Who I'd Like To Be...

Sometimes, I'd like to be this guy-

just curl up for a nice nap and forget about life.

Other times, I'd like to be this guy-

exploring life all on my own.

But most of the time, I'd like to be one of these two -

traveling through life with the love of my life by my side.

More from my sister's photo shoot.

Hey there. I thought I would post some other photos of my sister up here. Although she's now cut her hair (time for a new photo shoot!), here she is! Love you sis! :-)

Travelling

I travel on life's road
Not knowing what I'll see.
Each day a new path stretches
For miles beyond me.


I could be gripped with hesitation;
Unsure of my way.
My feet could wander off the path;
To danger I could stray.

But trav'ling with my Father,
I know I will endure
For as He walks here with me
I know my path is sure.

So, it's a week until I make the long trek back to Washington. I know I will miss my friends here, but I know that I'm on the right path. It's an interesting feeling, knowing that the path you're about to embark on is the path that God wants you to go. I have seen over the past few years that this (Tulsa) is where God wanted me to be. I have grown so much in these two short years. I could be tempted to say that because I have grown so much, that God has even more in store for me here. But I feel in my soul that this path is the one God has set me on. I don't know what He has in store for me, and I'm sure that it won't be easy at all, but I look forward to what He has to teach me and how He's going to use me.

I rest in the peace of Jeremiah 29:11- " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' "

The tongue...

There's one thing that the Lord has been teaching me lately. To STOP speaking negative, and speak forth life.

The tongue is such a powerful thing. God spoke, and by his Word, everything was created. (Gen. 1) When Jesus was being arrested, he asked his pursuers who they were seeking. They answered that they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth. The next words Jesus spoke caused the men to draw back and fall on the ground. He simply said, "I am he." (John 18:1-6)

Proverbs 18:20 & 21 says "From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." So what should I sow? Should I sow death, and thus harvest death? Or should I sow life, and harvest life? Do I even need to ask this? It's a no-brainer!

When the Israelites walked around Jericho, they were not allowed to speak or make any sound with their mouths until the last day. (Joshua 6) They would have grumbled, they would have put forth speech to take away their victory. But on the last day, on the seventh time around the wall, the shout of all the people rang out, and God gave them victory!

For a very long time, I have been afraid, doubtful, and negative in my speech. I have brought down instead of building up. Granted, I will probably struggle with this all my life - thus is the human mortal condition. But I want to make an effort to tame my tongue. I want to speak life and not death. I want to build up and not tear down. But as for those walls (life's troubles, struggles and worries), I look forward to seeing God destroy every brick!

I know there will continue to be trouble, but I also know who is on my side! God, the creator of the universe, has a plan for me and you! That plan is not to destroy you and bring calamity, but it is for a future and a hope! Look at Job. He lost almost everything. But at the end of his struggle, God supplied him with everything he lost, and abundantly more! Jesus said in John 10:10, "I have come so they may have life, and life to the full."

I rejoice in the life God has planned for me!

Joy

Joy - it can make the worst day of the week into the best day, transform your attitude in a few seconds, and make the sickest person feel well again.

Joy is contagious; a light in the darkness which spreads far and wide. Spread it!

Have you smiled and laughed today?

:-)

Hope

Worn and weary from what life has brought us, we can forget that even in the hardest times, there is hope; help in the midst of it all.

Just the beginning

Well, I finally got my photos developed. Five rolls! (I think I might seriously look at going digital, considering how much film is costing me. $50 for all of those rolls to be developed!) One of the things I did when my sister was in town was go out to a park and have a little photo shoot. Now I'm not a professional by any means, and some of you could probably tell that from my photos, but I think some of these turned out pretty well. Let me know what you think! There's more to come over the coming days.

By the way, does anyone have any tips or tricks for shooting good film shots?

Haven't been here in a while, so I thought I would give all my readers (Hi Georgia!) a little update. On August 10th, I'll be moving across the country to Washington. I'm going to be finishing up my degree in Music Education. As such, for the past couple months I've been trying to save up money for this move, and now I'm working a lot more. So I haven't had much time to update any of my blogs.

But next week, I should have some photos developed, so I'll put some up when I can.

God bless!

-Chris

Tuesday question...

Okay, I would like to open this one up for discussion.

