Song of the Week: Leeland- Opposite Way

Song of the Week
Opposite Way by Leeland

"Living in the same town
For all these years
Doing the same old things
Hanging with the same crowd
And it’s starting to get crippling
You’ve never felt in place
And you tell yourself it’s all okay
But something’s different today
You want to run the opposite way

And it seems like you’re locked in a cage
And you need to find a way of escape
When everyone is setting the pace
It’s okay to run the opposite way

The Father sent His Son down
The light of men
The cross He bore was crippling
Rejected in His own town
They couldn’t see the sun shining
He knelt in the garden and prayed
Father, let this cup pass from me
It’s not Your will for me to stay
Your will for me is the opposite way

And it seemed like He was locked in a cage
And He couldn’t find away of escape
But through the cross He conquered the grave
My Jesus ran the opposite way

Oh, and through the cross He conquered the grave
Oh, He ran the opposite way
Yeah, through the cross He conquered the grave
So you could run the opposite way"

Song of the Week: Needtobreathe- Something Beautiful

"Something Beautiful" by Needtobreathe

In your ocean, I'm ankle deep
I feel the waves crashin' on my feet
It's like I know where I need to be
But I can't figure out, yeah I can't figure out

Just how much air I will need to breathe
When your tide rushes over me
There's only one way to figure out
Will ya let me drown, will ya let me drown

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
Oh, something beautiful

And the water is risin' quick
And for years I was scared of it
We can't be sure when it will subside
So I won't leave your side, no I can't leave your side

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
Oh, something beautiful

In a daydream, I couldn't live like this
I wouldn't stop until I found something beautiful
When I wake up, I know I will have
No, I still won't have what I need

Hey now, this is my desire
Consume me like a fire, 'cause I just want something beautiful
To touch me, I know that I'm in reach
'Cause I am down on my knees, I'm waiting for something beautiful
Oh, something beautiful

Christ is joy and joy is Christ

I'm so happy my joy is not found in earthly pleasures. My bank account and my health and even my college GPA do not determine my happiness because I have a greater joy, Christ. I started a study on the book of I John today. I love I John... I love how his writing is usually simple yet personable. The first 4 verses is all I read today. I didn't know what to look for at the start of this Bible study. I really wanted a fuller understanding of the book and I really didn't know how much I was going to get out of studying this small book. I've read these verses plenty of times before and I had learned from them in the past. The awesome part about today is that I learned more about my Savior than I knew yesterday.

The gospel is central to our lives. John starts out writing stating the gospel. The word of life... obviously this is Christ. He is the word (John 1:1) and he gives life (John 14:6)... put them together and you have the total authority on life. John and a lot of the people he was writing to saw Christ first hand. They literally saw Christ and heard him speak and even touched him. John was proclaiming this man to them. John wanted more than anything for others to be able to have this joy that he had that was only found in Christ. He wanted to have perfect fellowship with those he came into contact with. John knew the hope that is found in Christ and wanted to share it.

The only way to be joyful is to be in fellowship with the word of life. He has given his life so we can have the opportunity to have this fellowship with him. I am only joyful when my eyes and eyes are fixed on the Savior. He is my Lord, my master, and now I am his slave. Its a loaded word but Christ gave his life for me... shouldn't my response be to give him my life? "I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today", I love the words to this hymn. I want Jesus... I want joy. Christ is joy and joy is Christ.

Tenth Avenue North - Beloved

I love this song... it is an amazing picture of our relationship with Christ! We have let him down so many times by chasing our false loves, but Christ is always there for us just like a loving husband.

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
Give me your life
Lust and the lies
The past you're afraid I might see
You've been running away from me

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
It binds you to me
It's a mystery

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
I'm the giver of life
I'll clothe you in white
My immaculate bride you will be
Oh come running home to me yeah *now*

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
and Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
and it binds you to me yea now now

Well you've been a mistress, my wife
Chasing lovers it won't satisfy
Won't you let me make you my bride
You will drink of my lips
And taste new life

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
it binds you to me

You're my beloved
Forever we'll be
Our love it unites us
And it binds you to me
It's a mystery

Resolved 1

"1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever."

Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions

I've been excited for this new year and like everyone else I think about things I want to change about me during the year... a resolution as some call it. Jonathan Edwards was one of the most godly men in history. He's most famous for the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". He made his own set of resolutions... 70 of them in fact. These are powerful. He would make sure to read through them once every week. I'm really hoping to apply these to my own life this year.

Hope For Every Fallen Man

So blogging is a great idea when you as a person actually write lots of post. I for one have never been able to do so. This is another attempt at me trying to write my thoughts in a blog. This really is a good way for me to collect my thoughts and hopefully have an impact on someone through them reading what I have to say. There is a hope for every fallen man. I'm not one of those religious nuts... I'm more of the kind of guy that will give you what I believe and you can take it or leave it. I pray that you take it, hopefully God will use it to change your life, and you will become a follower of God as I am.

Hope is something that each of us have deep down in us. We all want to have hope. Most of the time, our hope is in ourselves and we as humans can't get far on our own hopes. Out hopes must be grounded in something more powerful than us, something that can actually control our circumstances. Our hope lived a perfect life 2000 years ago. It seems crazy that our hope was a baby in a manger. Jesus Christ didn't grow up with riches untold, nor did he have powerful parents that would give him whatever he wanted. He had everything already. He was God and he was man. Right now you probably think I'm crazy. Our hope did nothing wrong ever in his entire life. He was punished for doing nothing. He was beaten and crucified by those that previously loved him because he gave them everything. He died on a cross... for nothing that he did, but because of what you and I have done.

He was laid in a tomb and laid there for three days. Think about it, God robed in flesh, laying in a tomb built by man's hands that he created. The story gets even more unbelievable. Jesus raised himself from the dead. I know that seems impossible, but Jesus Christ did. He claimed victory over sin for us, becoming our hope for eternal life and salvation. Our hope is secure and it is something that we can have here on earth. You might think i"m some crazy Bible believer, but I know because of my hope found in Christ Jesus that I am right.