He is incredible. I am selfish.
He is awesome. I am weak.
He is stunning. I am prideful.
He is wonderful. I am awful.
He is spectacular. I am unimpressive.
He is breathtaking. I am commonplace.
He is perfect. I am deficient.
He is everything I am not. Yet he chose to die, so that I could have another chance. Amazing.
Sometimes worship, sometimes pop-culture ramblings.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
26.
Well. March 5th 1984 I was spanked and welcomed to the world. Since that time, I have been incredibly blessed. I know that counting those blessings and talking about what I am so thankful for would require an awful lot of html code. But here is what comes to my mind right now...
Blessed with...
with a family that loves Christ, not just my brother and parents but my grandparents almost all of my family.
A wife that loves me, despite how much I totally fail at this marriage thing.
An incredible group of best friends. Friends that I know I could literally die laughing with, but also would encourage and lift me up when needed. You guys know who you are.
A church that has people that are wanting to know you, and love people. It's awesome to work in a place where people will forego the "typical" church feel to reach lost people.
A pastor that has vision and follow-thru, and I can call him a good friend, Usually you only get one part of that.
new friends.
a wife that works a job she hates to pay my bills!
our first house!
college ministry with students that want to know you, and want Your future for their life.
a Macbook pro & iphone
coffee - everything lacks color without it ; )
Liberty University, can't imagine what life would be like without this place.
Student Activities- probably the most fun job I will ever have.
incredible inlaws - Something I overlook constantly cause I never had bad ones!
a brother I can look up to, and a sister in law that I can make fun of and know she can handle it, plus a nephew and niece that are ridiculously cool/cute, and one on the other side that is growing up and its so cool to see.
history class my 2nd year at liberty
cross-culture - thankful they needed a "media guy"
music, just being able to play and sing. It's so ingrained in me that I never thank God for the talents he has given to me which have all added up to me being in the ministry and serving Him with those talents.
worship music - wickham, shane&shane, hillsong, crowder, tomlin, houston, brewster, glorious unseen, kim walker, brooke fraiser, chris quilala, stanfill
inspiring music - coldplay, wickham, explosions in the sky (make my time go quicker and make me want to write more)
videos that are well made or done with just excellence, and really not for some huge reason like these...
pictures that make you just stop for a second...like these...
jonryancreative.com
duckduckcollective.com
creativity. i know i said the same thing about coffee, but for real this life would be a lot more boring with out creativity.
I know I could keep going but this post is already getting kinda long. But my final thing is obviously Christ. Even with coffee, creativity and all the rest of the things I mentioned, life would be kinda pointless if my future wasn't with Christ.
Blessed with...
with a family that loves Christ, not just my brother and parents but my grandparents almost all of my family.
A wife that loves me, despite how much I totally fail at this marriage thing.
An incredible group of best friends. Friends that I know I could literally die laughing with, but also would encourage and lift me up when needed. You guys know who you are.
A church that has people that are wanting to know you, and love people. It's awesome to work in a place where people will forego the "typical" church feel to reach lost people.
A pastor that has vision and follow-thru, and I can call him a good friend, Usually you only get one part of that.
new friends.
a wife that works a job she hates to pay my bills!
our first house!
college ministry with students that want to know you, and want Your future for their life.
a Macbook pro & iphone
coffee - everything lacks color without it ; )
Liberty University, can't imagine what life would be like without this place.
Student Activities- probably the most fun job I will ever have.
incredible inlaws - Something I overlook constantly cause I never had bad ones!
a brother I can look up to, and a sister in law that I can make fun of and know she can handle it, plus a nephew and niece that are ridiculously cool/cute, and one on the other side that is growing up and its so cool to see.
history class my 2nd year at liberty
cross-culture - thankful they needed a "media guy"
music, just being able to play and sing. It's so ingrained in me that I never thank God for the talents he has given to me which have all added up to me being in the ministry and serving Him with those talents.
worship music - wickham, shane&shane, hillsong, crowder, tomlin, houston, brewster, glorious unseen, kim walker, brooke fraiser, chris quilala, stanfill
inspiring music - coldplay, wickham, explosions in the sky (make my time go quicker and make me want to write more)
videos that are well made or done with just excellence, and really not for some huge reason like these...
we were in love from John Carl on Vimeo.
pictures that make you just stop for a second...like these...
jonryancreative.com
duckduckcollective.com
creativity. i know i said the same thing about coffee, but for real this life would be a lot more boring with out creativity.
