House of Their Dreams

I have come to really like this song.  I think there are a lot of songs that point out just how isolated that we have become.  There are even some really good songs that show us a life or a family turning around because of Christ.  What makes this song any different?  For me, it is the fact that nothing is ever fixed.  The song tells of the brokenness in the family and of how it seems like everything is falling apart, and then the good part.  Nothing is miraculously fixed, it isn’t a “we’ve got Christ so we have it all figured out” but instead tells of how the family is broken and they fall on their knees, knowing that they are broken and ask God to save their family.  That is more like real life than what we usually see.  And in their brokenness, we see togetherness.  In this case, we see that the prayer is already starting to be answered when the tears pour down their face and the family comes before God together.

“House Of Their Dreams”
Casting Crowns

A corner office was his dream
More like a prison now it seems
Somewhere on the corporate climb
He left his warrior behind
Now he’s just a worker at a daily grind
Steals his years and numbs his mind
His strength is fading, his dreams are blind
This is not the life he had in mind

She lies awake cause he’s up all night
Staring at a screen that tells him lies
That the grass is greener on the other side
So she’s at the gym fighting off the years
To be young again and calm her fears
That she’ll never be enough for him
Just as a young man catches her eyeNow they’re trapped in their own worlds, in their own wars
With their cell phones and the closed doors
It’s funny how quiet and peaceful that it seems
But they’re all alone together
In the house of their dreams

Little sister, she’s a sixteen-year-old princess
Lost somewhere between the swing set
And her brand new crush’s chariot awaits
And big brothers rooms glowing with trophies that shout his name
But he’d trade all his high school fame
For some backyard catch with his hero again

So now they’re all dressed up in Sunday best
Sit up straight just like the rest
And they sing the songs of peace and rest that Jesus freely gives
And then their kids look up as daddy stands
And he takes his bride with trembling hands
Brother kneels at his father’s side as princess looks in the mothers eyes
Their tears tear down the walls as daddy prays

Were trapped in our own worlds and our own wars
With our cell phones and our closed doors
God, only You can save our family
And on this Rock, well build
On this Rock, well build
The house of our dreams

We Do because God loves us.

All to often , we get this idea in our heads that God loves us for what we do.  That God will love us more if we go to church more, if we do our devotions, if we don’t sin.

God already loves us all an infinite amount; I am not a mathematician, but I am pretty sure that you can’t get much bigger than infinity.  Why would we think that we could add to the amount that God loves us by doing anything?

In reality, God does not love us because of what we do, we do because God loves us.  Without God’s love for us, we would not exist, we would not be who we are, we couldn’t do anything without His love.  

My Story Behind “Give Me Jesus”

I would like to begin by telling you that I did not write “Give me Jesus”; This is not the story that inspired the song, but merely why it holds so much significance to me.

I have told you before that I resonate a lot with the message of  “Trading My Sorrows” and this song follows in a similar light.  From my perspective, we all have our highs and lows in our life, and I am no different than anyone else;  the last few weeks in particular have felt particularly low for me.  I don’t know why I felt so bad: my life seemed good from the outside looking in: my family was doing well and loved me, I was doing great in school, and I had a beautiful girlfriend.  On top of all that, I was a Christian, and I prayed and I read my bible (most of the time). What I was missing was my recognition for a greater longing for Jesus.

I have been a Christian long enough that I have gained a lot of ‘facts’ and my relationship with Jesus wasn’t bad either; My problem was that I stopped yearning for more from Jesus.  I pictured it like this:

I am walking down a road with my best friend, and we get so close that we start walking in step and even running in step together.  Then I get so used to the pace that I settle into it.  My friend pulls ahead a little bit, and then I fall on my face.  I was so comfortable in the pace that I had settled into that I didn’t remember to call out to my friend for help so I just layed there with scraped knees.  If only I had remembered that I could call out to my friend, I know that he would turn around and carry me on until I could run with him again.

“Give Me Jesus” was my reminder, my way of calling out, and taking the helping hand that Jesus has had extended for so long.

Give me Jesus

"I have often been lead to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go" - Abraham Lincoln

Give Me Jesus

Verse1

In the Morning, when I rise
In the Morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Chorus
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

Verse 2
When I am alone
When I am alone
oh, when I am alone
Give me Jesus

CHORUS
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
Just give me Jesus

Verse 3
When I come to did
when I come to die
oh, when I come to die
Give me Jesus

I Need a Miracle

The end of this song ends with a line that should be posted on a billboard or something “And in your hour of desperation know you’re not the only one prayin’, “lord above, I need a miracle.”  Like I said before, we all have times where we need God’s help, times when we can’t do it on our own and in those times it is ever so important that you remember that you are not struggling alone.  There are many other people struggling alongside you and everyone needs a miracle – don’t be ashamed to ask for yours.

(see the note after the lyrics for a personal note about what this song has reminded me)

 

“I Need A Miracle” by Third Day

Well, late one night, she started to cry and thought, “He ain’t coming home”
She was tired of the lies, tired of the fight, but she didn’t want to see him go
She fell on her knees and said, “I haven’t prayed since I was young
But Lord above, I need a miracle”

Well no matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done
There will come a time when you can’t make it on your own
And in your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one
Prayin’, “lord above, I need a miracle
I need a miracle”

He lost his job and all he had in the fall of ’09
Now he feared the worst, that he would lose his children and his wife
So he drove down deep into the woods and thought he’d end it all
And prayed, “Lord above, I need a miracle”

Well no matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done
There will come a time when you can’t make it on your own
And in your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one
Prayin’, “lord above, I need a miracle
I need a miracle”

La dda dda dda
La dda dda dda
La dda dda dda
Wooooooooah!
La dda dda dda
La dda dda dda
La dda dda dda
Wooooooooah!

