The Reason For The Season

Happy holidays! What? I didn't say, "Merry Christmas!" I must be a part of the supposed war on Christmas. You can't tell but my eyes are rolling deep into the back of my head. The Christmas season brings about wonderful things. It's a time of giving, a time for family, and a time for so many to get extremely butt-hurt if the Starbucks barista didn't wish them a merry Christmas. To some, there is a war declared on Christmas but Christ is the reason for the season so everyone needs to back the F off and leave our Christian holiday alone! I have no problem with celebrating Christmas. What I do have a problem with is when these Christians assert things that are actually false and then act like a dick to someone who was just trying to wish them a happy holiday season no matter what they believe.

First of all, Christmas is not the only holiday observed in the month of December. When companies ask their employees to wish people "Happy holidays," they are not declaring war on Christians or Christmas. These companies realize that there are consumers who celebrate Christmas, Hanuka, Kwanzaa, etc. and they don't want to exclude anyone so hence asking employees to say the "happy holidays," line instead of just "Merry Christmas," which some may not celebrate.

But Jesus Christ is the REASON for the SEASON! Well, sort of, but honestly the reason for the season was technically the sun not the Son. The first mention of December 25th being called Christmas occurred in A.D. 324. Before that December 25th was a Roman holiday called, "Dies Natali Invitus" or "The Birth of the Unconquered." It was the birthday of the Roman sun god. Well it's Jesus' birthday too! Actually, not at all. We don't actually know the day the Jesus was born but we know what month and it wasn't December but rather September. So how did a day honoring the birthday of the Roman sun god become the day we celebrate the birthday of Jesus who wasn't even born in December? Well, in A.D. 323 Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion of Rome. On a side note, that's an extremely interesting fact considering the Romans persecuted and killed Christians the previous 200-some years. Another side note, Christianity becoming the state religion was not a good thing for either the state and especially not the religion. Back to Christmas though... After Christianity became the state religion all the pagan holidays were renamed and re-branded and December 25th went from the birthday of the sun to the birthday of the Son.

So Christmas' roots are just as pagan as Halloween, a holiday so many Christians boycott because it's pagan roots. Irony. So what is my point? Everyone needs to get over themselves. People who get offended by someone wishing them a merry Christmas, get over yourself! People who get offended by someone wishing them happy holidays, get over yourself! People who yell that Jesus is the reason for the season, get over yourself! Everyone need to move on and just get over it! If you want to chose to throw Jesus a birthday party on December 25th, who cares? Go for it! If you want to celebrate the winter solstice, who cares? Go for it! You are not better than the one who thinks opposite of you. So get over it, move on, have a merry Christmas, and happy holidays!

No Angels Here

Donald J. Trump is now the President Elect of the United States of America. Half the country is elated and half the country apparently forgot how the electoral college works. Yes you can win the popular vote and LOSE the election. It has been that way since 1804. It has now occurred five times in this country where a candidate has won the popular vote but lost the election. Happened in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and now in 2016.

Getting on social media right now is like eating a piece of gum after it fell on the ground on Bourbon St in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. You'll probably be okay but you risk ending up with sores in your mouth. Gross analogy but I stand by it. For a guy who voted third party like myself EVERYONE is annoying. The people spouting the "doom" of America are incredibly annoying. We are NOT doomed. America is not done for. Oh my goodness the melodrama! STOP! Perhaps more annoying are the people who say they were in tears thanking God that he sent Donald Trump to save America. Roll. My. Eyes. Trump is not a messiah, or an angel, or a prophet that descended from heavens on a cloud of love and hope. He's a politician that, like ALL that have come before him, spouted many promises that he may never be able to deliver on. That's how this whole thing really works. Just like how you no doubt lied or exaggerated (lied) on your resume during your job interview, politicians do the exact same. Stay woke lol.

But the absolute MOST annoying of all people on social media are the people acting like we missed out on one of the greatest nominees of all time. They act as though Hillary Clinton was THE ultimate choice of choices. Like she was going to be the greatest president ever! But that is simply not the case here.

