When will you end these speeches?

I have been going through the book of Job for the first time in its entirety and it is quite the eye opener. I won't get onto my full thoughts just yet because I haven't finished it but I ran across something I found very interesting.

Job is going through a really rough time and God is basically letting him go through all of this because he believes in Job to have the right attitude and pull through it. Tragedy happens to his family and he continues to praise the Lord. It is not until things happen directly to him that he begins to gripe. And boy does he know how to gripe. He does this chapter after chapter, complaining to his friends and to God about what He has allowed to happen to him.

In chapter 18, Bildad,one of Job's friends, says something very interesting and basic to him: "When will you end these speeches?" In other words, when will you stop complaining and just keep your mouth shut? Job goes on and on and has the woe is me thing going perfectly. He is blasting off at the mouth about everything and to anyone who will listen. Even after Bildad says this to Job he is right back at it in the next chapter. He doesn't get it because he is so consumed in what is going on in his life.

When will we (I) end these speeches? Sometimes something will perturb me enough that I will quickly inherit diarrhea of the mouth and start going off. Some of that is from growing up in New England, but most of it is just my tendency to want to get everything off my chest after holding it in for so long.

Choose your words carefully and, if you feel like going off, take a second to realize who is around you and if it is really necessary to get your point across in that way. I am writing this so I will one day come back and read this and take my own advice. This truly is not aimed at anyone but me.

Now I'm just rambling. Seacrest, out.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Synergy

So my brother Dave and I have been reading random books in the Bible and are calling it Synergy. Basically the idea is what the word synergy means. Synergy is the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. It is great to be in the Word on your own but to have someone else's perspective and insight is invaluable.

So we are reading 1 and 2 Peter and I came across a pretty hard hitting verse and passage in 2 Peter 2:20-21 "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them."

Wow. He is referring to false prophets and teachers but I look at this for everyone. Peter's big thing (and mine as of late) is to live like a stranger in this world. If we know the teachings of Christ, and how He wants us to live, proclaim that we are going to, and then act like everyone else then it is worse than just being someone who doesn't believe. I have always felt this way but this really put it into clear terms. 1st and 2nd Peter are pretty short books but there is some really great stuff in there.

I want to be a person who claims to be a certain way and his actions reflect just that. It is easier said than done but if you truly believe that we are to follow Christ's example than it is the only thing worth fighting for.


JC

Using Your Gift(s)

I have my first practice tomorrow for my church's worship team. I am very excited coming off a great lunch meeting with the worship pastor last week. It just feels right. I have been putting this off for so long and have no idea why. Maybe it was the commitment, or maybe it was just me being shy. Who knows? It doesn't matter now.

I have talked a lot about how using our gifts is such a huge part of our Christian lives and it is really difficult to reach your full potential in Christ if you are not using them. Some people take longer to figure this out. I started playing for my worship team back in Boston when I was about 15 years old. It was a good experience but I was way too young to realize the significance of this. I didn't go to practices and you could really tell. I wanted to rely on my "talent" and just wing it while I was up there. If you want to know how to distract people from worshipping God, do that! Such a bad idea. Well, I am older now and feel like this is really the way I want to use what God has given me. I want to give back and really help people through one of the most intimate of times with God. It is so much more than just playing guitar because I know a pentatonic scale. So much more.

I'm thankful that I am finally ready to do this and am looking forward to all the recognition that goes along with being up on stage (joke). I appreciate everyone's encouragement when I get down on myself about music and I am ready to make a difference for the Kingdom.

Title of Most Recent Blog

It is amazing the impact people can have on your life in a short period of time. I am trying more and more to really pay attention to the people around me that actually take the time to be my friend. These people actually call me and email me and want to learn more about me and usually I act like I couldn’t care less. Why is that? I’m not sure…I think for a long time I have been afraid to make friends because I don’t like people knowing what makes me tick. I like being private and keeping to myself. It’s not that I don’t care. In fact, it is the opposite. This has affected me for most of my life: with friends, with girls, with my family, with school…With everything.

This is also the worst thing you can do with your faith. Lauren and I have been going to a Life Group on Tuesday nights with couples who are around our age and married. I was really shy at first and didn’t say much. I have started to open up a bit and it has helped me with my faith a lot. How can we grow unless we are talking about the things that matter most to us? We can’t. We are stuck with the thoughts that only we share with ourselves. That is no way to grow.

I have met some incredible people this year. People who I hope I will always be friends with and get to know more as the years go by. I have really tried to make the most of these relationships in the time that I have because I don’t know where people are going to be a couple years, or months from now. When I left Boston, I left some relationships with this pattern and they are still incomplete to this day. I don’t want to miss out on things in life because I am so closed off and inaccessible. I’m sorry if I have been this way with you and you are reading this. Please know that I am trying and please bear with me.

