Three States of Business

Firstly, I want to say what a wonderous last weekend’s fall retreat was with the youth group. No words can describe how well it was. But I can say it was certainly one of the best retreats I have ever been to.

Secondly, happy Thanksgiving. Stuff yourselves silly and enjoy family.

Thirdly, safe travels to Pastor Matt as he is leaving on a missions trip to Kenya on Friday. Please pray for his and the rest of the team’s safety and may God work through them to minister to the people. They will be gone for two weeks.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Found a verse that is speaking to me this week.

Isaiah 40:29-31

“He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the

weak.

Even youth grow tired and weary

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.”

Experiencing Worship

This past summer, I had the opportunity to attend a camp which offered a tract in worship. I eagerly choose this tract based on my own growing passion to begin live worship in our youth group and just to experience how God works while using my talents and desires. It was an influential and extremely beneficial experience. It was not a waste of my parent’s money or my summer vacation.

What I took back home after was a drive to reach a point in which God’s Spirit had the opportunity to be in our youth services through pure, live worship. I believe we have hit this point. Last Tuesday was the first youth service in which live worship was a part of the night in the total eight years of the youth group’s existence. Last night was the second. Yes, I am not the gifted musician that some may conceive of me. Hard practice is something I must do in order to achieve where I am now in my level of musicianship. And even that isn’t so commendable. But, God is using me and everyone in the youth group to bring the experience of total worship a reality.

Blunders and mistakes on my part are to be expected (as in the case of tonight). But, as I continue to grow in the Lord I pray that God may continue to use me and the rest of the youth group.

Breaking Bleachers

Typically, I am not a violent person. Yes, I can get carried away when I’m with friends or when I  delete all the cages in Zoo Tycoon and see all the little animated people being chased by lions. But honestly, violence is not my thing. The Quaker Crazies, however, are an extremely different case.

What prompted the title was a rumor I heard today. At the heart-stopping game on Friday against Granville, I heard that the Crazies actually began to bend and break the bleachers on which they stood. Am I tattling to the whole world about how destructive the Crazies are? Nah. Quite the opposite. The intention of the Crazies was far from doing any direct harm to the bleachers, if I understand correctly. Instead, the reason standing for such abuse of metal was the fact that in the last second, literally, the entire group was jumping to cheer on the football ream. It. Was. Awesome.

The excitement, that gripped not ony the Crazies but the entire stadium (both sides), was unexplainable. It was, however, so intense that I seriously thought I had ruptured some vital organ due to the screaming and intense, nerve-racking excitement.

I wish to commend the Crazies for their creative and energetic support of the Quaker football team. Talking with a player a while back I had asked him if he thought the Crazies had any effect on his gameplay at all. His reply was “much,” with a look of seriousness. Though I may find some of the Crazies’ appearance perhaps a little uncouth, I highly enjoy seeing Quaker Pride in action and in such a fervent way.

This Friday’s game may be one of the greatest duels in all of Salem High School history (no ignorance to past games by any athletic team). And I cannot wait to see the Crazies’ support.

If you have been following the Quakers at all this season I would urge you to get out to the game and support the team, the band, and the school. We need everything we got to take down this giant of an adversary.

To Quaker Football

A tip of the hat to the Salem High School Football Team as they travel and play the Granville Blue Aces Friday. In case you live under a rock, this is the first time in over eighty years of the program’s existence that the football team has made it past regular season and into the playoffs. It has been a remarkable turnaround since last year’s 0-10 record and past years of utter failure. The word failure has, I believe, been erased from the hearts of Salem Quakers everywhere, now. May the team own the field, may the Quaker Crazies rupture vocal cords, and may the band play “Gonna Fly Now” the best it ever has.

Go Quakers.

 

Serving Christ

I think it ironic the way the liberal world views Christians. Christians are seen as illogical, dumb, and weak. I would know that this is utter foolishness.

Ever since I gave my life fully to Christ in the past two years through my healing from cancer and the guidance of mature Christians, I have found that serving Jesus Christ is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Especially long-term. Apparently I am not alone for Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

In that passage Jesus compares two ways of living life. One, you follow the world’s example which is extremely easy and the most comfortable. The other is Christ’s way, a difficult and tough way to live. Just putting the two in parallel form one would think following the world’s example seems more logical, “Everyone’s doing it.” But Jesus makes it clear that following the narrow road to the small gate leads to life while going the “easy” way leads to destruction.

With this in place it is logical to say that in order to live for Jesus and to love God with all your heart you must be extremely tough and thick-skinned; able to resist the temptations of the world and follow the least taken path. For it is certain that the one who chooses this path will come under much persecution and opposition by those on the well-worn path. Those on that path are miniscule weaklings afraid to be exposed to the light and face the hard truth about themselves.

It is Sunday night and I have a full week  ahead of me. I choose now to live for Him and to seek His face in everything I do and may He give me strength to do so. I pray you choose the same path also. The rewards are fantastic, I guarantee.

What is Love?

That question has been playing through my mind now for the past week or so. I have thought about how do we see and label as love, how do other cultures throughout time viewed love, and what does God have to say about love? For some reason I am deeply intrigued by this question.

This is not a long post. However, it is a post that I would like some feedback on. In the best condensed way possible, please leave your thoughts and opinions as to what love is. I normally do not ask people to comment but I am very curious as to what you think love is. Please comment.

