“Amazing because it is” by The Almost

I love this song. favorite worship song ever!!!!!!

some movies that have rocked my world……….

This week and Last week i watched two movies that i find to be superb examples of amazing film making. They both happen to have Denzel Washington in them. last week i watched ‘John Q’ which was great. yesterday i was at wall mart and was looking in the 5 dollar bin and noticed a movie that denzel washington acted and directed. it looked really good and on the front it said that “This is a film that can change people’s lives” so i figured for 5 bucks why not? so today i watched ‘Antowone Fisher’ AMAZING!!!!!!!! ‘Antowne Fisher’ is probably my most favorite movie of all time right now. Highly recommend it and ‘John Q’ but especially ’Antwone Fisher’.

Anberlin-Bittersweet Memory. NEW SONG!!!!

a little something about yesterday and part of today……………..

Yesterday was one of the most interesting days i have had in awhile. it all started with  dream in which Mark Driscoll was preaching at my church(that would be sweet if that really happened). I was helping get things ready between services after he preached the first service, but my eyesight kept cutting in and out of this fuzzy bright glow and the building that is my church. then i awoke to the sun shinning my eyes(thus the loss of vision in my dream. i then get online and get on amazon to see if the have coldplay’s new album for a better price than itunes. low and behold it was pretty much the same, BUT they had coldplay’s album X&Y for $1.99. That was an opportunity i couldn’t pass up so i seized it put it on my ipod shuffle and decieded i  would buy Viva la vida later on when i got home from work. I headed out the door to go to work. it started off pretty standard for work. stopped by a house to do a little job sanding a wall we skim coated late last week. then we headed off to Burlington which is an a hour away from where we were at. so along the way we stopped and ate at K&W because it was on the way and it was right next to Home depot where we needed to pick up the stuff for the job we were heading too-tearing out a shower and putting in a new bath/shower. we arrived at the house and started getting to work tearing out the shower which wasn’t bad. but once we got it out we kept running into one problem after another and had to make 2 other trips to home depot to get the pats to work around the predicament. that wouldn’t have been so bad if the nearest home depot wasn’t 20-30 minuets(16 miles distance wise) from the house we were working on lol. it was funny all the little thing we ran into one after another. we did finally get it to work and got everything cleaned up and headed out between 10-11pm It was interesting to say the least. me and my boss had a good conversation one the drive back to Greensboro. When we got back to his house we talked for a bit and then i headed home and arrived there at a little past midnight. so i bought coldplay’s new album(AMAZING!!!) and i find out i have 8 notifications, a friend request, a request, and 2 messages. i feel loved coming home to all that. then to top off the day i find out that the CELTICS WON!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!! i completely  forgot they were playing tonight because of the all the other stuff that happened today so it made finding out that much more enjoyable. i wonder if wednesday can top off this tuesday?

“Religulous”

there is a new Documentary movie coming out on october 3rd called “Religulous.” the title pretty much sums up the point of the movie. it is about the ridiculous things people do for religion. it is put out by an atheist and directed by the guy that directed Borat. my feelings about this documentary are mixed. Honestly it looks kind of funny but it also looks like they slam on Jesus and the Bible and it deals with the serious topic of what people are willing to do for there beliefs. i think  it will generate discussions about the stupidity of religion and about how what we believe affects what we do. Optimistically i think it will give Christians a chance to share what Jesus came to save us from: sin. Jesus did not come to bring about religion like it is lived out today. the Bible says that true religion is loving and caring for widows and orphans and staying pure from sin (James 1:27). Pessimistically, it also could push others further into there hatred for God and cause some to become atheist. without seeing the movie i have no idea what the over all tone of the movie will be. i pray that God will use this for drawing people closer to Himself and further away from the crazy made up religions of this world. 

i want to share this with everyone to see what others think about it and to also make people aware of what people in our culture will be discussing in the next few months. Here is the trailer for the movie and an interview with the films creator Bill Maher. i’m also including a link to a website that goes along with the movie(the website is interesting to say the least and bashes all the major beliefs systems but not in a nice way). 

