A Whack In The Head.......With A Skillet

I think I am going to start writing these "notes" or what have you, every Saturday night. Somewhat like a Blog I guess. but anyway:

I was told by someone I used to work with about a situation that he was in. He is a teacher and he has a student whom he truly cares about. This student is very rebellious! Let's say his name is Tommy. Tommy does everything in his power to do the exact opposite of everything that this teacher, whom we will call James, says ( so for you slow folk out there Tommy = Rebellious Student and James = Teacher) As I listened to James talk the other day about Tommy, he kept on getting more and more angry about this young guy. "Tommy just does not get it," he would say. "Everything I do Tommy has to do the opposite just to get under me," James would say. "Tommy says he understands me, and that he wants to be the best, but acts after the fact, like he does not care at all," James ended. I said,"James so what is going on with Tommy then?" He said,"I don't know I tell him and show him how to act, how to behave, and how to perform..I punish him..and he still does not act right, even though he knows that it is best for him."

So I said, "James what are you going to do?" James said, "I will change nothing!" I started to ponder, this guy is a moron! He is complaining about a student who obviously has a huge issue with listening and obeying authority and he is going to do nothing! What the heck! "What do you mean you are going to change nothing?!?! This kid is making your life AWEFUL!!! Why don't you just give up....find another teacher to deal with him. Then you can really focus on the students that care," I said to James.

Then it hit me in the forehead like a five pound metal skillet! (been there don't ask). The more I thought about the next thought, the more my head began to throb. I felt as if I were literally getting a headache on my forehead from thinking about it.

"Love." James said boldly. James proceeded to say, "What if that guy has no one in his life that says I care about you with there actions? What if I am the only person in that student's life that cares about him to keep structure in his life? Even though he may not act on it, does not mean that I don't have an obligation as a person to be that stability in his life." James said," I am talking about a type of love that says, 'no matter what; no matter what you do, I won't give up on you' ".

From this point Christ took over the conversation. James kept complaining about Tommy and I kind of ignored him because I was so enthrawled with the concept that had been thrown in my face!

I do so much in my life. But if there is one thing that I find each day, it is that I am becoming (in my spiritual life) just like Tommy. Christ says to me, " Josh, this is how you are to live!", I respond with a chuckle and, " Okay God, what ever you say" and I don't act on what he told me to act on. I don't want to say anything much about me from here on out because obviously, Christ wants me to live the way he wants me to live, because it is best for me.

What does this say about the love of Christ? A lot....Adam had a beautiful relationship with God. Adam walked with Him and loved him...Then the unthinkable happened...Adam and his wife disobeyed. From the second that Adam and Eve sinned for the first time, God said, " I will do whatever it takes, no matter what you do I will not give up on you." From that point He walked with humanity, hand in hand all the way to the death of His own Son. Even Christ when He was being beaten by a whip, he took each hit saying "I won't give up, I will do whatever it takes!" When Jesus was on the Cross and He felt as if His Father had turned away from Him, He still remembered his promise, "I won't give up, I will do whatever it takes." During his final breath on this earth, He completed what He said He would complete.

"I have completed it, I did not give up, I have not given up, and I will not give up on you, no matter what it takes." Christ set the standard for Love. When He saw something that was His, and saw that something might threaten it....He made the statement by His actions that nothing would stop Him. What threatened His creation, was not just some outside adversary. They threatened themselves. We threatened ourselves. When we mess ourselves up and disobey His directions, He does not give up on us. Every action that He has made to help us, cries out....I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON YOU, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO ME, I WILL GIVE YOU ALL I HAVE GOT!!!

6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:6-8


What a standard.



How do you live up to that standard? Do you hold yourself to that standard, with the way that you care about others? I think it is very cliche, but does Christian not mean "little Christ"? Should we not reinact His love in our life everyday?

Are you willingly telling your family that you love them in this way?

Are you reaching out to someone around you that may not have this kind of love, and telling them by your actions, that you will do whatever it takes to show them you care?

In retrospect to the question above, if you are in a relationship are you being careful how you say the three word phrase, " I love you"? Because that statement is packed with a lot of thought when you compare it to the standard that Christ sets for what love is truly.

To some of my engaged friends....and married friends......Are you willing to say to Your future wife or husband (or your wife or husband) that no matter what, you will stick it out with them. Whether God brings storms or sunshine, Whatever it takes, I will not give up on you. That is the example of love He has set for you.

If you are a Christian, are your actions saying to the lost world, "My Jesus did not give up on you, I will not give up on you. Because he loved you, I also will love you."


I know a long note..........but you will live. Hopefully I was able to get that brain ticking. Leave your thoughts if you would like.