Some of my friends that I've talked to are in a financial bind right now. Some without jobs, some without enough hours at their jobs to make ends meet, and some with debt stacked up from when they had no job. When we look at the Bible, we can see instances where God tells us not to worry about tomorrow. (Matt. 6:25-34, Luke 2:22-34) What does this mean, practically? When you don't seem to have any way to pay off a debt, what do you do about it? Simply pray and hope that God takes care of it? Or are there some steps you can take that can push it along? Now, I'm not saying that He doesn't have the capability to just, out of the blue, supply the finances necessary to settle that debt or whatever. Nor am I saying that simply trusting in God is a necessarily bad approach. On the contrary! Trusting in God is always a good approach! But looking at the Bible, can you see if God expects us to do more than simply pray about it?

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Chris

I love lamp.

Earlier this year, I was invited to see a friend's band play a gig in town. The place was a nice little coffee shop/restaurant/bar. I saw this lamp and just about freaked! I thought it was so cool, so I just had to slip a photo of it in-between doing shots of the band.

Praise Him with the trumpet...

Music is one tool we can use to give glory to God. It's used many times in the Bible. Trumpets were often used to announce the presence of God, (Joshua 6) a rallying call, (Nehemiah 4:20, Ezekiel 7:14, Matthew 24:31) and to praise God (Psalm  47:5, 81:3, 98:6, etc.). Also, we are encouraged to praise Him with many instruments (Psalm 151). David was a musician, and a skilled one at that (1 Samuel 16:18).

As a musician, I suppose I have a unique view of how music can be used to give Him glory. When musicians play/sing, our focus needs to be the Lord. (Hebrews 12:1-2, Proverbs 3:6) Too often when musicians perform, we can get caught up in the moment and think, "Oh, I can do this wonderful thing that all these people enjoy!" So instead of giving God the glory, we try to lay it on ourselves. When we do that, we are like the man in Proverbs 25:14- 

"Like clouds and wind without rain 

Is a man who boasts of his gifts falsly."

But as for me, I wouldn't be able to play or sing if God hadn't given me the talent to do so. That gift comes from Him. The least I can do is play for Him. Indeed, this is the case with all of us who God has blessed with musical ability. So when us musicians perform, let's instead be focused on doing our best for the Lord's pleasure. And let our lives reflect that point of view as we give glory to God throughout them.

I will strive to make this my life's cry:

"I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,

And I will glorify Your name forever."

-Psalm 86:12

Hi/Lo Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and get your link on their site.

Today, I'll be doing something a little different. I'm doing something called Hi/Lo Thursday, where I'll put down both the high points and low points of this week, be they spiritual or otherwise.

What have been my highs/lows from this week?

My HIGHS:

This week is spring break, and my girlfriend and her little girl are visiting my parents and
I this week! This is abig deal because they live out in Bremerton, WA, why my parents and I live here in Tulsa. The house is filled with laughter! My mom is overjoyed to be a "grandma" this week and my dad is being his normal corny-joke self, only he's constantly smiling as well. I'm totally over the moon with therem here, and I still have to pinch myself sometimes. The woman I love and her amazing child I adore are actually here! And I can't stop praising God for that! Then again, any time I think of them, I can't help but praise Him and thank Him.

The little child that captures my heart.

My LOWS:

With the two of them here, it's difficult to even think of any lows this week. Although, one of the lows of this week was hearing about the premiere of the opera my sister is starring in. It was very poorly put together. Some of the actors didn't have their parts down by the dress rehearsal, the lighting crew was getting no directionat all so they had no clue what they were doing, and the pit orchestra was unprepared as well. (You'd think that in New York City, the people would be more professional.) In the premiere performance, some people even had their music books up on stage, and some people were not even informed as to when the opera actually started. Needless to say it didn't go well. Thankfully, my sis is very professional and had her part down her dances down, and according to my mom who was there visiting she sang great. Subsequent performances went better, thankfully.

Care for a drink?

-----------

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 

For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 

Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."

She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?

"You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?"

Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water with thirst again;

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw."

He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."

The woman answered and said, " I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband';

for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly."

The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth' for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

(John 4:7-26)

---------------

Today, when looking at this passage, I was struck by a couple things. First, we are created to worship. That's how God's made us human beings. Secondly, the only way we can be fully satisfied is by worshiping the Lord; in spirit and in truth. God wants us to do so. And if we don't, we will worship other, worldly things and be wholly unsatisfied. In the case of the Samaritan woman, it was men. She had been married five times, and at the time was with a man she wasn't married to. For us it can be many things that we can make into our "idols" to worship in place of God: sex, drugs, or even our jobs, television, or a myriad other things. And just like the woman was unsatisfied with five husbands, we will be unsatisfied with things that are "idols" to us. When we worship something we've put in place of God, we'll always be left feeling empty and wanting something more. But with God, it's different. He is the something more. When we worship him, in spirit and in truth, we will never be unsatisfied. With Him, we find our true satisfaction in life. We were made to worship Him and bring glory to Him, and when we do so, we fulfill part of our purpose here on Earth.

