Favorites of 2012

This is a random list of my favorite things over the year of 2012. I waited till the 21st because I didn't want to waste my time if the world ended.

Apps:
Figure. - This app is so in depth for being a .99 app. You can create loops on the fly, even if you have no musical background, just select a key and time signature and you are off to being the next Jazzy Jeff. Seriously worth every cent.

Pitfall! - Surprisingly I have very few Iphone games, I just end up not ever playing them. But Pitfall is like an upgraded version of Temple Run and is a lot more fun. Great game for the bathroom (don't act like you're above that).

Albums:
A Creation Liturgy: Gungor
Michael Gungor is an amazing musician and writer. All around he is just legit. This is a live album that they recorded out on the road at different places which makes it even cooler. It's good. Get it.

Rehearsals: The Digital Age
I have wore this LP out. Every song is good. Their rendition of All Sons and Daughters song 'All the Poor and Powerless' is not just good, it's moving. I can't wait for more of their music to come out.

The Peace of Wild Things: Paper Route
I have no idea why this band is not huge. So talented with not just junky pop rock, but so much depth in their music. Paper Route has been one of my favorite bands for a long time and if you haven't heard their stuff, just grab any album, they are all good.

The Reckoning: Needtobreathe
Even though this album came out in 2011 I am including it because I didn't get into it until 2012. This is my favorite Rock album over the past year hands down. So good. I can put it on and listen straight thru and not have to skip anything. Listen to the title track to get a good feel for the album.

Night Visions: Imagine Dragons
I saw a video of them playing their first single acoustic and beating their feet and slapping their legs for the beat, I was sold. Just a good band, and I haven't heard a song I don't like yet. Here is the video I was talking about-

I could write about music a lot more, so I will just give a quick list and move on... Lovesick- Glorious Unseen, Forever Reign- Hillsong Chapel, Babel- Mumford and Sons, The 2nd Law- Muse. Okay I'll stop.

Movies:
Lawless is my favorite movie of the year. I think Shia LeBeouf and Tom Hardy nailed this movie. When it was over I was disappointed that there wasn't more. Skyfall is the newest Bond movie and a gritty version of him, I loved it. The Dark Knight Rises, epic and left with a cliff hanger, Batman done right. I am not a scary movie guy really but Cabin in the Woods kept me guessing till the end and was just a solid movie.

Connecticut Tragedy.

I can not even imagine the number of blogs/articles/tweets ect. that have been written about the small town of Newton, Connecticut in the past week. The heartache that these families are feeling right now I cannot even pretend to know about.

It is sad to say, but for me, students death, shootings and even mass killings have almost become routine. To give some background to this: I remember being called into the gym as an 8th grader to be told about how one of our schools 6th graders had killed himself, people cried, people asked why, then a few weeks later it was forgotten. Then towards the end of my freshman year we had another assembly about the shootings at Columbine High school, people cried, people asked why, then a couple weeks later it was done. Then my Junior year, 6 of kids from my high school died in a car accident, and in the same school year another of my classmates drown in a canoeing accident. Our school is a small one, just under 400 people so needless to say it was a huge shock to everyone in the school and our community. I remember it making national news at the time as well, but even this with time has been mostly forgotten. Then as a Senior at Liberty, the news of the Virginia Tech Massacre spread through our classes like fire.  Three months later I moved to Blacksburg Virginia.  Death, in sudden unexpected ways, whether by accident or on purpose has become almost expected. I am not numb to this per-say, just not as shocked any more by the depravity of human nature, or at the fragility of life. 

Obviously the situation in Connecticut is a bit different because of the age of the kids, because none of them even got a chance at living their lives. Their lives were literally stolen from them, and thats what breaks our hearts and hurts us so much. It probably has effected me even more because I am a father now and can not imagine losing my daughter.

This tragedy has really made me look at the Christmas story a tad different. Jesus was born into a dark dark world. He was born outside in a stable. I know you know this, just stop and think about America and think about the last person you know that was born outside, not because they ran out of time to get to the hospital, but because no one cared, it just doesn't happen. Jesus was born into a society where a king could decided to mass murder infants under the age of 2, under a government that had no opposition, because they were to scared to do anything because 5 years before Christs' birth 2000 Jewish rebels had been crucified and left hanging on a long road between cities in Galilee.
Jesus was born in a dark world, in fact that is the reason he came. The world was broken and had no hope. Christs' birth set things in motion for a kingdom where there is no darkness or evil, a kingdom with Him living and ruling. Christ birth is the definition of hope.

