More than ourselves

So ever since last Wed. night my brain has been running !!  Every wed. night my band, our wives/girlfriends, and the youth pastor at our church and his wife meet for "Life group."  We've been doing a study on the book of James.  In James 2:14 it says "My brothers and sisters, if people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing.  Can faith like that save them?"  There's a lot more after that verse, but that's where I want to stop for now.  Jason (The youth pastor of our church) asked us a question that really made me think. He asked us if people have faith, but do nothing to demonstrate it, are they saved?  Well, he didn't even have to ask us because the bible asks us pretty clearly, and i didn't even see it.  Now, I'm not going to say that people who believe in Christ and have confessed that He is Lord are not one of his children.  I guess it makes you think that if they truly do have a faith in Christ and a love for Him, that you'd see a product of that according to this verse.  So then....I thought, well....am I showing this faith?  I'm surrounded by a BUNCH of people who are great at giving. My wife is one of them!  Personally, I'm horrible at it!  I think the thought of giving is awesome!  But when it comes down to it, I'm very selfish, and when I do give, usually it's because I get some kind of pleasure out of it.  When we give it shouldn't be to get a good feeling for ourselves, it should be a product of your faith and obedience.  Jason also told a story of how God convicted him to give in obedience.  When a homeless man asks for money, is it our responsibility what he does with it if God tells you to give it to him?  Someone in life group pointed out how we as Christians tend to just throw money at needs instead of helping the situation ourselves simply because we don't want to deal with it.  I also thought that maybe if Christians were to tithe biblically we wouldn't have the financial crisis that we're in, because we could be helping others in need in stead of worrying about our 4 walls.  I'm not writing to step on toes, just to trigger your thought process.  I want God to change my heart to see people the way He sees them.

A Song I'm working on

Typically when I write song lyrics, something inspires me to write them.  Most of the time it's extremely random (hence the theme of my blog..ha).  In this case, I was reading a book by a man from the "Beat Generation" by the name of Jack Kerouac.  The book is titled "On the Road."  I haven't finished the book yet because it takes me forever to get through books.  The title fits the book perfect, because it's a true story of this man living life on the road.  Basically he lives a "no rules" type of life and chases whatever seems to be the right decision at the time.  As I read about this man I began to think what if he would have chased life with his dreams and passions inspired by God.  He chased after life, and had a blast doing it, but when you have no ultimate purpose to live for, everything is meaningless.  I also read books by Erwin McManus, and in his book "Wide Awake," he gives this quote: "sometimes the limitations you are willing to accept establish the boundaries of your existence."  God has no boundaries, and when our relationship with God is intimate, we can trust our passions.  Both of these books have inspired some lyrics for a song I'm writing.  I haven't finished the words to this song yet, but here's what i have so far.

"I'm hiding out in this old cell

And I hear their voices as they yell

In the street that's just outside my window.

I long to see a mountain range

But my eyes depict "Papier-mache" 

And the boundaries that I accept will 

Proudly show that I neglect you.

(CHORUS)

I'm not ready, but I'll be ready tonight

Things aren't steady, but if you'll let me

I might, I might leave it all and 

Chase the fire in Your eyes.

The part of this song that says "And I hear their voices as they yell" describes everyone around me who I see is chasing life at full speed or "living loud" so to speak.  The chorus talks about how my faith is sometimes so weak that I think God isn't big enough to give me the happiness I see in these people.  So I want everyone to know that I'm now going to chase the dreams that God has instilled in my heart at full speed!  I'm excited to know that I'm chasing God's dreams for my life and not my own.