We did NOT miss out on some incredible presidential nominee with Hillary losing. I personally think most politicians are corrupt (DTA) but the wikileak's emails PROVED that Hillary was/is corrupt! She bowed to banks and corporate backers, made back door deals, and took bribes. She colluded with countries that support ISIS. That's what we missed out on. In some way I am SO GLAD she is not in the white house. Trump is definitely not some great choice either. Yes, he has said some of the MOST OFFENSIVE things in this election. The truth is this election absolutely BLEW as far as our choices go. There were no angels here, just two turds. But make not mistake, it is still a GOOD thing that Hillary is not our president and people need to open their eyes and see the truth of that.

For me the bottom line is Donald J. Trump is the turd that beat out the other flaming turd. Now lets hope that he actually has a backbone and won't bow to corporations like the last few presidents have. Let's hope he actually is for the American worker. And let's move on from Hillary and stop acting like she was going to be great for America. She wouldn't have been! See you in four years.

What's Happiness Have To Do With It?

If we were happy 100% of the time, would we even know we were happy? Would we be happy if we had all that we wanted? Would that bring happiness in our lives? What even is happiness? And what does being happy all the time have anything to do with life?

"Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." These words are truth to me and you know what? That's alright; it's alright that life is painful. It's alright that life is not this hyper-happy thing 100% of the time. How would I even know to appreciate the happy times if I didn't go through so much pain in the first place? I would most likely take all those precious moments for granted. I don't think I would truly realize and understand how wonderful small happy moments are throughout our day, week, year, or life without the pain life brings. So, pain is alright because it helps me fully enjoy those moments of happiness when they come.

In comparison to the universe and the infinite, our life is nothing. A small blip on the map. A single breath. A blink of the eyes. It lasts a second, no, a millisecond. A lot spend that millisecond trying to make it happy the whole time and when they ultimately fail, they feel like something's wrong with them. They feel like something missing in their life because they're not happy all the time. But nothing is missing from your life. You're not happy right now? You're in a painful time right now? Well... That is life. None of us are promised some grand, happy, satisfactory life. Even when we think things like, "If I had more money..." we have to realize that won't make you happy all the time either. Why do you think there are so many unhappy rich people?

Acknowledging that life is full of pain is just a first step of realizing you're alright. But if you stay in a defeated mindset, because life is pain, that is wrong too. Instead of staying and living in the defeat of life because you're not happy, live your millisecond by taking each day in stride. When you're living out the pain of life press on. Keep going. Don't stop. Don't let it defeat you. It hurts. It sucks. But don't let it beat you to the ground. And when those moments of happiness come fully enjoy them. Immerse yourself those moments while they last. Don't let the pain creep in during those moments. The pain will come back. The heartache will come back. So don't let worry ruin those moments. My wife and I had a leaky roof for a long time. Every time it rained it was a reminder of our financial situation and how we couldn't afford to fix our roof. I remember one particular storm where my kids wanted to go play and dance in the rain. I had a choice: live in the pain and reality of a leaky roof or dance in happiness in the rain with my kids. When those small chances of happiness during our millisecond life come, truly let it envelope your mind, body, and soul. Let it consume you for that brief moment. Life may be pain and not happy all the time but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you or something missing in your life . It just means you have life. A completely normal life. A life that is a millisecond, yes, but a millisecond that so worth living.

I Am Not A Writer

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
Pablo Picasso

I really like to write. Whether I'm sitting down with my guitar and writing out some thought or feeling and putting it to music or just writing down random stories that come to my head, I really like to write. But I am not a writer. I mean, I just started a sentence with "but" so I think you can tell that I am not a writer. I used to write lots of stories when I was younger. I'd write stories of mysteries and murder. I'd write stories of angels and demons. I'd write write stories of dragons and knights. Somewhere down the road all that went away for awhile. I was like almost every kid in this world. You see, every kid is an artist, a writer, a dancer until they are told they're not good enough. Sometimes the kid puts the pressure of perfection on themselves due to something they saw on television or something they read perhaps. Other times that pressure of perfection is put on the child by their parents. But kids need space to be imperfect because true art will never be perfect.

Perfection is not a goal we should strive for. After all, perfection is in the eye of the beholder so in some way everything will be imperfect. I'm sure some could look at the paintings of Picasso and say it's not good or perfect but does that make it true? No, of course not. There will always be someone out there to point out why something is bad or wrong or point out mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are turn out to be what we like the most. Some of the greatest lines in movies were actually bloopers of the actor messing up what was written. While we should never shy away from CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, we absolutely should cut out people who are constantly negative. When did it become cool or good to tell someone that thing that they enjoy doing so much is garbage? When did it become the right thing to tell someone that they aren't good enough? When did we get the right to say something isn't perfect in the first place? Why not find enjoyment in what others enjoy? If someone likes to write but it's not perfect when it comes to the grammar, who cares? Find the beauty in it! If someone likes to sing but they're off key here or there, who cares? Find the beauty in that person and enjoy! If someone likes to paint... I think you get my point.

