Beginnings

          My mother (and many other mothers) always told me that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Even though I like breakfast food, I never really put that truth into practice, especially as I got older. When you have to be at school at 8:25am and you wake up at 8am, breakfast was not on the list of top ten things to do before going to school. This viewpoint has carried over into my college life as well. Try as I might, there are those days when I don’t get breakfast, for one reason or another.

            Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Nutritionists (and I) would say it’s because it’s the first meal of the day. It gets you started, so that all the gears start turning and working at their best at 7am instead of 10am, when your body suddenly realizes it has no food to keep it going, and so it takes from other bodily resources. Not eating breakfast doesn't only affect your morning life, either. Studies have shown that those who do not eat a healthy and substantial breakfast are more likely to binge eat or eat unhealthier later in the day. I have seen this as true in my own life.

            All this is to say that beginnings are important. What kind of breakfast you eat or don’t eat in the morning determines how you’ll eat and function for the rest of the day. The pace you set at the beginning of a run determines how successfully you will complete it. In singing, I have learned that the way you start a phrase is the most important part in determining how you will finish it.

            I would like to take time to expound upon the musical example of this phenomenon. For those of you who are not singers, I am about to get rather technical, so bear with me.

            There are two things that are important when beginning a phrase of music, and they are interconnected. One is the firming of the glottis, or the vocal cords. The second is the breath flow. One cannot work without each other. The breath must flow in order for the cords to come together, but if the chords are not firm enough then the breath will not be used efficiently. As a singer, you must do both of these things simultaneously at the exact moment that the phrase begins. You must also use your brain to determine the correct pitch and thus correct firmness of your vocal cords. Sound hard? Yes, well that’s why professional singers spend about ten years in training and don’t start their career until they’re thirty years old.

            Anyways, the exciting part is that if you do this at least semi-correctly (which I have begun to do personally at times in my training), you will have a freedom and flexibility that you have never possessed with your voice before. You don’t ever worry about running out of breath, and each pitch is spot on and resonating for all it’s worth. The thing is that our bodies know how to sing, but it is our brains and their foul misconceptions that mess us up. We just have to set ourselves on the right course with the right start, and our bodies will take care of the rest. Granted, this is not the only element to singing, but I believe it plays a very big part. How we approach and start a phrase is key to the rest of the phrase.

            Now we get to the really good stuff: how this all applies to our spiritual lives. Now, I use that phrase “spiritual lives” like it’s something separate; let me remind you that it most certainly is not. Everything is interconnected. Therefore, hopefully you have already made the spiritual connection to what I have just said, but in case you haven’t, let me make it for you.

            Christ is our Rock, our firm foundation. On him we must rest upon for everything. He is not something or someone that we come to only in times of trouble or times of happiness; rather, He is the bread we must feed upon daily. Just like breakfast, He is the most important and only meal that we should eat each and every day. Therefore, it is important that we spend time with Him at the beginning of every day. It gives us the right focus, energy, and motivation for the rest of our day. Just like leaning upon the vocal cords, we will experience such freedom and flexibility as never felt before. There is no substitute for Jesus Christ. For the vocal process to work there must be a leaning sensation. The breath must press against the cords. My voice teacher used to say that “Those who give up their breath for the sake of the phrase will find it, but those who hold onto their breath will lose it.” – essentially a witty restatement of Matthew 16:25. Singers must lean their breath fully upon their cords and trust that the cords will carry them where they need to go. Likewise, we must fully rest upon Christ and His work on the cross, although how much more reliable of a foundation is he?! How much more can we trust him with our lives, seeing that He has given His up in order to save us?

            Romans 5:6-8 says, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

            Praise God that He is in control of our lives, and will carry us where we need to go, if we would only trust Him. May we be more trusting of the Lamb that was slain in our stead, and be faithful to hand over our lives to Him at the beginning of each and every day.

