Live, Love LOUD...DNOW 2009 is coming!

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DNOW 2009 FORM

Don't forget to check out the videos...

And the Oscar goes to...

How well do you know your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? How well do you know anyone you are close to?

I was great at putting on a show and wearing a facade (look it up, very cool word) so that people would not know the real me. All through High School and College I put on the show. I was actually very good at it! I could have won an Oscar!

It is hard for people to peel back the layers, to really reveal themselves to you. It takes time in this impatient world. When it comes to relationships, we need to sit back and listen and watch. Take a hard look at the person you would like to hang out with. What are they like on good days and bad days? We are all too easy to kiss first and ask questions later...

I am really stoked about a new book that just came out that covers this entire area so well:

B4UD8

"Before You Date"

Check it out...

Here is LOVE...

From the Sunday School lesson and the upcoming DNow and the Ladies Tea...

As I was reading over the Sunday School lesson, this song hit me like a ton of bricks.

If you have never heard this song, take a long listen and then let me know what you think!

Here is love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heav'n's eternal days

On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains opened deep and wide
Through the floodgates of God's mercy
Flowed a vast a gracious tide
Grace and love, like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above
And Heav'n's peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love

Chorus:
No love is higher, no love is wider
No love is deeper, no love is truer
No love is higher, no love is wider
No love is like Your love, o Lord 

Attraction...What are you attracted to?

I like tall red heads...ok, tall redheads named Mala!  Seriously, have you ever thought about the things that you are attracted to?  We tend to think of attraction as an opposite sex things..."He's hot, She's hot".  Not just the opposite sex, but the things you surround yourself with.  What are some of those things?

Here is a quick list of things that I surround myself with and thus, am attracted to:

God: His goodness and Faithfulness blow me away everyday.  He never quits and never gives up on me.

Morals: I like moral things, I do not like foul language or dirty jokes.  I do not like slander or gossip.  God has made all of these things stand out more when I see them or hear them. I want to stay away from it all.

Family: I like hanging out with my family and I love spending time with my wife.

Job/Youth Ministry: It is not a job if you love doing what you do.

Music: I like music that is about God or reminds me about God.  I like to sing worship and think, all at the same time!

Technology: I like the things that make life easier and more fun.  I love the internet, but protect myself.  I love my cell phone, but I don't answer it when I am having dinner or on a date my wife.  Use the things of this world, but use them wisely!

Sweet Tea: I drink two things, sweet tea and water.

Video Games: I really have not been able to play as much lately.  Just seems there are more important things to do.  I do love playing, just been busy.

So, here is the point, what does your list look like?  Would your friends approve?  Would God approve?  Are you attracted to the things of God?

Song of Songs 1:9-11

 ⁹ You are as exciting, my darling,
      as a mare among Pharaoh’s stallions.
 ¹⁰ How lovely are your cheeks;
      your earrings set them afire!
   How lovely is your neck,
      enhanced by a string of jewels.
 ¹¹ We will make for you earrings of gold
      and beads of silver.

Solomon is excited and attracted.  He notices every little detail about his love.  More about attraction on Wednesday night...

God's Design for Dating...What are you looking for?

Have you ever thought about the qualities you want in a spouse?  Are you searching for a Christian?  Are you searching for someone "hot"?  Are you looking for a brainiac?  We all can learn something from Song of Songs 1:5-6...

I am dark but beautiful,
      O women of Jerusalem—
   dark as the tents of Kedar,
      dark as the curtains of Solomon’s tents.
 ⁶ Don’t stare at me because I am dark—
      the sun has darkened my skin.
   My brothers were angry with me;
      they forced me to care for their vineyards,

      so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard.

Solomon thought his love was beautiful, even though she did not.  He thought she was perfect even though she could see her flaws.  Solomon found something better and more important than beauty...

More on this come Wednesday night at OverFlow!

God's Design for Dating

So we began a new series last night based on Song of Songs that will focus on dating!  It was an incredible night with great worship and a great skit (thanks Chris and Nicole!).  Over the next few weeks I will verses and thoughts from Song of Songs.  If you have not ever read the book, read it!  Start here:

SONG OF SONGS

Song of Songs 1:1

"This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other."

This is the best of over 1000 songs that Solomon wrote.  Why is it the best?  It is about love, purity, purpose and honoring God.  It is a love song for Solomon's first true love.  It is poetry, lyrical, sweet words with deep meanings.

Song of Songs 1:2-4

Kiss me and kiss me again,
      for your love is sweeter than wine.
How fragrant your cologne;
      your name is like its spreading fragrance.
      No wonder all the young women love you!
Take me with you; come, let’s run!
      The king has brought me into his bedroom.

It is passion with restraint.  It is excitement for what God is doing and what God has in-store!  It is an example of love that Christ shows us each day.

Jellyfish

No, not the kind that roam the sea, but the band. One of the best bands you have never heard of. Jelly fish is one of the bands that put out a couple of great albums, got fed up with the music industry and totally quit. I am a huge music fan and will sometimes get stuck on a song that will just not leave my tiny brain. Last night my daughter Sara had me play a Jelly fish song (I think because she liked the album cover) and it has been ringing in my head ever since.

The song is called Ghost Number One and was released in 1993. Great song that focuses on PRIDE and the devastation that PRIDE can cause.

Proverbs 11:2 "Pride comes, then the fall."
Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall."

Let me give you just a couple of the lyrics, then sit back and enjoy...

Ugly apparition, God's gift to oxygen
The puffed up immortal son
How they love him cause he'll become
The ghost at number one

How does it feel
To be the only one?
How does it feel
To be the only one that knows that you're right?
How does it feel
To be so deep down underground?
How does it feel
To be the only one who knows you've been buried alive?

Just one of those nights...one of those really cool nights!

OverFlow was incredible last night!  If you missed it, here is a little recap...

Last night was the last part of a series called "Something to Fight For".  We focused on fighting for Time last night.  The message was convicting for myself as I prepared becuase I focused on the things that I struggle with.  You may or may not struggle with the same issues:

Busyness

Laziness

Priorities

The overall focus of the night was BREAKING THROUGH all that keeps us away from our Savior.  Life is short, how are we living it?

Job 14:1

"How frail is humanity!  How short is life, how full of trouble!"

The night ended with Autry breaking through 3 board with his fist!  Totally AWESOME!

This song by Ryan Carson pretty much sums it all up:

Stands Forever...Day 21

Isaiah 40:8
"The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever."

No other book has sold more, been read more and has stood up against time and attacks.  It is inspired by God and is a living breathing part of Him!

John 1:1

"In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God."

What a great reminder after a great weekend of learning and growing at the men's conference!  We have instructions from God that will never fade, that will never grow old, that will never become irrelevant!  The Word of God, STANDS FOREVER!