…So Let Your Name Be Lifted Friggin’ Higher and Higher

So, this weekend I did two things that I haven’t done for the longest time.  The first thing is that I unplugged from the rest of the world minus my family.  On Sunday I still led worship.  I was asked to lead at Mendham Hills Community Church.  It was kind of nice because I couldn’t make practice and just played Sunday morning.  By no means do I condone that, but I’m not gonna lie, it was nice this past week.  Anyways, it was awesome to see new people at the church and to share hugs with regular members.  The icing on top was that some of my friends were back from school and I got to see them as well.

Doug’s (the pastor) message was incredible.  It was the gospel straight up from two perspective.  The perspective of Jesus the forgiver at first, but mainly focused on Jesus, the warrior, as the church is in the middle of a spiritual battle series with the focus on Ephesians 6 and using Screwtape Letters as an illustration.  The main point was that helmet of salvation is the knowledge and protection that we have through Jesus.  When we have thoughts of unworthiness, thoughts of pain, thoughts of hopelessness, thoughts of failure we are not drawn away from Jesus but rather cling to him, because in the most humble way possible I can say (because God says it, he calls me friend) that I am worth fighting for.  That is, not only did Jesus take the imaginable weight of sin in my life.  Not only did he suffer physical pain in my stead but he also BECAME sin so that we might become his righteousness.  That is, I can’t imagine the amount of spiritual pain and agony that Jesus had to bear at the cross and after.  This really gives light to Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane.

Christ FOUGHT for our lives.  Christ went to the depths of hell and back and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING could stand against him. Not even death itself could contain his glory.  Think about the words now.  You are stronger, You are stronger, sin is broken you have saved me.  Christ truly is stronger.  Why?  So that through his Love, God would be glorified.  Why because he loves us.  So let his name be lifted higher and higher and higher and higher.  We sometimes don’t understand that amount of WORSHIP that God deserves.

By the way, when Doug was preaching these truths it was AMAZING.  You could feel the entire congregation reacting to what He was saying.  Now MHCC is a church in Mendham, NJ.  One of the richest towns in the nation.  The congregation is white, quiet, and reserved.  And it was one of the few times if not the first time that I heard people (besides my mom ) affirming and praising God throughout the sermon.  Nothing too crazy or weird, it was just people reacting to being cut to the heart by the double edge sword that is God’s word.

After the sermon we got to play one of my all time favorite worship songs.  It’s such an under the radar song, but it rocks.  The song was “He is Lord” by Hillsong (no, not the old hymn).  It was the first time we had ever done that song and it was mashed with the old hymn “Soldiers of Christ Arise.”  WOW!  I could not contain my tears.  First of all I was leading, but not head leader.  I sat at the grand piano and sang from there while Tara and Mark lead in front.  That way I did not had to focus on anything, (especially my tuning, I just SANG and it’s crazy how when I JUST sing… it sounds right).  The first verse just pierces immediately:

Oh blessed lamb once slain, will reign forevermore.  His hands once bound now save.  Our God will never fail.

And ladies and gentlemen open the waterworks.  Here, let me put all the lyrics up.

Oh blessed lamb once slain
Will reign forever more
His hands once bound now save
Our God will never fail

He is Lord
He is Lord
Sings my soul
He is Lord
And He lives
Yes He lives
I’m alive ’cause Jesus lives

‘Tis at the cross of Christ
Where earth and heaven meet
Where sin is overcome
To God the victory

And now
Let the earth resound with praise
For our Saviour God He reigns
He is high and lifted up
Arise
For the King of glory waits
He is coming back again

Honestly, I just have to let the song speak for itself.  I know most of the people who actually read this probably know the song already, but I want to encourage you to think about it.  REALLY think about it.  The song ends in the perfect way.  It ends with a resounding “He is Coming Back Again, He is Coming Back Again, He is Coming Back AGAIN”.  Dang!  I don’t know about you, but I get so pumped.  He is COMING BACK AGAIN.  The same Jesus who FORGAVE and FOUGHT for you is coming back.  Can’t wait!

Evermore

With all my life I’ll say, I’ll be living for your name.  With all to give you praise, I’ll be living for Your glory Lord

Came across the song “Evermore” by Hillsong, classic.  We did it at church a couple of weeks ago.  As I listened to it and we are going to do it at school tonight.  I think of the ad-lib beginning sang in the regular Hillsong version and am totally refocused and encouraged for some reason.  Let’s shout out together WE’LL BE LIVING FOR YOUR NAME!  That is my one desire and passion.  I think I’ve said this before, but it’s so freaking true.  The chorus there goes on to say.  ”Even if my world falls I will say, ABOVE ALL, I LIVE FOR YOUR GLORY!”  Sometimes we have conditions for God.  ”God I’ll give you everything in my life as long as I get good grades.”  ”God, I’ll give you everything in my life as long as I get the girl” ”God, I’ll give you everything in my life as long as you make me leader at church.”  ”…as long as you help me break from this sin” “…as long as you tell me your will, once I know your will then I can say above all, I live for your glory.”  Wrong!  First of all, what happened to faith!  What happened to knowing that God is enough for us in our life and knowing that he will provide?  What happened to knowing that Jesus died for me so I am now a new person in him?  I guess what Im trying to say is that first of all the God of the universe can’t be put under “conditions”, He is God!  Second of all, those “conditions” are covered by Grace.  So who do we think we are telling God what to do and our needs are covered!  I guess this translates to my life in that I don’t know.  So many things around me are asking “what’s in it for me!”  Even around bros and sis in Christ are either expecting something in return or so protective of ministry that they forget that above all we live for His glory.  Every freaking step I take we live for the expansion of the kingdom and we should get pumped about that.  We should get freaking so excited we could not contain ourselves.  That’s where I am at.  I guess, my prayer is that I’m constantly focused on the vision and the creator of the mission and that is Christ

Lost for words, with all to say.  Lord you you take my breath away still my soul my soul cries out YOU ARE HOLY!

As I look upon your name, circumstances fade away.  Now your glory steals my heart.  YOU ARE HOLY!

Evermore my heart, my heart will say.  Above all, I live for your glory.

Even if my world falls I will say.  ABOVE ALL, I LIVE FOR YOUR GLORY.

Picking it back up in the Here and Now

So once again I have picked up “my blog” I’m probably not the blogging type then.

I’m taking a break from bombarding myself with x-rays at work (the sample’s running) and I decided to take another crack at this.  Two more weeks, and I’m done.  I’m really excited!  This has been a great experience (economically and practically) but honestly, it needs to finish.  People here are great and excited about chemistry.  That’s awesome.  Me, not so much.  It’s ok though.  This work finally got me my mac. 

I’ve been thinking lately though many times we cant wait till “the next step” in life.  “Where God, wants us to be” “The moment we fulfill our purpose.”  Well… um… keep waiting, but I dont think that’s ever gonna happen (aside from heaven, and even then, who knows?).  What I’m trying to say is, lets not live in the future.  I learned this a while ago, when I moved to a different country litterally over night.  However, I applied it to my life as the idea that God is in control of everything, he could change our world over night and we just had to trust him, and we will be in the right place.  That’s true, but lately I’ve been thinking there’s something missing in my trust. “ok so, I don’t know what God has in store for me, and I can’t wait till that moment happens when he moves me and does with me his magnum opus. Man, how exciting!”  See, what’s missing there?  How about the here and now.  How about where God has put me right this moment!  Right this summer.  That’s just as big as his plans for me in the future, if not bigger.  Not only will this time prepare me for the future but God put me HERE, NOW.  Therefore, I’m trying to make the here and now count.  I am trying to focus on the here an now.  Therefore my prayer is to glorify God in the here and now.  Not only when I am in seminary, not only when I am a pastor or a missionary or a chemist.  I don’t want to miss what God is showing me right now just because I keep looking at the horizon.  My horizon is closer than ever, and if I get there, then what.  I stop?  I achieved my purpose?  Then what?  I’d probably make up another horizon and keep staring at it saying “when I get there things are going to be great.” But things are great in the here a now, not just because it is preparation, but because it’s also where God wants me to be.  I am sure of that, because my desire is to seek him every day.

Anyways, I don’t know if you can relate, frankly, I don’t know if anyone reads this, but I encourage you to walk with God today, not wait ’till you reach your destination to start walking.

Peace, off to run more x-rays. ; )

thomas merton

Hey guys.  I came across this prayer at  an old friend’s blog and I wanted to share it with you because of it’s sincerity and truth.  It’s pretty sweet!  May this be our prayer.

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.  

- Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”

It spoke to me and so I made it my prayer today.  Hope you can pray this as well with me.

something deep inside

Special post! just because the only 30min I have off on Tuesdays I’m dedicating to posting…. (nothing really special)

My little brother bought the Skillet Live album which comes with a DVD of a concert.  I actually think that he might be in one of those DVDs one day.  He gets excited about music so much and everytime he listens to music and gets excited he goes.  “Marcos, that could be me!” So who knows…

Anyways, he was showing me the DVD since I was kinda the one that introduced him to skillet.  I can say I’ve been a faithful fan of skillet.  From their first CD I’ve like them (even through the crappy ones).  I don’t really like tons of music in that genre, but they put on such a great show.  I would recommend it to anyone.  One of my favorite Skillet songs came up.  “Collide” from their “Collide CD”.  The lyrics are kinda either too deep, or emo for me, so I don’t understand them very well.  The only time that the word “Collide” is mentioned in the song is a phrase that says “Where fear and faith collide”.  However, the mix of hard core music with violins and little piano riffs always gets me.  On top of that, I really like the chorus’s first couple of lines that go:

There’s something deep inside that keeps my faith alive.  When all you can do is hide from the fear that’s deep inside of you. Something (x5) to hold me close when I don’t know.  There’s something deep inside that keeps my faith alive.

Everytime I hear that song it kinda makes me smile.  Like I said, not only is it good musically, in an angry music sort of way, but it alludes to the mystery of the Holy Spirit, the mystery of faith, and to its 100% reality and legitimacy.  There is something deep inside me that keeps my faith alive.  I don’t know about you, but my relationship with Christ is awesome and I know who he is and walk with him.  However, I am human and I struggle.  Like everybody else, I doubt sometimes and my faith is shaken by the “fear” I guess.  But, there is something deep inside that somehow keeps my faith alive.  At the end of the day I can say “Jesus, you are alive and active. You’re Holy Spirit resides in me and I can recognize it.”  I can say that even though sometimes I don’t feel it.  Even though sometimes I don’t want to get into the whole emotional worship, (which is kinda rare for me to not want to).  But I do.  God’s love is so big and so powerful and so indescribable that somehow his sacrifice is something deep inside me that just keeps my faith alive, keeps my worship alive, keeps my love alive.   Even in the darkest moments.  The craziest thing is that same thing “holds me close when I don’t know”.  Not only does it keep the faith alive, but it comforts in the moments of fear.

Yes, this is because of Christ’s sacrifice and its constant reminder of my condition and what Jesus did for me.  It’s a constant reminder of the light that finds me in darkness and then turns me to be a light unto the world. 

It’s weird because I don’t really think of Skillet as like super deep lyrics or anything like that.  Actually, their lyrics are kinda dark and emo many times. But that’s what I’ve been thinking of.  They are great muscially (although their new drummer is not quite like the old one, still good, but different). 

Anyways, that my bit for the day.

Peace!

too emo, instead postmodern

I was going to post something else, but it was going to be too emo and too personal.  So instead, I decided to be postmodern and let you know about it.

Peace!

busy

I’m so busy that I haven’t had time to write.  But, I came accross the PBS special that showed the Michael Buble thing in the previous post.  It is called “Great Performances” David Foster and friends.  It was actually really good.  This girl is  a little rough around the edges, but she is only 16 and woa.  Impressive.  Sorry, this was the best youtube video i could find

Enjoy

feelings

I just want to take my hat off to Mr. Buble and his amazing performance of feelings in this here clip.  Honestly, that’s a class act.  This is kinda old, but I really don’t follow Buble so I hadn’t seen it till my brother sent it to me.  It’s sweet to see that some genres of music come and go (rap chord, remember that?).  But some are just classy forever and provoke chills.  The band, the singer, the pianist… Smooth.  Enjoy…

the woo

I took a strengths test by Gallup.  Let me first say that it seems like they know their stuff.  No wonder they are “Gallup”.  Anyways, my top “strengths” are:

• Woo
• Belief
• Developer
• Positivity
• Arranger

Most of these are pretty self explanatory.  Except for the big one, the first one.  What is “woo”.  Apparently, I’ve got The Woo.  

People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.  They are good networkers.

People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

People who are especially talented in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

I thought that this was pretty right on.  I’ve taken tons of these tests before, and they got similar results, but these were right on.  What do you think?

ending the hiatus

hindsight is 20/20

 

*(this post was supposed to be placed before “wake up” i had it on a word file.  “wake up” is more recent.)

 

      I’m back.  Yes, after a long while it’s starting again.  I must say, I think I had a good roll with the whole blogging thing.  Almost a full year, that’s pretty impressive for me I think.

 

      The break brought a ton of lessons, ups, downs, and experiences.  I lead awesome worship with my closest friends on several occasions.  New friendships were made.  I was able to serve at a retreat (find more about it on Satchell’s blog).  I went to Disney World.  I also went snowboarding a couple of times.

      Now don’t think that I’m going back on my word and treating this as a diary, I’m not, just wait for it.  I think that the most valuable lessons that I learned have to do with God’s sovereignty, his church, and his faithfulness despite our imperfection.

 

      Sovereignty:  It is always the case with me that when I look back at what God has done in my life, through me and for me, I become perplexed.  It’s one of those things were you go. “What the heck God, you’re awesome.” I guess hindsight is twenty-twenty.  The Israelites all over the Old Testament, especially when they were traveling, often built altars.  Abraham built an altar after God provided a sacrifice in Isaac’s stead.  The Israelites built an altar after they crossed the Jordan.  I often get the feeling that if you were walking around those regions in biblical times, you just would see altars everywhere.  They worship God after they realized that something amazing had happened.  This would happen after the presence of God was so explicit and in your face that they realize who was on their side all the time.  So why build these altars, especially when they would be moving and leaving the place.  I believe that it was a reminder.  It was a physical way to remind them where they have been and what God had done for them. Then, they could worship at the altar, remembering God’s faithfulness, love, and power.  

 

      The reason why I’m talking about this is because this past month has definitely been one of those milestones in my life journey  What is even crazier, is that through the remembering and reflecting of previous “altars” in my life.  God is sovereign that he knows all this and is in control all the time.  It’s too bad that hindsight is what’s 20-20 and often times we are clouded in the moment.  I wanted to start by saying this because I think it’s amazing how the God of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth, the alpha, and the omega oversees my life because he cares and because he loves.  Praise be to God for this break.  I know, I haven’t gone into details or anything like that.  Why does the break merit the construction of an altar? Well, I plan on answering that later.  I’m just glad to know that God is sovereign over everything.  God is always there.  He is there in the good times and in the bad times.  Sometimes it feels like he is not, that he can’t listen, but he is there no matter what our emotional, economic, social state is, plus he’s greater than all those other issues.