 

http://disbeliefnet.com/

“I hate All of your show”

i just got the new Jon foreman EP today. it is great. Worth buying if you like good acoustic music.  My favorite song so far is “instead of a show.” It is based out of a passage in Isaiah. so i want to share the lyrics with you and also the passage of scripture it comes from. i’ll give you the lyrics first and then the verses.

“Instead of a Show”

 By Jon Foreman

I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you’re singing ‘em
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show

Your eyes are closed when you’re praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There’s blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don’t fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There’s blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

Let’s argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let’s argue this out
You’ll be one of the clouds
Let’s argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can’t love at all
Give hope to the ones who got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can’t stand at all, all
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show
I hate all your show

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show

 

Isaiah 1:11-17

11 ”The multitude of your sacrifices— 
       what are they to me?” says the LORD. 
       “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, 
       of rams and the fat of fattened animals; 
       I have no pleasure 
       in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

 12 When you come to appear before me, 
       who has asked this of you, 
       this trampling of my courts?

 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! 
       Your incense is detestable to me. 
       New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— 
       I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts 
       my soul hates. 
       They have become a burden to me; 
       I am weary of bearing them.

 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, 
       I will hide my eyes from you; 
       even if you offer many prayers, 
       I will not listen. 
       Your hands are full of blood;

 16 wash and make yourselves clean. 
       Take your evil deeds 
       out of my sight! 
       Stop doing wrong,

 17 learn to do right! 
       Seek justice, 
       encourage the oppressed.
       Defend the cause of the fatherless, 
       plead the case of the widow.

Uganda

over the past month i have become a huge fan of the non-profit organization Invisible Children(for more info visit Invisiblechildren.com). i got this message through there myspace page today and i wanted to share it all with you. please keep Uganda in your prayers. i think it is no accident that this is occurring right after Passion held one of their world tour stops in Kampala, Uganda just last week (May 30-31). God did some amazing things there. i hope and pray that no matter what happens that God would be made know through out Uganda and all the world. here is the letter….

Resolve Uganda is a campaign to end the war in Uganda, made up of people and organizations who believe that peace is possible and that together we can make it happen.

Invisible Children continues to partner with them to achieve this. Here’s a letter recently sent from their director of advocacy.

I am writing you today for two reasons.

First, to deliver some bad news. The Juba Peace Process, the two-year negotiations aimed at ending the war in Uganda, has ended with rebel leader Joseph Kony refusing to sign the final agreement. Though we’ve made incredible progress in the past two years, It appears that we have reached the end of the road for this process.

The second reason that I’m writing you is to tell you that it is now more important than ever that we keep up the pressure on our leaders to end this war. These peace talks produced a surge of helpful attention from our leaders, and they will be tempted to now turn their attention elsewhere. Returning to the neglect and indifference of the past would have catastrophic consequences for the people of northern Uganda.

We cannot afford to have that happen. The stakes are too high.

Even though they failed to achieve a signed final agreement, significant progress was still made. What had been been labeled as one of the worst and most neglected humanitarian crises in the world just a few years ago has seen transformation. Nearly a million people began to leave displacement camps and return home and children were no longer forced to commute at night to stay safe. These gains must be sustained and consolidated.

Despite this progress in northern Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army is now operating in the border regions between three countries: the Congo, Sudan and the Central African Republic. Abductions of young children are once again occurring, and we have good reason to believe they will only increase in the coming weeks.

As the rebel group prepares to return to war, we must urge our leaders to fight harder than ever to achieve peace.

For those of you who have worked so hard to help achieve peace in Uganda, I know that this news is extremely discouraging. But with so much progress made and so much still hanging in the balance, now is not the time to give up hope. Successful peace processes require long-term vision and persistence. Together, we can be the factor that prevents history from repeating itself. We can keep the attention of our leaders on this issue and keep pushing them to do everything they can for peace.

There are no alternatives.

We’ll be in touch soon.

Sincerely,
Alison Jones 
Director of Advocacy
Resolve Uganda

The Classic Crime

One of my most favorite bands of all times, The Classic Crime, is coming out with  a new album on july 22nd. i can’t wait!!!!!!!!!! They just posted their first single from their new album. so head over to http://www.purevolume.com/theclassiccrime and check it out, and while you are at it listen to their other songs. They  are awesome!!!!!!