taking a break

Just wanted to post an update that I will be taking a break from the ole blog for a week or so. We are heading down to our Work Crew week, as of Sunday. So, please be praying for the 5 leaders, and 20 some kids who will be giving up a week to serve.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV)

song 90 - life and death

If you know me, then you know how much I love the show LOST. I'm not always a huge instrumental music fan, but this song gets me every time I hear it. The song is named "Life and Death", composed by Michael Giacchino, and it normally plays when the show is centering around things of the life and death nature. Words can't describe how well a great song can play to your emotions when accompanied by the right images.

song 91 - scar tissue

For some reason I've always just connected with this band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We used to listen to them all the time driving to high school in the morning. My one friend, Steve, always was a big fan and I guess it just rubbed off. Scar Tissue is a song that I always just "liked", until I found out what exactly they were singing. The chorus says this...

"With the birds I'll share this lonely view..."

If you look at the rest of the lyrics, which I'll leave to you...you'll find that it's a song about longing to be someone else. Someone who can take themselves out of the poor situation they are in, and look at it from a "higher" perspective. Rising above the junk of this life and finding something more...something better...

song 92 - everything's right

This is one song (of a few) that doesn't really have any special meaning for me...I just really, really like it. However, because it doesn't have any special connection to a specific memory, it's lower than it should be. Sorry Matt Wertz....

song 93 - signed, sealed, delivered, i'm yours

Stevie Wonder...what an amazingly awesome person. Born blind, yet he has over 30 number one singles...AND twenty-two Grammys! It is a humbling thing to know that no matter what handicaps we might have, God can still use us for amazing things. I didn't discover Stevie on a broad scale, until about 7 years ago. Everyone knows his songs, but it wasn't until then that I really started to like and appreciate his story and artistry. This song is above all my favorite. As for personal memories...I was co-dean for a Junior High camp for the first time and we used "I'm Yours" as a theme for the week. It was originally supposed to based around the song by Toby Mac, however, half way through the week we tried this song out for a change of pace...it was a good decision.

song 94 - back in time

Waaaaay back in 1985, I was afraid to go see a movie because I thought the suicide door on the front of the poster was a ghost. My parents made me see the movie anyway, and today I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Not only was Back to the Future a great movie, but one of the defining movie moments of my childhood. This song by Huey Lewis just screams Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Under the Sea Dances, Clock Towers, Hill Valley, 88 mph, 1.21 jigawatts, and Deloreans to me. I remember loving it the very first time I heard it at the end of the movie. Now, twenty four years later...it's number 94.

song 95 - hang on sloopy

Cmon...really? You thought there wouldn't be something involving Ohio State in this top 100? Really? O-H....

song 96 - home

This song doesn't really have any significant memory for me, except for the fact that it got me hooked to Switchfoot very early in their career. I had been turned on to them by a friend, Eric Smith, back in 1998. This was the first song that I really connected with, and I've been following them ever since. It's really a cool thing to follow their career, because we are the same age...it's almost like we've grown up together. This is definitely not the last you'll see of Switchfoot in my top 100.

song 97 - tremble

You ever have one of those songs that just give you goosebumps every time you hear it? This song is that for me. I remember the very first time I heard it, driving in my car late at night, driving back from school in New Philadelphia. I think I must have played it 10-15 times on the way home (it was a 50 minute drive). It was a time in my life where I really didn't know what I wanted to do, and this song helped me to give up my control and just give it all to God. My life, my school, my job, everything I can screw up (which I did), if I leave it solely in my hands. Just listen to it...close your eyes...and just let yourself connect with God...

song 98 - call my name

Another recently new song. This one, for me, really hit home when seeing Third Day perform it live. When you solely focus on the words and meaning of this song, it turns into such a humbling group of lyrics. It conveys that one thing that we all have as Christians...the ability to call upon the Lord in our time of need. When we can't find fulfillment in anything or anyone this world has to offer...he's there.

I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy.
He listened so intently
as I laid out my case before him.
Death stared me in the face,
hell was hard on my heels.
Up against it, I didn't know which way to turn;
then I called out to God for help:
"Please, God!" I cried out.
"Save my life!"
God is gracious—it is he who makes things right,
our most compassionate God.
God takes the side of the helpless;
when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me. Psalm 116:1-6 (MSG)

Oh and sorry Jordan...no 98 degrees...at least not yet...

song 99 - nothing left to lose

A pretty recent song, but it still cracks my top 100. I just love everything about this song: the laid back feeling, the story, and especially the falsetto. The meat of the song that gets me though is the longing for God's will in our lives, and how we are supposed to live through it. What fear should we have? If we are to be doing something, should we not go forth and give it all?

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18 (NLT)

song 100 - when you wish upon a star

Probably the most classic of classic Disney songs. As you know, I am a huge Disney fan, and have been down to WDW over 20 times. This songs just screams that place to me. So many memories have been had while being down there. It is a place I want to share with those I love the most. I remember being 10 years old, waiting to leave on the monorail, and crying that we had to leave...this song, of course, was playing in the background. We were there with my Grandparents and it was the only time we got to go down there with them. I remember my grandma consoling me, telling me that someday I would be back. It's just such a happy/sad image burned into my memory and it bubbles up every time I hear this song played in the Magic Kingdom. It's just one of those things that you just have to keep feeling over and over again....

top 100

Thought I would start something that should be both cool and interesting. The other night I sat down and compiled my top 100 songs of all-time. All of these songs have either had an impact on me in some way, or I just really really like them. I will post each song one day at a time for the next 100 days. I will also talk about why they are where they are, and why they are special to me. See you tomorrow for song 100!!!

just noise

with all that has been brewing in my mind lately, I came up with a song...

