Last night I had to opportunity to sing at the Ash Wednesday service at my church here in Indy.
Boy have we missed out!
We read scripture from Joel 2 (see below)
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming.
And we had several readings, my favorite was:
LORD, JESUS CHRIST, IF WE HAVE LOOKED OR LONGED FOR AN EASIER GOSPEL, A LIGHTER CROSS, A LESS DEMANDING SAVIOR, THEN TURN OUR EYES AND AVERT OUR LONGING FROM WHAT WE WANT TO CHOOSE TO THE ONE WHO HAS CHOSEN US.
I pray that I remember that God has chosen me, my successes and my short-comings, he demands me....just as I am....ashes.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hong Kong....here I come!
It's official....I am headed to Hong Kong.
And not once, but TWICE!!!
God has provided in so many ways!
I will be leaving May 6th and headed to HK with Jordan Jazz here at Butler to headline a vocal jazz festival!
We will have the chance to work with TONS of schools and even visit the neighboring Macao!
If that wasn't exciting enough, I will be traveling back to HK in mid October to do 1/2 of my student teaching!
I will be working with a guy named David at the Renaissance College.
It is a K-12 college prep school.
More details to come!
For now, here a few pics from my last trip to HK in 2005!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
My true identity is Love.
From Relevant Magazine: "BEING IN 'LOVE' LOVE"
Define love. What exactly is it? Is love a thing? Can you hold it in your hands? Is it an emotion that comes and goes?
Is love that dreamy romantic state that intoxicates you? Is love something you fall into, and out of?
We know for sure that love is the greatest single need and desire of humankind. Everyone wants and seeks love. Love is considered the highest expression of humanity, religion, and spirituality. Love has the power to heal, set people free, make whole, and put one at deep peace and joy. There is only one force proven to be more powerful than hate―love. Love has inspired the greatest works of art and motivated the greatest movements of compassion and justice. Pierre Teilhard Chardin said, “Someday, after we have mastered the wind, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the human race, we will have discovered fire.”
And yet you can’t define love. Try as you may, but then at the end of your definition you must footnote an acknowledgement that love is deeper and wider than whatever you came up with. You’re getting closer if you say love is like God. Love is the Ultimate Reality. You can’t define God or love but if you could, you would be bumping into the same thing. In fact, the Bible says, “God is love,” which is why I capitalize the word (Love) when referring to it in this sense. Those three words radically changed my understanding of God.
In recent times I’ve realized that the spirit of Christ within, seeks to awaken me and make me aware of God’s Love within myself, and to free me to express this Love to all people everywhere. To “be like Christ” is to accept that God Loves me as he Loves Jesus Christ, and to be this Love in every moment as Jesus was. These days I am discovering great peace, joy, and freedom as I apprentice myself to Christ in the way of Love.
Sure you might not Love at times, but your behavior and attitudes don’t create your identity; rather, your identity creates your behavior and attitudes. Whoever a man thinks he is, determines what he says and does. If God is Love and you are his creation, then you are Love.
I am convinced that the following five beliefs could change the world:
God is Love.
Every person, beginning with me, is worthy of receiving Love.
My true identity is Love.
The greatest gift I can give anyone is Love.
Every thought, word, act, and expression motivated by Love matters.
What if we turned Love inside out or as Chardin said, “harness the energies of love”? When we express Love we stimulate the awareness of Love in others. Loving thoughts, spoken words, body language, physical touch, momentary interactions with others, acts of mercy and kindness, creating and sharing images of Love through song, art, photography and all creative forms, giving others attention, being fully present and listening to others, affirming the spiritual identity of others, are all expressions of Love. Any and every expression motivated by Love or in Love matters! No expression of Love is wasted.
Define love. What exactly is it? Is love a thing? Can you hold it in your hands? Is it an emotion that comes and goes?
Is love that dreamy romantic state that intoxicates you? Is love something you fall into, and out of?
We know for sure that love is the greatest single need and desire of humankind. Everyone wants and seeks love. Love is considered the highest expression of humanity, religion, and spirituality. Love has the power to heal, set people free, make whole, and put one at deep peace and joy. There is only one force proven to be more powerful than hate―love. Love has inspired the greatest works of art and motivated the greatest movements of compassion and justice. Pierre Teilhard Chardin said, “Someday, after we have mastered the wind, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the human race, we will have discovered fire.”
And yet you can’t define love. Try as you may, but then at the end of your definition you must footnote an acknowledgement that love is deeper and wider than whatever you came up with. You’re getting closer if you say love is like God. Love is the Ultimate Reality. You can’t define God or love but if you could, you would be bumping into the same thing. In fact, the Bible says, “God is love,” which is why I capitalize the word (Love) when referring to it in this sense. Those three words radically changed my understanding of God.
In recent times I’ve realized that the spirit of Christ within, seeks to awaken me and make me aware of God’s Love within myself, and to free me to express this Love to all people everywhere. To “be like Christ” is to accept that God Loves me as he Loves Jesus Christ, and to be this Love in every moment as Jesus was. These days I am discovering great peace, joy, and freedom as I apprentice myself to Christ in the way of Love.
Sure you might not Love at times, but your behavior and attitudes don’t create your identity; rather, your identity creates your behavior and attitudes. Whoever a man thinks he is, determines what he says and does. If God is Love and you are his creation, then you are Love.
I am convinced that the following five beliefs could change the world:
God is Love.
Every person, beginning with me, is worthy of receiving Love.
My true identity is Love.
The greatest gift I can give anyone is Love.
Every thought, word, act, and expression motivated by Love matters.
What if we turned Love inside out or as Chardin said, “harness the energies of love”? When we express Love we stimulate the awareness of Love in others. Loving thoughts, spoken words, body language, physical touch, momentary interactions with others, acts of mercy and kindness, creating and sharing images of Love through song, art, photography and all creative forms, giving others attention, being fully present and listening to others, affirming the spiritual identity of others, are all expressions of Love. Any and every expression motivated by Love or in Love matters! No expression of Love is wasted.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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