I really like to write and many could  read what I write and rightly say to me, "you are not a writer." When it comes down to it, I enjoy what I do and that's more important than someone else's definition of perfection. It's more important than your definition of perfection. And while I don't shy away from constructive criticism, I also don't freely open myself to everyone's opinions. When you put something online for the world to see, almost EVERYONE will be a critic. But their criticism and opinions, no matter how "right" they may sound to themselves, have no value or weight to me. There are people in my life that I trust will give great constructive criticism when I need it. But if you're not in that closed circle, you can save your comments of how to make something better. You can choose to enjoy with me or simply move along. There's that old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I think I prefer, "If you don't have anything nice to say, say something nice anyway."

This world is tough enough without us going around stomping on each others dreams and pleasures. So I'm going to say this: if you like to write, you're a writer. If you like to paint, you're an artist. If you like to sing, you're a singer. If you like to dance, you're a dancer. Whatever you like to do, you are that! Enjoy life because it's so short. Enjoy others lives because theirs are short too. Dream, believe, be.

PEACE.

Welcome To The Thin Skinned Era

Have we really gotten to the point where people are so thin skinned that they can't take a joke about who they're voting for? Yes... Yes we have. I truly don't understand how someone can pay for a ticket to go see a comedian and then take all the jokes so personally that they end up leaving. When it comes to cracking jokes at the expense of politicians, WHO CARES?! It's just a joke! It's comedy! To me it's no big deal at all and I think people need to lighten up a little bit.

This presidential election has divided so many and to be honest I'm not going to say that's a completely negative thing. Sure, you now know that you were friends with borderline racists but that's a good thing, right? Now you can distance yourself from them. Sure, your Christian friends are disgusted with the "immoral gays" but now you know they're ok with a guy bragging how he sexually assaults women. Hooray for Christian morals! And sure your other friends are absolutely fed up with government corruption but now you know they're ok with voting for more of it! Yay USA!

I think no matter who gets elected (it's going to be Hillary) WE ARE GOING TO BE FINE. Yes, it sucks that it looks like for the next four years we're getting more of the same but we will be okay. So learn to take a joke. Make fun of your own candidate (I'm voting for Gary Johnson so I have plenty of material too). And don't be so thin skinned. Oh and don't vote for Trump lol...

Seriously though.. Laugh! Because if you don't laugh you'll cry.

PEACE

Happy Tattoos Day!

Hey it's tattoos day! So I'm answering some tattoo questions!

Vote The Bible?

A lot of people say we as Christians need to "vote the Bible."  I have even said those very words in the past, though I'll admit that I was more just repeating a line that I've heard a thousand times than truly thinking it through.  So now my question is this: what parts of the Bible should we vote?  Should we vote against men having the right to shave their beards and the sides of their heads?  I have a mo-hawk so I'd be a little put off if it was made into law that I can't shave the sides of my head.  How about making a stand against wearing different types of fabrics together?  Should we vote against women braiding their hair and wearing nice outfits?  Should we vote that women should never speak over men or be leaders over men?  I think I've found a new item for the platform of those sexist candidates.  Should we vote that women should drink cursed water/poison if her husband gets jealous and THINKS she MIGHT have had an affair, causing her to miscarry/abort any child that is not her husbands?  I mean after all, each one of those things are in the Bible (some even in the New Testament).

So do we vote for those things or in our efforts to "vote the Bible" do we get to leave out those verses and pick just the ones we like?

I think somewhere along the lines of "voting the Bible" it truly became 100% political and party partisan.  It became us picking one or two political issues and finding one or two Bible verses to back up our opinion.  Even if those verses were out of context we simply fell back on the words of "I'm just trying to vote the Bible like all Christians should do."  We took those verses and heard the (9 times out of 10) Republican candidate quote them and thought "See! They're voting the Bible just like me," and then fully embraced (though rarely admitted) our partisan bias because they were on the "right" side of the issue.

