happy 4th, 5th, and 6th

happy

4th,

5th,

and

6th!

Hey Y’all!!!

“Just a Girl” is taking a break this weekend.

see y’all back here on Monday.

songs in the night

“Any fool can sing in the day. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight, but the skillful singer is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by . . .Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of men.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon

ht: leilanni

a little too much grace

seminary is a very spiritual place couched in a very academic structure. yes, the students are plagued by assignments and papers and tests.

lots of tests.

drew recently took a test that included a section on scripture memorization, referencing two VERY well-known passages.

somehow in the midst of the academania, drew forgot these verses were on the test and had to pull from a less-than-prepared memory.  one he fumbled through completely, missing key phrases that capture the meaning of the passage. the other, a four-verse-segment, he started two verses too soon, completely cutting the last two verses!

but…

his prof gave him full credit for both verses.

full credit…

full credit??

FULL???

um. what??

when he told me about this i just shook my head and laughed. the student “versions” of these passages were either correct or incorrect. and his were, well, much more notably incorrect.

even still, his prof smacked a hefty dose of grace on his test score.

a heaping dose.

maybe a little too much grace.

maybe an overdose.

::

i’m not criticizing seminary professors, red-eyed from grading dozens of exams and papers and assignments at the end of every semester. i’m not criticizing our seminary, which holds firmly that the Bible is the living word from God. i’m not pointing out a flaw in my brilliant and handsome human-reference-bible-of-a-husband.

and i’m DEFINITELY not insinuating that there can in any way be TOO much grace in this world. y’all know i’m a big fan of grace.

but.

simply said:

if there’s anything -ANYTHING - that’s non-negotiable about Christianity, it’s the scriptures.

WW - who?? - 7.1.08

hello y’all. all y’all. all of you all. whatever.

so. it’s whatever wednesday. woo hoo!!!

TheNorEaster finished things last week with the most random question, one that i’m sure solicited zero response because most of y’all didn’t know what he was referring to: Who is going to answer that e-mail I sent out?

my answer? me!!

ok. back to the party.

i will start with a question. someone answers it then leaves another question, and someone answers it and leaves another question.

got it?

first question: which came first, the chicken or the egg?

myspace freaks me out

well, not really myspace, but the match.com ads that are all over the place in myspace.

they show these hot guys chatting online with someone, and you’re watching from the vantage point of their computer camera. i actually paid attention to a few, and realized the “script” is the same. they stop by their computer to check into match.com i guess. see that someone’s there, smile real big, look slightly flirtatious, type something. then back up. then read, smile again, take off their hoodie/jacket/whatever, sit down, and start typing away.

it’s the oddest thing. makes me feel like an internet voyeur or something. and i didn’t even ASK to see him!

how can i get this man to stop flirting with me through my computer?!

history working FOR us

“A right use of the knowledge of historical forms of Christian worship could assist us in the 20^th century American Church by helping us to break free from bondage to our own culture.” ~Jeffrey Meyers

do we have a right use of our knowledge of historical forms of worship?

do we have accurate knowledge of historical forms of Christian worship?

do you think a right use of this knowledge could help?

are we in bondage to our own culture?

believe me, i’m a worship leader. i want to hear what you think about this.

music monday: stuck in my head

well. this is a different sort of music monday. i didn’t write the lyrics or the music, but i managed to combine the two for a bible study project. me & my LOVELY bible study friends recently threw this together for a contest.

why am i sharing this? well. honestly, because i can’t get the verse outta my head now. i’ve never had an easier time memorizing scripture before inmywholedanglife.

Jude 1:24-25 (let’s see if i can type this out from memory!)

To Him / who is able / to keep you from falling / and to present you / before His glorious presence, / without fault, / and with great joy, / to the only God our Saviour / be glory, majesty, power and authority, / through Jesus Christ our Lord, / before all ages / now and forevermore, amen. [plus or minus a few commas]

music by Paul McCartney.

you can sing along if you want!!!

oh.

if you want a copy, click here to download (link will expire on 7/5/08).

because you asked…

i got all nostalgic a few weeks ago when i realized that i’ve been blogging about a year, so i checked out my first post. i noticed a comment that was left there about a month ago: When have you faced adversity in your faith and have you ever considered walking away from it?

dang. this is hard for me to answer, because there are people that know me - knew me - back when this happened, and i tried so hard to cover it all up.

but, do i have to answer this question? yes. because of the post i wrote. because i said i would. because i wrote “i think this blog is a great way to present my experiences and lessons (some hard-learned)” and because you asked.

short answer: when? college. ever considered walking away? i walked away.

the truth is, i went through a period of time in college when i lost every ounce of faith i had. i had my quiet time one morning. i went to my apartment that night and told two dear friends that i’d lost all faith and thought it was all a pile of crap. i shook as i told them. my eyesight went blurry. i was devastated.

i was headed into Christian counseling. i was writing songs about Jesus. i was in an amazing Christian band. i’d spent two summers in youth ministry. i was leading worship at a campus ministry at the time. i was experiencing God in ways i’ve never experienced since. and yet. yet. my faith faltered.

i was devastated.

my life had become a Christian’s worst nightmare.

after weeks of hoping to get back to normal, i had to step down from leading worship. i begged my campus pastor not to tell the group why i stepped down, because i didn’t want to take anyone else down with me. that couldn’t be helped. man, i messed up a lot of my relationships along the way. my biggest regret is that i hurt people that i loved so dearly.

shortly after stepping down, i found myself entangled - stuck - addicted - in a mess of sin - the type of sin that is best not mentioned in public.

there are a lot of nights that i’ll never forget, but one that is so vividly etched in my mind to this day. i was sitting in my car, in our campus ministry parking lot, crying - screaming - to God (if He was even there) - telling Him how ANGRY i was that He let this happen to me. to my faith. to my life. “this is my @#$%ing life!” i screamed as i pounded my steering wheel.

believe it or not, i think He heard that prayer. and i think He was ok with it.

how long did it take for things to straighten out? a while. a long while. i had a heap of crap to climb out of - things were more complicated than just figuring out if God really existed. weeks, months, well over a year went by before i felt remotely normal.

the majority of my “recovery” actually happened right out of college. there was an incredible para-church youth ministry that was crazy enough to hire me. crazy enough to have me on the team. i was walking-wounded at the time. i was barely limping spiritually. i was in need of some SERIOUS spiritual intensive care.

it was through this ministry that i met a woman who mentored me for the next 5 years. she walked me out of a pit of shame and guilt. she walked me through all the questions i had about myself. she walked me into falling in love with my husband. she walked me through the fears of getting married. she walked me through my first year of marriage. and she walked me through the process of leaving that spiritual hospital and moving to seminary.

i know that there are “reasons” for things that happen to us. i know this. James tells us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance.

i’m a different person because i know how messed up i am. it’s hard to look down my spiritual nose at someone when i’m too busy brushing the dried dust off myself from when i rolled around in the muddy ditch of sin.

i wouldn’t have it any other way. i’m thankful for that nightmare. i’m thankful for the “me” that i’ve become because of it.

“but by the grace of God I am what I am…”

in just a year

you can read the bible in just a year.

i’m not lyin’

go here. pick a plan.

15 minutes a day, and you can knock the whole book out in a year.

who’s already on a plan??

bomomo

y’all know i can find some of the weirdest online visual/musical artistry thingies out there.

last time y’all went nuts with Mr. Picasso Head.

here’s a fun one. its like an etch-a-sketch, but even cooler!

mine: