Today I was chatting casually on gchat with a friend of mine and I forget how we got on the subject, but I said that the only thing I think I would give up my artistic abilities for would be to be able to play music.  I guess that stems from love for music and how much music plays a part in my life, everything from artistic inspiration to worship. But anyway, a small discussion on how when we use the talents we have been given by God, thats when we feel closest.

Normally I am not a normally a biblical commentary kind of guy, but two days ago I just happened to glance through this one and as my friend and I continued our chat it resonated within me.  In the  commentary it made mention of how in the Hebrew language, names are more than just names, they have meaning.

"In the names given the first antediluvian (pre-flood) patriarchs from Adam to Noah God 'made known the end from the beginning.' His purpose is clear. Here is the list of names and their meanings:

Names--------------------- Meaning
Adam---------------------- Man
Seth------------------------ appointed
Enosh---------------------- mortal
Kenan---------------------- sorrow
Mahalelel------------------- the blessed God
Jared----------------------- shall come down
Enoch----------------------- teaching
Methuselah----------------- his death shall bring
Lamech--------------------- despairing
Noah------------------------ rest or comfort

Put them all together and the LORD says:

Man is appointed mortal sorrow. The blessed God shall come down teaching His death shall bring the despairing rest."

Right there through the names of the people... he has told the gospel story from start to finish, again, showing that he plans everything for a reason.

Not only does God give us unique abilities which lead to unique ways to worship him, he does that for a reason.  God has created everyone with their own purpose in life.  He has given us skill and countless ways that we can come before him and worship.  This cements the fact that God has created us to continually worship and honor him in all we do; be it playing music, using art, singing, writing, you name it, if it is honoring God and appealing to him then it was meant to be used as a form of worship.

Just like the names of the  antediluvian telling the story, that is no coincidence, the fact that we can worship God in so many different ways is no coincidence.  It proves that we're meant to worship him in every and all ways.

Family Dinner

I remember being a kid and just loving when my whole family got together to sit down and eat a dinner together, no matter what it was, i loved it. It could be hot dogs with mac n’ cheese or the occasional steak and veggies. It was so good sitting around with my siblings crying, mom trying to deal with babies, the younger siblings spilling drinks, running away from the table, dad tormenting all of us and mom yelling at him for doing such. Sitting around hearing Dad tell stories for how he did dumb things and got in trouble or, in the more fun situations, didn’t. Sometimes he would give us ideas on how to get in trouble and mom would give a good, “Jim! Don’t tell them that!” I would just smile and be silent.
Soon those dinners went quickly away to more of a rushed dinner so we could get back to homework, or off to this, that or the other. Dad was working more, I was old enough to not always be home for dinner, it was rare to have those family dinners; but, when we did have them... all those things came back and I loved it. Still do!
Today I was sitting in church as I do every Sunday, listening to the sermon, then we get to the point of communion. A simple yet such powerful act that has always held a special place in the service for me. The thoughts of having to leave liberti for a while was really rough, and this was kind of my last “family meal” for a while. That bothers me. Sure, I’ll eat bread again, more than likely drink wine again, probably even take communion... but its not with my family, It won’t be with my spiritual family; the ones I pray with, the ones I hang with and the ones that have frustrated me in the past, its all there, the family dynamics. One of the many thing that this family has that my biological family doesn’t... when my liberti family and I have bread and wine together... its so much more than just bread and wine.

...When We Needed You

"you're the God of the rescue and you came through when we needed you."

Never have these words rung so true in my head. Tonight while working in my friends studio some how my friend Liz and I got to talking about what and in some cases who God has saved us from and it really made me think how great God is. How he has saved us from so many things... even things WE want to have happen to us. What we may think of as good God has other plans and Gods plan is always perfect. I have to keep telling myself this because something I have kind of been banking on, is not going to happen but Gods great commission will be and I have to continue to remind myself its not where I am, who I am with but that I am listening to God. and doing his will.

I pray that each and everyone of us can remember this.

Circles.

As I sit here in the morning having woken up way too early for work I decide its time for me to just lay in bed all ready to go and just listen to some music. I turn on the tunes and just let it shuffle, but as I lay there with my eyes closed and song after song is played I start to get lost in my thoughts, getting myself a little mentally restless. Thats no good, but as soon as I'm ready to get up my playlist decides to play Not Ashamed by the awesome but disbanded group Kurios. Im sure most of you dont know who kurios is but they were an awesome band that was really influential in my deciding to be a christian.

Even during the time when I was at my lowest during my bouts with depression years ago and basically had turned my back on God i still listened to this group. They were something that I cried to, got pissed off to, and got back to a decent place with. I know it sounds like every other emo teen, but its weird, even though they are now disbanded and the remaining members have created another AWESOME band, the lyrics and the memories that I have from this band is just such a humbling experience. Knowing that even in my lowest anti-god point, he was still there working on me, making permanent changes in me. Its really freakin' awesome to have someone like that there for you. I'm just going to sit here and be humbled as I listen to some memory filled music. So many memories good bad and indifferent.

When God finds a spot to work his "magic" the way he does with music and me its awesome.