Not Hiding Anything

This is just such a cool commercial that I found on the Mockingbird Blog...so is there a message here? What comes to my mind first is the honesty and openness here is what we as christians too often lack...we become christians and then begin to feel "spiritual" and better, not sinners anymore. Our orientation swings from His love for us, to how we live the right way and follow the rules so that He will love us. I think God sees through those pretenses fairly easily and wants to remind us that we can come to Him as we are, covered with dirt and ready to be accepted by and through Jesus. And stop all the pretending...or don't...I don't care.

Go Away

Depression brings an emotional rejection of hope and that is really the most painful part of it...because the loss of hope means the loss of everything. So what is God's answer to hurt and sadness? It is not a response that just simply gives happiness and joy...it is a response that is patient, but reminds us that He suffers the hurt, the loneliness, the sadness that we feel. Jesus didn't come so we wouldn't hurt...He came to hurt...He didn't come so we would not be alone...He came to be lonely. And because of what He has done, even in the darkness, we can say 'this old world, she's gonna turn around, brand new bells will be ringing!'

You Can Trust Him No Matter What

A song that speaks of grace and trust to someone that I still hope will trust and receive His grace.

With or Without You

With or without you...amazing song...this is me just now learning it.

Writing a song with jibberish

This is how I write a song...some chords mixed with a desperate attempt to apply a melody...I just sing jibberish and hope that something makes musical sense. I love playing this chord arrangement although it is much more difficult than it looks...at least for me.

Idol Threats

Tim Keller speaking on The Gospel and Idolatry


I hate the word 'idolatry' because it sounds so religious and makes me think of terrible tv preachers who specialize in guilt but neglect grace. Tim Keller has a new book out and the topic is the gospel and idolatry. As usual, Tim speaks like a professor but is very engaging. In the one hour talk, you always have to get to the final ten minutes where, after explaining the problems we face and the mountains we have to climb, he then gets to Jesus and we realize that the whole point of the talk, the stories, the bible...is that Jesus is the Saviour from all that is broken.

I so easily recognize how I look for my security and value in things that actually cannot provide them...and yes, they end up being a destructive force in my life. I found myself seeing myself in his descriptions very clearly. It is fascinating to envision how God sees them as so deadly to us, so inviting but sinister, like the wolf in sheep's clothing...but also, most importantly, how he brings us back to himself.

Blackbird

I was excited to learn this song because it is such an amazing piece of music...and surprisingly not so hard to play which is perfect for my skill level!

The hat is because my apartment had no heat and it was freezing...plus it looks cool(?)