The Giving Spirit of Christmas

in light of the recent focus of this blog on the ministry of compassion international - let's think about what Christmas is really all about. watch this video cuz it's awesome, but also because it really challenges us to re-think what we give and who we give to.

Compassion International Blog Time!!!

so there i was sitting on one of many plane rides and i started thinking about how it was time to blog about one of my greatest passions: compassion international - a ministry dedicated to rescuing children from poverty in Jesus name! where to even begin? i have no idea. there is so much i could write and so much i could say. but first, i wanted to start with a video of a guy who has stolen my heart. below is a video taken from a recent Compassion Trip with bloggers to the Dominican Republic.



and here is a letter i received yesterday from my Compassion representative, Brian Seay:

I spent the last week in the Dominican Republic leading a group of Bloggers on a trip to experience the ministry of Compassion. Each time I lead a trip I ask the Lord to guard my heart against the complacency of seeing the ministry firsthand several times a year. Not surprisingly, He has answered that prayer every time.

Last week I was reminded why we do what we do – and that’s to bring the hope of Jesus to those who have lost hope. Selfishly I want all the stories of Compassion to be success stories but I was reminded that success has to have a starting point, not just an ending crescendo. I visited a home where I met a little girl who would not smile and her mother who told us we could pray for her family but she did not believe God would ever answer those prayers. I stood there with the sponsor of this girl and the reason we believe so strongly in one-on-one sponsorship was magnified in front of us. Through huge tears this sponsor took the little girl, prayed over her, and told her she believed that God loves her and has a special plan for her life.

You can read my full take on this home visit at my blog - http://brianseay.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/the-girl-without-a-smile/ -

I followed that home visit with another one where the story of hope was further along and the parents could see real change happening in their lives and the lives of their 2 children who are sponsored. We were almost done with the visit when the 9 year old boy disappeared to another room and returned with his guitar. Immediately a concert broke out in this house – and this kid could play! We put the video of this “house concert” up on You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So5qECSm4to
(this is the video from the beginning of the blog)

When you look at the faces on the packets you have with you remember that behind every photo is a story and it’s a story of hope and potential. Thanks for partnering with us in bringing hope to these children!

CHECK OUT WWW.COMPASSION.COM and pray about changing the life of a child TODAY!!!

more blogs on Compassion to come...

here's the thing about love - granny's story

my granny is one of my best friends in the whole world. when I was little, I used to go stay with her and herbie and she would let me eat icecream and mac & cheese for every meal. we would laugh and play and watch movies and old tv shows. we had the best time over gallons of pralines and cream ice-cream. she spoiled me to the Nth degree and I was most fond of her. truth is, she is the most loving person I think I’ve ever met. she loves without condition and without an agenda. her love isn’t based on what a person looks like or acts like. she simply loves. it’s who she is. and she loved me deeply for many years and continues to love me even to this day.

granny suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. she has for several years now. though she gets confused as to where she is and who people are, she still loves. she is a relentless lover and though she might not know who I am anymore, she still looks at me with those eyes. those bright blue eyes. she always saw me with her heart, and no disease will change that. she is the epitome of beauty and grace. in her life, I see the truth of the scripture that tells us that God’s power is perfected in our weakness. she is weak, yes, but she is also one of the strongest women I know. she exudes the relentless love and tenderness of Christ.

recently, she was on the phone with my dad and an unforgettable conversation took place. granny doesn’t remember names and frankly, she has forgotten a great deal about life and reality. but sometimes she’ll have moments of clarity which show the vitality of her spirit. though her mind and body are weakening daily, she is being renewed inwardly and her spirit refreshed. the other day, my dad was talking to granny about various and sundry things, mostly unrelated to one another, and then it happened. the moment of clarity. granny all the sudden began speaking with such conviction and grace. she said, “I love God so much. I love Him so much. you know, I used to love a man who didn’t know God. But I know God and I love Him so much. And I know He loves me. and He is good. God has always been so good to me throughout my entire life. And I know that God loves me and that He is good.”

when my dad told me about this, I couldn’t hold back the tears. it was proof that a person’s spirit can be fully aware whose spirit is home to Jesus. with everything she doesn’t know anymore, she still knows the most important things in life: that God loves her and that He is good.

to me, this is what it all comes down to. if we don’t truly believe that God loves us, how can we love ourselves? and if we don’t love ourselves, how can we love others? for we know the Lord says to love one another as we love ourselves. and if we don’t ultimately believe God is good, how will we survive? our only means of survival is His goodness and sovereignty; knowing that He is always working everything together for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory. and my granny, old and gray and suffering from a debilitating disease knows the secret of contentment in this life: that God is good and that He loves us.

wow. deep breath. I still can’t get over this. what a revelation and what a beautiful thing to know, that my granny still knows the Truth and the Love of Christ no matter what.

ride em' cowboy

i just had to post this recent video of gabby wearing her newest accessory.

the tale of two devotionals

so there i was thinking of randomness and my thoughts turned into these two devotionals:

NEVER THE SAME AGAIN

One of the hardest things for me in my Christian life is when I feel and act like I used to before I became a Christ-follower. Sure, I have Jesus living inside me, but sometimes I still act like a complete moron. I worry about things I cant control, I fear things that shouldn’t have a hold over me, and I let my flesh run wild. I was hoping that once I asked Jesus to come into my life and be my Savior and Lord that I would automatically start acting like Him. But for those of you reading this who have been a Christian for longer than 2 seconds – you know it’s not quite that easy. One night in college I had reached the end of my proverbial rope. I was completely wrought with anxiety and fear. It was as if I couldn’t make myself surrender to the Lord. That was mostly because I couldn’t even find Him or hear Him in my small, dark dorm room. Instead of wallowing in self-pity as is my usual custom, I decided to write down my endless thoughts. I grabbed a sheet of paper and started writing furiously. My pen couldn’t keep up. All the sudden my head started lifting. My heart started beating a little smoother. I was able to finally catch my breath. In that moment, as I was writing and trying to get it all out, I felt Christ embrace me. I sat there dumbfounded, simply letting Him hold and love me. I didn’t want to leave. I picked up my guitar and started singing the words I had written down. I realized I had been changed after spending those few moments with my Prince of Peace. I felt totally different. Though I still had my flesh and my tendency to worry, I knew I had been transformed in that moment. I would never be the same again. I realized He hadn’t just performed a one-time change when I gave my life to Him, but He continues to change me daily as I meet with Him. Each day is new and each day I have the opportunity to allow Christ to make the old new.

WHERE IS THE LOVE?

I’ve noticed a trend recently: people are having love issues. About a month ago I was on a long flight and found myself thinking about love. Not the kind that makes me want a boyfriend, but the kind that makes me want Jesus. Suddenly I was flooded with thoughts of God, others, myself, and the mysterious idea of love. What is love? Where is it? Who is it? Why do people love? Why don’t they? Jesus quickly began answering my questions. We’ve heard it said that God is Love. He can’t help but love us. He can’t not love. His love doesn’t change based on what we do or don’t do. His love is not dependent on our performance. He just loves. That’s His nature and it’s more natural to Him than breathing is to us. Then I started thinking about why some Christians have love issues. That thought led me to this one: Why do certain people have problems with Christians, but rarely do they say anything negative about Jesus? I guess it’s because sometimes Christians fail to love. I’ll be the first to admit that there are times when I simply do not love others. We need to get back to that good ole’ saying of “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” But before we can love others, we must first love ourselves. After all, it was Jesus who gave us the idea of loving others as we love ourselves. Then and only then can we love another human being. The problem is, there are many people who don’t love themselves and for whatever reason, they never have. The conclusion to my thinking was this: our ability to love others rests in our ability to love ourselves. Our ability to love ourselves rests in our ability to receive God’s unconditional love. It seems that it really is all about receiving the love of God. We, as Christ-followers must start loving others without condition and without an agenda. Let’s love for the sake of being like God who is, in His very nature, Love. For the love of God, receive it! Without love, we have nothing and we are nothing.

He Knows - story behind the song

SO sorry i haven't blogged in forever! that should give you some indication with how crazy my life has been. but no worries, i've learned how to say "no" and also how to delegate ministry tasks, thus my time will be freed up. here's a new post about the story behind a song i wrote called "he knows" - will be writing more, i promise :)

"He Knows"

I love my job. I think I might just have the best job in the world. Because the truth is, it’s not really even a job. I get to do what I love and what I’ve been called and created to do for a living. I get to travel across the country and occasionally the world and share the message and hope of Christ through music. Because I’m a worship leader, I get to lead for all different kinds of churches in all different kinds of places. However, one of my favorite things to do is to attend church services without leading. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE getting to do ministry at services, but rarely do I get to just sit in the congregation and sing in the background without being on stage. No one listening and no one watching. Just me singing on the back row. So when I do have the opportunity to attend, it’s special and refreshing. One particular Sunday morning I went to The Village Church in Dallas, TX. I had heard great things about this church and some of my friends went there, but I’d never had the chance to check it out for myself. For some odd reason (or God’s sovereignty), I had an open Sunday and I was in the Dallas area, so I went to visit. The time of worship through song was incredible and the message was amazing, as well. The pastor Matt Chandler was dynamic and definitely the kind of guy I could listen to for 45 minutes despite my major a.d.d tendencies.

He began preaching out of Hebrews 4 and instantly I was hooked and locked in. He began talking about how Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses. He deconstructed the passage verse by verse and made a compelling case for the reality of the closeness of Immanuel. The first part of the passage goes like this: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God who was tempted in every way as we are, yet was without sin.” I was so encouraged by the message because I have many weaknesses and at that time in my life I was feeling like I was alone in what I was going through. So often I get caught up in thinking I need to be strong and keep up the spiritual giant façade, despite my internal sufferings and struggles. But the truth is, that God’s power is perfected in our weakness, not our strength. I felt like God was speaking directly to me through the message. In the midst of trying to write down every word he said, I began to notice a song rising up in me. I was kind of bummed because I didn’t want to be distracted from the message, but God had other plans. Turns out His plans are way better anyway.

