Things that flow out of love for God

I have felt closer to God through this pain I am experiencing currently, with persecution and accusations etc.

I haven't bought a CD in a long time, but last week I finally bought one. It is an album of love songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Great sets of love songs! I love love songs...hehe....that was funny the way I said that...*clears throat* anyways... It is "secular" love songs...but the title of the album is "A Thousand Different Ways". The artist has said that the album is titled that because the songs on it can be sung a thousand different ways, can have a thousand different meanings etc etc.

Since all the sermons on worship, and topics of worship have come up (emailed Devotionals that i get) I have learned that it doesn't matter about the music, it matters about the heart. I have taken these love songs that this artist has sung on this album, and I have sung them to God. This has been such a great worship tool. Music is great for that, but there are also other ways of showing your appreciation to God.

Since listening to this album, deeds have flowed out of my love and adoration (worship) for God. I have cleaned my room, cleaned the house, done lots of housework, made candles for people (and for a craft fair my mom ad i are doing in November), I have made some fish (out of gimp) to sell at the Craft fair in November and all the proceeds for them are going for the Bubel/Aiken foundation for individals with disabilities.

All of these good deeds flowed out of a worshipful heart full of love for God.

I guess my point to this blog is 2-fold:

1. Secular Songs can have multiple meanings.....its not the music that is Christian, its the lyics. It is your choice as to what meaning you will have put to the lyrics.

2. Good deeds will flow out of your love for God.

Idolatry

Since one person has brought it up. I have decided to write a blog about Idolatry. It is in our society today, and it is scary. Idolatry is a scary thing. Idolatry is defined as this:

i‧dol‧a‧try 1. the religious worship of idols. 2. excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.

Now I am not sure what "blind adoration" is...but it basically seems to me that the definition is saying that it is putting an idol above God. It is thinking about this idol and worshipping this idol over God. It is thinking about nothing but the idol. Your whole life is that idol. That is a scary thing. It is something I do not want to get involved in, because in my opinion it leads to death. It might be a harsh thing, but one of the commandments says to not take up for ourselves any idols.

Deuteronomy 4:15-19 says "Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

So what is an idol? In this verse it says it can be a man or woman, living and non-living things.

What should we do instead? Well the obvious thing is to worship God only. If you like a man or woman, or like creation or anything, that is fine, but continually thank God for them instead of worshipping them. God created them, so he is the one who deserves the awe and adoration for creating something so wonderful. Take nature for example, when I look at pictures of nature, or I am in a park with beautiful scenery etc. I always take time to thank God for creating something so beautiful. There is no point in worshipping the flowers, they are dead. Another example is celebrities. For some people, celebrities are their whole lives. They think about nothing except that celebrity. They worship and adore that celebrity. What we need to do instead is to thank God for creating them. God deserves the credit for it. The celebrities didn't create themselves. If you think a celebrity is so wonderful, think about their creator (God obviously), and thank Him for creating someone so wonderful. Don't act like the celebrity is god. Because they aren't.

God created everything, so why worship something who isn't powerful. ESPECIALLY compared to God. God is all powerful, so why worship something that is below him and definitly weak.

I encourage you all to live for God and not for things of the world. We tend to do that sometimes, myself included. This is a good reminder for everyone. Live for God. Worship God. Love God. Serve God. Things of this world will pass away, but God will never. Things of this world will fail us, God will never. God will always love us, the world will not.

I will leave you with this verse that I read tonight.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. ~Galatians 5:19-26

Unity Vs. Uniformity

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

~Ephesians 4:1-3

God expects unity, not uniformity. Sometimes we get to thinking that we have to all be alike to be in fellowship with people. Fellowship does not mean that we think alike with everything. we might go to different churches, but worship the same Lord. There are many ways to worship him but only one Lord. There are many different denominations but only one faith. There are many different nations but only one destination.

We should be one body in Christ. We are the church. Not everybody is going to be the same. There needs to be different parts of the body to make up one whole one. Someone needs to be the mouth (encouragement), the eyes (discernment), the feet and hands (service) etc etc. All of the different aspects of the church make up one body. We can't all be hands, and we can't all be the mouth.

As Christians, we do not have to agree on everything. As a matter of fact, it’s better that we don’t. If we agreed on everything then the unity of the body of Christ would be on what we agree on and not our relationship with God. To have different viewpoints (whether it be social, political or economical) but still agree that Jesus Christ is Lord, it puts the focus on where it should be- God. If we are always thinking about what we agree on and what we don't agree on, then the focus is on ourselves. If we think about who we worship and why we worship him, then it puts the focus on God, which is where it should be. The diversity of the body of Christ forces our unity to be the thing that we see most. It is the thing that rises to the surface as the rest of it washes away.