I don't know much about him nor do I know if he was the first to say this but last week Rev. William Barber spoke at the DNC.  Some of you will immediately write off his words because of where he spoke.  Again that partisan bias coming in.  In that speech he said, "I'm so concerned about those that say so much about what God says so little, while saying so little about what God says so much."

But it's so true isn't it?  You see God is love.  The Bible is packed full with a message of love.  Most Christians call the Bible a "love letter."  And yet so often Christians both politically and religiously use this "love letter" to create walls of prejudice, judgment, and hate.  Instead of not judging unless we ourselves want to be judged, we "vote the Bible."  Instead of taking the plank out of our own eye before worrying about the tiny speck in someone else's, we "vote the Bible."  Instead of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, we fight them on every issue all the while hiding behind the words "Vote the Bible." 

Are we really voting the Bible? Or are we hiding behind a certain political party that has decided to pick one or two issues using one or two Bible verses to spread their political parties agenda? 

At the RNC Senator Ted Cruz said we should vote our conscience in this presidential election.  I would both jokingly and seriously say that if you're voting your conscience you are going to find something wrong with every single person running for president and you might not be able to vote for anybody.  As of today I'm not decided on who to vote for.  I'm considering voting for Jill Stein (Green Party) or Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party).  My Republican friends tell me if I do that I'm basically voting for Hillary Clinton while my Democrat friends tell me I'm basically voting for Donald Trump.  Meanwhile I am rolling my eyes at the friends who are so married to their political parties they couldn't possibly vote outside of them despite having real issues with their own candidate.  Come on guys lol. 

I don't really have a solid conclusion to all of this, to the words "vote the Bible," other than it's basically impossible to vote the entire Bible especially seeing as half of Americans aren't Christians in the first place.  True freedom for all will always offend someone.  I will say this: God is NOT a Republican.  God is NOT a Democrat.  God is NOT a part of the Green Party.  God is NOT a Libertarian.  God is not a part of the Transhumanist party (now that's a weird party LOL). 

You know what God IS?  GOD IS LOVE.  Everything hinges on LOVE!

So next time we get into a political argument (and believe me we will because we're all human beings) let's remember our votes don't matter anyway according to the Bible. 😜

Real Thoughts On Auto-Tune

Big Family 4th of July

Hope everyone else had an awesome a safe 4th of July! We had a blast!

How Do You Deal With Creative Roadblocks?

Creative roadblocks suck! Here's some thought's I have on how to get past them.

Don't Give Into Fear and Bigotry

What's Really Important/Why I Quit My "Corporate American" Job (This is a vlog)

In this super honest vlog I talk about why I quit a corporate job with loads of "promise" and how it ultimately helped me learn what really matters to me in life. This is probably the realest I've ever been on here so I hope it helps.

Awesome ambient song I used:
What True Self, Feels Bogus, Let's Watch Jason X by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Ending On A High Note

J. R. R. Tolkien said, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."  I'm 30 years old.  I'll be honest with you: I did NOT think I would feel anything about turning 30.  I figured it would just be another birthday like all the others.  But alas it was not like all the birthdays before.  Suddenly it was as if my entire life flashed before my eyes and I was disappointed about quite a few things.  Here I was, 30 years old, and still not living the dream I've had since being a small child.  Here I was, 30 years old, and still not living where I wanted to live.  Here I was, 30 years old, and still not living free from the fear of judgement of what others think of me.  Here I was, 30 years old, and nearly everyday played out just like the one before it.  It was like I opened my 30 year old eyes and only then realized I was starring in a real life groundhog day.

No, my life isn't a sad life.  I have a huge amount to be happy and satisfied with.  But I felt as if I had hit a plateau and was no longer going towards where I wanted to be.  There are many factors of why I felt this way but as I looked back I was partly to blame.  You see there were a multitude of days, weeks, even months where I chose to do nothing.  When it came to my free time I was content with vegging out and "relaxing."  I'm an introvert so I'm perfectly comfortable with doing nothing.  Except I'm not okay with it at all.  I crave to be creative.  I hate if a day or a week goes by and I feel as if I've accomplished nothing.  For some reason when I hit 30 I was flooded with these feelings.

