Faith beyond Reason

Seeing God Eye to Eye...

2007-05-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's The Journey
The Passion
The Desire
To Be Drawn In And Focused Completely
Finally Standing Closer Than You've Ever Been Before
Silent
In Awe And Wonder
At The Beauty Of Our God
Face To Face

Iris To Iris...

This is truly an incredible album and what makes it even more amazing is the story behind it...

When it came time to write for the band’s new record, Jason did what he had always done – got by himself and started cranking out as many new songs as possible. And while the songs were good, they just didn’t seem to work – not for this band, not for this project. With its current lineup of Jason (guitar, vocals), Michael Anderson (drums), and Jesse Garcia (keys, guitar), the group sensed that God was calling them in a new direction.

“We have always been a strong-willed band,” Jason muses. “But suddenly that will was broken. When it came down to us three, we realized it had to be God’s will, not our will.”

Deeply unsettled in his spirit about the direction of the songs that he was writing, Jason hit his knees. The answer he got was not the one that he expected. “I felt like God said, ‘Sing to Me,’ and when we yielded to the possibility of writing from a strictly vertical perspective, the songs just started to flow. It was the easiest, most fulfilling, and most fun songwriting process we have ever experienced.”

"Iris to Iris is just a record, but it is also our whole heart and our whole life story. It is as if, for the first time, we realize what we were made to do. We realize what we are supposed to sound like. We realize what we are supposed to be writing about. It is about being eye to eye with God. It is about being so close to the Father that there are no distractions.”

[Exert taken from Building429's MySpace biography]

I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty awesome. A band whom I already loved has come together and given me something else to love them for. Check it out...

http://www.b429.com
http://www.myspace.com/building429

abc's of faith

2007-04-30T14:29:00.004-07:00

Although things are not perfect;
Because of trials or pain;
Continue in thanksgiving;
Do not begin to blame;
Even when the times are hard;
Fierce winds are bound to blow;
God is forever able;
Hold on to what you know;
Imagine life without His love;
Joy would cease to be;
Keep thanking Him for all the things;
Love imparts to thee;
Move out of "Camp Complaining";
No weapon that is known;
On earth can yield the power;
Praise can do alone;
Quit looking at the future;
Redeem the time at hand;
Start every day with worship;
To "thank" is a command;
Until we see Him coming;
Victorious in the sky;
We'll run the race with gratitude;
Xalting God most high;
Yes, there'll be good times & yes some will be bad, but...
Zion waits in glory...where no one is ever sad!

"The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. One who kneels down to pray can stand up to anything!"

Billiard Balls, Earth, & Grace!

2007-04-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

I once read that proportioally the surface of the earth is smoother than a billiard ball. The heights of Mount Everest and the troughs of the Pacific Ocean are very impressive to those of us who live on this planet. But from the view of Andromeda, or even Mars, those differences matter not at all. That is how I see the petty behavioral differences between one Christian group and another. Compared to a holy and perfect God, the loftiest Everest of rules amount to a molehill. You cannot earn God's acceptance by climbing; you must receive it as a gift!

Philip Yancey
What's So Amazing About Grace?

Love is patient, Love is kind...

2007-03-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Love Addict is the new series we're starting tonight!!!
Be there! You won't want to miss it!

Finding The Holy Spirit...

2007-03-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

A conversation I had the other day prompted me to pick up a small devotional book I bought a while back but never read. It's a book focused on the Holy Spirit in our lives. Each week it explores a different aspect. On the first day you really dive into scripture and then the rest of the week it challenges you to pray, fast, take action, and then reflect on what you have done.

The first week focused on the Holy Spirit as our firend. As some on you may have read in my previous blog a few weeks ago I felt like I was hiding in the shadows. I was lonely and depressed, so when reading this it really hit home. I know that I'm never really suppose to be alone, but I still felt like it. I (as I'm sure many others have done) had forgotten the Holy Spirit's place in my life. You hear it all the time, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," but who/what exactly is it?

Ok, so the first day focused on scripture. The first reading came from the book of John and it is Christ speaking to His disciples explaining why it is neccessary for Him to leave them...

"I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things becuase they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well warned. I didn't tell you this earlier becuse I was with you every day. But now am on my way to the One who sent me... So let me say it again this truth: It's better for you that I leave. If I don't, the Counselor will not come. But if I go, I'll send Him to you."
(John 16:1-7)

Shortly before He left, He made this promise:

"I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The Godless world can't take Him in becuase it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know Him already becuase He has been staying with you, and will now be in you!"
(John 14:16-17)

When Christ left His disciples, He never truly left them!