He turned on the radio to hear a song for the last time
He didn’t know what he was looking for, or even what he’d find
The song he heard gave him hope and strength to carry on
And on that night they found a miracle
They found a miracle

La dda dda dda
La dda dda dda
La dda dda dda
Wooooooooah!

And in your hour of desperation
Know you’re not the only one
Prayin’, “lord above, I need a miracle”

“Lord above, I need a miracle”

We all have messed up lives – we are all only human.  We all need a miracle at one point or another and when that time comes, God will still be listening.  This song reminds me what the purpose of playing Christian music is – and why it is so important to exemplify Christ in everything that I do.  It is not about making money or becoming famous. It is not about making friends or being popular.  It is not about the thrill of standing on stage or the exhilarating feeling you get after you have done something for someone that will never know it was you that did the good dead.  Sometimes this type of thing is all the reason that someone needs to go on living – to pick up there head and make it through one more day.

This song reminded me of the importance of what I have come to do.  I would challenge you to ask yourself what the importance of the things you are doing for God are.  If they to make money or get new friends is it really done for God?

Restore

I heard this song earlier today and it struck me.  It is a powerful song that holds a lot of truth about today’s relationships, but its value stretches well beyond romantic relationships, though that is what is explicitly discussed   If Jesus stands in the middle of a relationship – any relationship – he will always strengthen the bond between you.  Imagine for a second that both people in a relationship are attached to different ropes, pulling them apart.  They grab each other’s wrists and hold on to keep the relationship together, but the tug of the ropes is too strong and someones grip will eventually give way.  Now imagine that same scenario with the strongest man with the strongest grip between you, holding on too each of you.  You reach out to hold his wrist and he scoops you both up and holds you in his arms.  In this situation it would take a lot more to pull the two people apart.

Restore by Chris August:

Nobody’s growing old together, we’ve made it easy just to quit
Love has become a negative percentage, why do we bother to commit
We’ve got a long list of excuses, ways we try to justify
Well, I propose to you the truth is, marriage does not have to die[Chorus:]
I know you’re feeling like it’s falling apart and it can’t go on anymore
But God is a God who knows how to heal so just give it up to the Lord
And He will restore

He said with this ring I promise, and with I do she said forever
But right now if they’re being honest they don’t know if they’ll stay together
Let’s fast forward to the future after struggling on their own
They finally figured out they needed Jesus in the middle
Now I’m watching God rebuild their home

[Chorus]

The enemy tries to come and divide
Trying to get us to give up the fight
But darkness will always lose out to light
‘Cause we’ve got the power of Christ on our side

I see you growing old together
I pray I find a love like yours

So if you’re feeling like it’s falling apart and it can’t go on anymore
God is a God who knows how to heal so just give it up to the Lord
And He will restore

Like it was before
You may have strayed off course
But He will restore

Oxygen

I know a lot of new-Christians who are on fire for God and want to go and make a difference.  Some of them rush out the door and as soon as they leave that sanctuary and face adversity they crumble to it.

I wonder if it would make a difference if flight attendance were employed at Churches?   Would it help if someone warned those who are flying for the first time that they have to put on there oxygen mask before they can try to save anyone else?

 

Amazing Grace

This morning I was thinking about Amazing Grace.  Everyone has heard this phrase, but sometimes we do not always recognize how amazing grace really is.  When we look around, how often do we see Grace in our lives?  Not very often.

What about God’s Grace?  Why don’t we see God’s Grace around us? Maybe it is because being amazed by grace also requires being honest about the sin that resides deep in one’s character.

I challenge you to do two things: strive to be the grace in the lives around you and to be honest about your sin.  It is only when we do these two things that we will be able to truly see how amazing grace is.

SYFC 12/28/12

If you did not get a chance to come out to SYFC, you are in luck.

This is the link to our concert Friday the 28th of December, 2012.  The quality is not great for the video or audio but at least it is something.  I hope you enjoy it.

http://youtu.be/u3RuSFP9wQk

and part 2 at:

 http://youtu.be/VXWPZNAyWfM

If you or anyone you know would like us to come and play for your church, for your youth group, for anything really (we have played every venue from leading Sunday morning worship to funerals) contact me (Dan) at daniel.buckley15@houghton.edu.  Due to several scheduling difficulties we try to schedule as early as possible to assure that we are available.

email me at:

daniel.buckley15@houghton.edu  (preferred contact method)

Or you can call or text me at:

315-323-6024

Don’t Give Up; Give In

I have been posting here for over a year now.  I never expect to have many, if any people read anything I say.  In fact, it came to a point where no matter how much I wrote, still nobody would read it.

I prayed for a while, asking God to use my writing, or to give me a sign that he wasn’t going to use it.  I didn’t want to waste my time if it was for nothing.

After a week of prayer, I saw on Facebook, someone had commented.  A couple days later somebody else commented here!  One day last week, we had thirty times as many people reading than usual.

You may be thinking something along the lines of “that’s great and all, but what does that have to do with God?”

Everyday somebody gives up on something.  When you at the lowest point and you feel like you just can’t take it anymore, when you feel like you are wasting your time, that’s when God wants to use you the most.  When we are in our prime and succeed, it is easy to take the credit, to take the glory.  When we have nothing left, no hope and no strength, we can find hope and strength in our lord Jesus Christ.

For in our weakness, he is strong.  Don’t give up; give in to God.