Church on Fire

I had the immense privilege of attending the Passion Conference in the Georgia Dome a few days ago. I could create multitudes of posts about everything that I learned, heard, witnessed, and experienced. However, I am going to create one post expounding upon a revelation I received while participating in a very notable experience.
First I must describe the experience. For those of you who don't know, Passion revolves mostly around the theme of slavery, or human trafficking. This experience was a way for American college students to show the world that they want to be involved in the abolition of slavery. Each of the 65,000 students at the conference received an ordinary white candle, no longer than 6 inches long and maybe 1/2 inch in width. We all proceeded in silence out to the Dome Plaza, and stood in silence until someone began to hum a hymn or two. We waited in the darkness and cold, until suddenly there was some commotion coming from the center of the mass of people. A light had emerged, the first candle had been lit. The flame was then passed from candle to candle, person to person, until it reached the last candle on the outer edge.
An enormous light also was turned on that stretched three miles into the night sky.
All of us then let out a yell, a scream, a cheer, a chant - whatever noise we could make. We were shouting for the end of slavery, to make the voices of the oppressed heard. We continued to shout for several more minutes. Helicopters with cameras whizzed by us, wanting to capture this moment forever.
I will remember this moment forever. It is the clearest picture of God's church that I have ever been given.
One light must start in all. Then it is our responsibility to pass it on to others. We do not have the ability to give it to those who are several hundred feet from us, but rather to those who surround us. We were placed in a certain spot in order to give the light to those who were near us.
The purpose of the flame was not just to give light. It gives warmth. It awakened our bodies for a time from the cold. The power of the fire invigorated us and gave us life. It gave us energy to proclaim our message to the world.
And also, my favorite part: we received a flame in order that we might revive those around us whose flame has gone out. There was one guy next to me whose flame kept going out because of the cold wind, and had to keep asking me to relight his candle. I did not get irritated by how many times I had to do it, but rather rejoiced that I was able to relight his since mine had not gone out. I might even go so far as to say that my flame grew stronger from lighting the candles of others.
While I was trying to protect my flame from the wind, I realized how hard it was going to be to get through the night without the help of those around me. I had to have my flame revived at least once.
Processing all of this in my mind, I had tears in my eyes. Seeing a visual representation of the importance of community made so much sense. And the astonishing fact is this: no one cared or knew that my candle went out except for the few around me. No one cared or knew that I lit that guy's candle over ten times. No one cared that I was the 34, 789th candle to be lit.
But what people did care about is this: that there were 65,000 candles lit that night, protesting slavery and proclaiming the name of the God who has the power to defeat it.
Matthew 5:14 is so much more real to me now: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." No one could ignore our presence at the Dome that night.
Isaiah 49:6 also sheds light (heh heh) on this subject: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."
The church is the light among the darkness of the world. Jesus Christ is the originator of that light. We are to spread that light to the ends of the earth, and to revive those whose light has gone out. May the church be a church on fire because of you, Lord Jesus!

A Sickly Bit

You know something's gone bad when the only reason you blog anymore is because you can't sleep and the King of the universe is actually commanding you to write. But nevertheless, here I am. I've had a slough of ideas over the past month, yet none of them are coming to me at present.
Why am I trying to go to sleep at 10pm rather than several hours later, as is my usual habit? Well I happen to be sick with a cold (again) and I figured some extra rest would do me good. Now just look where that got me. But since I feel the Lord calling me to write tonight, I figure there must be some purpose behind it.
I want to say at least two things about being sick.
Number one, it really stinks to be sick and to be a vocal major. And it's happening so often it feels like a routine now rather than a rarity. I've learned pretty well how to sing decently whilst being congested and coughing. The funny thing is though that this year I was determined not to get sick, and yet look what happened. But, I have a certain peace about it. Yeah, I hear Satan's lies about how in the world could I ever have a career in voice if I get sick every 2-3 months...but God's plan for me is bigger than Satan's trickery and my unbelief. God knows what He's doing, even if I don't. Getting sick gives me perspective. I fall in love with singing so much more because I don't get to do it. And I realize that my life is not my own, and my plans are not my own. Being sick is a blessing in disguise.
I want to touch on the passage in Matthew 9:12-13 that says, "But when He (Jesus) heard it, He said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Christ's mission was to save the flaw-filled, ugly, infected, diseased, evil, destitute, broken, and unholy souls. Praise God that He did!
After being sick so many times, I am beginning to recognize the symptoms and the causes. Do you recognize the symptoms of your soul sickness in your own life? If you are angry, unhappy, or bitter - do you realize the cause behind it? Only those who know they are sick will go see the Healer. Come to Him, and let Him heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds, and save your sin-stricken soul.