Following Christ is not a contest to see if we can all be the same; it is about finding out that dispite our differences, we are one because of Christ.

Here are some scriptures about the Body of Christ:

“We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all.”
~Ephesians 4:4-6 NLT

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
~Romans 12:4-6 (NIV)

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
~1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
~1 Corinthians 12:27

When Bad Things Happen

I was watching GMA (Good Morning America) this morning and I watched an interview that Diane Sawyer did with Clay over the last 2 days, and I was horribly dissappointed. The only issues Diane asked about was his sexual orientation and the fact that he is on Paxil (Depression and Anxiety pill) because he has panic attacks. Why is it that this is what the public wants to know? They could have talked about his work with his foundation for people with disabilities (The Bubel/Aiken Foundation) or his work with UNICEF or his new presidential appointment. But no, they talked about the bad stuff and broguht up bad memories for him (the tabloids back in January) I could see the pain and anguish when he spoke. He was clearly bothered. Which brought me back to a devotional I read from Purpose Driven Life. It was titled "When Bad Things Happen" Here are my thoughts about it and a mix of John Fischer's words:

"When bad things happen to good people we can be assured that this is God, out to make good people better."

When bad things happen it is for God to make us better, but sometimes it can get to the extreme, don't you think? I mean, like, come on... this brings me back to the whole celebrity thing, it is what i see as huge issues, people being attacked in the tabloids. People are being hurt by what the tabloids say. I guess God does want people to grow stronger because of this, and some people's faith has grown stronger. I guess that is what God wants. It is a huge test for Christian celebrities especially.

"There are so many things in life that make us cry, “Why?” “Why me?” “Why now?” I don’t think we are capable of knowing all the answers to these questions. Our lives fit into a vast and complicated tapestry that only God could unravel, because he’s the one making it. There are things that happen in our lives that are tied in an intricate domino effect to something else happening somewhere else that we may never realize in this life. I’ve heard of enough bizarre connections to know this is happening a lot more than we realize. Chalk it up to God’s amazing creativity as he weaves his will into the events of the world."

God is definitly creative. Well obviously, he created everything. Everything in the world is part of his will. Sometimes that is hard for me to grasp. Was September 11th part of his will? I don't know, because it was people who forced it to happen. Same thing with the wars, people started them. Was it in God's will? Only God knows. I don't think it is ever in God's will for innocent people to die. We need to trust in God and trust that when we are going through bad things that there is a purpose for it.

"Our job is to look at what happens in our lives and learn from what God is trying to teach us. There are no mistakes here. God doesn’t go, “Whoops!” or to the angels: “OK, what went wrong here?"

OUCH!! That is truth right there. God doesn't make mistakes. Why? Because God is perfect!

"Here’s the truth of the matter God’s purpose is in everything that you and I go through, whether we are able to see it or not. And that purpose is producing something good in and through our lives, no matter what happens."

"We all have things in our lives in which it is hard – almost impossible – to see God’s purpose. That doesn’t mean anything except that we are shortsighted and short on faith sometimes. That’s when we need to keep on believing and knowing that God is working things out for the best."

Dear Heavenly Father, Help me see that what I go through on a day to day basis is what you want to happen. It is for your purpose and pleasure that everything happens. Help me to realize that you still love me, even though I go through pain and hurt. Help me to always remember that even if friends walk away that you never will. I love you Father, and I will never walk away from you! I tend to think that you do walk away from me when i am going through pain, but I realize after that you were there all along. I am going through pain right now, and Jesus, I know you are here! Help me to always know that you are with me! Amen!

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)

Pictures from Saturday

Here are just a few of the many pictures that I have from Saturday night. They are clickable so you can see the full photo! The ones that are blurry were taken with my camera (except the one of me and Faye, that was the only one that wasn't blurry for some reason):


Clay! Oh and the 11 finalists and the rest of the judges too..


The Judges

Mrs. Faye Parker and I


Pricisilla (sp?) - She was Clay's college professor, Kristy (works for the BAF), and Faye again (Clay's mom)


Clay!


Clay again!


None other than Ms. Olivia Newton-John!


Clay! Cute eh? He was looking right at my friend's camera (who was right in front of me)

Unforgettable!