Now those over 30 are probably rolling your eyes at me.  "30 is so young."  I know this but understand that I did not think I would be at nearly the identical spot I was at when I was 21 at age 30.  And yet, I may be at a very similar place but I am such a different person.  And that's what I choose to focus on.  I'm honestly not sure I believe in fate but I do think some things happen for a reason.  If I would have achieved my dreams at age 21 or so, where would I go from there?  Not to mention I was chasing something at 21 that wasn't truly my honest dream.  I was settling and listening to what others wanted more than what I wanted.  So perhaps I would've become a tired and bitter person.

My life is (hopefully) far from over.  But I honestly want to make the next 30 years more memorable than the first 30.  I want to DO things!  I want to CREATE more things!  I want to look back and KNOW that I LIVED!  We all have such a short time here on this planet that's flying through space.  So why do we waste so much of it just sitting around doing nothing?  Why are we content with making the focus of our days "can't wait to sit down and watch Netflix."  I want to repeat that quote from J. R. R. Tolkien I started with, "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

SO GET UP AND DO WHAT YOU DREAM OF!  GO!  LIVE LIFE!

Fresh Thoughts

Just wanted to get some thoughts out while they were fresh on my mind.  Don't listen to hate.  Don't just ignore or turn away any compliments you receive either.  Try to stay positive and focus on good things.

And subscribe to the YouTube channel! lol

The Box

Look for God and you will surely find God.  It's a principal Christan's live by.  Unfortunately it is more times than not put in an unfair, unrealistic, and illogical box.  This box is an ugly thing, a cruel thing.  It is something that some Christan's hide behind to justify behaviors like, boycotting businesses, writing people off, and sometimes even avoiding entire areas of their city all in the name of righteousness and holiness.

So what is this box?  Simply put, it is the thoughts and actions that say, "Look for God and you will surely find God but only as long as your opinions and views on life line up exactly with ours."  It says you can say or do A, B, or C but cannot say or do X, Y, or Z.  It's "our way or the highway to hell..."  Some Christians have tried to put God in this box;  they've tried to make it seem like God waits until you get your life together and get all the answers before He allows you to even start looking for Him.  The bible teaches that we should,

 "Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with - even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently."  Romans 14:1 (The Message)

It also teaches people to be so open with each other that we confess our sins, our weaknesses to each other.  But this is rarely done because we've created a box that says "Get right this very second and agree with our opinions or you're not welcome in God's house."  So instead of being themselves the few who do enter churches often put on this mask and pretend like everything is okay.  Instead of having freedom to openly discuss the things that they struggle with or disagree with or things they're unsure on they bottle it all up, causing themselves stress, frustration, and sometimes even depression.  Meanwhile outside the church "walls" it feels far more freeing, accepting, and understanding.  Maybe you were raised in a Christan home. Maybe you were taught from a young age what is and isn't right.  That's awesome if that's how you grew up but other people aren't you (And on a side-note that doesn't exempt you from seeking God as well and truly making a decision for yourself).
 

I'm not making excuses for people's wrong behavior.  And yes, Jesus Christ did tell people to "Go and sin no more."  But realize this: Jesus was regularly found eating with sinners and visiting them at their houses.  Do you really think while there He was constantly pointing out everything wrong they were doing?  Do you think He was sitting there on a couch with a picket sign that said turn or burn?

What I think it boils down to is people are so focused on the wrong things.  Instead of focusing over a person truly finding the peace of God in their life, they're worried about them behaving correctly.  Instead of being focused on showing people that there's real love in the world, they're focused on trying to find (out of context) bible verses that prove they have a right to judge others.  Instead of being focused on the fact that God wants to welcome all, they're worried what their church looks like to other Christians.  This box that says people have to get "it" (whatever that is anyway) right away has to be done away with.  Someone once said, "It's impossible to look upon the glory of God and leave unchanged."  I believe that to be true.  But I can speak from experience that sometimes that change can take a very long time... and sometimes unexpectedly we find that it is ourselves that need to change.  Don't rob others of the journey they need to go on.  Just help them along the way.

Look for God and you will surely find God PERIOD...  No box.

Dinner with the Pigs

One of the hardest things I've learned in life is sometimes you have to let people eat dinner with the pigs and not call them out on how nonsensical that is.  To some that entire sentence is nonsensical.  Let me explain what I mean by eating dinner with the pigs.

A long time ago there was this guy named Jesus.  He liked to tell people stories about God and heaven.  People call these stories parables.  On one such occasion Jesus told a story about a son who wanted to leave his family and go experience life or what he thought life was.  So this son goes to his father and demands his inheritance.  Now if one of my children asked me for their inheritance before I had keeled over and died I'd probably laugh at them and make them go to their room and think about how stupid they just were but that's just me.  In the story this sons father does the opposite of what I would do: he gives the son the inheritance.