Where The Whole Realm of Nature Mine...

October 11,2008! It seems as if I just moved into my dorm room a week or so ago for my first semester as a freshmen. I have come in contact with thousands of people that I have never met before over the last three and a half years. So of all people, why did I tag you in this note? Some of you, I go to school with. Some of you I went to school with. Some of you I go to church with. Some of you are just acquaintances. Some of you are friends that I have not seen in more than 5 years. Some of you I chose to tag you in this note, merely for the fact you are a person of influence. Or maybe you had no idea, but when I was younger I looked up to you in some way. Everyone that I wanted to see this note is a person of influence, at his or her respectable school (with the exception of Clemson....just kidding its a great school).

This note is for everyone, but I wanted those who are mentioned in this note to see it specifically. Enough of that.....

Enlightenment.

That is a bold statement. Our generation strives to be enlightened. We want to know and understand everything. We have the choice to what we are allowing ourselves to be enlightened to. Some of us have chosen to explore our world, like myself. I know I want to understand everyone’s actions, the reason for doing what they do. I want facts or thoughts to be revealed to me that I have never seen or experienced before. There are many great things in this world to enlighten us. I am a music education major. I have learned things and experienced things in the education world that I never would have learned. And when I learn these things it is like a revelation, or a missing puzzle piece that has been put in place to complete the picture.
Where am I going with this...what are you allowing your heart to be enlightened to? What are you allowing to enter your mind? What are accepting as right and wrong? After being in education, and hopefully pursuing a Master’s in education from Univ. So. Car., I have come to the conclusion that every idea and thought that is given to me is not one totality. Meaning, these people that are choosing to help enlighten you are not giving you the entire picture. Much like Adam and Eve; the serpent told Eve that she would be enlightened, and know things of God if she ate the fruit. She was then enlightened after taking a single bite. Everyone knows the story from there.
We as a generation, need to look at the big picture. Yes, carpe diem (to seize the day) is a great thing, but only when put into perspective. So I want to create a challenge for you.

Christ

This man understood and still understands proper enlightenment more than anyone. I am concerned with our Generation, because we don’t understand him enough. Christ is wanting to reveal things to you. He is concerned with you. He wants to teach you how react, how to believe, and how to decipher. Our generation, does not know how to do these three things that I mentioned before. (how to react, how to believe, and how to decipher) We choose to react off instinct rather than knowledge of the Father. There are many of you that I have not seen in years, I hope that if you have been drawn away that this will be a beacon for you. Come back to where true enlightenment exists, with Christ. I believe that it is our job as people of influence to teach our Generation these things, in love. That is what Christ did. He got down and dirty with the people of His generation. He ate supper with them, drank water and wine with them, invited them to be with Him in public places.
So the Question is truly this, are you willing to take your place? Christ has blessed you with the ability to be a person of influence, are you willing to take the place that he has created for you? Are you willing to be his vessel. He has prepared something for you, that you can not fathom. It is time that you immerse yourself in the words of Christ. It is time for you to take your place. If God has revealed to you an opportunity for His glory, take it. Step out in faith. It is time for you to take your place.

I end with this...
There is Black and White
There is Right and Wrong
There is Truth
There is Love
There is Happiness
There is Peace

You can show the world you are involved in, all of these. You have an opportunity, take your place. Immerse yourself in the Creator of enlightenment, that is Jesus Christ. God Speed and God Bless!

Preparing The Fields For Rain

Life is hard. No questions about it, life is hard. Things happen that you don't expect, that may make a person's life hard. Other times, life just seems average. Nothing changes. Day to day seems the same. You wake up, do your work, run errands, work- out, and just do average things. It's not necessarily a bad life, but average can be hard. Why is that? When a person does not see change, they see it as failure. When a person sees failure they automatically assume that the activity or anything that they are participating in is well..... hard.

I talked to a friend just recently who had this problem. I myself have seen the average life as, hard. I have longed for a change. I have also been on the other side of the fence when life is made just....hard with problems or "giants" so to speak. Day after day something goes wrong. Then after a while, a person feels as if they fail at everything because they incapable of meeting the task at hand head on, and succeeding.

Life is Hard.

At the beginning of this semester, I felt as if I was not capable of defeating the giant that was taunting me. I felt as if fear and failure were going to win. I had so much on me. I planned out the semester and between school, planning for my recital, practicing for my recital, work at the church, work at the school, friends and family; I felt as if I was set up for failure. I knew in the back of my mind I was going to fail. I would not win this fight.

Life is Hard.

A friend of mine said... pray. Sounds simple. Too simple. What do I ask for? I prayed that God would suffice the voids in my life, that he would be my strength, that he might give me an unnatural ability to push myself to my limit to make this semester happen. A few days later i went back to my friend. I told him that I prayed. He told me to prepare my fields for rain.

