Brothers

This post is dedicated to my brother. Corey.

As I write this, I sit in his empty room.
It's different, really.

While reflecting on good times, I am reminded by how much we've been through together. I think about when we both wore fanny packs and thought we were awesome with our 1993 sunglasses. I think about when we argued about who would get shotgun (some things never change).
Know how some brothers are worst enemies? Not true with Corey and I. We're best friends.
I think about times like Jr. Camp, where we did the camp music together, teaching the kids music like they're rockstars.
I remember I remember times when we would sneak out of the house to get taco bell (again, some things never change).
I think about how many songs we've written together. I think about how many church services we've been together. How many times we've played music together. Countless hours spent practicing. Countless songs learned. Countless chords learned.
Corey can write songs like he's a poet, and can play drums like he's Carter Beauford.
I am honored every time I walk onto a platform, stage, or venue with him.
More than a musician, he's a true friend.

I remember times when we cried together until there were no more tears. What we thought was destroying our life, was actually turning us into men of God. I'm not sure who was more of an encourager, but we held each other up.
I remember a time when I would get irritated at him because he was ALWAYS Mario, and I was always Luigi. Good 'ol Nintendo 64. Or the endless games of Mario Kart wars. Or the endless games of Nintendo Madden football games.
Through all these times, I've grown closer to him. He's my best friend.

As I pass into this next phase of my life, I realize how different it will be in the house. He's moved out, into his own place. One of my favorite parts of Sunday mornings was hearing Corey sing in the shower. Just, classic. I know he's moved into the next phase of his life, marriage. Such a great time, I know. It's gonna be amazing to get to be around my future sister in law, Danielle, more and more. I love her to death, and I wish both of them the best in their lives together.

Corey, I love you. And I always will.

The following 10 things are facts of life.

1) Mom will cry when she reads this blog.
2) I don't think we'll ever have a "non-competitive" game of golf in our lives.
3) Your raps will never cease to bring pain to my abdominal region from laughter.
4) I don't care what you say, we won that ping pong tournament in high school. We got the T shirts.
5) You have 3 distinct phone voices.
6) Texting quotes, movie lines, song lyrics, and random junk is the most fun with you.
7) We're weird musicians sometimes. Just. Weird.
8) Your sermon "Carried To The Table" still rings in my ears.
9) You turned me Mac. And I haven't gone back.
10) I love you.

Walk in Love

Reflect God in how you love.

Ephesians 5:2 says "And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,
and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor"

I'm gonna be honest here. When I walk into a room, and I smell a really good perfume,
I'm going to look around to see which girl is wearing it. It's attractive.
Girls, when a guy walks into a room and has a very good smelling cologne on, you're going to notice it, right? Right. Chances are, you'll remember him too (or the cologne).

Getting a new cologne is a challenging thing for me. I know what I like, and I stick to it because I know I won't be let down by them. One cologne I will never wear is "Obsession". For some reason, it has always smelled disgusting to me. The mere thought of wearing this cologne makes me cringe, because I know what it smells like without having it right in front of me.

Check this out. Ephesians 5:2 says that God gave himself "an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor". Maybe it's saying that God gave himself as an offering so we could use His love as a "cologne" or "perfume".
When a non believer is in a room with a Christian, something should be different about the Christian. God's love should be so strong on you that people will notice. People remember you. People remember.......what you're 'wearing'.
Just like the bad cologne, if you poorly represent Jesus and His love, chances are people won't want that in their life. They're going to recognize that name you were wearing and will not want that for themselves.


We must represent the name of Jesus in love. I never want somebody to hear the name of Jesus and instantly think negatively because of something I did. We must represent Jesus like it's the best cologne we own.

Ephesians 5:8. This is what we are.

Reflections

re·flec·tion   
[ri-flek-shuhn]
–noun
1. the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
2. an image; representation; counterpart.
3. a fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration.

How does one reflect? What does one reflect?
Well, according to Matthew 7:16, one will be known by their fruits. So, what they "reflect" in their life, or by the fruits they produce, they will be known.
So what we reflect in our daily life is the same thing as producing fruit.
The fruits of the spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Is your life reflecting a patient, joyful person who exudes faithfulness? If not, chances are your reflection is a bit blurry.



I want to aim to reflect Jesus in my life. Salvador quotes it perfectly in their lyrics that read "Lord, let me shine, shine like the moon, a reflection of You".
I want to shine like the moon. Without the sun, we would never see the moon. Likewise, I don't want to shine by myself, I don't want to be anything unless Jesus is shining through me.



At Apostolic Truth Church, SURGE Student Ministries will be starting a series called "What Does _____ Look Like?"
We will look at issues such as faithfulness, holiness, love, christianity, etc. We will be speaking on topics like "What does love look like?", and dig deep in scriptures with the students to find out what true ____ looks like. Fill in the blank for whatever you're struggling with, question, or want to know more about.

This will be the start of Reflections of an Intentional Life.

Last year. This year.

