YEAAAH BOOYAH!

YEAAH, Tobymac and Jimmy Needham came out with new albums today! So stoked to get my hands/ears on 'em!

Check out JFH for reviews of them and samples.

http://jesusfreakhideout.com/default.aspx

(I've got more stuff a-coming, dontcha worry)

"The Christian army is the only one that shoots its own leaders." -Pastor Kimber Kauffman

(fyi, I got this from Steven Camp's blog a long time ago, but thought I'd share it)
 (To live this out in my life!)

By Arthur Pink:

"Do not speak evil against each other, brethren."
- James 4:11a

That which is here forbidden, is the saying of anything, be it true or false, to the harm of another. God requires that our words should be governed by "the law of kindness" (Proverbs 31:26), and anything which would hurt or injure the reputation of another, is to be rigidly shunned. Whenever I cannot speak well of my brother or sister, I must say nothing at all.

To speak evil of others, proceeds from ill will or malice--desiring that they should be made odious in the esteem of others.  It is devilish to take delight in exposing the faults of fellow Christians, and stirring up prejudice and bitter feelings against them (Rev. 12:10). God requires that our words should agree with love--as well as with truth. Since Christians are brethren--the last thing they be guilty of is defaming one another!

Except where the glory of God plainly requires it, and the good of that person demands it--we must refrain from all evil speaking of others.

If we are duly occupied with and humbled over our own many faults--we shall have neither time nor inclination to dwell upon or publish those of others! If we properly heed the exhortation of Philippians 4:8, we shall cultivate the habit of admiring the graces in our brethren--instead of being like filthy flies, settling on their sores!

Prayin for ya

A year and a half ago, I hated rap music.  Or at least was very predisposed to be against it. Then, I heard Lecrae's "Prayin for you". This is the song that piqued my interest in rap music. (I even performed it once!)


Here's the lyrics and a link to the actual song, but I encourage both listening and reading the lyrics.

"Father, I'm prayin' for a friend he and I are pretty close, and out of all my friends for this one I'm concerned the most.
He say he readin' daily but he ain't really learnin'. He been in church but say that he ain't moved by any sermon. His face weak, he ain't prayed in a week, he wake up and just weep with his face in the sink Lord, you gotta help my man,
 I'm prayin' for him daily, he ain't sinned but it just seem as if he goin' crazy. He say he feelin' trapped, can't even head up the mall coz every lady's half-dressed temptin' him to lust and fall.
 He keep the TV off, videos just make him feel that he ain't really nothin' without money, girls and shiny wheels.
The other day he told me that he felt less a man coz he ain't have a five-year plan or a piece of land
and man it's crazy coz his family think so much of him,
 plus he got a Godly wife who always showin' love for him
but he's strugglin', even though he talk to me, I tell him what to do but he don't listen when he oughta' be.
I'm scared for him coz there's people that look up to him, he got some younger siblings who been changed by what he's done for them
 but is it done for him?
 Lord don't let it be, if he don't wanna talk to you then Father hear from me.

 Is it done for him?

 Lord don't let it be, if he don't wanna talk to you then Father hear from me...

(Yeah, I'm prayin' for you, yeah, I'm prayin' for you)

God, his condition is worsen since we were last conversed and I'm with him now and he ain't doin' well and this I'm certain.
He say he tryna' trust you, doesn't wanna disgust you
but he was in the mist of sinners and did not discuss you
 and just today his anxiety's got the best of him,
he knows Christ but for hours refuse to rest in Him, he's not the best of men
but Lord I know he really loves you
and I can't understand why lately he's not thinkin' of you.
People trust this dude, you could crush this dude, Father he needs more of you I pray you touch this dude, what can I say to him? I'm determined to pray for him Father empty and break him I pray you'll just have your way with him, coz there's a change in him and the effects are strong,
 I pray you open up his heart before the next song and when he gets home, I pray he'll open up the sixty-six book love letter you wrote and soak it up
coz he ain't hearin' You and he ain't feelin' me and God I know it's killin' You because it's killin' me

and matter of fact there's somethin' else he's concealin' see,

the person that I've been prayin' about


is really me..."

