Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
God had his hands on me..........
The other night I took it upon myself to go out for a evening run through town. As I was running I was listening to a new EP I had acquired from a band called Least of These. I have a soft spot for bands that I feel like tell it like it is. Just honest to god lyrics about the dirtiness of creation. As I was listening to the record I found myself really enjoying the jams put forth. Then the album got to a last little instrumental part and I was struck by how beautiful the track was and then how even more beautiful the final track was. I found myself surrounded by the love of God in glow of a street light, choking back tears of thankfulness.
I think I forget and maybe we all forget just how unbelievable a payment Christ made for his men who were truly filthy creatures in everyones sight but his own. God has done it all for creatures that were not worthy to even be at his feet.......and yet here we are. I'm blown away for Gods heart for us.
Thank you Jesus.
Every line in this song pulls at me.
"Filthy Man" by Least of These
Filthy man was I who took his walk in stride
Clearly it would take more effort than I had thought
Brought out from the darkest place, and put into the light
God had His hands on me all the time
God had His hands on me all the time
Stubborn man was I who pushed His hands aside
I don't need Your grace I can do this on my own
What a lost man was I, stuck in my own ways
What a lost man was I stuck in my
What a lost man was I who was stuck in my own ways
But I understand the cross, and what its done
Filthy man was I
Stubborn man was I
I think I forget and maybe we all forget just how unbelievable a payment Christ made for his men who were truly filthy creatures in everyones sight but his own. God has done it all for creatures that were not worthy to even be at his feet.......and yet here we are. I'm blown away for Gods heart for us.
Thank you Jesus.
Every line in this song pulls at me.
"Filthy Man" by Least of These
Filthy man was I who took his walk in stride
Clearly it would take more effort than I had thought
Brought out from the darkest place, and put into the light
God had His hands on me all the time
God had His hands on me all the time
Stubborn man was I who pushed His hands aside
I don't need Your grace I can do this on my own
What a lost man was I, stuck in my own ways
What a lost man was I stuck in my
What a lost man was I who was stuck in my own ways
But I understand the cross, and what its done
Filthy man was I
Stubborn man was I
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
A little perspective.......
This blog post was published on To Write Love on her arms blog this morning.....I must say this is honest look at St. Valentines Day as it should be viewed. Hope you enjoy it as I did.
My friend Don wrote a blog about you today and his blog suggests that you used to look a lot different than you do today. He says that you are the product of a poet and that before this poet's pen, you were not a romantic holiday.
i think i would have liked you more back then, whenever that was. The truth is that you really bother me now. i think you bother a lot of people, honestly. You show up every year right after Christmas. You turn the windows pink and you sell your diamonds on the radio and i think i've gotten five emails from 1-800-FLOWERS in the last three days. i'm not sure how you got so much power.
Don't get me wrong. It's not that i don't like love. i love love - i think it's the best thing that happens on the planet. It's the biggest dream inside me. But i bought a lie somewhere along the way. i bought the lie that says i'm not alive if i'm not in love. i bought the lie that says if i love someone but then they stop loving me or they start loving someone else, then i must have no value or power or worth. i bought the lie that says if i'm not in love, then i'm as good as dead.
And if you believe that lie long enough, it makes a giant hole. It makes a hole so big that no one person could ever begin to fill it. Not even a princess. Believe me, i've tried. To fill it with a person, to fill it with beauty, to fill it with all the things you sell.
But i don't think it works that way. Bono says his songs come from a God-shaped hole inside of him. He's my favorite singer and he has a lot of things. He has great stories and a wife and kids and plenty of money. But in spite of all of those things, he says he still has this hole and he says that it's the reason that he sings.
i've been thinking lately that maybe i've confused a girl for God, a different one every year or two, since the first day of junior high. And man, that is a lot of pressure to put on someone, to make them God. That is a ton of power to hand someone. Especially when they're just a person. A person with questions and flaws and pain of their own.