This event is heartbreaking, sad and just mindless. As a believer I know that the world currently is in a terrible state, but Christ coming as a baby shifted time and space and has given the entire world hope. 
I pray for the town, students, faculty and family of Newton, Connecticut and I pray that you experience  hope in the midst of your grief.

Thessalonians 2:16 & 17
¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts andestablish them in every good work and word.

December Nights

December Nights is something we have done at Northstar for the past 4 years. We simply move everything to the evening and we do not have church on Sunday mornings. It has been one of my favorite new traditions. We do it for a number of reasons. We are a portable church so we setup and tear down every week, with December nights we pick a location and leave everything set up. So this provides a much needed break for all of our volunteers. Besides the added break, it adds to the 'awe' of Christmas. I think everyone has memories of past Christmases with lights, trees and cold breath in the night air. To put it simply with technical terms, December Nights feels more Christmasy. I know that selfishly I enjoy it cause I wake up on Sunday mornings and don't have to be anywhere. As a pastor and growing up a pastor's kid, it makes you feel a little like a rebel, because you feel like your missing something. I can not wait to spend Sunday mornings this December with LaRae and Harper!
I am also excited to spend our evenings celebrating Christ coming to earth in an old church! If you are in the New River Valley you should come and join us. We don't mind if you are a member somewhere else and are just peaking in! Come and celebrate and remember the day that Christ turned the world upside down.
 5pm at West Main Street, downtown Christiansburg. More info here www.northstarfamily.org

Post Election.

This was started as a tweet lol obviously it was longer...

 I am now reminded of what a waste. So much time, energy & passion we put into pushing what we think about something (in this case politics and could be either side) and it is so very temporal. Sadly I have to admit that I do not remember the last time I pushed and petitioned for someone to know Christ, to even a minimal degree as the passionate door knockers/callers of this last election. I feel as tho I should make a sign that just says Jesus and stick it in my yard. I know it isn't exactly the same thing. But the energy that we as Christians put into something should always be less than what we put into spreading Christ right? I know it is a weird thing to think about, but for me it has been very convicting. And to be honest I think this blog would have come to fruition no matter last nights outcome.

 I know it is so difficult to have a full view of something, but as a believer we need to look at this from Christs perspective. No I have no idea, nor will I guess, at what Christ would have said about this election. But I know he would view it as something very insignificant, mainly because he breathed us into existence.

As we freak out or celebrate, remember that our ultimate hope comes from someone that is already a King. Not just a king of some empire, but literally THE King of everything.

Kid Worship.

So this summer has been extremely busy. Not really in a bad way at all just a lot of here and there traveling, I am currently sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Cleveland so that I can upload a file to Captain Jeff. Anyways, I had the opportunity to lead worship for two different camps this summer. Which really is something I have always wanted to do, travel and lead worship. The two camps were both for Jr. Highers and were completely different but incredibly the same. They were different in the way that one was 'camp' the kids stayed in little cabins (not air conditioned) the chapel was open air, they had morning activities, raising the flag act, if you have been to a summer camp this is probably what you remember. The second was on a college campus, great food, great facilities, felt more like a youth conference then a camp, cause of the lack of wilderness. I am not making a case for either just wanted to show how they were different. These two camps being completely different were still the same in one regard. The worship. They were excited, they were loud, they were passionate and they truly worshiped. I know some of us are on the cynical side and we try to cop out and say 'of course they are loud they are 12, 13 and 14 year olds,' and 'kids that age don't even know what worship is.' Well I would completely disagree. Yes, I will give you kids always know how to get loud, but don't tell me that kids don't know what worship is. We are all ingrained from birth to worship, most of us just choose the wrong thing to do so. Look at David, David was 15-17 years old when he stepped up to kill a giant that everyone feared. He had already took on bears and lions. But thats not what I want to talk about. Psalm 23, yes the passage that is quoted on many a 'Precious Moments' wall hanger was more then likely penned by a 13 year old David, while strolling the hills and watching over sheep. There is something special about kids this age worshiping, and it's not due to the loudness. I think that one of the reasons is because of a lack of priorities. I mean that in a good way. Kids this age do not have to worry about a mortgage, a baby, bills, ect... Because of this they don't get their priorities out of whack, they know whats first and they put Christ there. We, I, us need to think like kids, to train ourselves to forget about the junk that we have to take care of and fully concentrate on worshiping God, and constantly step into his presence. I think that if we are diligent in our worship, our problems will be seen as how they truly are, very temporal, and very small for a God that raised Himself and waked out of a tomb. Worship Him, It is what we are meant to do, what we were made to do.