Concerning the Band… Pt.2

Did I seem a bit harsh on the last band post? Perhaps I did. Then again, I was only speaking the truth. I still stand firm on what I have said but want to make one thing clear; I can be hard on you guys but that does not mean I think of you as scum, or worthless, or incompetent. No, my opinion about The Pride of Salem is far the opposite. In fact, I am hard on you guys because my expectations of what can be achieved is so high. If I really thought those things about the band I would have quit long ago, not even thinking, mind you, of being drum major. But it is the fact that you are all capable of those things (which I have seen) that drives me to do my part.

I suppose some may say, “He (I) jests at scars who never felt a wound,” implying that I do not understand the pain of holding a brass instrument above parallel, or standing for a whole school period in the cold, or playing until my chops feel like jello, all because I stand alone on a podium. To clarify, you cannot forget last year where I did do all of those things, and more. So, please do not accuse me of not understanding. I understand full well.

But it is this pain that we all must endure in order to feel the sense of accomplishment in doing something that not many people think you could have achieved. I am not one of those people. I am someone who backs all of you up, despite the criticism or the occasional failure (to be honest). You have all done so well this past week with learning new music and enduring Mr. Carden, I want to congratulate you. Now, take this small victory and turn it into something that will make the football fans on Friday and the parents from other bands on Tuesday all say, “Whoa, they’re good.”

Endure the cold, endure your emotion, endure the pain, endure others; play your best with the best attitude you can muster and I can guarantee you the next few evenings will be spectacular. Do you accept the challenge?

Being Single

When the topic of dating and relationships ever come up in a conversation I make it a point to let everyone I do not date. Nine times out of ten the reaction is the same; a cross between “are you okay in the head?” and, “I feel so sorry for you.” Yeah, I know, I’m a kook, aren’t I? Perhaps by your standards. But I am here to say that I answer to a higher standard.

To the basic, core, and pure truth as to why I do not date is simple; I am strongly suggested by parental authority not to date. Naturally, this would be taken as a negative tone. We don’t like having people tell us what to do, or how to do things, and that we must live as “independent beings” regardless of whose house you are in. But in all truth, I thank God for this authority (Yet again, do I appear a kook?). Because of this strong arm holding me back I am able to see all the messed up stuff teenage dating can create. And trust me, I’ve seen my share of messed up stuff.

From the core parental authority stems my own opinion that agrees with the core opinion based upon my own observances. I will make it clear that I do not support teenage dating not because daddy said so. I do not support  it because I know it, heard it, felt it, seen it. And it’s ugly. It has the ability to create spiritual blindness and sensitivity to God because attention is turned from “I want to please God” to “I want to please my girlfriend.” It has the ability to destroy friendships, turning a seemingly age-long friendship into a bitter and awkward struggle in an extremely short time all because they decided to “take it to the next level.” It has the ability to cut holes of hurt whether through a break-up, sexual problems (a whole other area I could rampage on about), and the blocking out of other friends. The list is endless and I could go on for a very long time.

Am I against dating all together? No, just teenage dating. I think it is important for young, middle or even late aged adults to date in order to find a spouse. And there it is, a major factor in the “dur-ness” of teenage dating; finding a mate. I’ll ask, why does one date? To the soul and core of it, why do people date? To find a wife or husband. Dur. My logic; why date to find a wife (husband) if I haven’t even started my life yet? Are you nuts, I’m not ready to get married.

Now, to the major, the big dog, the big cheese reason why I do not date…*drum role*… I want to focus on God. There, I said it. It’s out in the open. You know now that I value my salvation and relationship with God above anything else, especially dating.

Will I ever date? Yes, I will. Will I find the girl God has set for me? You bet. Have I met her yet? I do not have a clue. Faith, here, is the key. To keep my eyes on him and trust him daily will lead me to her one of these days.

Concerning The Band…

I’ll be honest with you, guys, rehearsals have been upsetting. We only have forty minutes a day to practice and improve but yet it seems like we are wasting that and wasting any hopes of becoming better. If any of you read anything I wrote at the beginning of the season you would see that  I was practically praising all of you for the drastic improvement in sound and heart. Are you ready to throw that all away?

Last year was nauseating. Literally. I would upset myself every Friday afternoon because I was so worried about how much we would embarrass ourselves that night because we acted so immaturely. I am sorry to say but that feeling is creeping back.

Am I trying to dictate how you feel about the leadership and overall attitude? No, I cannot make you feel any way. But I do have the ability to allow you all to see what is beginning to happen. It does not matter how seriously I take band or how much I actually enjoy it, I cannot make the band better by myself. Only you can.

You are all part of a better band. A band that has so much improved that it shadows that of the past several years. Will we live happily like it was in the Jeckovitch era? Not in our high school careers. But that does not at all exempt the fact the we are better.

You want proof? I have an upsetting feeling some of you may not believe me. Take a look at these two videos and contrast the quality between the two:

One year ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly-SD_QKl98&feature=channel_page

This season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UceXo3ZKNuI

Are you willing to throw away everything you have already accomplished? Grit your teeth, hang on fast, and above all do not lose the faith to accomplish things that are beyond our comprehension. Join me in setting examples and becoming better than we could ever imagine.