So let's drink up that living water, and praise God for the hope and purpose in life that He gives us!

What Is Real Peace?

So what does true spiritual peace look like? Spiritual peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding (Philipians 4:6-9), is had when we are in communion with God, and dwell on things that He delights in. 

Does that mean that we won't have troubles? No! The Bible says that we will face various trials and trouble in the world. (John 16:33; James 1:2)  But those trials test our faith, strengthening it so that we may be ever more like Christ. (James 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7) So what does true peace from Jesus look like? Well, first let's look at what the world views as peace. 

What comes to mind when you think of peace? A quiet place, an escape, where you can just relax and throw your cares away, right? Well, let's picture a beach getaway where there's no problems, no storms raging, just clear blue skies with the sun shining brightly. Does that sound like the kind of setting that the Bible describes to us? (Matthew 24:9; Acts 14:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:6) 

You see, to those who don't know Jesus intimately, His peace seems to make no sense. Instead of a paradise island, a better picture instead would be a raging storm, and a shelter where you're shielded from it. The storm is still there, and all the problems associated with it, but you're able to make it through because of that shelter. It doesn't mean we won't get wet, or be cold, but there is hope to get through the night. It's not a perfect analogy, but one we can use for our purposes now.

Here's a picture of Jesus' peace. Parents have learned that their child has a very virulent form of cancer. The treatments are very difficult, but they somehow have a peace about the whole situation. They know that God is in control, and whatever the outcome, they know that He can use anything to glorify Him. They still worry about how the treatments are working, but they try to bring all of those concerns to God. Because they've given God control of the situation and they know that God is good and trust Him with the outcome, their burden is lightened. They have more peace. The average person could be devastated, and may start blaming God. Yet because they chose to glorify God no matter the outcome, they have more peace.

The peace that God has offered us with is so much deeper than my inadequate words could describe. Using words, one can't even scratch the surface of how much God has done for us. I simply praise Him for what He has done, and look forward to His continued work.

Renewing Rest

When rest comes, isn't it strange how it sometimes seems to come in the most unexpected ways? A couple of minutes of just sitting, and our batteries can start to charge. And put prayer in the mix, and it's like the charger gets plugged into a nuclear power plant. Prayer and meditation on God's word can revitalize us in ways that, frankly, astonish me. I don't know if I'll ever understand why keeping your focus on the things of God energizes us. Like a pastor I know used to say, when we're "grace-energized," God can work through us mightily, and often does. Have you been energized by the renewing of your spirit today? (Eph. 4:17-24) Have you worked on your relationship with God, like a husband or wife works on their relationship with their spouse? If you haven't, take some time today and focus on that relationship. He wants to be closer to you.

Where have I gone?

Maybe some of you are asking, where have I gone to? Why no posts in such a long time? 

Well, there's two reasons for it. Firstly, my schedule has gotten pretty busy with work and classes. 

Secondly, I've kind of run out of photos to feature that are my own creation. I have a film camera, and don't have the opportunity to bring it along with me when I see something "picture-worthy". Also, developing them is a bit of an inconvenience. But I should have a few more photos up soon, as I'm going to develop a couple rolls in the next few days.

Crossroads

Throughout our lives there are many crossroads. 

Those forks in the road define who we become. 

How we approach them reveals more about ourselves.

Of birds and water

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

-Matthew 6:26

I love the sound of rippling water as it glides past the rocks. I have many fond memories of going down to a local creek and just sitting by the water, soaking my feet in the cold water as I dozed off or just had some quiet time.

The Snow

For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,'

And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.'

-Job 37:6

Throughout the past week or so, this verse keeps coming back to me. It's amazing how God commands even the snow and the rain to fall, and where to fall.

Bridges...

For every bridge we come to in life, there are but two parts: where we've come from and where that bridge will take us. Without knowledge of where we've come, we cannot know where the bridge will take us. 

Adversity

A flower, growing in adversity, can grow to be the most beautiful of all. That flower, which has made it through the hardest of times and the worst weather, can blossom into something more precious than gold.

Mmm, mmm, good.

Ah, coffee! Where have you gone?

Where is the yummy goodness

of your semi-acidic, caffeine-filled taste,

and your rustic aroma?

I totally gotta get one of these suckers!

Pathways

There are many pathways;

Many doors to open in life.

Some lead to happiness

While others lead to strife.

Yet there is one way

That sometimes seems so dim.

But it is worth the walking

Because it leads to Him.