The same is for us, even though we can't see Him, He is there and He wants to be our Friend. The same God who created the world and everything in it, created us each unique and desires to have a close and intimate relationship with us. He wants to be our closest friend! How AMAZING is that!!!

In the shadows...

2007-03-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

i feel so alone. I feel like there is no one out there i can really talk to, no one out there that i'm really close to. I don't trust people, cuz i don't want to get hurt. When I've let my gaurd down and trusted people, it just came back to hurt bite me in the butt. I'm to the point where I just wanna lock myself in my room and give up. No matter how hard i try, it never seems to make a difference. On a quest to do something great, I'm just always gonna be average, walking in the shadows of everyone else around me. :(

God Calling???

2007-01-08T02:11:00.000-08:00

One night this past summer the weirdest thing happened... I got a call on my cell phone and when I tried to answer it, it wouldn't let me! This was the third or fourth time it had happened with the same number appearing each time. I finally got up the courage to call the number back to see if that worked. Sure enough it did. I called a totally random guy. I had never heard of him and he had never heard of me. He checked his 'recent calls' and it did not show anywhere that he had ever dialed my number, yet my phone still disagreed. What in the world was going on?

After talking to the guy for a lil while longer in hopes of bringing light to our odd situation, we managed to stumble onto the topic of faith. This guy was a pastor's kid and had been spoon fed the ideas of Christianity as early as he could remember and yet he struggled with what he, himself, believed. What was the difference between having faith and being religious?

Well, we ended up talking for almost an hour! I don't know if anything I said had any impact whatsoever, but I'd like to think that maybe, just maybe it sparked something and that maybe someday his faith would be restored.

Going back to the original question... what happened? Honestly, I don't know and I'm not trying to read too much into anything, but I wonder somethings if it wasn't God calling. I mean maybe it was God's will for that conversation to take place for what ever reason. Maybe it was all part of God's master plan. I don't know... just a thought. :)

tHe RaNdOmNeSs oF mE...

2007-01-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

Lil things you may or may not know about me! In no particular order…

It's "k"ris
I had someone ask me the other day why I never capitalize my name and well here was my response...
God is the creator of everything, the earth, the sky, the moon, the stars, even you and me, and as a sign of respect and honor we always capitalize His name even in the form of a pronoun. I got to thinking about it one day and I realized, I don't deserve the love that God gives me much less anything else and especially not the same respect and honor as Him. So as silly as it may seem to you, I choose not to capitalize my name. It's just my way of showing that He is much greater and deserves much more respect than I.

My Head Hurts?
To many people's surprise, I've NEVER had a headache. Honestly, I don't have a clue as to what one would feel like. I don't know why God has blessed me so, but after hearing the complaints of others, I'm grateful! And I really do feel for those of you who get those massive migranes... I'm Sorry!

“It’s A Great Day To Be Alive”
I listened to Travis Trit’s song (It’s a Great Day to Be Alive) everyday on my way to school my senior year! The song helped me to clear my mind from everything that may have happened that morning and just focus on what was ahead. After all… It’s a great day to be alive, ‘cuz I know the sun’s still shining when I close my eyes!
☺

Ahhhh…My Pet Peeves
Honestly, very few things really bother me, with that said… (1) The cracking of one’s knuckles, can I say ouch? I’ve never been able to crack my knuckles, reasons unknown, but it sounds like it hurts and hearing people do it just makes me want to cringe! (2) A person’s inability to use an apostrophe (your and you’re in particularly). Now I’m not saying that I’m the greatest when it comes to grammar and what not, but it drives me crazy to see someone use your for the contraction “you are.” The word your shows possession, your book, your cat… simple enough?!

Paige Elizabeth Hodges?
Before I was born, I was to be named Paige Elizabeth, but upon my arrival (nearly 2 months early) my dad stepped in and vetoed Paige giving me the name Kristen Michelle. (I now have a sister named Paige)

I “D-A-R-E” You
Of all things, cheerleading was definitely never something I wanted to do. None-the-less, I tried out for the team on a DARE! I don’t remember exactly how it all went down, but I know it was never anything I would have done on my own accord. As much as I didn’t want to be on the team, I was too self-conscience to let people believe I wasn’t good enough to make it, so I tried. Out of the all the girls that tried out, I was one of three to make the team… go figure right? It wasn’t awful, but being a cheerleader wasn’t me! The next year I hadn’t planned on trying out again, but…(there’s always a but)…one of the girls on the team (the same one who initiated all this in the first place) kept bragging on how she would make captain, and me being the competitive person I was wasn’t going to let her win. Long story made short… I tried out, made captain, she didn’t, the end. Oh and I quit after that year, I had nothing left to prove! ;)

….more to come…

Life...