In 2010, an extremely short list of what I did consists of:

Recorded bible verses for bible quizzing
Got about 15 parking tickets.
Learned the ABC's in sign language.
Did shows at four different coffee shops in Appleton.
Went to Florida.
Started teaching piano lessons.
Ran a half marathon
Worked for Yahoo, Inc.
Fell in love with the principles of Dave Ramsey.
Opened for Bebo Norman.
Opened for JJ Heller.
Worked at EAA.
Got played.
Started the youth choir.
Got hired to play piano for 6 hours straight.
Wrote two songs that will never be heard by anyone
Developed a love for insanely awesome christian rap. Lecrae, in particular.
Was a part of a mentoring group called "Jonathan's Project", where three older guys mentored 12 of us younger (18-30) guys.
Had an iPhone 3G, transfered to the iPhone 4.
Synced 4 iPhones, 3 iPods, 1 mp3 player, and an iPad with my phone. Yes, total of 9 devices.
I would like to see how much i spent at starbucks. Hah. That'd be classic. I may do that this year.....


But, most importantly.
I prayed more. I read my bible more. I witnessed more. I developed my own walk with God. I was sensitive to the spirit. I grew through hard situations. I grew through tough times. I grew when it felt like my world was crashing. I mentored young men to grow closer to God. I started a sexual purity group of guys at my church. I accepted the call of God on my life.



In 2011, I want to:
Run the Fox Cities full marathon.
Manage my money better.
Take on more piano students.
Eat more sushi.
Drink less caffeine.
Blog more.
See a miracle.
Read more books. My brother's goal is 12 this year. One per month. That sounds like an awesome goal. Yes, I'll do that.
Buy clothes at thrift stores more.
Write more worship songs.
Go on a missions trip.
Go to California.
Pray more. Every day, to be specific.
Go to more concerts. I'm thinking 10 concerts sounds good for 2011.
Mentor guys more.
Destroy the lines of separation in our youth group.
Pray for somebody in a public place.
Speak to the youth group more.
Grow closer to God than I ever have been in my life.


In general, this is my goal: to be INTENTIONAL. Intentional with the relationships with the people around me, intentional in my personal walk with God... intentional about my life.

Minor confessions from a major musician

By minor, I don't mean not important. 
And by major, I don't mean important. 
Please dont take it the wrong way. 

The other night at church, we had a blowout. I was on the keys, doug on bass, Casey on drums. 
The music was crankin'. People were worshiping. And kept worshiping. Bro. Soto came to the mic and said everyone needed to keep praising and get their blessing. 

As for me, I stayed on the keyboard. 
You see, generally the main instrument of the worship set has to be the constant. 
It's difficult to move in the spirit when you have to pay attention to everyone.
Watch the drummer and bassist. Make sure we're in time. 
Watch the preacher, so when he advises to stop playing, everyone stops. 
Listen. Watch. 
Essentially there's no time to get a personal blessing. 
What if you feel to go pray for somebody? Can't do it. If you just stop playing it'd kill the spirit for people. Can't get another keyboardist, the other three are crying and praying for other people. 
So, what to do. 

Personal blessings must come when you're not on an instrument. You must get your blessing when you're not at church. 
That's when personal prayer time and devotion steps in. 
Pray when you have a chance. 
Cuz when you are on the platform, the church is relying on you to not be a distraction. 

When you are on the platform 19 out of 20 services, you cannot rely on church to help you in your walk with God.
You have to develop your own walk with God. Outside of church.

Amazing Love

I can't really describe the intimacy of love. I can merely mimic what I've been shown by a Savior who is the best example of unfailing, irreplaceable, and true....love.
During the past few months, I have fallen in love with Jesus. More than I ever have in my life.
Mock it. Laugh at it. I don't care.
Being broken on a continual basis and desiring His will for my life more than anything in this world is what gets me through the day.
If you claim to be a Christian, and don't act like it, Jesus says you are no part of Him.
If you claim to be a Christian, and love the things of this world more than Him, you are not a child of light. You are part of darkness.
Chilling. Haunting. So true.
That's why loving Him is so much easier.

When we love Jesus, we can't sin. The moment that we sin, our desire to sin takes over the love we have for Him.
When we sin, the sin is more important than the one who died for our sins.
When we ignore Him by not praying and not reading the Word, we show God that our "important" and "busy" are more meaningful than our relationship with Him.
You wouldn't think about not calling the guy or girl that you love for a few days because you "got busy".
Nobody would say "Gosh, I really had to go to the bathroom today but I just couldn't fit it in my schedule"
It sounds funny, I know.
But what we think is important, we will do.
If you don't value reading God's Word...aka, the Bible...you won't read it.
If you don't value praying, you won't pray.

Too many times we say "God, please move in this service", or "God, please move in my life"....while, Jesus is actually waiting for us to move. How much are you willing to commit? How much are you willing to be faithful?
If you check your facebook everyday, you've become accustomed to getting in the habit of checking facebook.
What about your relationship with God?

