Friday, June 27, 2014

Happiness

I am a leech when it comes to twitter.  I basically use it to learn from everyone else.    I love it because each tweet is so short.  If I am interested in more, I can click on the links.

Today I began following Andy Stanley and someone had tweeted a picture of a page from his book, Visioneering.  Here are a few lines from that page:



You don't know what God is up to behind the scenes in your life.  You don't know how close you are to a breakthrough.  It is no accident you are where you are.

God is using your circumstances to prepare you to accomplish his vision for your life.  You are not wasting your time.  You are not spinning your wheels.  You are not wandering in the wilderness.  If you are "seeking first" his kingdom where you are, then you are is where he has positioned you.

Honestly, those few lines are incredibly encouraging.  How many of us have heard that we need to happy all the time?  If we are not happy with our friends, jobs, churches, etc, we should move on and find happiness elsewhere.  In reality, happiness was never promised to us.  But God did promise us that He is in control.  Through all of life's peaks and valleys, He is walking with us and as Andy says, "God is using your circumstances to prepare you to accomplish his vision for your life."  

No matter where you are in life right now, know that nothing is a mistake.  God has it all in control.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Songs That Never Get Old

The last time you cleaned out the garage or some boxes in the closet you may have found some old albums, cassettes or cd's.  Just for old times sake you gave them a quick listen, and I do mean quick and said, "that sounds so old now."  After your kids take a few minutes to make fun of you for ever liking that music, you throw it back in the box only to find it again in another couple of years.

But every once in awhile, a song brings back such great memories that you know that you could never forget a song or album like that and could never throw it away.  Anything come to mind?  I will share few of mine which may help you get back on the road headed straight for memory lane.

First up for me, Music Machine.  As a pastor's kid, Bullfrogs and Butterflies was big and so was this.  There would not be too many church kids from my generation that would not know the words to this song.


Next up, Steve Camp - Shake Me To Wake Me.  I always remember this because it was the first cassette my parents banned from our house.  Mom and dad have since changed their rules on music, but at the time, most of the Christian Rock bands were banned from the church because of their style of music.  If my parents couldn't understand the lyrics, and if the drums and guitars were too loud, it did not belong in our home.  Ha ha...still makes me laugh!


Carman - Radically Saved.  After my parents saw the error of their ways and realized that it is the lyrics that matter and not the style, this was the first cassette they bought for us.  I know, this is not exactly wild and crazy, but it was a HUGE step for my parents.


As a teenager, my youth pastor, Greg Janz, made our youth group a great place to hang out.  He and his wife Monique went out of their way to make sure everybody felt welcome.  We played lots of goofy games, went on retreats, youth conventions, youth camps, and he always had Christian music playing loud when we walked in, like this...


After such a strange start to Christian music, it is kind of ironic that I end up at a Christian radio station. August 11 will make it 11 years for me at LIFE.  But I was a listening even before I arrived.  The first song I ever heard on LIFE was this one by Geoff Moore.


Even though I have been involved in Christian radio for over 10 years, it is still fun to know that songs still catch my attention today.  It might be a catchy melody, or convicting lyric, or maybe it is just the excitement of knowing that by playing this music on LIFE, someone else may become a fan for the very first time and be writing their own Christian blog on music history 10 years from now.  Here's hoping!

P.S.  Here is a new one you might like...






 

Friday, June 6, 2014

Grace

The other day I was thinking about grace.  As Christians we talk about it, sing about it, hear sermons about it, and think about it.

A few years ago I started to look at how we treat the sinful people of this world, including fellow Christians.  This explanation might sound strange to you, but I think some sins are the "cool" kind to confess.  Perhaps we have told some lies, didn't honour our parents, coveted our neighbors nice car and house, and got angry when we should have shown restraint.  My purpose is not to diminish the importance of confession and forgiveness, but I have noticed that not all sins are created equal among Christians.  The sins I mentioned above are what we might call "acceptable," because they are easy for most of us to process, accept an apology, and move on.  But what about sins that lead to failed marriages or criminal records?  If you walk into a room full of Christians (let's call it a church) to confess one of "those" sins, it would make us feel uncomfortable (I know, understatement of the year).  In fact, when those sins are discovered (because they are too embarrassing to confess publicly for fear of how we will be treated), we push the sinner away, instruct them to clean things up, and then come back when you have everything together.

Of course, there are many wonderful people and churches who do the complete opposite and welcome everyone with open arms.  They truly are trying to be like Jesus by saying, "come as you are."

I could make a list of Christians who have lost their families, friends, and jobs because of sin.  But I won't. Instead I want to present a story of a life that was transformed.  I think we have all lost our way at some point in our walk with God.  Some repercussions are more serious than others.  It doesn't get more serious than this:



The result is this song.

I know it isn't always easy to accept each other the way we are.  But I once saw a sign in front of a church that said, "This church does not have any perfect people.  The only different between you and us, is that we have accepted the grace God offers as a free gift."  I love that.  I think if more people knew that we mess up just as much as they did, they would be more interested in knowing more about the God we serve.