So maybe there's a war, inside of me and for me and maybe my heart is the opposite of small. Maybe it's the opposite of cheap and empty and alone. Maybe it's sacred and enormous and wild.
To make a long story short, i think i've given you way too much power. i let you scare me and i let you name me and i let you tell me what i'm worth.
i don't want to do that anymore.
There are dreams inside of me and those are mine and my guess is that they're there for a reason. But for all the days like now where the dreams are asked to be only dreams, i'm gonna keep getting out of bed. i'm gonna keep living my story. i'm gonna believe that there is reason and purpose, and power in my life. i'm gonna believe that i'm alive inside a story bigger than my pain, bigger than everything missing.
It crossed my mind to try to ignore you, to try to go to bed early and wake up when you're gone. But i changed my mind. i am part of a gang in Florida and we're gonna get together tonight. We're going to open our computers and we're going to choose to believe that words are powerful. We're gonna do our best to tell someone something true. We're gonna ask people not to give up on their stories.
Valentine's Day, i don't hate you. i don't even blame you. Perhaps you did not name yourself. Perhaps you are the product of hundreds of years, hundreds of thousands of broken people and a million God-shaped holes.
The truth is that we're all living love stories.
Peace to you tonight.
jamie
i think i would have liked you more back then, whenever that was. The truth is that you really bother me now. i think you bother a lot of people, honestly. You show up every year right after Christmas. You turn the windows pink and you sell your diamonds on the radio and i think i've gotten five emails from 1-800-FLOWERS in the last three days. i'm not sure how you got so much power.
Don't get me wrong. It's not that i don't like love. i love love - i think it's the best thing that happens on the planet. It's the biggest dream inside me. But i bought a lie somewhere along the way. i bought the lie that says i'm not alive if i'm not in love. i bought the lie that says if i love someone but then they stop loving me or they start loving someone else, then i must have no value or power or worth. i bought the lie that says if i'm not in love, then i'm as good as dead.
And if you believe that lie long enough, it makes a giant hole. It makes a hole so big that no one person could ever begin to fill it. Not even a princess. Believe me, i've tried. To fill it with a person, to fill it with beauty, to fill it with all the things you sell.
But i don't think it works that way. Bono says his songs come from a God-shaped hole inside of him. He's my favorite singer and he has a lot of things. He has great stories and a wife and kids and plenty of money. But in spite of all of those things, he says he still has this hole and he says that it's the reason that he sings.
i've been thinking lately that maybe i've confused a girl for God, a different one every year or two, since the first day of junior high. And man, that is a lot of pressure to put on someone, to make them God. That is a ton of power to hand someone. Especially when they're just a person. A person with questions and flaws and pain of their own.
So maybe there's a war, inside of me and for me and maybe my heart is the opposite of small. Maybe it's the opposite of cheap and empty and alone. Maybe it's sacred and enormous and wild.
To make a long story short, i think i've given you way too much power. i let you scare me and i let you name me and i let you tell me what i'm worth.
i don't want to do that anymore.
There are dreams inside of me and those are mine and my guess is that they're there for a reason. But for all the days like now where the dreams are asked to be only dreams, i'm gonna keep getting out of bed. i'm gonna keep living my story. i'm gonna believe that there is reason and purpose, and power in my life. i'm gonna believe that i'm alive inside a story bigger than my pain, bigger than everything missing.
It crossed my mind to try to ignore you, to try to go to bed early and wake up when you're gone. But i changed my mind. i am part of a gang in Florida and we're gonna get together tonight. We're going to open our computers and we're going to choose to believe that words are powerful. We're gonna do our best to tell someone something true. We're gonna ask people not to give up on their stories.
Valentine's Day, i don't hate you. i don't even blame you. Perhaps you did not name yourself. Perhaps you are the product of hundreds of years, hundreds of thousands of broken people and a million God-shaped holes.
The truth is that we're all living love stories.
Peace to you tonight.
jamie
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Good God we need you this time of year......
lets say I'm convinced he arrived just in time.
