Music, Musings, and the Glory of the Cross

Hey

2010-03-03T12:16:00.001-04:00

The blog is going to be on hold for awhile as most of you probably guessed. Hope to come back to it again in the future.

It's New!

2009-12-15T17:25:00.002-04:00

Hello, it's good to see you again. Thanks for coming back to my humble online abode. Today I bought a new cell phone. The old one had been giving me problems for a couple of months and finally it stopped recieving calls at all. So I went and bought a Samsung t819. Love it so much.

Also registered for my spring classes: Music Appreciation and Macroeconomics. Latta and come again

I'm Back

2009-12-02T13:59:00.003-04:00

Hello to all my great Fans!!!!

Ok, just had to try that out. Well, I'm back at long last. Had my last Final yesterday. Everything went well and I'm grateful to God for His faithfulness this semester. Learned about some awesome stuff, fell more in love with my degree (or rather all the information that's involved to get the degree), saw lots of old friends, and built some new friendships.

So, what am I going to take next semester? No idea

What am I going to do on my month-long winter break? I plan to do a lot of reading which will include (i hope): An extensive study of the book of James and Psalms, read The Gospel Primer, Why We Love the Church, and begin the long trek of Systematic Theology. Plus, get a lot of chores done that I couldn't get done due to the craziness of this semester. And of course have an awesome Christmas. Yeah, I think that about covers it. latta

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

2009-11-20T19:28:00.002-04:00

I am inspired to learn this awesome version of this even more awesome song.

Free Dollar

2009-11-16T09:56:00.001-04:00

Last night at CrossCurrent, Matt McCarnen gave a free dollar as part of his illustration. How awesome does that get. There, I posted it...

The Gospel and LOTR

2009-10-25T14:47:00.005-03:00

Well, we heard a sermon by one of my heroes of the faith, CJ Mahaney. His topic was the Gospel and I just wanted to write my impressions based off his sermon.

We were once enemies of God. Slaves to sin and damned to Hell. But we undermine what that really means. What does a slave really look like? Think of the poorest, high crime, and cruel nation you can imagine. Then imagine being a slave in that country. Not a citizen, a slave. But you were the slave, and you loved it. You were the most vile creation to ever exist. Stop. That's to hard for us to imagine. All our thoughts can't come close to that reality. Here's something that helped me.

How many of you have seen/read Lord of the Rings? Take two different creations: Elves and Orcs. Do you know the history behind the orcs (what I'm about to tell you is true, it came out of another book by JRR Tolkien that talks about the beginning of all his creations). The orcs used to be elves. But these Elves were taken by the original Dark Lord (not Sauron, this was before even his time), and were beaten and mutilated. Cut off from the sun and told lies about all good things. This is why the orcs hate the elves. They see the elves and are reminded of who they once were. So stop and think about how an elf looks and then how an orc looks.

That's how we looked as slaves. We sinned and our lives were forever ruined. So there we are, slaves with no hope. But there is a wonderfully kind, generous, and merciful emperor who lives in a realm of glory and light. Because He loves you, He sends his equally wonderfully kind, generous, and merciful Son into this country of hell to rescue us, the slaves to sin. But did we rejoice to see him come to set us free. NO! We hated the sight of his glory and majesty. We mocked and rebuked Him. But we didn't know his true plan. To ransom us from the "Dark One", He allowed himself the be killed by those He came to save, us! He died so that we might live.

But the story doesn't end there. He rose again! He conquered the power of the "Dark One" and defeated the power of death. So now we are redeemed from our bondage. But that's not it. The Emperor adopts us as His children. And we get to enjoy that kingdom of joy and light. To bask forever in the glory of HIS splendor! We are like orcs that have been spared from death, cleansed and now get to live as equals with the elves. But our story is even more amazing. Jesus not only took our wrath upon himself, but he has given us His glory to share with Him for eternity! Praise be to God forever and ever, AMEN!

p.s.
hoped my illustration helped.

Give Me My Money

2009-10-24T14:03:00.000-03:00

I promise, an update is coming. But here's a little something till I do.

I'm a Granfather!!!

2009-10-08T13:51:00.002-03:00

Just kidding. But my dog did have her puppies either late last night or really early this morning. Seven beautiful little pups. So excited:

Battle of Wits

2009-09-30T15:26:00.004-03:00

Debate can be/is a powerful tool. I enjoy it immensely. English 101 was probably one of my favorite classes at SCC because we debated on a weekly basis. Very fun, but it can also be very dangerous as seen by this clip of one my favorite movies...

Ole Miss Upset By South Carolina - ESPN VIDEO

2009-09-25T11:48:00.001-03:00

Chat Room

2009-09-22T18:15:00.001-03:00

Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you would keep your comments in theme with the post instead of using my blog as a chat room. No big deal, but I would really appreciate it. Thanks

America Quiz #1

2009-09-09T10:03:00.006-03:00

Come One Come All! The Quiz Has Begun!

Alright, here's the deal. You have to post 5 things that you love about America, things that you're grateful to God for that you might not have in other countries.

Here's my five:
1) Freedom of Religion
2) Sonic
3) Country Music
4) The USC Gamecocks
5) Education

And here is your reward...one of my favorite music videos and my favorite music video about America! Enjoy

Mario Theme

2009-09-04T11:37:00.003-03:00

Ok, this is just sick...I came across these two videos while looking for something else. Thought they were pretty good. The guitarist has some other pretty awesome videos.