So now rich with money the son goes off on his journey to experience life and to (I'm not really going to say this.... yes I am... I'm sorry) turn up...  Those of you who get that are probably shaking your head.  Those of you who don't get that be glad you grew up on actual good music instead of the random noises that come out of teenagers iTunes libraries these days!  Anyway...  The son (surprise, surprise) wastes all of his new riches on wild, crazy, party-like-its-1999 living.  Now completely broke, the son gets a job feeding pigs (Jesus telling a crowd of Jews about a guy getting a job feeding pigs probably had more impact on them than it does us.  Just picture the worst job you could possibly ever have).  Eventually he gets so hungry that the food he's feeding the pigs starts to look good.  In a sense he wanted to have dinner with the pigs.

Finally the son comes to his senses and goes back home with the intention of becoming one of his fathers servants because even they were eating better than he was.  When the son got close to home the father ran out to meet him, embraced him, clothed him, put the family ring on him, and threw a freaking epic bar-b-que!  The fathers other son got jealous because he was being a tool but lets talk about that another time.

There are many things you can take from this story Jesus told.  The one thing that I feel is rarely talked about is the fact that this awesome, merciful, loving father let his son... well... make stupid choices!  He let his son waste his money.  He let his son throw stupid pointless parties.  He let his son waste part of his life.  He let his son go eat dinner with the pigs.  What I'm trying to say is sometimes you just need to let people go make that terrible mistake.  Sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can say to that person that will change their mind so why even argue?  Are they walking down a path that is going to lead them straight to the pig farm?  Probably... But maybe that's where they need to go to finally get "it"

It's not fun when you see someone you love start down that path.  It can even physically hurt to hear them talk with their terrible, poorly thought out life choices.  I'm not saying you should never say something.  I'm not saying you should absolutely never try to intervene.  But there are times when you just need to take a step back and say, "Ok.  Go make that mistake if that's what you truly want right now."  What I am saying is sometimes people need to have dinner with the pigs to finally realize what's true, good, and acceptable.  Pray for those people.  Be there for those people.  Don't write them off or judge them from afar.  Be the best friend that you can be.  And when they finally see the light, throw the biggest, most epically epic bar-b-que they've ever seen!


If you'd like to read this story Jesus told you can find it in Luke 15:11-32

Church

"The church isn't a museum for good people.  It's a hospital for the broken." 

I've seen this picture/quote (or one like it) shared a ton on Facebook and Instagram.  Pastors have even quoted it while preaching.  I'm not sure where the quote originated but the usual comments left on the picture are, "Amen!" or "Truth!" or something of that nature.  I understand exactly what this quote is attempting to say and it's a very nice sentiment.  But what if I told you the church is neither of those things?  The church is absolutely not a museum for good people only.  But it is also not a hospital.

First and foremost the church is NOT a building or structure.  When Jesus said to Peter, "Upon this rock (Peter) I will build My church..." He was not referring to a building by any stretch of the imagination.  The church is the body of Christ.  The church is people.  Yet in our American culture, despite us knowing this truth, the way we speak of the church most of the time does not reflect what the church is (us).  Most of the time when speaking about the church people are referring to a building.  Think about it.  How many times have you heard statements like, "It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning." or "Behave yourselves.  You're in church!" or "I'm not going to church today."  or "The church isn't a museum (building) for good people.  It's a hospital (building) for the broken."

In our vocabulary the church has shifted from the people to the building.  I believe this is absolutely harmful to believers.  First, it makes "church" something you attend instead of the truth, something you are!  It also says to the person, "This building is important." instead of "You are important!"  I realize some will think I'm getting too worked up over a technicality but, am I?  I know of people who attended "church" most of their lives who are JUST NOW understanding the church is them not a place we go on Sundays.  A church building is not the house of the Lord or some special place.  You are the house of the Lord!  You are that special place!  But so many don't feel that for many reasons; one being, in my opinion, the fact that we are always calling a building the church instead of calling the people the church.  I hope you can see what I'm trying to say here.

Like I said of the above quote, it's a nice sentiment.  But it's still not truth.