Mortality

     Pastor and gospel enthusiast Tullian Tchividjian says that "daily Christian living is daily Christian dying". He means this in that we should daily be dying to ourself and our sin, and living more and more for Christ and His kingdom. I have decided to take a slightly different turn with this idea. I think that Christians should not only die daily, but they should also think about dying daily. Hear me out.
     A message given at a women's retreat that I listened to at the beginning of the summer was about thinking of death often. Not in a depressing way, but rather thinking of death in terms of what comes afterward: heaven. To live in light of eternity is to think about death, in a way. At any stage of life we should think about death, for it is what defines us. We are mortals. We are finite. We are not in control.
     This evening I went somewhere I have been wanting to go for some time: a cemetery. I had absolutely no ties to anyone or anything there, but it was definitely an experience to remember. There were old and new gravestones, with names and dates and sayings inscribed upon them. Many were for those who had most likely died in old age, but a few were for unborn or stillborn babies. There was a bench made in honor of two kids whose mother had died at the age of 25. One I saw last that made my eyes sting was for a four year old little boy whose gravestone had a picture of his name in his own scribbly andwriting.
     Why am I writing about all these morbid things? Death is a topic many people do not wish to discuss. Am I bringing it up in order to ask the question asked by motivational speakers, "What would you want your gravestone to say about you?" I think the better question is, "What are you going to do with your life before you are in need of a gravestone?" or, "What happens after the inscription?" Death comes to all, and we do not the day nor the hour. What are you doing today that matters in eternity? Do you think about death often enough?
     This is not a speech in order to motivate you to "live every day as though it was your last", but rather to see life as a gift that can be taken away without our permission. C. T. Studd has a poem where the repeating line at the end of each stanza is, "Only one life, 'twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last". Are you living with your eyes fixed on eternity? Do you see death as a very present reality?
     The time of salvation is now. Not tomorrow, for who knows what that will bring? It is now that you need to come to Christ - believer or unbeliever. We all need Christ and His immeasurable grace! Let Him consume your life so that every day you wake up eager to bring more glory to His name and more saints to His kingdom!
     Don't be afraid to look to the end of your life,for that is when your perfect bliss or damnation begins. It is of crucial importance to know to which one you are going. The end of your mortal life is just the beginning of eternity, and that date may not be as far away as you think.

Of Trampolines and Turn of Events

As the kids in our family have gotten older, we have begun getting rid of all of our childhood toys. Not just the little dinky ones, but the big expensive ones too. First my dad tore down the tree house that he had built when we were little, because it was getting old and the wood was rotting. I was sad to see that go, even though I didn’t really use it that much when I was younger. Funny how you seem to miss things only once they’re gone, isn’t it?

            A few weeks ago my younger brother took apart our trampoline in the backyard, in order to give it to a family that would put more use to it than we did now. That trampoline had seen a lot of memories made in our family – such as broken wrists, birthday parties, and ice storms. But now it’s gone, and there is only a bare patch of grass that signifies where it once stood. I have included a picture, wonder of all wonders.

            The significance of this illustration is that I noticed how the grass did not really grow under the trampoline because it was not getting enough sunlight. Now that the trampoline has been removed, we hope that the grass will grow and our backyard will be more evenly green.

            Sometimes God takes something out of our life and we don’t really know why. Many times it may be something inherently good, but for the sake of conforming us more to the image of His Son, the Father has deemed that we have had enough of something. As I said earlier, we do not usually realize the value of something until we don’t have it anymore. I probably would not have thought about jumping on the trampoline at all this summer if I had not known that we were going to be getting rid of it.