I can't help but to cry in the presence of God. I can't help but to love love. I can't help but to love reading the Bible. It's exciting. When you truly fall in love with God. (and you know when you're in love with Him and when you're not), it's amazing. It'll change your life.

Por Vos

This is probably the prettiest song/poem I've experienced in my life.
It echoes perfectly my sentiments for the love of my life- Jesus Christ, who is my Savior and changed my life.

Listen to the song along with the lyrics (translation below lyrics)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxa_PsQ-A5Y



Amor De Mi Alma

Yo no naci, sino para quereros;
Mi alma os ha cortado a su medida;
Habito del alma misma, del alma misma os quiero.
Escrito esta en mi alma vuestro gesto;
Yo lo leo tan solo que aun de vos me guardo en esto.
Quanto tengo, confiesso yo de veros;
Y por vos naci, por vos tengo la vida,
Habito del alma misma os quiero.
Y por vos e de morir,
Y por vos muero.
Por vos.



Lover of My Soul

I was born to love only You
My soul has formed You to its measure
I want You as a garment for my soul
Your very image is written on my soul
Such indescribable intimacy, I hide even from You
All that I have, I owe to You
For You I was born, and for You I live
I want You as a garment for my soul
And for You I must die
And for You I give my last breath
For You

Living Accountable

Living with accountability is more than what it seems. True accountability is a team effort between two players.

Yeah, of course there's the accountability of the Sunday to Sunday basis. "Where were you last week", or "Why didn't you come to church this morning". The surface accountability. Or when somebody calls you out because you misspoke or disrespected somebody. That's a general accountability that many people have.

But do you have true accountability?

1 Thessalonians 5:11 states: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Not only are we supposed to encourage one another, but we're supposed to gain wisdom, strength, and advice from others.
Check out James 5:16:
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

Confess my sins? To another person? Um...no. I can't do that. They might think less of me. ...They might think I'm a bad person that does wrong....they might think I'm.....human.

See, we as human beings are bad at trusting. Somehow, we got to the point where we think we can't let anybody know our failures, because that wouldn't be normal. Last time I checked, we all fail. That's what makes us normal. What's abnormal is when we think that letting people know our faults will make us the odd ones out.

When was the last time you told somebody "Hey...I'm struggling with this, and I need you to help me pray about it" ..?
When was the last time you were completely honest with somebody, not holding anything back, told them everything?
Do you have a specific person in your life that you talk to? Maybe on a daily basis? That keeps you accountable in certain areas of your life?

The reason I use rhetoric to make people think is because I've been there. I've been in a stage in my life with no accountability; once you become accountable, you realize that it's freeing, not restricting.
When you have somebody that you talk to on a continual basis that asks you probing questions as to how you're doing (spiritual walk, temptations, bible reading, prayer, *fill in blank with virtually anything*), it helps you throughout the day.
I know that I will be calling my mentor tonight, and I have to be 100% honest with them. If I fail, they don't look down on me, but helps me through it. But during the day, the fact that I will be talking to somebody gives me strength to avoid temptation and press towards the mark of the high calling of God. Every day.

That gets me through the day. :)


Proverbs 12:15

Connect.

You know how sometimes you can't get a text message because the connection is bad?
Missed a few calls because of low bars?
Well, it's not like the other person isn't trying to send you a message. Maybe they've sent the message. You just haven't got it yet.
But your connection is bad.
You could get mad at that person because you can't get their message.
You could be confused as to why they're not speaking to you.
But it's not their fault. They can't help that you have a bad connection. It's not their fault that you're in a place that is hindering your reception.

Take a look.
Wonder if sometimes we can't get God's message because the connection between Him and us is bad?
Maybe we're so focused on everything in life that He can't show us His plan?
Our personal relationship is failing because of the four letter word that starts with L and end with ife.
That'll cause some missed connections. Maybe even some missed....calls.
We can read and understand his...text...because the connection is bad.
We get confused and don't understand why He's not speaking to us.
It's not God's fault. We're the one in a place that is hindering our...reception.

Just a thought.

What if.

Say you're Pentecostal. Say you're baptist, or Muslim.
Take away any and every reservation that you (we) have for the catholic church.
Take away your thoughts that their teaching is wrong, or don't follow the entire bible.
Take away any negative preconceived notion.
They have something that every church needs.
They have one thing that should be implimented (to a degree) in all churches.

Confession.

What would happen if you knew you had somebody you could tell everything you did wrong. And they wouldn't judge you. But they would pray for you and get you through it.
We as people don't trust people.
Do you have anybody in your life that you can tell anything bad you do? Any thought or action or deed?
Didn't think so.
Why is that?
We are afraid that if we admit we're human, people will think less of us.
People that are "perfect" scare the mess out of me.

If you had somebody in your life that you knew you could tell something and they would never tell anybody, it would change you. It would help you deal with your problems. Deal with those dark corners in your life thy nobody knows about.
By simply telling somebody, it helps you to start the process of progress.
What if.