Please read my friend Emery’s blog. He has impacted me tremendously in the short time I have known him. He is going to do great things in his life and I am proud to know him and call him a friend.

Distracted from the Distractions

As most of you know, I have the most respect for Jon Foreman that one can have for another human. I was just on his myspace and came across his new blog. He is involved in the Invisible Children cause that is dealing with children soldiers of Uganda. Check it out. Also, check out his new blog on his site and he will tell you more about it. I just thought this quote was amazing:

"One cannot be free while others are in chains. One cannot be whole while others are broken. We cannot run from injustice - in doing so we are running from ourselves.... we would become frauds. Be the real deal.

This is the ironic twist- in caring for others you will become yourself. As you give yourself away you become richer, stronger. My example is the one who gave himself to death so that I might live. Our lives are too short to ignore the pain. It would be a lie to run away."

I can only pray to be this concerned with things that I do not come across directly in my American comfort zone. That is my prayer from this day forward. I cannot continue to pretend that I am doing all I can for the Kingdom by being a "good person." It's far from being enough and it won't leave me fulfilled.


James

Consumerism + Lawsuits = America

Check these out:

Walmart Employee Trampled

Family Sues


This pretty much sums up how I view America today. Needless to say, this is a horrific and unfortunate situation and I pray nothing like this happens to anyone in my family, or ANYONE at all for that matter. Having said that, there are two parts to this:

The first part is the fact that America's pastime, Consumerism, was on brilliant display this year on "Black Friday." I am a person who pretty much hates going shopping unless I know I am going to get something specific and get out. My sister-in-law was in town and wanted to go to the mall at 1 a.m. on Black Friday. Hmm...well, I did it and it honestly wasn't that bad. We left the mall at three, I woke up at 10 and we were back at it. Awful. There were some good deals but nothing that required me to trample over a pregnant woman to make sure I got it. Everyone should be appalled by what happened at this Walmart. It is a tragedy to say the least. Of the 2,000 people there, how many stopped to help and see what was going on? Maybe a handful. How many continued on with their ridiculous day? Most of them.

The next problem I have is that, less than a week later, there is already a lawsuit from the family.

"We’re going to be suing Wal-Mart as well as the owner of the mall, the security company, and we’re contemplating an action against the police and the county of Nassau, although we’re waiting to see what our investigation fleshes out about their involvement."

We knew there would be a lawsuit but I guess I didn't think it would happen this fast, and against that many people! Did they all really have something to do with this? I am not saying I wouldn't do the same thing, and I'm definitely not saying it is not warranted, but isn't it just like us (humans) to look for an opportunity to get something out of our troubles? I mean, spilling coffee on yourself and suing is one thing, but wrongful death?! (JOKE) I'm just saying...People in our society want to make a profit off their hardships and they feel entitled to it most of the time. I'm forming my thoughts on this as I type but I just don't think suing someone for millions of dollars is going to make you feel any better about the situation.

Really I am just saddened at both of these situations. What saddens me even more is when followers of Christ get involved in things such as these two examples. Anyone feel the way I do or am I being insensitive (on the lawsuit part)?

To Be Completely Honest

Why is it that people have to premise certain statements with “To be completely honest,” or “I’m gonna be honest with you,”...? Were they not being honest before they said that? Were they being “partially” honest and now they feel they are being “totally” honest? I don’t get it. Maybe it is a matter of people thinking some statements have much stronger implications and deserve “total honesty.” Why can’t we be honest all the time? Well, I know the answer to that: Because we can’t! We are incapable. So the fact that people feel the need to be “totally” or “completely” honest at certain times is them identifying that they can tell the occasional lie. It is them letting everyone know that they are sometimes dishonest, and this is not one of those times. It is fascinating to me. By the way, there is no such thing as “stretching the truth.”

My Mom always used to say “Nobody believes a liar.” True. I always used to scoff at her when she said it, probably because I had just been caught in a lie. Honesty is a funny thing. Not really, but learning that being honest is a virtue is an interesting process. I am always interested to see what age kids start realizing they don’t have to tell the truth. I suppose it starts pretty young and, depending on how it is handled, it will continue into adulthood. Oh, boy…can’t wait to have kids and have them start lying to me. Not gonna be good for them.

I used to think I was a “good liar.” What?! Why would anyone want to be a good liar? Well, it means that you can deceive people and keep a straight face. Yea, that’s what I wanna be good at. Ridiculous. I guess it is good for poker, but not much else. I just want to be someone who doesn’t seem like they are hiding something all the time.


“A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.” Proverbs 12:17.


Nobody believes a liar! Simple as that.