Currently Listening Five Score & Seven Years Ago By Relient K see related

Failure is a blessing in disguise...

We have only heard the faintest whispers of how great You are

This line is extremely profound, my favorite lyric ever written by anyone. It comes from Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman's song Wonderful Maker. Speaking of Chris Tomlin after much hard work I was finally able to track down the iTunes preorder exclusive song "The Lion Became The Lamb" from his new album. (I am his biggest fan, nothing will stop me!!) This song is beautiful!!! Why wasn't it on the album it would've been the best song on there! I'm keeping it on repeat a lot right now.

I also thought I would share this video with you guys that is nothing short of absolutely downright mindboggling.

 

Even people in the comments who probably aren't Christians said that this video makes them wonder why people can believe the universe revolves around them. What a pride-killer.

What an encouragement it is to realize what a big, and yes I mean BIG God we serve. These stars are gigantic!!! If you spent your entire life trying to travel across W Cephei, you wouldn't even come close to partially crossing it. And these stars only reflect their Creator!!! Even these giant stars have a boundary, but God is endless. And so is His love for us.

And how amazing it is that a God this big would take time and humble Himself to have a relationship with such creatures as us that are not only puny, but stained with sin!! Why am I so weak of faith!! I mean, yes there are mountains that must be moved in my life! But what is a mountain compared to the huge stars seen above??? I love how our Creator has used His creation to remind us of just how powerful He is, or at least from what He has shown us! We have only heard a whisper of how awesome He is. Our minds can't even grasp His true greatness. Is there any other greatness of such magnitude that we can't even grasp it???

To simply sustain this universe is inconceivable. To build it, even more so. But to speak it into existence with an ounce of one's breath, such a universe where miles are as micrometers, and planets are like grains of sand, is so far above the knowledge of man that one cannot but stand in dumbfounding awe.

Whatever you are going through, remember this: there is nothing bigger than God. Nothing that He could not crush with the smallest bit of His strength. Nothing else that has the final say. Look at the Gospel. Our enormous sin stood in the way, and was leading us to hell where we would perish for eternity to come. But God flicked it aside to bear the wrath so that we could know Him. I have to sing with tears in my eyes,

"My God why would You shed Your blood, so pure and undefiled? To make a sinful one like me Your pure and precious child."

I go in for my interview at DU on Monday. It's an expensive school, not to mention it appears that students must live on campus for the first year, but I'd love to go there. I do not know if I will get enough from scholarships and financial aid to go there, but I'm not going to worry about it. Accidents don't happen in God's plan. I've also been looking at CU Denver lately. It's a lot less expensive (only about twice as much as ACC with the COF), plus it also has great engineering programs and I could ride the lightrail to it. But once again, I'm not going to worry. I'm open to whatever God leads me to, even if it would mean out of state. My deepest desire is to praise His name, where I do that in my life does not matter.

I also do not know what will happen in terms of the church and the lease. But I love change. Love it. Without change I fall into my "comfortable" zone where I start trusting things and my faith is put into dormancy, but with change I am able to exercise faith in God and remind myself of His reigning power over every event of this life. The things of earth weren't meant to be everlasting, the Lord alone satisfies. And with my senior year coming to a close soon, I am glad that I no longer fear change and that I am excited about it!! I am so excited to turn 18 years old and enter a new season. I also will need a job this summer where I can have a steadier income, and hopefully steady enough that I won't have to work during school. I'm uncertain about what will happen, but I'm not uneasy about it.

Ahh I have been so happy lately. I feel like the iron weights that were holding my heart down have been lifted and I'm floating on thin air. Last year my days were often filled with deep, agonizing sighs of my soul sitting in the pits. This year I often give deep sighs of content awareness of His love for me. If there is anything weighing your heart down, cast it into the Lord's arms!! Believe me, you have no idea of how much it can affect your happiness. It will be like one of these:

It will weigh you down and though you believe that over time it'll get better, you'll fall into legalism and condemnation and hopelessness. Don't hold sins against yourself, you're forgiven. Don't worry about the future, you are sitting smack dab in the middle of His intricate plan this very second whether you like it or not.

Cya guys. Peace.

Currently Listening Taste the Sky By Dalton Life Afraid see related

Happy New Year everyone!

Things I've learned in 2006:

-That I am the most unreliable place to put my trust in. I can

think something through a thousand times and deem it

hopeless, and God still provides a way out that I had never

even thought of.

-To not be anxious. As John Piper says, anxiety is the root of

many sins. Kill it, and you kill many other sins that go along

with it. Anxiety does not make anything better. And as a child

of God, I have no right to be anxious. There is no molecule in

the universe that isn’t under God’s control and no event that

happens that God hasn’t planned down to the microsecond.

-That God’s unconditional love is unfailing, even though mine is

fickle!