2006-10-22T21:41:00.001-07:00

I believe in God. When I say I am a Christian, I don't take it lightly. Here's what I believe in a nutshell:

I believe that nothing was created by chance- God created everything! Humans were made perfect, in the image of God even, but then sin entered the world and the human race lost its relationship with their Creator; God. God saw the sin in the world and it hurt Him because He loves His creation. So, because of this love, He sent His Son, Jesus, who was completely perfect, into the world to show us how life could be. But becuase of the hatred and sinful desires of us humans, we rejected Him. We love our evil deeds! So we killed Jesus. He died a martyrs death on an old wooden cross with a crown of thorns on his head. But then three days later, God proved His ultimate love for us by raising His Son from the dead, which provided a way for us to be redeemed and inherit eternal life. Jesus Christ is alive today and sitting on the right hand of God in heaven right now. And He wants to have a relationship with each and everyone of us! Awesome.

Now, I know that this may seem like a foolish thing to believe in if you haven't experienced God, but I know its true.

Tell me, what is the probability of everything (the earths distance from the sun, the amount of oxygen and nitrogen in the air we breathe, the thickness of the ozone layer, the seasons, plants, animals, ect) coming together and working for an enviorment so perfect for us to live in and it all be by accident? yeah, like impossible. Yet scientists still argue that we are a cosmic accident. WHATEVER! There has to be something... someone... behind the scenes, pulling it all together!

And what happens to you after you die? Do you really believe that the God who took time to prepare this perfect place for us to live in will leave us to rot in the ground? Surely not! God sent Jesus to die for us and prepare a way for us to live with Him for all eternity. If we want to. We have the freedom to choose. Eternal life with God? Or eternal death (which is eternal seperation from God)? The choice was mine and I chose life. Now the choice is yours... what's your answer?

If you want a realtionship with God, just tell Him. He's listening and waiting.

-ja

Why? (kinda depressed)

2006-08-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

Why can't love on earth be like the love of God... why is is we struggle to look past the flaws of one another and truly love each person for who they truly are? And why is it we can't love to the point we would fall on our knees and surrender? I love people, but I can't seem to love them in the same manner which God loves me. And why is it that God's love is never ending and unwavering and yet we overlook it so many times? Why does it hurt so bad to lose love here, when we know God still loves us and His love is greater? Why? What can take the hurt a way? Why is it God's love can move mountains, and our love can't change our actions? Why is it that God's love keeps no record of wrong and yet ours can never forget? Why can't I forget? Why is it that we are called to be like Christ and yet we can't love like Christ? Why?

Just a thought...

2006-07-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

"Woman is a part of man. Woman wasn't made from man's head to be ABOVE him, or from his feet to be WALKED on by him, but from his rib to be CLOSE to his HEART!"

That's My King!

2006-06-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Bible says my King is the King of the Jews.
HE’s the King of Israel,
HE’s the King of righteousness,
HE’s the King of the ages,
HE’s the King of Heaven,
HE’s the King of Glory,
HE’s the King of Kings,
and HE’s the Lord of Lords!

That’s my King, I wonder do you know HIM?

My King is a sovereign King.
No means of measure can define his limitless love.
HE’s enduringly strong,
HE’s entirely sincere,
HE’s eternally steadfast,
HE’s immortally graceful,
HE’s imperially powerful,
HE’s impartially merciful.

Do you know HIM?

HE’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
HE’s GOD’s son,
HE’s a sinner’s savior,
HE’s the centerpiece of civilization.
HE’s unparalleled,
HE’s unprecedented,
HE is the loftiest idea in literature,
HE’s the highest personality in philosophy,
HE’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology,
HE’s the only ONE qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior.

I wonder if you know HIM today?

HE supplies strength for the weak,
HE’s available for the tempted and the tried,
HE sympathizes and HE saves,
HE strengthens and sustains,
HE guards and HE guides,
HE heals the sick,
HE cleansed the lepers,
HE forgives sinners,
HE discharges debtors,
HE delivers the captive,
HE defends the feeble,
HE blesses the young,
HE serves the unfortunate,
HE regards the aged,
HE rewards the diligent and HE beautifies the meager.

I wonder if you know HIM?

HE’s the key to knowledge,
HE’s the well spring of wisdom,
HE’s the doorway of deliverance,
HE’s the pathway of peace,
HE’s the roadway of righteousness,
HE’s the highway of holiness,
HE’s the gateway of glory.

Do you know HIM?