I know I could keep going but this post is already getting kinda long. But my final thing is obviously Christ. Even with coffee, creativity and all the rest of the things I mentioned, life would be kinda pointless if my future wasn't with Christ.
break.
Take a break today. Just sit back and take a break. Clear your head and not think of anything. If you have to have something, get the new Matt Wertz EP. I am not trying to sneakily promote Matt, this album is just perfect for sitting back in a recliner or couch and trying not to think.
God asks us to be still, and know He is God. When was the last time you were still, and just acknowledged that God is God, and focused your relax time on Him and not xbox or tv? He wants you to relax, and just sloooooow down. So try it today.
God asks us to be still, and know He is God. When was the last time you were still, and just acknowledged that God is God, and focused your relax time on Him and not xbox or tv? He wants you to relax, and just sloooooow down. So try it today.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
...
I didn't know what to call this blog. Right now the title is ... I could change it at the end but I am not sure. I just can not really come up with an appropriate phrase to sum up the what I am feeling or what I am writing about. I just watched a video about India Christians being persecuted. Francis Chan actually talks throughout the video, and draws attention to it in a way that shows the gravity of these events.
It almost made me throw up. (it is violent, so use discretion)
I have to admit, the video, although hard to watch, was not what made me queasy. It was my lack of faith, love, compassion and passion. We are so blessed to be living in America, and we think that being made to call Christmas break winter break counts as some sort of persecution. We are blessed, but we have been blessed so much that it has made us ignorant. Most 'Christians' now base their entire faith on an attendance sheet. If you go to church most Sundays, except for those 1 or 2 weeks that you are on vacation, you are living the Christian life. I can honestly say, you are going to feel like crap when this life is over. You are going to realize you missed it. You missed the point, yes you just might make in those pearly gates, but what about your neighbor you lived next to for years, what about the waitress at your favorite restaurant that knows you by name, what about your kids, what about your co-workers.
I just wonder if Christians were getting persecuted in America, who would still be claiming Christ. I think it would be like a huge spaghetti strainer, people with substance would stay, the others just fall away. Luke mentions something like this in chapter 3 of his book. He is writing about John the Baptist, one of the best Bible characters, John says 'as for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'
Use the blessings that have been given to you to support Christ in this world. I am not just talking about money given to your church, but time, effort, love ect... God wants to use every last one of us, and has given you certain gifts to help the body of Christ, so use 'em.
It almost made me throw up. (it is violent, so use discretion)
I have to admit, the video, although hard to watch, was not what made me queasy. It was my lack of faith, love, compassion and passion. We are so blessed to be living in America, and we think that being made to call Christmas break winter break counts as some sort of persecution. We are blessed, but we have been blessed so much that it has made us ignorant. Most 'Christians' now base their entire faith on an attendance sheet. If you go to church most Sundays, except for those 1 or 2 weeks that you are on vacation, you are living the Christian life. I can honestly say, you are going to feel like crap when this life is over. You are going to realize you missed it. You missed the point, yes you just might make in those pearly gates, but what about your neighbor you lived next to for years, what about the waitress at your favorite restaurant that knows you by name, what about your kids, what about your co-workers.
I just wonder if Christians were getting persecuted in America, who would still be claiming Christ. I think it would be like a huge spaghetti strainer, people with substance would stay, the others just fall away. Luke mentions something like this in chapter 3 of his book. He is writing about John the Baptist, one of the best Bible characters, John says 'as for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'
Use the blessings that have been given to you to support Christ in this world. I am not just talking about money given to your church, but time, effort, love ect... God wants to use every last one of us, and has given you certain gifts to help the body of Christ, so use 'em.
Friday, February 19, 2010
worship
I am excited for worship this week at Northstar Church. If you are in Blacksburg you should show up on Sunday at 10am at the Blacksburg Middle School. Worthy of affection is on the docket and it is a tremendous song, You can get a quick preview below...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Grammys 2010 Recap
Well here it is, a recap of the 2010 Grammys. I immediately have to ask forgiveness because this blog is full of cynicism and sarcastic comments. But thats how I had to approach it. Anyways, enjoy and leave a comment if you so wish!
The show begins and...
Lady Gaga & Elton John. It would be very hard to try and make this a stranger performance. They sang "Your Song" and sadly, very disappointing, one of the only Elton songs I like, and it was terrible. This is her outfit she wore on the red carpet, children do not look or you will have nightmares of her crawling on your ceiling or out from under your bed.