  

Nothing Wasted

Nothing Wasted is the name of my bands (Waiting Here) first full length album.  We've been together since 2010 (with a few members coming and going).  I still remember the night myself, Brian (Bass Player), and Dave (Keyboard) got together and officially formed the band.  I wasn't 100% sure what the future held for us three but I was very excited.  This wasn't my first time forming a band but it was the first time I helped form a band centered around my own personal music/songs.  (The first band I ever helped form was a metal band called Miserable State... I only have a few pleasant memories from that time oi).  Another reason I was so excited was Brian, Dave, and I had just got back from a missions trip to New Orleans where we lead worship.  The three of us had never played together until then and things just clicked.  God was over every service we lead so I was excited that our band was going to do the same thing where ever we went to play.

Oh some of the names we came up with were absolutely terrible.  Eventually we settled on Waiting Here.  The suggestion actually came from my wife.  One of my absolute favorite songs is Miracle Maker by Delirious.  The opening lyric to that song is, "I'm waiting here for my life to change..."  No other line of words could fit my life (testimony) better than those.  I was 100% convinced of the name after reading Isaiah 40:31, "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;  They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."
I'll admit that I had some "head-in-the-clouds" moments early on.  I was convinced that we'll record a demo, someone in the music biz will hear it, we'll get a giant record deal and all that will happen in just a few short months.  One of my all time favorite movies is "That Thing You Do" so I totally thought, "Yeah.  Overnight success could really happen."  I laugh now but I really did think that in the beginning.  Eventually reality hit me at our first "real" gig.  We were told that there could be anywhere from 300 to 500 people showing up and we get to headline the whole thing!  We had just recorded our first demo (please tell me no one has that eek!) when we got the call for this gig so we were PUMPED!  "We just got our demo done and are already play a show for 500 people?! YEAH BUDDY!"  I thought...  I remember being frustrated with Dave that he was only able to make 100 demos we could sell (he was up til 4am the day we were leaving making them).  Doesn't he know that now 400 people are going to be mad that they can't get a demo?!  Long story short: absolutely no one came to that show!  The only people that were there had to be there because they were working it in one capacity or another.  This is so funny to me now and I love that it happened the way it happened.    We've had a few members come and go (all drummers... go figure).  We got a little more rock added to our band when my brother Chris started playing electric guitar for us.  It is a true honor to have him as a band-mate.  He was definitely a missing puzzle piece that perfectly fit in to place in our music.    Finally after a few years of gigging, a second demo, and hundreds of slices of pizza (if you're in a band you know what I mean), we met this awesome bro and producer, Mike Ryan.  We learned a TON as we recorded at BigChair studio.  I don't think I've ever grown that much in that short amount of time ever in my life.  The entire Ryan family are amazing people.  It took us longer than we expected but after a little over a year, we had our album finished.  Nothing Wasted.  The name came from Romans 8:28 and the fact that we have songs that are praising our mighty God but also songs that talk of real life struggle.  And in real life when it comes to good things, bad things, and everything in between, none of it is wasted with God.  I will never forget sitting in my office placing the order of our first set of albums.  It was business as usual.  Upload tracks?  Check.  Upload artwork?  Check.  Read terms and agree?  Check.  Reconfirm everything?  Check.  Type in credit card info?  Check.  Place order and ball like a baby?  Check.  You read that right.  The instant I clicked 'Place Order' I was floored with a flood of emotion.  I immediately started crying.  I'm talking ugly face, salty sting-your-eyes tears crying!  I was not expecting to get so emotional over it.  It just all of a sudden clicked in my head: the dream you've been dreaming about since you were a small child, you're living it out right now!    No, our hard work isn't over.  In many ways it's just begun.  But let me tell you, when you are living a dream of yours / working towards making it your complete reality, there is no better feeling.  So let this encourage you to not only dream but work towards that dream!  You can make it happen!  And through all the good things that happen, all the bad things that happen, and everything in between, remember this:  there's nothing wasted with God!  

Why? (Is It Really a Dangerous Question?)

There are some things in life that we will never understand.  So it's better to just let things be and not ask the question, "Why?" But is that really always the case?  I completely understand the belief behind this line of thinking and I certainly see why people believe there's harm in asking, "Why did this happen?" (or something along those lines).  Some people would say that this is one of the "most dangerous" questions we can ask, especially as Christians.  That's right; a lot of Christians believe asking "why?" will lead you to a road of doubt in God.  They'll "quote" (see what I did there?) verses like, "We hear only in part and see only in part." or "Gods ways are higher than ours.  That's why this [blank] happened." or "You can't please God without faith.  So don't ask why."  Sure you can find all these thoughts/verses in the bible but is "why?" a question we can't handle?  Is "why?" a question God can't handle?

