You ever notice how selfish we can be sometimes? It's a recent phenomenon for me, I've really never noticed it before, but I am one selfish cookie…I'm not talking your average selfishness either, damn. It's taken almost two years of continuous effort from God for me to even be aware of my selfishness... and that’s really bad! We as people focus way too much on ourselves, and in some ways this belief is perpetuated in the church...(not saying the church is bad, I love church) for instance, we are all about 'what God can do for us' or 'what God did for us' when it should be about 'what can we do for others?' and 'what can we do for God?' A lot of my prayers have been things like 'Lord help me to...' and whereas this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, 'Lord please help me to be a man of integrity, to have strength, etc. etc.' I'm thinking (now...I didn't used to) where's the relationship in this? How am I focusing on God in my prayer? As a worship leader I MUST be about God to be effective at all in my worship. I read the other day that worship is our natural response to God when we truly know God. So who is God? Do prayers like 'Lord help me...' really help me to KNOW God? Or do they help me to use God to get things for myself? It's a really tough question, and I know I'm nowhere near an answer yet. Worship involves sacrifice, as David said, (paraphrased) if I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing. I'm willing to take it a step further and say that worship doesn't involve sacrifice, but SELF-sacrifice. 'Those who try to hold onto their life will lose it...' So the question becomes, what am I giving up for the Lord? A Sunday afternoon? Pfft...anyone can do that, as a Christian that is not a sacrifice, that's a given. Am I truly worshiping God when I'm up on stage, or am I focusing on what I can get out of it? Am I giving God the glory He deserves? Do I even know God, to worship Him? Or am I up there to feel good about myself? What am I doing for others lately? Well gee, lets see, I've been trying to comfort some friends lately who've been going through a rough time...yes this is good. However, what are my motives? Am I truly giving my time to them for their sake...am I even helping them? Or am I simply doing it to make sure that I am in their good books, that I can feel good about myself because of it? The bottom line is the more I look at myself, the more I see that I am a disgrace.
Lord, take my life, take my will and my desires, and replace them with Your life, Your will, Your desires. Take my selfishness and replace it with Your Love. Help me to be focused on You entirely. Reveal Yourself to me in ways that I’ve never even imagined. In doing so, allow me to worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord I want to KNOW You, not know everything that I can get from You. Change my heart.
Cheerio, D-Man
Monday, 26 June 2006
Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Talking to the ceiling (edited)
Well, are some deliberation, I decided to re-post this blog entry...it was basically just a bout of melancholy, but I don't think it was right to post it...so I have edited out the crap and left the good stuff with a little more. Hopefully you will find in to be encouraging...
Have you ever talked to the ceiling before? I have..it goes along the lines of a heart to heart conversation with someone which will never actually take place, for whatever reason. It may be an apology that isn't accepted but ends in your tears anyway. It may be advice that you really want to give. Maybe it's a deep expression of love for that certain someone that you cannot let them know about until the due time. Maybe you really miss someone at that moment, but can't contact them. Or maybe you just need to get something off your chest but you have no one to talk to... Maybe it's some sort of combination of all five of those reasons...
Always these type of talks leave you feeling empty and alone, yet something always draws you back to them, time and time again. Is it because you need to feel like everything will be ok? Even when it is not, do we try and reach out for a touch from heaven in our suffering? God alone knows the answers, and all the while He is trying to comfort you... trying to reach you even more than you are so desperately trying to reach out for anyone. He loves you more than you could possibly know, in fact God is love, and since God is omniscient (everywhere at once) and He loves you completely..how big do you think His love for you is? In fact the bible says, that God has named every single star, He has clothed the flowers of the field in 'more than Solomon in his glory', how much more does God love you?
Whatever you are going through, whatever conversations with the ceiling that you've had, know that God has heard them all and He is there with you...
D-Man
Have you ever talked to the ceiling before? I have..it goes along the lines of a heart to heart conversation with someone which will never actually take place, for whatever reason. It may be an apology that isn't accepted but ends in your tears anyway. It may be advice that you really want to give. Maybe it's a deep expression of love for that certain someone that you cannot let them know about until the due time. Maybe you really miss someone at that moment, but can't contact them. Or maybe you just need to get something off your chest but you have no one to talk to... Maybe it's some sort of combination of all five of those reasons...
Always these type of talks leave you feeling empty and alone, yet something always draws you back to them, time and time again. Is it because you need to feel like everything will be ok? Even when it is not, do we try and reach out for a touch from heaven in our suffering? God alone knows the answers, and all the while He is trying to comfort you... trying to reach you even more than you are so desperately trying to reach out for anyone. He loves you more than you could possibly know, in fact God is love, and since God is omniscient (everywhere at once) and He loves you completely..how big do you think His love for you is? In fact the bible says, that God has named every single star, He has clothed the flowers of the field in 'more than Solomon in his glory', how much more does God love you?