Stephen Colbert, starts the show off - always good "Stay away from katy Perry," he says talking to his daughter from the stage. He then talked about different groups that have performed together at the grammys in the past couple of years and then says... "You know who I'd love to see on stage together? Adam lambert and any sort of personal restraint" Wow, LaRae almost spit out her water, such a great quote.
Song of the year- Single Ladies. Expected.
Green Day plays with their broadway peeps, stange, but made me want to see it on broadway. There's like 87 people on stage. A mixture of Punk and the tv show Glee.
Taylor swift wins country album of year. Well deserved and accepted with humility. Awesome, such a night and day comparison between her and Gaga.
Beyonce performs. Again like 80 people on stage. "Her being married to jay-z makes her so much cooler" a quote from my very smart wife. Standing O? Hmm she's talented but that wasn't amazing, oh well I may have stood if I was there, but since I am in my living room I will just continue to eat my penne pasta, and nod my head.
Seal introduces Pink. If you're wondering, yes, he walked out to his one big hit, "kiss from a rose" from that one Batman movie...
Pink is talented, but right now it looks like she has a bedazzled bathrobe on though. Never mind now she's practically naked, except for the naughty bits. She's doing cirque de solei stuff and singing, being raised up like 20 feet in the air on some sort of ribbon, glorified ribbon dancing maybe. Standing O, well deserved.
Best new artist, Zach Brown! Thank goodness, was hoping for him or MGMT, but I'm glad the man with the beard pulled one down.
Miley Cyrus introduces the Black Eyed Peas, not sure why. Black eyed peas, they are always a little strange, but they know how to make music that is very catchy and gets the general mass to buy. It hasn't been the same for me since this picture of fergie was released where it looks like she peed her pants...
LaRae quote - "what do the other 2 guys do?" referring to the other members of the BlackEyed Peas (besides fergie and Will.I.am, I replied with "I do not know."
Jonas Brothers introduce Lady Antebellum. Again, no one really knows why. Lady Antebellum, good stuff, a little boring. No standing O.
Best comedy album- Steven Colbert!
Other nominees Spinal Tap, Weird Al & George Lopez. George you are not funny, how do you keep getting chances? Affirmative action of comedy I am guessing.
Record of the year - USE SOMEBODY - Kings of Leon! So pumped for them, wasn't expecting that at all. Awesome. ">
Robert Downey Jr. I really just love him. Such a dry humor that is great. Introduces Jamie Fox and T.Pain, ironically both have careers in music due solely to the invention of auto tune. Now Doug E Fresh comes out beat boxing which made the performance sooo much better, now Slash? Really? That seemed out of left field.
Rock Album -Green Day, other nominees AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, U2. No new rock acts out there? The newest of these is 20 years old. Hmm...everyone seems to be making poprock right now.
Chris O'donnell introduces Zach Brown. Could they get a more irrelevant person to introduce them? Probably not. I think the last movie he was in was that Batman movie with Seals song...(my wife is mad because I said that, she thinks he is good looking. boo) Zach Brown Band is just flat out good, great harmonies and do it their own way with no apologies. Love it.
Ryan Seacrest gives a great/flattering intro to Taylor Swift. Shes adorable as per usual. Incredible that she writes her own songs, you have to respect that. Stevie Nicks comes out and takes us back to the late 70's and early 80s. Glad she is gone now, pardon me she just moved to the back of the stage to play the tambourine, now back to singing bad harmonies. ehh making "You Belong to Me" sound a little depressing. But its still a great performance by Ms. Swift.
Lionel Richie - introduces the tribute to Michael Jackson. Yeah its in 3d. I'm sorry, am I supossed to have 3d glasses laying around on my coffee table. I guess I am, my bad. "What about Us" starts up, watching this without 3 d glasses feels like what I'm guessing an acid trip feels like . Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, & Jennifer Hudson they actually sound great together. Smokey Robinson, still gots them pipes as well. Took this picture of Beyonce rocking 3d glasses and Jay just not caring. Standing O for Michael Jackson.
Jacksons kids come out and give an awkward speech, but accept a grammy on his behalf.
Bon Jovi takes the stage, playing a Takamine acoustic guitar. You are Bon Jovi, can't get a sponsorship with a better guitar company? Ah lady from Sugarland, sounds like a dying cat. "Living on a Prayer" just started and the state of New Jersey immediately started fist pumping, and maybe one living room in Blacksburg...
Best Rap/Sung - "Run this Town Tonight" Jay-Z and Rihanna. I was really was hoping for "On a Boat" Yes it was up for a grammy.