            In order that we might grow, God may take away things in our lives so that we may see how much and why we really value them. We will be able to see whether or not they have become idols in our lives – and we will have a check-up as to where our God stands in our hearts. God wants every part of our heart devoted to Him, and sometimes His removal of certain things from our lives is simply a reminder of that. 

Trees

A few of a tree's most basic needs are sunlight, water, and rich soil. Many hardy trees only need limited amounts of these needs - they can go for weeks without water, and the soil they grow in can be as useless as the Georgia red clay. But the one thing I believe all trees have to have to survive is their roots. These underground limbs are what gathers the nutrients and feeds them to the tree. If a tree is cut down or uprooted, it dies.
As a college student, I have experienced the phenomena of being "uprooted". I now have two homes: the place where I grew up in, and the place where I am going to school for the time being. For the last year I have frequently been going back and forth between these two places. Since I am in one place half the year and another place the other half, I sometimes feel like I can never be grounded or fully engaged in either one. Both have my heart, so I cannot wholly give it away to one or the other.
Not only college students experience this, but also kids that are tossed back and forth between broken homes. Orphans, the homeless, those in military service - they all may not know which place to call "home". To a certain degree we all experience this uprootedness. The ease of transportation has not only created a small world, but it allows us to get away from places we don't like. We can start over, we can be sent away, we can be uprooted.
All Christians will deal with this feeling all of their lives, for "our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ". We do not and will not ever truly belong in this world, but rather in the one to come. How then shall we live in a place which is not our home?
If a tree is constantly being uprooted and transplanted, how will it ever grow? How will it ever reach it's full growth and potential?
The answer lies in where we place our roots.
This past year at college, our verse of the year was Isaiah 61:3 - "They will be called great trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord for His glory." I never really thought deeply about this verse until now. The Lord will raise us up from the ashes to be great trees of righteousness, and it will all be for His glory! If He is the one that plants us, then He will place us where He wants us for His glory to be spread!
Psalm 1:1-3 says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the instruction of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."
Trees that are planted next to streams of water will doubtless be the most healthy, for when the drought comes they will still have water for renewed strength. If we place our delight and our trust in the Lord, and obey His law, we will find that we can bear fruit anywhere, and we will not wither under the harshest weather!
Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If we abide in His word and who He is, we can find joy in achieving our ultimate fulfillment no matter where we are placed physically.

Why yes, I wallow in my own pigsty quite often, thank you

Hello, dear friends.
First of all, my apologies go out to you...for I have been negligent in creating new blog posts for quite some time. It is not because I have had a lack of creativity or inspiration, but merely because I lack the motivation to write them. I also have been working on a book lately and that has eaten up most of the time I would've spent on this blog else wise.
But back to my laziness. It is becoming grossly apparent to me all the day. I do not write posts because I feel as though I would not get anything out of them, and therefore would not be a sufficient use of my time. (this all goes along with the fantastical belief that I spend my time usefully otherwise). I am quite content to lay in my own pigsty - my own little world of selfish aspirations and dreams which are really only the leftovers of reality.
When I get on social websites such as Facebook, Google+, etc. I am only looking, waiting, for someone to interact with me. Waiting for someone to inquire about my life. Waiting for someone to be interested in me, to take time out of their day to converse with me. Me, me, me.
Although I hate to bring it up, Brian Regan's "me monster" is so true of me. It is a hungry monster, eating up any and all love I once had or intended to have towards other people. I am a pig, it's true. As far as I know, pigs are only interested in themselves. What they want (which is really not much to be said for), is the only thing that matters to them.
I am determined to not let my selfishness rule me, by the grace of God. His mercies are new every morning, and His faithfulness is great. My prayer is that by looking into the face of my Savior, all else would fall away, including my selfish pride which I so desperately cling. By looking upward may I forget to look inward.
And may I write a few more posts for the sake of others' benefit while I'm at it.