Social Injustice and Jesus.

Kony 2012. Big news right now. If you haven't heard here is what I am referring to check the video on the bottom of this post.

I love that people, especially young people, are starting to care more about social injustice. It is a big deal, really big deal. The thing that is troubling to me and to be honest makes me anxious is the blurring of the line and making social injustices 'church' issues.

Now do not get me wrong we, as believers, are called to love people including our enemies. And really a lot of time that is a jump off point for sharing the gospel. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing medical care ect... What I get concerned with is that is where it ends most of the time. We feed, we clothe, we help heal, but we lose focus because we look at the temporal. We are called to so much more.

As believers we aren't called to only feed the body, but to feed the spirit. This life will end. But that is just the beginning. We need to be ever conscience about the spiritual life of people everywhere. Jesus did not come to put an end to child slavery but to save our eternal souls. And that, and only that should be our mission. I ask you believers to please not replace the reason we exist with a good cause. I suggest using these causes and injustices to further the name of Christ, not just to make a difference. Yes, I would love to leave this world as a better place, but I would rather leave this world in shambles and see the difference I made while spending an eternity with Christ.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

the prosperity gospel.

Because of our Stewardship series at Northstar this issue has been raised numerous times in the past couple of weeks to me. Prosperity gospel, maybe you have never really heard about this, if not that is fine.
Prosperity gospel also known as health and wealth, in short is a doctrine that faith/positive speech/giving or tithing to the church will always increase your material wealth. So if you believe it, speak it and give to God your net worth will go up. Always. This wasn't really big until the 1950s and then got really big during the first big push of televangelists.

So why am I writing about this? The reason is because these 'doctrines' fly directly against what God's Word tells us.

Claiming that God wants His church to be rich is completely ludicrous. It goes against everything that Jesus taught. Need references?
Matthew 16:23&24 (Jesus calls out Peter for wanting the things that men want, and tells him that if anyone wants to follow him he must deny himself). I love this little insight because it says Peter began to rebuke Jesus. HA thats hilarious, I am sure Peter is still being made fun of by some of the other disciples. {'Hey Peter remember when you scolded Jesus, the son of God, that was was funny}. Anyways, what did Peter want? He wanted Jesus to over throw the government and reestablish the nation of Israel, and Jesus flat out calls him Satan, because he wanted what man wanted, not what God wanted.

1 Samuel 16:7 Samuel is trying to find a king. God tells him not to be concerned about the outside appearance because God cares about the heart a lot more.

So where do Health and Wealth followers get their Biblical backing? Mostly from one verse, 3rd John 1:2
2Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
A little context should be added (as always) 3 John 1:2 - John was writing to a group who were traveling and doing mission work. The word prosper in greek is εὐοδόω (pronounced 'you-oh-dow-oh') essentially means 'successful.' Break down its entomology it is εὖ (meaning = well, well done, good) and ὁδός (meaning = way, journey, highway). John was not at all referencing money. Not in the least. He was wishing their journey safe and praying for their health, physically and spiritually, not that he desired for them to be rich.