What does that mean? He said that a farmer whose farm was in a drought, prayed for rain. That farmer was faithful to God and he began to prepare his fields so that his fields could retain the most water possible. Guess what, he got rain. He would have missed out on the blessing if had not prepared because the field would have lost the water.

After hearing this story I decide to prepare my fields for rain. I decided that I was going to chase what I prayed for. I decided to work against the giant. Fight back.

So the battle began.

When I showed effort, God showed me his answer to my prayer. I pushed, he gave me more strength. I worked hard, practiced hard, and continued to pray hard. God responded with giving me that unnatural ability to push through hard work. I would stay up late practicing, and get up early and study. My days consisted of working, studying, practicing, ans sleeping. That is it. I put all of me into my goal. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I gave my all, so did God.

I performed my recital, I won my fifth state championship, I had my highest GPA ever, and my relationships with family and friends have been better than ever.

If I had not prepared my fields, would this semester have been what it turned out being. The answer is.........no.

Never, Never, Never give up. Plan for the unthinkable. Pray for the unreachable. Never, Never, Never give up.

You Are My Joy

So I just got back from Choir Tour. It was probably the best choir tour I have been on. Even though I missed some old friends, the tour went incredibly well. I enjoyed my time with new friends that I had met and had fun with a lot of old friends too. Tour this year was not like most tours. We traveled further than we normally have done in the past. I really enjoyed meeting people in different places, and yes, even in the "country" places. The places I expected to be like stepping into the movie "Deliverance" were not that way at all. Well maybe in some places I was wondering when the guys with the banjos were going to come out, but they never did.
Somewhere in between Atlanta and Glencoe, Alabama I found myself listening to David Crowder's song "You Are My Joy". I became infatuated with the song. It was ridiculous, almost to the point that my Roommate, Robert, asked me multiple times what are you listening to, and my response would always be "David Crowder". I am sure he thought I was completely off my rocker. I love breaking down music, and finding why they were written. After listening to this song over and over and over, I FIGURED IT OUT! David Crowder had to have written this song to mimic laughter.
The song starts out "He set me on fire, and I'm burning alive, with this breath in my lungs, I am coming undone. (repeat all of that) And I cannot hold it in." How many times have you found something hysterically funny and you find your self trying to hold the laughter in? I do all the time. I notice that sometimes I get this burning sensation in my chest. It's really weird! But we all know that sooner or later, that laughter comes out and you cannot contain it anymore.
The next part says " I cannot hold it in and remain composed. Love has taken over me, so I propose to letting myself go." Ok so when I started to break down this part of the song, I started to realize how frustrated I get with people like Crowder is describing. I am talking about those people that laugh at EVERYTHING! The people who make a joke about their sweet tea on the table at supper or the people who laugh at absolutely nothing, like the "cute" dog outside. But then I understood. . .When love takes over you, laughing at everything is, ok. I find that women can find this state of happiness and joy more easily than men. Why is this? I believe women find this easier, especially Christian women, because they have this weird sense in understanding what love means. Men we just want to hang out and be noticed. Our definition of love consists of unselfishness that means we will not burden other people, where as women believe that love is more of a bearing each other's burden. That is the way C.S. Lewis sees it in his book "The Screwtape Letters"(a book that ripped apart on tour in 2 days). I say all of this to say those giddy girls that seem to laugh at everything seem to be the ones that are in touch with, at least with the human definition of Love. David Crowder is stating in his song, that the Agape (Godly) definition of Love has caused so much Joy that he laughs, hysterically in fact. The chorus comes bearing four words that build just like a huge belly laugh, "You are My Joy, You are My Joy, You are My Joy, YOU ARE MY----JOY-----------------" Then he asks simply for the listener to give him a moment to breathe and exhale. Then a beautiful violin solo comes in that simply relaxes, but over about a 30 second period during the song it builds back up to the chorus that screams laughter "You are My Joy" comes back!
I started thinking about this musical moment and how it settles down but the big huge chorus just keeps coming back. There was this one time that I went to eat with some friends at a Chinese Restaurant, I can't remember exactly what was said, but my friend said something and I could not stop laughing. I would be done laughing and 30 minutes later I would just bust out laughing again. I think this is what Crowder is trying to describe. When you feel true Joy which can only be given through Christ, laughing is not only easy to do, but is hard NOT to do.
So I think this is my goal for the next week, find something that I cannot laugh about. Even if it is the most serious events. If in light of Jesus Christ, I still take everything TOO seriously, then I am not experiencing the joy that he died for on the cross.


Thanks for Listening,

Joshua Morton