-To hug my friends so that if I were to die tomorrow they'd

know I love them!

Memorable events from 2006:

-Paintballing with a bunch of guys from the church. A family

that gets welts together, melts together? LOL. I dunno. :P

-Another great ski season, which may be my last for a while

due to college.

-Forming a band with my two brothers and three other guys

from the church

-Dancing at Josh and Maria's wedding and David L's birthday

party. Hadn't really discovered how fun dancing was until this

year, and I know the legacy shall live on!

-Living the happiest year of my life so far!

Charlie's picks of 2006:

Best Movies: (actually saw very few movies this year)

-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

-Cars

-Happy Feet

-The Nativity Story

Worst Movies:

-X-men: The Last Stand

Best Song: (which is, of course) 

-Everything You Ever Wanted - Hawk Nelson

Other Great Songs:

-You Never Let Go - Matt Redman

-In The Valley - Sovereign Grace

-How Can I Keep From Singing? - Chris Tomlin

-Everlasting God - Chris Tomlin

-Let Your Mercy Rain - Chris Tomlin

-Beautiful Lord - Leeland

-Hold On - Stellar Kart

-Let Go - Red

-Break Me Down - Red

-Head On Collision - Hawk Nelson

-I'm Not Alright - Sanctus Real

-Unashamed - Starfield

-Changing World - Kutless

-Forgiven - Relient K

-Made To Love - tobyMac

-Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol 

Worst Songs:

-Fergalicious - Fergie

Best Album:

-End Of Silence - Red

Things to look forward to in 2006:

-Starting college.

-Following wherever God leads me. (but I hope it's not out of

state!!!!exclamation mark!!exclamation mark!!!)

-Turning 18.

-Graduating.

-God teaching me more and more that money, beauty,

intelligence, and other things are temporal and do not

ultimately bring me joy. The only one thing that I can boast in

is not my doing, Christ's atonement!

I tried to be everything that you ever wanted.....

I recently received a comment from someone (no one from church) in which they said, "Poor Joel, he's just sitting in the corner of the couch. Are you having any fun at all?"

I don't like it when people refer to me in terms of being 'poor' when I'm being quiet. I'm an introvert, it's just who I am. I'm the guy who thinks everything through first, at a thousand words a minute, before saying five to ten words. A website correctly states that introverts have "Analytical Skills That Integrate Complexity". There is truth in this statement, but from a Biblical perspective these analytical skills can be destructive if they are not accompanied by faith in the Lord's doing. Without searching for His will, situations won't make sense, and this, I believe, is the cause of almost all introverts' depression.

There are a lot of misconceptions towards introverts. Just because I am an introvert doesn't mean I'm unfriendly. If I'm not saying anything, it's not because I think I'm too good to speak to you. Nor do I lack social skills. They are just different from most. Nor is it that I simply won't talk. Things to talk about just simply don't fly at me as much as they do at extroverts. I enjoy listening to other people talk, being in the conversation but not a big participant of it. Nor is it that I don't like people. I love people, few areas is life lived fuller in than towards people. Nor am I a loner. Yes, I enjoy being alone, but I also enjoy being with others and I don't avoid them.

I used to hate my personality and would wonder if there was a little malfunction God had forgotten to correct in me. But now, I don't mind it at all. God made me who I am, and without introverts, the term 'extroverts' wouldn't exist because diversity would be eliminated. God not only chose to make me an American by birthplace and Italian by DNA, He chose to make me an introvert by personality. And I can't argue with or try to change what occurs naturally. I need to be more concerned about the choice I make each day that doesn't occur naturally, being a son of God! It matters more who God is!

It's not that I'm defective, just because my shell is soft and I'm more sensitive to things. Yes, I have a tendency towards pessimism. But extroverts have their problems too. We all have areas that the Holy Spirit will be sanctifying all of our lives. Just because I am tender and shy, does not mean that I don't enjoy life. Just because I stay quiet as a mouse sometimes doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself by being around others.

I think it's good that the world has both introverts and extroverts. If there were only extroverts, the world might not be serious enough, and if there were only introverts, the world might be too serious. Also, there are many married extrovert couples and introvert couples, but I find it delightful when an extrovert and an introvert fall in love. They both complete each other, and it shows you that you can't tell someone who to love. (take that, match.com!)

I also think it's good for everyone to realize that God will always love you for who you are, skin and bones stripped away and just your soul standing. Even if you abandon and hate yourself, the Lord still loves You more than any recognition the world can possibly give you. Embrace who you are, don't try to create masks to hide behind. Love is genuine at heart, and if what you're living isn't genuine, then it won't work out well, trust me I've been there. You only live 70 years, or about 25.5 thousand days. Life is too short to be depressed another day!!! (I know, easier said than done when the heat is turned up)

And this has been a vent from the local introvert.