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.