape.

Abuse.

 

The death of a loved one.

The death of a marriage.

The death of a friendship.

 

An eating disorder.

Depression.

Self-injury.

 

A monstrous mistake.

A horrific memory.

A crippling fear.

 

“I’m not good enough.”

“Will I ever change?”

 

The shame is too much.

The guilt is too heavy.

 

Forgotten.

Alone.

Afraid.

 

Whether it was “their fault” or not, the pain obviously runs deep as the story eventually flows out. But it’s not just “them.” 

 

It’s me

and

it’s YOU. 

 

We all have had those secret things buried deep in our hearts… those times when we seriously wonder…

 

Is there any hope?

 

Can God REALLY do anything with this messed up life of mine?!? 

Through the darkness comes a marvelous Light responding:

“YES! THERE IS HOPE!  I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!

No matter what mess you’ve gotten yourself into… no matter what anyone has done to you… no matter how much sin has messed up your life and messed up your heart, I can, and will, through Christ, make something BEAUTIFUL out of your life! 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

 

Isaiah 43:19 See I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Things
by Gungor

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll even find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

 

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

Hope {Day 17} – LIGHT Part 2

I was hoping to put this up yesterday in continuation to Day 15′s discussion about LIGHT but after fighting with my computer for entirely too long yesterday, I gave up.  Thankfully, I was victorioius over my computer today and have this song, or the startings of one, to share: (Click the triangle to play.)

This prayer asks God to let his light shine in our lives… to give us a little hope.  Sometimes when God shines his light into the dark places of our lives it’s scary, but there is freedom when we step into the light.

I hope you enjoy.  Maybe eventually it’ll get some verses and be a full song.   But for now, here are the lyrics for the chorus:

Break through the darkness
Break through the night
Break through the shadows
Lord, shine Your light
In the deepest places of fear and shame
Lord, shine Your light again.