Life's been real tough lately:

"And yet, this I recall to mind, and therefore I have hope.
You died Lord. You died.
Assuredly, like the coming of the dawn the Father's love song goes on
drowning out my bitter songs
Christ swoops in, removes sin, picks up His bride and carries her.
So I can sing in agreement with my King, this thing:
See, there's only one thing that pleases the Father
The God-Man on the tree in the midst of the scoffers.
Now, I finally see,
that Christ is
what Christ offers.
And I'm finally free,
in the love of my Father." - Jimmy Neeham "Not Without Love"




Jimmy's full poem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD-wnNnW4KE
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/prayin_for_you_lyrics_lecrae.html
All about Lecrae: http://www.musictory.com/music/Lecrae

You know it's hard.. (A friendly Saturday post)

What does it mean to trust? (I think) it means to give up some thing to some one/thing else. To give it away. That's what God's been doing with me lately: teaching me to trust Him. To give Him not one thing, not most things, but everything. It's hard, and my life's been hard lately.

But why should I worry? Everything I've given up, is now in much better hands.

I could go on and about the specific things God is teaching me to trust Him with, and I could show you how He has used every circumstance for my benefit and His glory,(Romans 8:28). But I don't think I really need to: I know He's doing the same stuff in your life.  You may not see it now, but I bet the more you trust Him, the more you watch what is going on, and the more you are willing to be content with askew plans, the more you'll see Him working.

"Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word.
just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise...

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, I've prov'd Him o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, O for grace to trust Him more."

"We will never walk alone."-Jars of clay, "Shelter"

On that note, glad to be back! Will plan on updating more often(honest!).

 What I've been:

Reading: Jane Eyre. So far so good.  Bronte is excellent at describing how a woman thinks and feels. Any writer who wishes to portray an elegant mind's thinking habits, should study Jane Eyre. Also, Bronte is excellent at description! I hope to finish soon, will update more then.

VG's: Just finished Paper Mario Thousand Year old Door. One of the funniest games I've played! It is nearly perfect in every way, (iow, I can hardly think of anything that could be improved).  Some of my favorite quotes:

 [a random goomba who wants a girldfriend]: "Will you go out with me?"
[Goombella]: No, I'm, uh, with Mario!
[Mario]: ??!?!?
[random goomba]: ".....................................................................
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan,
I've had enough of this!
*walks a little*
PEACE!"
*leaves*

[Yoshi, a scruffy yet (dare I say it) cute little guy]:
"Big deal'?!? You stink, Mister! Why'd you wanna turn them into pigs, anyway?"
"They're sending us all their wishes and positive energy... That is so AWESOME!"
[at the arctic] "It's stupid cold!"
 "So, that last Crystal Star we got on the Moon… NO! We're IDIOTS!
 (I intend to write a review of this game sometime. Once I don't have a musical breathing down my back. I reccomend it to almost everyone.)

Music: Audrey Assad's Heart,(So good!) Monk & Neagle: "Fallin"(from 21st time), Mat Kearney's newest album :Young Love, a good amount of David Crowder(All I can Say, Church Music Give us Rest), and some Jon Foreman(Winter Ep).

What's everyone listening to?

Randomrantonlifeandwhatsup

love his expression

 Thursday was a glasses day.

I woke up Wednesday morning with a slight sinus headache in my left eye-brow- area. It spread. By Wednesday night I had a full fledged cold complete with shivering and high temperatures. It was pretty miserable. To make matters worse, I couldn't fall asleep! I did eventually, around 4. I slept on and off Thursday morning, waking at 11 or so. Worked a bit, did my econ homework, went back to sleep, woke up at 4 did some work, talked with neighbors, rested, worked, ate, played Bastion, worked, rested, went to sleep. I was feeling better than Wednesday night, but it was just one of those days where you sleep through most of it, and you don't get much done. It's a day where you stay in pajamas, don't comb your hair, and don't put in your contacts. That's a glasses day.

But, God again planned it all to benefit me.