Whatever you are going through, whatever conversations with the ceiling that you've had, know that God has heard them all and He is there with you...
D-Man
Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Birthdays and maths
Well, my birthday was yesterday. I turned 20...was a little bit strange, because it really doesn't feel any different from 19. When I turned 19 it was like whoa, I'm not 18 anymore...the strangest feeling, it's hard to describe. But 19-20, there isn't any real feeling of change.
I had a surprise party on Sunday, which was awesome as. I can't believe they got me, lol...you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but yeah. I was rather shocked and so I was fairly quiet and stuff all day because I was trying to process everything. I had a totally awesome day though, which turned into a damn awesome weekend btw. I have the most amazing group of friends in the world, seriously, you guys are so awesome. I really don't deserve any of you, but God's grace is eternal and I and thankful :)
So, how good is God? Damn straight! Every day He amazes me with a little something special, just for me, blows my mind with His grace and love.
I saw the coolest thing the other day, check this out:
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%.
How about achieving 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:
If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
And
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
AND, look how far the love of God will take you
L-O-V-E - O-F - G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!
So yeah...how awesome is it? lol, well, today promises to be a fairly boring day, except for youth tonight...so I better get back to it...
Cheerio D-Man
I had a surprise party on Sunday, which was awesome as. I can't believe they got me, lol...you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but yeah. I was rather shocked and so I was fairly quiet and stuff all day because I was trying to process everything. I had a totally awesome day though, which turned into a damn awesome weekend btw. I have the most amazing group of friends in the world, seriously, you guys are so awesome. I really don't deserve any of you, but God's grace is eternal and I and thankful :)
So, how good is God? Damn straight! Every day He amazes me with a little something special, just for me, blows my mind with His grace and love.
I saw the coolest thing the other day, check this out:
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%.
How about achieving 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:
If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
And
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
AND, look how far the love of God will take you
L-O-V-E - O-F - G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!
So yeah...how awesome is it? lol, well, today promises to be a fairly boring day, except for youth tonight...so I better get back to it...
Cheerio D-Man
Monday, 12 June 2006
Renae and Anthony's Wedding
Yeah this isn't really an entry as such...Renae and Anthony's wedding was on Saturday!! Woot!! Was simply AWESOME! But yeah, I don't really have time to get into it right, now, but I've uploaded some pics, so check 'em out!! I'll fill this out a bit more later...
...as I promised:
So...Renae's wedding...was awesome as! It all started on the 27th May 2006 at 12:45PM, although in reality it was more like 1:30 when the bride arrived :) And in the manner of most weddings, the bride walked down the aisle towards her husband to be. Me and LeeAnne sang 'We Will Dance' and 'I Will Be Here' by Steven Curtis Chapman, accompanied by Amelia on flute, Phil on piano and Juliette on Violin, and it sounded awesome as. The entire wedding went off basically without a hitch.
The reception was at the Bonshaw restaurant, at 4:00PM. It was pretty awesome too...especially the dances. Renae danced by herself with Anthony and then with her dad. Nat & Natally King Cole played in the background. It was a really powerful moment, feeling along the lines of any good Hollywood movie along the same lines :) I think Bicentennial Man had a moment in there like that, anyway. The cake looked pretty awesome as well, although they kept it themselves.
They couldn't have picked a better time either. The Autumn leaves in the background made for an absolutely gorgeous setting (which you can see in their official wedding photos). All round it was the best day I've had in quite a long time.
Cheerio, D-Man
...as I promised:
So...Renae's wedding...was awesome as! It all started on the 27th May 2006 at 12:45PM, although in reality it was more like 1:30 when the bride arrived :) And in the manner of most weddings, the bride walked down the aisle towards her husband to be. Me and LeeAnne sang 'We Will Dance' and 'I Will Be Here' by Steven Curtis Chapman, accompanied by Amelia on flute, Phil on piano and Juliette on Violin, and it sounded awesome as. The entire wedding went off basically without a hitch.
The reception was at the Bonshaw restaurant, at 4:00PM. It was pretty awesome too...especially the dances. Renae danced by herself with Anthony and then with her dad. Nat & Natally King Cole played in the background. It was a really powerful moment, feeling along the lines of any good Hollywood movie along the same lines :) I think Bicentennial Man had a moment in there like that, anyway. The cake looked pretty awesome as well, although they kept it themselves.
They couldn't have picked a better time either. The Autumn leaves in the background made for an absolutely gorgeous setting (which you can see in their official wedding photos). All round it was the best day I've had in quite a long time.
Cheerio, D-Man
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