The Boredom Song

Alright I really only posted this one for a little humor. This is a song I wrote my first week at Iowa State. I was bored, so Valerie told me to write a song about how bored I was. So I did. It was written to be kind of annoying, and it really is. I regretted writing it because afterwards I had it stuck in my head for a couple of days.

I’m bored, and there’s nothing to do
But sit here, and write this song
I can’t, wait for eight ‘o clock
‘Cause then there’ll be something to do

Cause bored is how I feel
Apathetic, at best
The only thing I know,
Got to get this off my chest
Need something to do
I swear I’ll do my best
Maybe I’ll go study for a test

I guess, I could just sit here
Maybe, take a little nap
Who knows, I could go for a jog
Or maybe get something to eat
But no, I’m not hungry
And I really don’t feel like working out
I sit here, I can’t fall asleep
Maybe I’m just meant to write this song

Glacier Eyes

This one's probably my overall favorite of the ones I've written. It works on a lot of different levels: It could work in family relationships, romantic relationships, freindships, and The relationship that God has with us. When I wrote it I was focusing on the friendship aspect, but later realized that it could very easily be applied to everything else as well. It is based on a poem by the same name by Trinity Patton. If you know her, ask her about her poem; it's amazing.


I’ve known you for a while, but I don’t really know you at all
I know there must be more, I want to know the depths of your soul
Your cold blue eyes, they only show the tip of the iceberg
I want to know your heart, I want to know how deep you go

Glacier eyes, let me melt the ice
Let me be your light, let me heal your cries
Glacier eyes

A penny for your thoughts, a quarter for your life story
I want to share your pain, I want to know the soul before me
I hear your cry, let me be the one to heal it
It’s been so long, I’m yearning for your trust in me

Don't Want To Sleep Tonight

This one's pretty old- I think I wrote it at homecoming my senior year. I didn't feel like going in to the dance, so I sat in the parking lot looking at the stars and playing guitar. I really don't play it much anymore, but when I do I really enjoy it. It's one of my favorites.

When the first word was spoken
You took the dark and made it light
You called the first light day
You called the darkness night
All I see around me
Formed in seven days
Made so perfectly
I lay here filled with wonder
How could a God like You
Feel such love for me?

The stars they shine so bright
I stare at Your creation
And wonder at the sight
I want to sing and shout
Let my feelings out
So Lord hear my cry
Don’t wanna sleep tonight

You take all my worries
You guard all my dreams
I stand here in Your presence
And Lord I wanna sing
You’re like a good addiction
I’m after your own heart
The thought of You on the cross
It rips my soul apart

I stand here in your presence
Enthralled by your good grace
The thought of you in heaven
Fills my heart with praise

Song for a Broken Child

Alright I think it'd be cool to post some of the songs I've written on here, so I'm going to.

I wrote this song on my first missions trip to Guatemala my junior year of high school. It was an awesome trip. we were able to connect with the Guatemalan people, especially the kids, and see how they lived. It was truly a life changing experience.


This girl she’s staring, her big brown eyes
Can see my caring, I feel her cry
She looks at me, with a broken smile
My heart is tearing, I love this child

Broken and abandoned, this sad, dirty girl
Helpless and forsaken, unknown to the world
But my God is with her, He loves His child
God will never leave her, He loves her smile

I feel so empty, I feel so weak
I’d do anything to help her, I’m on my knees
Please God help me, do anything at all
Help your daughter, help this child

Worshiping God in Today's Changing World

This an article-ish thing that I wrote for my English class, and I like it, so I'm sharing it. It was weird, but I was going to revise it tonight, and I had a worship-focused bible study tonight where we talked about a lot of the same things that I speak of in the article. I just thought it was interesting how that worked out. Anyways, here it is:

Worshiping God in Today's Changing World

I believe that God deserves our best. However, I feel that, when faced with changes in society, many churches tend to settle for mediocrity. When I say churches, I don’t mean solely Christian churches. I’m speaking of any religion, whether Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, or to some degree even Atheism. People are resistant to change, and thus so are their belief systems. This is particularly prevalent in worship styles.

If there is one thing I have noticed about worship, it’s that worship is diverse. I have seen worship using only a choir; I have seen it done with chants; I have seen it with an organ and hymnals. In contrast, I have also been to rock shows where the whole purpose of the concert was worship; I have been to churches that have played blues, rock, country, and rap. There are literally infinite ways to worship. Throughout my experience, there has been only one thing constant: the unwavering glory that people are giving to whatever God that they are worshiping.