First of all, God is a "big boy" I think He can handle anything thrown at Him.  Second, I think a lot of us have been looking at this all wrong.  Many times to not ask "why?" means to bottle it up inside and not deal with the issue.  When is that ever healthy in life personally?  When is that ever healthy in a relationship?  When we bottle things up, they tend to eventually explode causing more damage than they should have. 

To the people who vehemently adhere to the life motto of "Never ask God 'Why' because it's not faith.  That's not what a healthy relationship looks like"  I would like to point out the following:


"WHY do You stand afar off, O LORD? WHY do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?" Psalm 10:1
"My God, my God, WHY have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning." Psalm 22:1

"WHY do You hide Your face And forget our affliction and our oppression?" Psalm 44:24 

"O LORD, WHY do You reject my soul? WHY do You hide Your face from me?" Psalm 88:14   In my opinion, I don't think we can always get to the, "I said to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.'" (Psalm 16:2) without first allowing ourselves the "why", the grief.  I'm not foolish enough to believe that every single "why" in life will be answered.  Believe me, I have plenty of "why's" about things that just seem so unjust, so terrible.  But I think God can handle them.  And I and my relationship with God will come out on the other side better for not bottling things up.  I hope this helped you even a little bit.  Life is really difficult at times and unanswered questions don't help.  But I believe life WILL get better!  Life WILL get good!  We WILL see it!   

Decade

One decade (10 years) ago I was an 18 year kid about to see my life and world change forever.  It was the most beautiful fall day; not too cold and not too warm.  The sun was shining bright and the ground was covered in yellow, orange, and red leaves.  You couldn't of asked for a more perfect day to be wedded on.  I was nervous but completely excited.  Today was the day I marry the most perfect woman. 

I couldn't stop smiling.  By mid-morning my cheeks began to hurt because I was smiling so big, so much.  As I got dressed in the restroom my mind couldn't believe I was actually getting married.  I had never wanted to wait until I was older to get married.  Ever since I was a little kid I had wanted to get married.  I would joke that I wanted to get married as soon as I turned 18.  Who knew that it would come true just a few months after my 18th birthday. 

As the ceremony got underway the nervousness increased.  This is actually happening.  It's no longer a wishful thought.  Soon you will see your bride walk towards you ready to make her vows to you.  This is real.  I hear the music begin.  Here comes my bride.  She's wearing the most beautiful wedding dress.  Que biggest smile ever!  You see, we didn't have any money.  I had only just started my job one week before the wedding.  My wife told me she was just going to wear a nice sundress for our wedding.  So when she came walking down in that gorgeous wedding gown I was shocked and floored. 

We began to exchange our vows and the thoughts of this is actually happening once again came.  As we stood there pledging our love to each other we hear this.  Sweet Home Alabama.  Someones ringtone.  I can't help but laugh.  Some people might be horrified by having their wedding interrupted by an obnoxious ringtone but to this day every time I hear that song I'm taken back to one of the best days of my life.  The moment I hear one of the most recognized guitar intros in all of music I'm flooded with happy memories of that day.

We finish our vows.  You may now kiss your bride.  Here's some advice to all those guys about to get married: don't eat pizza for breakfast on the day of your wedding LOL.  As we kiss that garlicy kiss, it's official.  Daniel and Joy are husband and wife!  Sorry about the pizza hun...

Looking back it's so hard to believe that was 10 years ago.  That was a DECADE ago!!  It doesn't feel like it has been that long at all.  We now have five children.  We're still not rich ;) but we make it work.  We still argue and get annoyed with each other yet still want no one else lying next to us at night.  We aren't marriage experts but have learned more than we could've imagined.  Looking back, I've truly hit the jackpot when it comes to wives.  A wife who is an incredible mother, teacher, and business owner.  A wife who can look past my times of "being a guy" i.e. moron.  A wife who supports my dreams with as much passion as if they were hers.  A wife who is a bigger stargate nerd than I am!  Here's to the next 10 years; the next 20; the next 50.  I love you so much!