HIS life is matchless,
HIS goodness is limitless,
HIS mercy is everlasting,
HIS love never changes,
HIS word is enough,
HIS grace is sufficient,
HIS reign is righteous,
and HIS yolk is easy,
and HIS burden is light!

I wish I could describe HIM to you.

HE’s indescribable,
HE’s incomprehensible,
HE’s invincible,
HE’s irresistible.
You can’t get HIM out of your mind,
you can’t get HIM off of your hand,
you can’t outlive HIM and you can’t live without HIM.

Well the Pharisees couldn’t stand HIM,
but they found out they couldn’t stop HIM.
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in HIM.
Herod couldn’t kill HIM.
Death couldn’t handle HIM,
and the Grave couldn’t hold HIM!

That’s MY KING!

by: Rev. S.M. Lockridge

Would You Run???

2005-11-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

I was skimming through my MySpace Bulletin and well I usually don't pay the posts much attention, but then I stumbled across this one and it made me think...

Imagine this happening to you...

One Sunday morning during service, a 2,000 member congregation was surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying submachine guns. One of the men proclaimed, "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are."

Immediately, the choir fled...
the deacons fled...
and most of the congregation fled....

Out of the 2,000 there only remained 20.

The man who had spoken took off his hood...He then looked at the preacher and said "Okay Pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites... Now you may begin your service. Have a wonderful day!" And the two men turned and walked out.

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God ...
and then wonder why the world is in the condition it is today.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say...
but question what the Bible says.
Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven...
provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.

or is it scary?

Funny how someone can say "I believe in God"...but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also "believes"in God).
Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire...but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, you think twice about sharing.
Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace...but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and work place.
Funny, isn't it? Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday...but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

Are you laughing?

I'm not. It's actually quite sad once you take the time to think about it. I mean how many times have we missed the chance to share God's glory because we were afraid of what others might think? How many times have we comprimised God's word because it was inconvientent? How many times have we put our own selfish desires ahead of God's desire for our lives?

Lost in the Fast Pace

2005-09-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is not exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to post, but right now its all I got...

(this is more of me venting so really don't have to read it)

I've always lived a pretty busy life. Honestly, I wouldn't know what to do with free time. I like having something to do. Something to look forward to. There's too much going on in the world to just sit around and watch it go by. You got to live each day to the fullest.

So what happens when you get to that point where you just can't do it anymore. As much as I regret using the phrase "burnt out" (people warned me about it) I have to. Today was one of those days. I feel absolutley and completley burnt out. I love life, I love people, I really do - but today is one of those days you would never know it. I have so many things to do, so much work to make up, and it all keeps coming. I would want nothing more than to just have a single day of relaxation. Unfortuanuatly, thats never going to happen because all I have in the back of my head are the things I still have to do and the situations I'm in. I can't even sleep well thinking about it.

Aside from just being tired and worn out, I feel lost. I keep praying that God will lead me where I need to go...but I still have no idea where that is. I know that He answers in His own time, but I'm starting to lose hope. I love God with all my heart and I know he knows whats best for me...I just wish He would tell me. Selfish I know. Afterall faith is believing in what you do not know. I'm just afraid I'm gonna screw things up. I'm afraid I'm going to be quick (not intentioanally) to pursue one thing, missing out on where I'm suppose to be.

Confused? I am.

What do I do?

Praying for Satan

2005-09-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

We recently read a story in my freshman seminar class called, "The Inexplicable Prayers of Ruby Bridges" by Robert Coles. It was the story of a young black girl, Ruby Bridges, who challanged the educational system of New Orleans. During a time of segregation, she found herself in a white school. There she was met by angry mobs, who disapproved of her presence. The school was boycotted and even the local police refused to protect her. She had to be escoted through the mobs by federal marshalls. One day her teacher said she had seen Ruby talking to the people. Later when Ruby was questioned about it she explained that she was not talking to the people, but she was praying for them.

How amazing is that. She was not praying to God, asking for material things or even for herself. She prayed for the people, the same people who were only out to hurt her. She prayed for them because they had no idea what they were doing was wrong. She prayed for them because they could not pray for themselves.

Mark Twain had a similar idea when he said, "...who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?" The sad thing is he was right. We get so caught up in caring for ourselves and the people we love that we fail to see that it is those who are against us that need our prayers the most.

If you believe in the power of prayer, and believe that prayer changes things, I challange you, just as I challenge myself, to pray. To pray hard for the "Satan" in your life. It is by the Grace of God we are saved, for no man is worthy of such Grace. May no man believe he is better than the next. We are all one and we all fall short. So pray for your brother, pray for your friend, but most importantly pray for your enemy.