Mary J. Blige &{ Andre Bocelli strange duo, sang "Bridge over Troubled Water", Andre is ridiculous (in a good way), Mary not so much, but she held her own. You can buy this song and the money goes to Hati. ( www.itunes/target )
Adam Sandler introduces Dave Matthews Band. Never been my favorite, but they are an actual band, that plays actual music and doesn't have to dress like an extra off Star Trek to get attention (see Lady Gaga picture above), so I appreciate them, and they perform great live.
Ricky Martin and the girl from glee present for Best Female Pop Vocal, I like the girl from glee, but Ricky Martin is just as pretty tonight...
Female pop vocal - "Halo" - Beyonce. Other nominees- Adelle, Katy Perry, Pink, Taylor Swift
Larae goes to bed, 10:45. Now I am all alone blogging away
LL. Cool J comes out licking his lips every time he gets, but you can not hate on LL. He is dope, and he will knock your mom out.
Introduces Maxwell. He's a talented dude, just boring but I am guessing he has a lot of girlfriends. I bet that when he is trying to set the 'mood' he just turns his own cd on, and just slowly nods.
Les Paul tribute. Jeff Beck, just starts shredding, on a Les Paul. Don't know if I could think of a better tribute. The drummer is wearing a vest with no shirt under, this does not contribute to the tribute, but it is the definition of classy.
Quentin Tarantino introduces (very awkwardly) Travis Barker, Eminem, Drake, Lil Wayne. The sensor immediately gets really nervous, and there it is, my tv keeps going silent because of the cuss words in the song. If Jay was in this song then they would really have to just burn the stage because of the amount of good rappers. I know this isn't everyones cup of tea, but this group is just very talented and on top of that, they have one of the best drummers in the world backing them, I could watch Travis Barker play the drums all day long, makes me want to buy some.
Album of the Year......Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews Band, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift! Awesome, glad she won, and No Kanye in sight! That ends the night, thanks for reading and again, sorry for the cynicism...
The show begins and...
Lady Gaga & Elton John. It would be very hard to try and make this a stranger performance. They sang "Your Song" and sadly, very disappointing, one of the only Elton songs I like, and it was terrible. This is her outfit she wore on the red carpet, children do not look or you will have nightmares of her crawling on your ceiling or out from under your bed.
Stephen Colbert, starts the show off - always good "Stay away from katy Perry," he says talking to his daughter from the stage. He then talked about different groups that have performed together at the grammys in the past couple of years and then says... "You know who I'd love to see on stage together? Adam lambert and any sort of personal restraint" Wow, LaRae almost spit out her water, such a great quote.
Song of the year- Single Ladies. Expected.
Green Day plays with their broadway peeps, stange, but made me want to see it on broadway. There's like 87 people on stage. A mixture of Punk and the tv show Glee.
Taylor swift wins country album of year. Well deserved and accepted with humility. Awesome, such a night and day comparison between her and Gaga.
Beyonce performs. Again like 80 people on stage. "Her being married to jay-z makes her so much cooler" a quote from my very smart wife. Standing O? Hmm she's talented but that wasn't amazing, oh well I may have stood if I was there, but since I am in my living room I will just continue to eat my penne pasta, and nod my head.
Seal introduces Pink. If you're wondering, yes, he walked out to his one big hit, "kiss from a rose" from that one Batman movie...
Pink is talented, but right now it looks like she has a bedazzled bathrobe on though. Never mind now she's practically naked, except for the naughty bits. She's doing cirque de solei stuff and singing, being raised up like 20 feet in the air on some sort of ribbon, glorified ribbon dancing maybe. Standing O, well deserved.
Best new artist, Zach Brown! Thank goodness, was hoping for him or MGMT, but I'm glad the man with the beard pulled one down.
Miley Cyrus introduces the Black Eyed Peas, not sure why. Black eyed peas, they are always a little strange, but they know how to make music that is very catchy and gets the general mass to buy. It hasn't been the same for me since this picture of fergie was released where it looks like she peed her pants...
LaRae quote - "what do the other 2 guys do?" referring to the other members of the BlackEyed Peas (besides fergie and Will.I.am, I replied with "I do not know."
Jonas Brothers introduce Lady Antebellum. Again, no one really knows why. Lady Antebellum, good stuff, a little boring. No standing O.
Best comedy album- Steven Colbert!
Other nominees Spinal Tap, Weird Al & George Lopez. George you are not funny, how do you keep getting chances? Affirmative action of comedy I am guessing.