Here's how I know: I had been thinking about buying this indie game called Bastion. It looked unique and I heard it had a fantastic story. I was pondering last Tuesday, should I buy it. What do you know, Blam! It goes on sale for half off(7.50)! When I got home Tuesday first thing, I... took a nap. And sorted other issues. But then bought it! Little did I know I would be sick all day Wednesday and Thursday. So when the sickness steamrolled me, I actually had time to play a video game! (I haven't really played one in about 2/3 weeks) It seems like He just planned it all perfectly. He knew I'd be sick, to sick to really work, and so He provided. The game, sickness, the sale, the timing of it all seems awfully perfect. (I loved the game too, It's narration and story design, I would argue, is equivalent/on par with Dicken's Tale of Two Cities. I will be blogging upon that sometime, perhaps later this week.)

I was thinking to myself Wednesday night. I had finished the game and had seen how amazing it was. I was feeling horrible, and I had tons of work I knew needed to be done. But I wasn't frustrated, I wasn't sad. I thought that if so many of my friends who have far worse medical complications could live with far greater suffering, and still be joyful. Why not I as well?

so funny, so true

I... was almost happy that I was sick. I suppose the correct term would be content. I was content to simply trust that Jesus had it all taken care of. It was like last week when I got food poisoning. I sat next to the toilet for three hours, wishing I would throw up just so my stomach would stop hurting. But I knew that if Jesus took care of my friends who had gone through worse, I could be content to be in His arms. In moments like that, I've learned that if you don't laugh, you cry. And so I choose to laugh about it, rather than grieve, moan or complain. Hard? Yes, and I fail in that philosophy many times. But that's not going to stop me from trying. "For I do so love to laugh,[Mr. Darcy.]"

Well I should get back to work I suppose. I intend to be writing on this thing more often, just FYI.


Here's the song I listen to in situations like these.(BTW, yes I'm still sick, but I'm much stronger.) It's so simple, and yet so deep. I love it. I love music and playing music because of songs like this one.
All I can Say
Lyrics:
Lord I'm tired So tired from walking  
And Lord I'm so alone  
And Lord the dark Is creeping in  
Creeping up To swallow me 
I think I'll stop Rest here a while

And this is all that I can say right now 
And this is all that I can give  
And this is all that I can say right now  
And this is all that I can give, that's my everything

Lord didn't You see me cry'n?  
And didn't You hear me call Your name?  
Wasn't it You I gave my heart to?
I wish You'd remember Where you sat it down


And this is all that I can say right now, i know it's not much. 
But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything.  
This is all that I can say right now, i know it's not much.  
But this is all that I can give, yeah that's my everything.

I didn't notice You were standing here  
I didn't know that That was You holding me 
I didn't notice You were cry'n too
I didn't know that That was You washing my feet

And this is all
This is all that I can say right now, 
oh i know its not much.
But this is all that I can give,
that's my everything.

Some of my faaaavorite thiiings (hey, I can do that; I was in the play)

Hello again, I've been meaning to write this for some time. And so, it's uh, here. Yay?

I like stuff, good stuff. Here's some of my favorite stuff. It may or may not be "good" stuff. but it will definitely be stuff that I like.  I mean to give here a brief overview of stuff I like. Later, I plan to perhaps dive into why I like them. Almost every thing/item I mention here is one of my "favorites." When I say I like/love something, I really mean it. Without further ado:

Movies:
 Anything made by Pixar. Really! Pretty much everything! Particularly, I really enjoy Toy Story 3,(aside from Barbie and Ken. They're uh, interesting.). Why?

Two words: Spanish Buzz.

Muppet Christmas Carol, Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, Captain America, Singing in the Rain, A Witness For the Prosecution, Despicable Me, and Ben-Hur are all some great movies that I love.

  Please note, these are some of my favorites. I like or like parts of, Inception, the Muppet Movie, Kung-foo Panda,Terminator Salvation(the cleanest Terminator ever), and a lot of other popular movies(this principle applies to the other topics below).  But are they my favorites? Do I want to be known for liking them? Maybe. These are the few that I remember as of now.  There's likely a whole lot more. I'll probably bring them up some time.