And this is just another video I found by Zach Kim:

kinda freaky, huh.

Victorious part 1

2009-09-04T11:17:00.004-03:00

Gamecocks win agin' NCS at 7-3

Love Songs to Jesus

2009-09-03T10:47:00.001-03:00

Just for clarification, I think "blokey bloke" kinda translates into our "a man's man". Anyways, enjoy the video. He really puts it in to a great context.

Bio Test

2009-08-31T21:10:00.003-03:00

Tomorrow is the day. My first Biology 101 test. It's gonna be really tough. I'm not sure how it's gonna go, but I'm trying to calmly trust in God for His provision. To His name be the glory, forever and ever AMEN!

Update and Barrage

2009-08-29T09:37:00.003-03:00

Hey,
Sorry it's been a little bit, but life has gotten really crazy really quick. So...basically just trying to get through school and still get on with regular life. I still love all my classes and instructors. Tuesday, I have a Bio 101 exam so please pray for that.

Now on to better things...This is a band called Barrage. I think they're out of Canada (Ooooooh Canada...). My parents have been to one of their concerts and I'm lucky enough to have one of their Cd's. Totally awesome. Enjoy

It's Finally Here!!

2009-08-22T21:42:00.004-03:00

My new Cd finally came! My sister went and pre-ordered Skillet's new Cd "Awake". So fantastic.

Anyways, here's a video of my favorite song: Monster.

My Friend Owen

2009-08-19T19:06:00.005-03:00

"When someone sets his affections upon the cross and the love of Christ, he crucifies the world as a dead and undesirable thing. The baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear. Fill your affections with the cross of Christ and you will find no room for sin."

- John Owen

Back to School

2009-08-17T19:06:00.003-03:00

Well,
Today I started back to school. For the first time I am so excited to get back. It was fun to be back at http://sccsc.edu/ again. Saw a couple of old classmates and met some new ones. This semester I'm taking:

College:
CPT 101 (intro to computers)
Bio 101
Bio 240 (this is a class that will replace one of my nursing classes. how sweet does that get.)

Home: I think it's Government and Economics. I haven't started this yet, though.

So, please pray for me this semester. And I am praying for all of you, but especially those who either got back to college or started it for the first time.

WG09 pt. 3

2009-08-14T19:00:00.004-03:00

At WG09, there was a workshop were different bands could come and Bob Kauflin would evaluate them and point out areas where they could grow or areas that they were excelling at. This particular band is from the Dominican Republic. It was so fun to watch them since my dad just got back from the DR. This group is from a different church my dad went to visit but they know the church that hosted him. Sorry that the video quality is poor, believe me it was beautiful live. Like really, really, really beautiful. So enjoy this video and remember to pray for our brothers and sisters in other countries.

WG09 pt. 2

2009-08-13T15:36:00.003-03:00

"Theology Before Methodology"
This is a quote from John Piper and it challenged my to re-think how I approach worship. So many times I think "how can I best put this song across?" instead "how can I best serve those I lead by pointing them towards God?"

But where is the fine line that divides "performance" and "worship?" To me it's when I stop thinking about how I can use my gifts to glorify God and when I start using my skill to glorify me and the band I lead. Now I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to sound good. It's much easier for a congregation to worship when the band is playing well and the music sounds tight. If it's not, it becomes a distraction, duh.

Distraction...that's the word that I think hits the nail on the head. When the band suddenly sounds so good (or bad) it distracts people from worshiping our Savior, we need to change how we approach worship. Our goal, as a band, is to lead people into the presence of God (or so Bob Kauflin puts it). Anything else is sin and should be abolished.

So my goal is to stop focusing so much on music, namely music arrangements, and focusing on what really matter: the glory of God. Because this mindset is what we were created for. All of creation, including us, was designed to give glory to God. Whenever we focus on ourselves, we sin. Whenever we play music to make ourselves look good, we sin. Whenever we sing loud, raise our hands, fall to our knees, cry and have no thought of God, we sin. Mathew 15:8-9 says "This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Our minds have to be focused on God and what He has done for us on the cross. This is why we sing. This is why we play music. It's all for the glory of God, who deserves all the praise we can proclaim.

WG09 pt. 1

2009-08-13T14:31:00.003-03:00

I recently got back from the WorshipGod '09 conference. It was fantastic! Here's the link to the main sessions:

http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Events/WorshipConference.aspx

Also, here's a link to a video of some of the pictures from the conference. I'm working on getting the video on to the blog...

http://araphotos.bigfolioblog.com/weblog/post/119869

Day 1

2009-08-12T13:27:00.000-03:00

Well, it's happened. I've finally joined the blogging clan. My goal with this blog is 1) Glorfy God in all that I do 2) Keep in touch with those around me, especially those in other cities 3) Ask advice of all of you 4) Get feedback about different music ideas I might have. So...would love your comments and hope that you enjoy this small snapshot into my life.

p.s.
like so many I know (not going to mention any name), I'll probably go through periods where I won't post at all. We'll see how that goes. lol
Also, I need help naming my new (see below) fish...lol