The Sights of Music

I went to midnight mass this morning to start off my wonderful Christmas day. It was very interesting. We began by singing and as the organ began to play I noticed there was nobody on stage playing or even singing. I turned towards the music and it was coming from behind and above me in a balcony. There was a choir singing and musicians behind them. I turned back around and sang some of the words along with them thinking how awkward it was to be facing away from the music. I started to think some more as the next song began and I looked up towards a statue of Jesus on the cross which was at the head of the room. I realized that we don't need to see the music be preformed in order for us to praise God. We listen to music. We hear the words. We don't need to see someone else sing the words. I realized that the congregation and the choir were both singing together towards Jesus at the cross. We weren't singing to each other but together and at the same time apart for the glory of our Lord. That was when I realized that we don't need to see our worship music for it to be real because music isn't for the eyes but for the ears.

Give it up

If Jesus knocked on your door and said leave your family and don't say good bye, follow me. Would you? If he walked up to you and said, you're dad is going to die tomorrow but I want you to leave him now and follow me would you? What if you got a bonus at work and He was chilling by your car after you got off and he told you to take that bonus and give it away would you? That is exactly what Jesus asked people and asks of us now. Luke 9:61-62 says "Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62.But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” He told that man, if you are to follow me, you will give up everything. Leave it behind and give it up for me. Tuesday night I was sitting in service and the speaker was talking about how people in Haiti live off of less than 10 dollars a day. I thought, I can do that. But really, we rely so much on money and our things that we don't realize that we can plow threw 100 dollars in a day without a sweat. The Pastor Sunday was talking about a man named John Wesley decided that he could live off of 28pounds a year and give away the rest if he made any more(this was about 1731 at the time). At first he made 30pounds so he gave away 2 and kept 28. A year or two went by and he made more but still only kept 28pounds. By the fourth year he was making 1400pounds, and yet he still only kept 28pounds of it, giving the rest to charity and such. Today he would be making about $160,000 a year and yet he lived on only about $20,000 annually. How crazy awesome is that!? What is stopping all of us from only living on what we need? Why do we actually need all the rest? Why can't we give it all up and follow Jesus without worry? We don't have to know exactly where our money is suppose to go to at the beginning. It could be just a tithe to the church and once we start God will show us where He wants our money. We don't have to start huge as long as we are giving it truly to honor Him.

Clutch and Go

So the Maxima I had been driving broke down and is now all fixed up which is very handy. It is a standard and it has been fun getting back into the swing of driving it. I'll admit that when ever I don't shift in time or give it too much gas I get aggravated after a while, but I'm getting a lot better. As I was driving home I was thinking about some stuff in my life that is bothersome and shouldn't be. I came up to a stop sign  and as I started to go I didn't let the clutch out enough and wasn't giving it enough gas so it was a super slow and some what delayed start that was a little frustrating. At the next stop sign I tried to figure out how to fix the problem. I gave it more gas and let go of the clutch a little sooner and the car began to go smoother than before. As I was doing this I was still thinking about things and what I came to realize is that I need to learn to let go of things better, just like the clutch. If I would just let go sooner and press the gas more I would be able to drive smoother. So once I start to let go of things I can begin to have fun and complete things in my life and go about it more happily. I think that if we just try to accept that we need to let go of things, or let things not bother us anymore we will be able to enjoy things more. We need to remember that God will be next to us when ever we need help driving through tough times.