Actors:
Mark Hamil!!!, Harrison Ford, Cary Grant, Michael Kane, Johnny Depp, Gene Kelly, Robert Downey jr,(well, kinda), Liam Neeson, Basil Rathbone, Terrence Mann.  These are some really good actors. I will definitely have to update this list though. I love a lot of actors, but I can't remember what movies they're from or what their names are, unfortunately!

Books:
The Great Divorce-C.S. Lewis,(and pretty much everything he's ever written!),  The Reason for God-Tim Keller, the Kingdom series-Chuck Black, the Dragon Keeper Chronicles-Donita K. Paul, the Circle series-Ted Dekker, The Redwall series, Jane Eyre, Lord of the Rings,(I'll finish that Silmarillion some day!) the Hobbit-J.R.R. Tolkien. I love 'em!


Tv shows: Phineas and Ferb!!!, Batman the Animated Series, the Muppet show, I love Lucy, Classic Transformers, classic G. I. Joe, Static Shock! Oh so good. Does anyone remember the cartoon called Recess? It's the one with the kindergartners acting like a huge tribe of Indians. I like that one too. I'm not sure if it's a favorite though.  Ah so many good memories.

Music: 
Mmmm, here's a big one. I could spend hours writing down these! David Crowder Band, Tobymac, Steve Camp, Keith Green, Flyleaf, Mat Kearney, B. Reith, Lecrae, Jon Foreman/Switchfoot, Audio Adrenaline, Monk & Neagle, House of Heroes, Shawn Macdonald, Relient K, NEEDTOBREATHE, F.M. Static, Owl city, Jimmy Needham, Britt Nicole, Trip Lee, Tedashii, Newsboys, Gungor, Brooke Fraser, Skillet, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Alan Menken (his work, that is).  I could go onto artists I like, not love, but I'll stop here and say that I completely love these guys/gals.

Video games:
This is a really big one too. Every game I put here I absolutely delight in. Mega Man Legends 1 & 2(mostly 1), Mega Man Zero, Paper Mario, Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door,  Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; Wind Waker, (ok, pretty much the whole Zelda and Mega Man series), Chrono Trigger, Half-Life 2, Portal 1 & 2, Sly Cooper 2 & 3, Starcraft 1 & 2, Star Wars Battlefront, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, these are some of my personal favorites, mostly because of nostalgia and personal preference. So MUCH I could say about them; So many games that I love, but didn't put for odd reasons or others,(like Gears of War, Halo, Suikoden 2, etc.).

I intend to blog in-depth about these some time. Take this as a list of things to come! I hope you enjoyed my list. Hoo boy, just you wait, I've got lots to say about these. Run while you still can!


Bahahahahah!

Merry (belated) Christmas everybody! Christmas is my favorite holiday, hands down. So I decided to make a list of my favorite things about Christmas. Ten or so.

Our Bumble.

( This list can change, don't put too much thought into the rankings. By the way, "being with my family" and "Jesus" I'm going to be excluded as of course those two should be the most important.)


10.Food.

Ahh, food. This is a good place to start.  Slow roasted ham with cinnamon and brown sugar, buttery mashed potatoes,apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream, Hawaiian sweet rolls, more pie, turkey, pudding, cookies, croissants, cinnamon rolls, PIE!, Need I say more?

My first slice of apple pie this season. Not the last.

9. Traditions/caroling
 I love all the little traditions, you know? We always number the presents and in between unwrapping a wave of them, our family does different activities to remember the story of Christ, or of Christmas in general. And it's fun too. Someone might get a charades card, having them act like pregnant Mary on her way to Bethlehem. Some one might get a card that has them Read the Christmas story, etc. Caroling is also kinda fun. I mean, what other time of the year are you allowed to demand figgy pudding from strangers?

8. colors/decorations/hats
Red and green, the first thing I think when I see those colors is Christmas. To be honest, I love that color scheme,(they are complementary colors after all). A normal house always looks better in Christmas decorations. Everything does! (well, almost. Some animals don't.) I guess I like how everything looks with a bit of green and red.