Then the pastor said something that hit me like a 2x4: “No matter how dark the trail goes, Jesus knows.” I heard the rhyme and I immediately had a melody and lyric in my head. I tried to shake it at first so I could continue focusing on his message, but it got the better of me. Unfortunately, when I get song ideas in the middle of sermons I have to pause my brain from listening to the rest of the message and I have to get out what’s in my head, otherwise I might lose it forever. So I began feverishly jotting down the lyrical thoughts that God was bringing to my mind on the church bulletin paper thingy. All I kept hearing over and over again was, “No matter how deep and dark the trail goes, He knows. No matter how lonely, lost and low, He knows.” The words were coming out fast and all I wanted was to sit down right then and there with my guitar or piano and write the song. But that definitely would’ve been awkward to walk up on stage and say, “Hang on Matt, I am enjoying your sermon and all but I need to write a song real quick. I just need about 30 seconds.” So I decided to hold it together and stay in my seat until the service was over.

As soon as people started filing out of the building, I went up to the stage and sat down at a beautiful baby grand piano (assuming I had divine permission, I suppose). The tune and melody came almost as quickly as the lyrics. It was as if the song had been completely handed to me, in full, from the Lord. I immediately connected with the lyrics because they so closely represented what I had been going through in that particular season in my life. The Lord was taking me through a beautiful transformation where He was showing me that I was not alone and had never been alone.

When I got the lyrics and melody down, I left the church and immediately started performing this new song at concerts and other ministry events. Eventually, I was able to record it on my latest project. The Lord even provided a way for me to record a music video for the song, which was hilariously fun and out of my comfort zone. It turned out to be an excellent ministry tool, but talk about weakness, I am so not a rockstar or a diva, so making music videos is not my gifting. Plus, in the video, I have on way too much lipstick. I was told it would be necessary because of the camera and lighting and such. But here’s the thing about me: I would rather eat glass chips than wear lipstick. I enjoy a simple gloss, but I digress…

So in my personal relationship with Him, the Lord kept teaching me the importance of weakness and surrender. He was growing deep inside me the passion for authenticity. For too long, I had been fake. I tried to be someone I wasn’t, and it was exhausting. I always thought since I was in full-time ministry that I had to act like I had it all together. I thought I had to be all super-spiritual. But then I realized that God never called us to be strong in our own strength. He called us to be real in our weaknesses. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he tells us that God’s power is actually perfected in our weaknesses, because when we are weak, HE is strong and HE gets all the glory due His name. I wanted so badly to boast in my weakness, though I had no idea what that really looked like in reality. I realized that even when I feel like no one else understands what I’m going through, Jesus knows. Even when my parents and closest friends can’t completely sympathize with me, Jesus can. He knows the ins and outs of every bit of pain and He is intimately concerned about every detail of my life. He’s been there. He knows pain. He felt the deepest of pain on the cross. He knows triumph. He felt the victory when He rose from the dead. He knows hope in the midst of adversity. He is the one who for the joy and hope set before Him, endured the cross. He knows humility. He is the King of Kings born in a feeding trough. And He knows love. He is the Unconditional Lover who first loved us and taught us how to love.

The bottom line is that Jesus knows. Right now, on this day, as you’re reading this, God knows exactly what’s going on. He is the Alpha and Omega of all things and He sees the beginning and end of your particular situation. He already knows how He’s going to get you through this pain and He knows what you’re going through. He is the God who grieves with you. He is the Savior who sympathizes. He is the King who cares deeply for you. He is the Healer who will hold you broken heart and give you a new, whole one. May we never forget that Jesus sympathizes with all of our weaknesses, trials and pain. I love the advice and encouragement found at the end of Hebrews 4: “Therefore, let us draw near to the throne of grace with confidence so that we might find mercy and help in our time of need.” So often, we tend to run away from God when hardships come. Think of Adam and Eve. The first thing they did when they realized they had sinned was to take off running. Of course, God knew where they were the whole time, but they tried to run from Him. They went and hid. But God is calling us to come out of hiding. He is calling us to run toward Him instead of away from Him, no matter what the cause of running might be. We can throw ourselves on His throne for His is safe and trustworthy. He loves without condition and His love doesn’t change based on what we do or don’t do. When the valleys gets deeper and the roads get bumpier, that’s the time when we should run as fast as we can to the Lord for He Himself is our Peace. And when we meet with Him in that secret place, He will remind us that He is in the process of working all things (the good, the bad, and the ugly) together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

We all have times of need. We are all in need of mercy and help. Instead of running away from the Lord in our toughest of times, let’s run to Him. I wrote this song as an encouragement to people who feel like they’re all alone and that no one knows what they’re truly going through. Take heart, He knows. He’s been there and He’s there with you now. He’s holding you and He’s ready to meet you where you are.

smelly cat

so there i was today trying to clean out some stuff to make my computer run faster (as if i have any real idea how to go about doing that), and i found a fabulous video of a little friend of mine. i just had to share. here's what happens when you teach things to little kids. you don't think they'll remember or glean from your wisdom, but they do. this little gal asked me to sing and teach her a song, so i did. and here is the result:

award winning, dont you think?