I'll sing a song for you
Louder and brighter to fill up this room
but ask me to go, and live my life true
I'd rather sit here a while

I'll be your hands and your feet
Praising your name, I'll fall to my knees
but turning my talk into walking those streets
I'd rather wait here a while

Oh, isn't love easy
When you, are doing it wrong
Oh, isn't life simple
When all that you are is just noise

That's all I have so far, but there's more in there...

my memory is fuzzy

Okay, so I have this amazing memory thing that sometimes drives me nuts, and other times impresses my friends and family alike. I can remember the most insignificant things, every song I hear on the radio, every dumb little detail about movies/Star Wars/sports, etc... However, I struggle so much with memorizing anything. It's almost like my brain is pouting when I force it to do something.

The reason why I bring this up is because I am memorizing some scripture for our week of Work Crew this summer. We are asking kids to know it, so we must set that example. It's hard for me, really hard, so I fully understand where some kids are coming from. However, as one thing I've been learning too much lately...when is life ever supposed to be easy? Especially when we are pursuing Christ? I don't want to get on a soap box again...but wow, this is all definitely working together. It's challenging, exciting, frustrating...all wrapped up in one.

a day for the ages...

Wow...yesterday was one heck of a day...for the good and for the bad. First off, we got Shaq! I am huge fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and how cool is it that we got The Diesel himself! Never would have thought I would see the day that he became a Cavalier. I remember, back in the day collecting sports cards (6-8 grade)...his Upper Deck rookie card was one of the first I ever found in a pack. I will never forget it...it had him dunking in a time lapse photograph. So cool for back in the day. It was all so a part of the good ole junior high days of the Mark Price/Brad Daugherty/Larry Nance Cavs, playing NBA Jam in the arcades, and even playing basketball myself for U.L. Light.

Moving on...as I got home from work yesterday I found out the Michael Jackson had been taken to the hospital suffering from a heart attack. Now, if you know me, you know how much he is a part of my love for music. Thriller was my first favorite album as a little 6 year old version of myself. Not to mention, how much I thoroughly enjoyed Captain EO on my first trip to Disney World when I was 7. I still find myself singing along to his songs, just like I did back then...

The very moment that I found out of his passing...I was in the process of making an offer on the purchase of my first house. A very surreal experience in itself. Excitement, fear, and just an overall numb feeling accompanied me as I wrote the words in the offer. Buying a house has been a goal of mine for oh...8 years now. So many setbacks and situations have crossed my path along the way. It is no surprise that the day that I make that final push would be filled with so many milestones to accompany it.

If you're one of those people that truly know me...you know how my brain works. How everything that goes on around me is taken in and analyzed, forever putting a stamp on that current place and time. Well, yesterday was a day for the ages...one that took me through 3 separate parts of my life, now all joined together in one moment/one time that I will never forget.

how he loves

I just had to post this because this might be my new favoritist song. David Crowder's new single, which is a cover, but they promise that their new CD won't all be covers...and I trust them. Enjoy!!!

the old school

This morninng I am prepping my talk for the Sr./Jr. Highers at my church. We are going through a study called Bible Basics. It basically is us retelling old "sunday school" stories, that either we never learned correctly, or just plain forgot about. As I was trying to put my talk together, I had to spend about an hour trying to locate the story I was going to use. How sad is that? Here I am, a teacher of God's Word, and I have to spend that long to find a simple story about Moses? Honestly, I find it pretty ridiculous. So, I am making a new commitment to start studying the Old Testament more in my quiet times.
I think that so often, we as modern day Christians, focus so much on the New Testament that we forget about all of the important things God wants to tell us through the Old one. Just as I flipped through, frantically trying to find more story, I passed so many things that I've always wondered about. Just one more way that the Holy Spirit is trying to convict me.... Just when I start to think I'm getting pretty good at this, I quickly come to realize that I haven't even hit the tip of the iceburg yet.

lost in the 90s

If you know me, then you know that I love the show LOST. Well, this might be one of the funniest things I have seen someone put together...enjoy!

the beatitudes by a different light

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

Matthew 5:3-10

I am currently involved with the training of a group of high school kids for a week where they will be serving others at church camp in Loudonville, Oh. We have been reading through and breaking down the book Improving Your Serve by Chuck McDowell, and I must say that I have been challenged as much as...if not more than...what we have been teaching. Honestly, I have never really spent any time studying the beatitudes, or reading in them anything beyond their face value. Kind of an "Oh, that's nice" feeling and quickly moving on to something I felt was more interesting or important. When, in reality, these 8 verses are everything that I should be striving to become in my daily walk with Christ. Just exactly what should my attitude be like when dealing with others? How far do I need to go? How outside of my own comfort zone do I need to live? The truth is, of course...far, far outside of everything that my human brain can deem as acceptable. When does God ever ask us to do "just" enough to get by? Never.