Some of those who whole heartedly agree with the 'health and wealth gospel' go as far to say that God wants us to be rich because it is obvious that Jesus and the disciples were rich...Huh? They sight that Jesus did not work the last 3 years of his life and neither did the disciples. They sight that because they had a treasurer they must have had a lot of money (Judas Iscariot). Again they make leaps and bounds with scripture. For example Matthew 12 talks about the disciples walking thru a corn field and plucking off some to eat, and the Pharisees got up and arms about this because it was the Sabbath. The disciples were gleaning. Gleaning was the right of any one that was poor or a stranger Leviticus 23:22 (stranger in Hebrew is גָּר which means a newcomer someone passing thru or someone that had no inheritance rights). So to do some critical thinking...The Pharisees got up in arms about Jesus' disciples breaking Sabbath because they did work picking corn, and Jesus promptly calls them (the Pharisees) out about their twisting of the law. Okay so if you were a Pharisee and you knew that gleaning was a right, from the very word of God, ONLY for the poor, but Jesus and the disciples were rich wouldn't that be what they would have the right to be up and arms about?

To sum it up, just because you are a Christian you are not automatically guaranteed to be rich. In fact if anything what we are guaranteed is to be hated by the world (Luke 6:22, 15:19), to live a life denying benefits (Luke 14:26, 18:18-23), to give everything we have for Christ sake, and to love the orphans and widows. Being a good steward does have its benefits, it is the only thing that God challenges you to test Him in (Malachi 3:10). But just because you tithe doesn't mean you will get whatever you tithe back in dollar bills. God gives out blessings in many different ways, it could be that someone drops off groceries, gives you a meal, buys you a computer, picks up your tab for lunch ect. Sometimes it does mean an extra check you didn't know was coming or a random 'bonus.' But saying God will make us rich because we give to Him is not Biblical in the least. God is their thru the thick and thin, thru good times and hard times and wants us to remain obedient and faithful through it all, and look to Him coming once again!

Presidential Blog.

Okay. So I am not huge on politics, I love a good debate when it comes to anything, but when it comes to this I have a hard time because people are just ignorant to what they are trying to defend. So in essence it comes down to you arguing with a 3 year old who just says 'not ah!'
But here is a little bit of how I feel about the current race. And really the reason I am writing this is because I am really starting to get concerned for true Christ followers.
Okay I may have misled you a little, this really isn't about the entire race its more just about Mit Romney. Even more to the point...is it a good idea for a Christian to vote for a Mormon?
I am not writer who drags on and then at the end give you a vague statement about the entire piece they wrote. To put it simply, I cannot understand how/why someone who believes Jesus is God, was fully man and fully God, who died and defeated death to give us a shot by grace and will be our returning King would ever vote for a man that believes in a religion that so vehemently twists Jesus that its like putting the New Testament into a strainer and keeping everything but the gospel, not to mention adding crazy into the recipe.
Pardon me if I am wrong but a politician is nothing without his/her beliefs, what he/she stands for and what he holds as truth. So when we as Christians say 'no I'm not worried about his religious beliefs cause he has a good fiscal policy,' it makes me want to scream! Do not get me wrong Mormons can be great people. Almost every single one I have met and hung out with are great people, but that doesn't mean that I want someone that believes the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County Missouri, that God changed his mind about black people in 1978 (10 years after Martin Luther King Jr. died, good timing I would say), that some Israelites sailed across the ocean to North America 600 years before Christ...running our country. (the list could go on, I just chose some of the almost laughable things.)
Now I must stress that if you are not a follower of Christ, and you are a conservative, then it is not a big deal for you to vote for this man. He is a conservative, he does have morals and if that’s what you are looking for, but as a believer I think there is/should be a different set of standards we apply.
I don't care if he is so conservative he makes Reagan think ill of himself, if the man believes Jesus and Satan were brothers and can become like Christ and have our own planet I don't want him making decisions on a national level for me and my family. You may say 'Cody, that is awfully closed minded of you' to which I would say, 'You are an idiot.' Then I would pause and say ''How? Because I don't want Mormonism to have any other footholds to mislead lost people in America to believe in some twisted version of Christ? Do you not think that having a Mormon President would make it so much easier to want to join in this cult?'
Before you get angry and let me irritate you so, stop and think who is having a more temporal outlook on life. The believer who will vote for Romney because he is a good conservative or the believer who won't because of the devastating impact it could have on Christian life in the near future by further disintegrating the line between Christ-followers and Mormons. There IS a line and there should be. You cannot strip Christ of his deity and still be cool with God. No matter how many doors you knock on.