7. Lights
 Christmas is the only time of the year when strapping thousands of lights to your house is acceptable, for some weird reason. I don't know why we don't use lights like that throughout the year. I say why not use lights to decorate? I think using light to decorate your house is awesome. I suppose the small part of the year when we get these decorations makes them seem even better. (Careful what you wish for, huh) :)




6. Snow
 Do I even need to explain this one? Sledding, skiing, snowboarding, snowball fights, snow castles, igloos, there's so much you can do when it snows! And it's pretty cool to look at.

5. Candlelight services

 I didn't really know where to put this one, so I put it in the middle. Not too high, not low. I enjoy watching our choir and church praise team, (for lack of a better term), deliver amazing renditions of "Silent Night" and other carols by candle light. Also, I love my pastor's sermons every Christmas eve service. Yes, I'm biased, sorry.

4. Holiday specials/movies

gotta love 'em

"Miracle on 24th street", "Muppet family Christmas special", Phineas and Ferb Christmas special,etc, You gotta love you favorite shows/movies that get in the Christmas spirit. 'Nough said.

3. Music
 I love Christmas songs. Carols, modern versions, etc. All good. David Ian's Vintage Christmas, Reliant K's Let it Snow, Let it Reindeer, David Crowder Band's "Oh For Joy",Casting Crown's version of "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," and of course, the Phineas and Ferb Christmas album, are all what music I've been listening to lately. Not to mention Burl Ives' Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

2. Muppet Christmas Carol

Aaah, man do I love this movie. It is almost completely perfect in every single regard. It has fantastic music, wonderful characters, and communicates the classic Dickens tale clearly and effectively. Michael Caine, Christmas Carol, and Muppets, so good a combo. My favorite scene is at the end when Scrooge realizes that he's saved; the way how Caine portrays a newly regenerated life brings me great joy. "But the thing that made Scrooge happiest of all was that his life lay before him, and it could be changed."
Also, my favorite song would be tiny Tim's "Bless us all": I suggest watching at 9:37.

1. Gifts, (God)

Note: I didn't say presents here. Yes, getting gifts is good; I greatly enjoy it. But bringing joy to others has always pleased me significantly more than just gaining more stuff. Twice, perhaps more if I really think, has my family experienced Christmas almost without presents. This year and my eigth grade year Christmas. Both times it has been only because of God that we got anything. But God is always faithful, you know? This year, we've been kinda tight so we decided no presents, or significantly a reduced amount. But guess what, my dad got second bonus from the company he works for and he used that for our Christmas presents. He works for a Japanese company, very few companies gives out so many bonuses!

It's not about us, it's about Christ.

The other Christmas was when I was in 2007.  Life was... very difficult then.  My dad had no job, and it had been about a year since he lost it (all in all, it would be another seven or so months before he got another), and obviously all our money went to food and bills. Presents? Yeah right, maybe some legos. Turns out, various families at WB just randomly gave us money for presents. That Christmas was the biggest Christmas I ever had. Not just because of the presents, but of the love of our friends. I will never forget that.  The best part came as an anonymous present that some one left on our door step. It was covered in blue wrapping paper that had sparkling snowflakes embroidered on it, it also wrapped in a long, red ribbon that had gold trim and snowflakes upon it as well. One final thing to note, it had a typed letter, thanking my family for all our work in WB, and saying that we should open this present on Christmas day. It was a deluxe Wii package. That cost at least 300 bucks and that was at a time when Wiis were near impossible to find. Funny thing was, before my father lost his job, I personally had been saving up 200 dollars to buy one myself. Well, I and my father decided we should use that money for food. Thusly, The last thing I ever thought we would get that Christmas was a wii. It was like God planned it all along so that He could give us a beacon of hope in the midst of the storm. It was like He was saying "I know it's been terribly painful thus far, and it is only going to ge much worse. But, I am with you."
I love Christmas, because Jesus loves me/us, and I can't help celebrating His love!

There you go! Have a wonderful New year!  What's some of your favorite things about Christmas?