So I've been out for a little while. It's been weird and I really can't even begin to explain it. The point is things always look up after a while. Christmastime is here and this year it almost feels fake. Like its not a real Christmas even at all. I'm trying to focus back in on the importance of the holiday that is Christ and his beautiful and radical birth into the world.
I have so many distractions in the world. I need God to come and show me why I have no reason to worry about such silly things.
Be well this holiday everyone!!!
So I've been out for a little while. It's been weird and I really can't even begin to explain it. The point is things always look up after a while. Christmastime is here and this year it almost feels fake. Like its not a real Christmas even at all. I'm trying to focus back in on the importance of the holiday that is Christ and his beautiful and radical birth into the world.
I have so many distractions in the world. I need God to come and show me why I have no reason to worry about such silly things.
Be well this holiday everyone!!!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Art within music.......
If you believe in art being a part of music. Then you owe it to yourself to spend some time with Paper Route. Spent a wonderful evening with these gentlemen tonight and I must say it was very much worth it. Really enjoyed the music and equally enjoyed the conversation afterwards. Listen to paper route.
Be Blessed.
Be Blessed.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Open your eyes, you're still here.......
Maybe sometimes we all forget how blessed we are. Maybe we all forget that we're still alive.....empty handed but alive. I don't know if I've ever felt peace in my life completely. But I know now in the midst of every storm that I am alive and I have purpose buried beneath this current state of life.
God is and forever will be my reason to keep going. He is my wise shepherd guiding me to my destination. Life will go on and I will be well.
Bless you all. Much love and peace.
God is and forever will be my reason to keep going. He is my wise shepherd guiding me to my destination. Life will go on and I will be well.
Bless you all. Much love and peace.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Coming up for air......
Well its been a while. I've been on an extended break out of the blog world and been collecting myself through keeping busy with work, finding a real job and friends. Its been good and I've been trying to collect myself in this current season of my life.
I must say the older you get the tougher it gets to walk through life. The more you need faith in something. I've tried putting faith in several things in my life. Almost all of them have left me feeling incredibly underwhelmed and unsatisfied. It seems every time I drift off that I find myself once again at the feet of Jesus begging to be taken back. I hate this cycle. I hate that I'm so incredibly intrigued by so many other things outside of His kingdom. I hate that I struggle and claw my way through a world that cares nothing of purity or love.
And yet.
I am still here. I am still a child of Christ. What is around me is more often than not something that I cannot change. I believe contentment is a word that has no place in human nature outside of the grace of God. I've been paid for and I have a name in Christ alone. He is my Father and even though I'm a prodigal son so very often. I am still his son.
My sweet Jesus thank you for being so wonderfully gracious with me. Thanks for loving me in a way that no one has ever even come close to doing. I'm learning through baby steps how to love you in return the way you have so consistently chose to love me. Jesus you are forgiveness and to know that I am forgiven is to be set free.
Amen.
I must say the older you get the tougher it gets to walk through life. The more you need faith in something. I've tried putting faith in several things in my life. Almost all of them have left me feeling incredibly underwhelmed and unsatisfied. It seems every time I drift off that I find myself once again at the feet of Jesus begging to be taken back. I hate this cycle. I hate that I'm so incredibly intrigued by so many other things outside of His kingdom. I hate that I struggle and claw my way through a world that cares nothing of purity or love.
And yet.
I am still here. I am still a child of Christ. What is around me is more often than not something that I cannot change. I believe contentment is a word that has no place in human nature outside of the grace of God. I've been paid for and I have a name in Christ alone. He is my Father and even though I'm a prodigal son so very often. I am still his son.
My sweet Jesus thank you for being so wonderfully gracious with me. Thanks for loving me in a way that no one has ever even come close to doing. I'm learning through baby steps how to love you in return the way you have so consistently chose to love me. Jesus you are forgiveness and to know that I am forgiven is to be set free.
Amen.
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