This past Saturday (September 9th) I had the great opportunity to go watch the David Foster Star Search at the River Rock Show Theatre. I was so glad that I was able to go because, if it weren't for some random claymate in Ontario, I wouldn't have been able to go. God provided me with the money, but the tickets were sold out. Then he blessed me abundantly, by this woman being so kind as to sell me her tickets because she was not going to be able to go.

There were 11 finalists and 4 celebrity judges: Clay Aiken, Babyface, David Foster and Daisy Fwentez (sp?). I had the most amazing night of my life. I didn't get to meet Clay, but I at least got to see him and he waved at us. It was my very first experience with seeing any sort of celebrity as well known as Clay. I got to meet David Foster, he is one of the biggest producers out there. This was a pretty star studded night for me.

Here is my review of the night:

Tonight was so awesome! I had such a great time and got to meet a lot of wonderful people. Now I know you all are wondering, well no I didn’t get to meet Clay unfortunately. But I was in the same room as him and got to see him in person and listen to him speak his mind.

We got there at around 3pm on Saturday and hung out, waiting for people. Then we went into the Dockside Café and got dinner. And as we are just sitting and waiting, I hear someone whisper “There’s Faye” (Clay's Mother). I was shocked that she actually came out. Her and Jaymes and some camera people were there for around 15-30 minutes talking, taking pictures and signing autographs. Faye was very kind. THEN low and behold I hear SCREAMING. I wondered what the commotion was, so I look and Jaymes had CLAY’S NEW CD in her hand. She opened it up for the mini poster. I didn’t get a picture of it though, someone did I am sure. That was awesome. I shyly asked Faye if I could get her autograph and a picture with her. She signed the LTS book as ‘Clay’s mom, Faye” hehe aww. I also gave her the book that a friend and I wrote so she could give it to Clay ^_^

After dinner, we went up to the balcony to see if we could see Clay. They saw him for like 3 seconds. LOL. I was downstairs at that time, so I didn't see him. But anyways…then I went back up and waited there until about 7:30. I was feeling a little weak and nervous about meeting him ( I get nervous about meeting ANYONE new, let alone someone who is well known), so my mom and I just went to our seats and sat down and waited. When we went to sit at our seats in the theatre and Clay walked out, my nerves just calmed right down. I was completely fine. I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach anymore, and I didn’t feel lightheaded. I was completely calm. Another exciting thing about that night was, when they were going to announce the winner, the host brought out a “surprise”. The surprise was OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN! Oh gosh. She didn’t sing but she announced the winner. Then the show starts…and oh my gosh! They say all of his accomplishments (oh, they introduced him FIRST btw) then he came out wearing a black pinstriped suit and kind of a navy blue shirt and black tie. HOT! My mom even turned to me and was like “Ok, he is cute!” hehehehehehe.

So the show started and he made his comments to the contestants. His critiquing was truthful, but not hurtful. That was really great. There were a couple of funny things that happened that night. Clay was obviously witty like he always is ^_- But there were funny things that he said that had all the Claymates screaming hehe. Firstly, one of the girls when she was singing went "upstairs" meaning she hit some high notes because the song was dragging, so she decided to kick it up a notch. When Clay critiqued he said something about when he notices that the song is dragging or he is losing somebody, he will take it "upstairs" and David commented that Clay has never done it quite that good. And he was like "probably not" and then he was like "You'd better watch out, cuz there are some Claymates who will kick your tail" That got us howling in laughter and cheering ^_^. THEN David Foster gets up to talk on stage and his chair spun towards Clay, so Clay moved it back. David joked around and said “Don’t touch my chair Clay” and then Clay twirled it. David said something about getting him later or something and Clay was like “Who’s got my back? I'm gonna need some help” and again all the Claymates cheered and David said "Don't mess with the Claymates" hehehehehehehe.

At the end of the competition they get a group picture and then the host said that there was no music and then Clay did the "soft shoe" dance. It was sort of a jig haha. It was cute. Then the host told him to sing (he was joking around) and Clay turned away as if to say no. What a great guy, he didn’t want to take the spotlight away from the winner. Overall this was a great evening filled with excitement. I got to see Clay in person, and let me tell you, he is hot on TV but he is MEGA HOTTER in person ^_^ He is so down to earth too. Great night that I will never forget.

September is shaping up to be a great month! ^_^

PS. Sorry for the lack of blogging. I will try to get back to blogging what I usually blog, very soon. I am dealing with some stuff in my life first. Thank you for your patience.

Edited on: September 23rd, at 10:35pm because some people have been criticizing me about my wording of some things. Somethings I forgot to mention.