Record of the year - USE SOMEBODY - Kings of Leon! So pumped for them, wasn't expecting that at all. Awesome. ">
Robert Downey Jr. I really just love him. Such a dry humor that is great. Introduces Jamie Fox and T.Pain, ironically both have careers in music due solely to the invention of auto tune. Now Doug E Fresh comes out beat boxing which made the performance sooo much better, now Slash? Really? That seemed out of left field.
Rock Album -Green Day, other nominees AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, U2. No new rock acts out there? The newest of these is 20 years old. Hmm...everyone seems to be making poprock right now.
Chris O'donnell introduces Zach Brown. Could they get a more irrelevant person to introduce them? Probably not. I think the last movie he was in was that Batman movie with Seals song...
(my wife is mad because I said that, she thinks he is good looking. boo) Zach Brown Band is just flat out good, great harmonies and do it their own way with no apologies. Love it.
Ryan Seacrest gives a great/flattering intro to Taylor Swift. Shes adorable as per usual. Incredible that she writes her own songs, you have to respect that. Stevie Nicks comes out and takes us back to the late 70's and early 80s. Glad she is gone now, pardon me she just moved to the back of the stage to play the tambourine, now back to singing bad harmonies. ehh making "You Belong to Me" sound a little depressing. But its still a great performance by Ms. Swift.
Lionel Richie - introduces the tribute to Michael Jackson. Yeah its in 3d. I'm sorry, am I supossed to have 3d glasses laying around on my coffee table. I guess I am, my bad. "What about Us" starts up, watching this without 3 d glasses feels like what I'm guessing an acid trip feels like . Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, & Jennifer Hudson they actually sound great together. Smokey Robinson, still gots them pipes as well. Took this picture of Beyonce rocking 3d glasses and Jay just not caring. Standing O for Michael Jackson.
Jacksons kids come out and give an awkward speech, but accept a grammy on his behalf.
Bon Jovi takes the stage, playing a Takamine acoustic guitar. You are Bon Jovi, can't get a sponsorship with a better guitar company? Ah lady from Sugarland, sounds like a dying cat. "Living on a Prayer" just started and the state of New Jersey immediately started fist pumping, and maybe one living room in Blacksburg...
Best Rap/Sung - "Run this Town Tonight" Jay-Z and Rihanna. I was really was hoping for "On a Boat" Yes it was up for a grammy.
Mary J. Blige &{ Andre Bocelli strange duo, sang "Bridge over Troubled Water", Andre is ridiculous (in a good way), Mary not so much, but she held her own. You can buy this song and the money goes to Hati. ( www.itunes/target )
Adam Sandler introduces Dave Matthews Band. Never been my favorite, but they are an actual band, that plays actual music and doesn't have to dress like an extra off Star Trek to get attention (see Lady Gaga picture above), so I appreciate them, and they perform great live.
Ricky Martin and the girl from glee present for Best Female Pop Vocal, I like the girl from glee, but Ricky Martin is just as pretty tonight...
Female pop vocal - "Halo" - Beyonce. Other nominees- Adelle, Katy Perry, Pink, Taylor Swift
Larae goes to bed, 10:45. Now I am all alone blogging away
LL. Cool J comes out licking his lips every time he gets, but you can not hate on LL. He is dope, and he will knock your mom out.
Introduces Maxwell. He's a talented dude, just boring but I am guessing he has a lot of girlfriends. I bet that when he is trying to set the 'mood' he just turns his own cd on, and just slowly nods.
Les Paul tribute. Jeff Beck, just starts shredding, on a Les Paul. Don't know if I could think of a better tribute. The drummer is wearing a vest with no shirt under, this does not contribute to the tribute, but it is the definition of classy.
Quentin Tarantino introduces (very awkwardly) Travis Barker, Eminem, Drake, Lil Wayne. The sensor immediately gets really nervous, and there it is, my tv keeps going silent because of the cuss words in the song. If Jay was in this song then they would really have to just burn the stage because of the amount of good rappers. I know this isn't everyones cup of tea, but this group is just very talented and on top of that, they have one of the best drummers in the world backing them, I could watch Travis Barker play the drums all day long, makes me want to buy some.
Album of the Year......Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews Band, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift! Awesome, glad she won, and No Kanye in sight! That ends the night, thanks for reading and again, sorry for the cynicism...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Awesome
I am not like a lunatic fan of Vampire Weekend, but I have to say that this is flat out cool.
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