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| Well, Im sitting here on the bus driving along here, not really knowing where I am going. Its a crazy feeling. I have no concept of where I am, and I only know where I am by what I am told. For example, today my tour book says we're in Seattle, and when I get off the bus, I see a church, that looks just like every other church we've played at, with a lobby just like all the others, with dressing rooms like the others, and hotels nearby just like every other tour date. Yet, because im told this is Seattle, I know I am in Seattle.
It just got me thinking, how I am in very little control of my life right now. We have a bus driver, and a tour that tells us our schedule, and where we go for every day. Though, I have little control, I feel completely relaxed and know that I am being taken care of. I have very little worry or stress because of these humans they call "tour managers".
Isnt it strange how you can feel so confident in the hands of humans, but yet we worry about all the little details of our life, and wonder whether God will take care of us?
So often we fail to trust God with the details of our lives. We spend all our time worrying about what we'll do 25 years from now. We worry about the little details that can be so minor.
In God's word, he assures us that he will take care of our every need. Matthew chapter 6 says
" Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
Let us continue to take all the stress and worry of our lives to prayer, and know that God will take care of us as he promises. | | |
| I met a cute girl a few nights ago....
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| Well, I finally got to see California..and to be honest, it looks the same as pretty much every other state. Haha. We were in Santa Barbara two days ago, and I found out the beach was like a block from the venue, so I hopped on my longboard and went to the beach for like a good 2 hours.
Now we're leaving a hotel here, and I just got starbucks:). that kinda made my day. We have a day off today, which is pretty rad.
Anyways, last night at the show, I had something hit me a little hard.
There was this girl there who was hanging around the merch table when the guys were signing, and she asked if she could talk with Jessy after people left and she agreed to wait. At first I thought..alright, sweet, another crazed fan who wants to bug him for hours.
The hour went by, and she got to go up and talk to Jessy. it turns out, she has a huge tumour and they found it much too late. They discovered it while giving her a flu shot. She has been given less then 5 months to live, and meeting Falling up was something she so badly wanted.
All of a sudden, my attitude shifted, and I felt myself wanting to do anything I could for this young girl. Then it hit me.
Why does it take something so earth shattering, so saddening, and so serious for us to show love to others. A classic example of this is the huge hurricane that hit New Orleans. Look at how thousands of people came together to show love to this devastated area...but it took a disaster for us to show our love?
I guess what I'm getting at by this, is that we as christians (and those who may not be), have the chance on a daily basis to show love to people, and show God's love in a practical way...but we dont. We constantly spend on ourselves, and take care of "Me".
We have the ability to change lives in this world, so lets do it! Why not sponsor a child through world vision or Compassion.
I just thought I would share these thoughts with you, and perhaps it will inspire you. | | |
| After standing in line for customs for approximately an hour, as I was approaching the front of the line, of the customs officers went through the line indicating that you needed your complete form filled out. I told him that I had no idea what the address was of the house in Franklin, TN that I would be staying at. He told me “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going anywhere”. I proceded in the line up praying like never before. As I approached the customs officer, he asked for my papers. I provided him with my passport and tickets, along with some photocopies of ID if needed. He asked what I do for a living, I answered saying I was a student at Tyndale University. He questioned as to how I could be gone for this length of time and be a student. Sounds like a fairly decent question to ask. I informed him that I was taking a semester off to do some traveling. He also told me that the photocopies of the Id would not due and he needed the real copy of my student card. Panicking because I knew I took all those cards out of my wallet, I decided to check my wallet anyways. And it was there! The only one still there.
He looked at the ID and asked “Seminary huh? What is that like religious?”. I answered him explaining it was a Christian University.
He then asked me what I was studying there. I told him I was going for my BA in Religious studies. He asked me to elaborate, so I explained some of the courses I was taking.
He then asked if I was a Christian. I answered, “yes, I am”. He then replied with, “well, what do you mean by that. Everyone says they are a Christian.”
I replied saying “I firmly believe in God, and that he sent his Son Jesus to save us from our sin.” At this point, I was pretty much ready to grab my bags, and phone my parents asking to come pick me up. I figured, well, this guy has probably got something against Christians. Instead I began to pray in my head.
He continued to stare in my eyes, paying no attention to any paperwork I presented. He then asked, “so do you believe that Jesus is the only way?” I considered many “politically correct answers”, but decided to answer with “Yes, I do believe that. Jesus is the only way to salvation”.
He then asked, “Well don’t you think that is a bit harsh?”, I finally replied with “to some it may seem that way, but God loves us.”
At this point, I was totally sure that there was no chance I was getting passed this customs officer.
At this point he said, “Ok” and signed my papers, asking no questions about why I was going, when I was coming back, and paid no attention to my forms. He simply signed it and said “I am a Christian myself, and was testing your beliefs to see if you were really who you said you were.”
Isnt it amazing how God can take this situations that seem impossible, and use it to put you to the test. I got on the plane wondering, what might have happened if I was to take the safe approach, and tread lightly on subject?
I really feel this can be an encouragement for all of us to stand up for our faith, and proclaim God's glory. | | |
| I've been doing alot of thinking lately
Sometimes, you wonder why God does things. Why is it that just when you think life is great, and everything is amazing, something happens to totally kill your spirit. I mean, everybody experiences this.
If one thing, its taught me that though life has ups and downs, you need to constantly lean on God for strength regardless of the situation.
I dont mean to get all pastoral on whoever may read this, but I've found that this has been something I've been thinking about lately.
Sometimes in life, we dont know why we do things, or why other people do things, and we often wonder, "God, what is going on here?". And I think the real issue here is faith. So many times people confuse faith with stupidity.
"FAITH" is not jumping off a cliff with no parachute believing God will rescue you.
BUT.... "FAITH". is knowing, and believing that though you may not know why things happen, you know that God has never left your side, and that anything you deal with he deals with too. Anything that you share delight in, He shares delight in also.
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