Many people tend to believe that they have the only “right” worship style. That is, if someone who is used to worship using an organ and hymnals were to go to a Christian rock show, the last thing on their minds would be worship. What I want to say is that there is no one style of worship that God enjoys best. He loves it all. But where does that leave churches when trying to attend to their congregations’ needs?

What churches need to remember is that, as there is no one correct worship style, there is also no one correct church. There are other churches that are preaching the exact same message as yours. That said, I believe that churches need to be uncompromising when it comes to worship styles. They need to choose a style with their intended audience in mind. For example, I attend Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa. Because it is right next to a college, their intended audience is, of course, college students, and their worship style is rock. They understand that they cannot make everyone happy. If anyone disagrees, they can go somewhere else that suits them better. As long as the church is not a cult, there will be others that have the same beliefs.

Churches need to be uncompromising in worship. No matter what, the goal is always to give God the best we have. That is the definition of worship. I believe that people can learn to worship in any way, but they always give their best when they are enjoying it.

Choices

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and I'd really like to get some other people's feedback to the question. Exactly how much of what we do, think, and feel is a choice that we make, and how much of it can we not control?

I believe definitely that everything that we do is a choice. When someone has to either rebuke their faith or be killed, they still have two options. Later they will say "I had no choice," but in truth their options were to either sin by rebuking God and live, or stay faithful and die a martyr. I firmly believe that we have complete control over all of our actions.

Thoughts, in my experience, are generally thought of as uncontrollable. I disagree with that. I believe that they, like actions, can be completely controlled, though it may be a lot harder. My basis for these convictions comes from the ten comandments, and the knowledge that we will never be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. Obviously, there are many passages telling us how to act. Also, one of the ten commandments is "Do not covet." Coventing is not an action, it is a thought. It is actually a fairly tough thought to control. Yet God commands us not to do it, therefore we must have the ability to control it.

Now to the question I've been wondering about: can we control how and what we feel? God commands us to love everyone. So we can "feel" love towards anyone. We do have that choice. But a lot of what I have seen suggests that love is a combination of actions and thoughts, not a feeling. I'm talking about agape love - love that is unconditional. But what about the other feelings? Can we really choose to like or dislike someone? What about the other forms of love, such as eros (romantic) and storge (friendship)? I definitely believe that we can choose who our friends are, but could we really simply change our minds and all of a sudden be friends with that person in class that we can't stand? How about eros? Is it possible to simply choose not to have a crush on that girl four rows in front of you in lecture? How about feelings other than love? Do we have the ability to just choose not to be happy, sad, angry, etc?

Anyway, that's been on my mind the last few days. I'm curious to hear anyone else's thoughts on the issue.

The First

Alright so this is obviously my first post. I am going to basically use this blog to communicate my thoughts(thus the name) on.... anything. I love to just take time to get away and think and pray. Since I've gotten to college, I really haven't had a lot of time like that. It really is relaxing, and recently I've taken steps to make time to do it. Here's a few times I've done it recently:

I'm in the Iowa State freshman honors program, and last weekend we had a "retreat" that lasted all of... friday night. woo-hoo... Anyway, we did various activites until around midnight, at which point we were told that the entertainment for the rest of the night would be a hypnotist. That was cool for about ten minutes, but then I decided to go outside and just think, pray, and stargaze. It was a beautiful night. I thought about friends, classes, God, and anything else that randomly came to mind. At one point I actually figured out that it was possible to make hydrocloric acid using drinking water and electricity. Anyway, that was great, and the most relaxed I'd felt for several weeks. I saw eight shooting stars.

Sunday night after freshman group I was feeling... reflective. Around 11 I decided to go for a walk, but I didn't get very far. I just laid in the RCA courtyard and, again, watched the stars. I laid there for about an hour, just thinking and praying. There's just something about nature that fascinates me. This time it got cloudy as I watched, but I was able to witness the entire sky cloud over, then watch it become completely clear again. It was amazing.

The next day I was going to visit a friend at Wartburg College. It's about a two hour drive each way, so I had a lot of time to just spend with God. I was really disappointed when the visit was cancelled about 10 minutes into the drive, but I really wanted the alone time, so I just kept driving. I really didn't know where I wanted to go, so I ended up sticking with the original plan and driving to Waverly and back. The way there was fairly uneventful, but I blasted worship music in my car and pretty much sang for the full two hours. On the way back, I decided to turn the music off and sit in silence. I wasn't disappointed. Again, I love nature. As I was driving, I drove through a thunderstorm for about half an hour, then, as I broke throught the storm, the sun was setting right in front of me. It was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. It had every color of the rainbow in it- blue, red, green, yellow, purple, orange. It was amazing. I've never seen green in a sunset before.