Crisp, cool mountain air.

We're in Knoxville this week. I really miss living in Tennessee. There's something intoxicating about the mountain air. It just has it's own vibe. To wake up in summer and need a jacket is something I miss. 

When I think about it, the best years of my childhood were spent in Sewanee, Tennessee while my dad was attending seminary. Right when I was let out of school, my little buddies and I would spend hours and hours in the woods, doing the things that 10 year old boys do. We made forts, of course. I would be outside until it was dark and then I would watch Xena Warrior Princess. Yes I was a nerd then as well. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about my memory and how horrible it is. I really don't remember much at all. I'll recall some random things, but my memory is never chronological or organized. However, my memories of Sewanee are different. It's like the one place in time where I can have orderly memories about the 2 1/2 years I lived there. Interesting. 

This week has been awesome. I've some amazing worship experiences. It's been those times when I completely forget that 300 people are there with me. It's been just me, my guitar, and the Lord. No hindrances and no distractions. Just raw and unadulterated worship of my Creator and my Lord. Amen!

Some coffee places of interest if you are ever traveling.

Hunstville, Alabama - Stearns Coffee

Knoxville, TN - Old City Java 

    Coffee and Chocolate

Peace!

Washing Clothes.

It pays to be small.

I guess.

So we were bored while washing clothes in the laundromat. I slowly began to wonder whether I could fit inside the dryer. I can. It's a good thing it has wireless internet, I'm posting this from the dryer. Believe it.

I feel so inspired.

"Ode to the Dryer Seat"

I'm stuck, I'm stuck, Oh my oh my

In a place where things come to dry.

I wonder if I'll ever get out

In this place of eventual drought.

My friends, they said they'd open the door

But they laugh as I'm stuck in this waterless drawer.

Man I am so weird.

Augusta. Good times.

I'm still in Augusta. We've got a day off. 

It's a good day. Got to sleep in, made some coffee in my french press (after lunch), ran some errands with the band, now I'm sitting in Metro Coffeehouse listening to Coldplay and drinking a lovely cappuccino. Life is good. I'm very easily pleased. 

New. Coldplay. Album. Changed my life. Every track has spoken to me. I've actually gotten closer to the Lord by listening. Beautiful music always leads me into a worshipful state. Enough said. Listen and enjoy. Cry, laugh, rejoice and repeat. 

I've been reading the Lord of the Rings books. I'm on book two. This is classic literature. It's amazing to me that Tolkien  created this entire world from nothing. It's one thing to write a story that's set in 18th century London or the French Revolution. He created a world in these books. And not just that, an entire culture was created along with language and customs. Amazing. What a literary genius! The movies are good, but the books open up a different world in my mind as I read them. Take the time to read them. 

Bigger.

God is much larger than the parameters in which I place Him. 

This week is the start of the summer for me. The band is playing a string of camps, and I'll be on the road until the end of July basically. I'm finding the wider I can keep my eyes upon God the better. The moment I try to place boundaries, even ones that aren't necessarily bad, they are always broken to pieces by his power and sovereignty. I'm finding that even language has its extreme limitations. The words which are placed in books about God, the lyrics of songs written for God, the words of the messages and sermons about God still fall short linguistically describing God's greatness and glory. A God that is truly as big and as powerful as our God is will never be adequately described. 

I think one of the aspects of God's character that is simply impossible for my small brain to fathom is infinite. Every aspect of God's nature is endless and limitless. How can this be? How is this possible? One of the reasons it's so impossible to understand is that it doesn't exist anywhere else. Everything on earth depends on something else for its existence or it fades to nothing. God is infinite in that he depends on nothing else to exist. His love is infinite in that it goes to unthinkable and painful lengths to bring us into communion with Him. 

And I find that anytime I'm following a God I've placed inside of a box, he breaks out in a way that proves that he is so much bigger than anything I could ever imagine. 

All of this came to me tonight during the worship service. We were playing Amazing God I believe, which is song that is very dear to my heart and the Lord always uses it to speak to me. But I thought about the title. The word amazing and its many uses. I use the word amazing to say "Wow this cake is amazing" or "You are wearing cowboy boots. That's amazing", etc. When I get to heaven, I hope there is a complete set of words, phrases, sounds that can ONLY be used to describe the Lord. That can't exist here because we would tarnish the beauty of that hidden language, but I long to call upon God with words that only could be used in the context of describing the Almighty. 

"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few." Ecclesiastes 5:2

I think being a God-praiser should define one's life, but when we come before the Lord, I believe that should start with reverent silence. We must come to Him as a friend, but also remember He is the Lord and Creator of the universe and should be treated and spoken to accordingly. A music teacher of a friend of mine use to start all the rehearsals by saying, "Music begins with silence". I think the same applies to our present ourselves to God. Give him room to talk. Give him the silence of our hearts to say what He needs to say. Odds are, it's more important.  

Thinking about summer. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I'm a musician. Everyday is a Saturday.

So the fact that summer is here doesn't necessarily bring me to tears of joy. It used to, yes, but now its just the time where its unbearably hot and humid. The best thing about summer to me is that we are on the road more than any other time of the year. I leave in less than a week and will be more or less till August. That is the best part of summer.

Here are a few reasons why summer is not my flava fav:

1. not really a fan of the beach (no that's not blasphemy as some would say). I just like the mountains. If I had a beach house I would dig the beach. A place where I could wake up, drink coffee over the sunrise then sit around and read to watch the sunset. But I do not. I don't like sitting on a beach getting absolutely cooked by the sun and then being covered in sand for the rest of the day. But thats just me.

2. two words: Southern heat. Summer in the south is a lot different from many other places. I think people don't get it when we talk of humidity. I mean its thick out there. Thick and wet. Showering in the morning is pointless, because you will sweat the moment you walk out the door. "It's a dangerous business, going out of your door" (Bilbo baggins - Lord of the Rings) Thats exactly how I feel. 

3. I like wearing jeans and boots. It's just my thing. When's its 100 degrees outside, its just not fun. 

4. Adventures are hard to come by in the summer, because its just too hot.

5. The only time to do things is from 8am-10am and then from 7pm-whenever. Given that I get up at 10, half of the outdoor day is gone.

Sorry to rant and I apologize if I've offended any "Just living for the summer" types. I will gladly read your thoughts on winter. 

I've listened to nothing but Coldplay this past week or so. Through ways I won't utter, I got the album early. It is absolutely amazing. It's perfect. Buy it the day it comes out and listen to the whole thing, start to finish a few times. It may change your life, for it changed mine. They are making history. The last track is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever listened to. 

Summer tour starts on SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!! take me there. Now.

A look at the thoughts of the past.

Today I spent some time reading a journal of mine that has been written in from my Freshman year of college all the way up to the present. When I say journal, I don't mean a daily journal. I don't really have the discipline for that as I wish I did. I journal about once a week. Or a few times a month during busy times. It's encouraging to read, however not easy. It's nice to revisit joyous times but it is rewarding to relive hard and confusing times. It's the times where I am really struggling with God about something or having questions about things that really make me who I am. Granted, they aren't so pleasant in the present, but when they move to past their importance becomes visible.  I've changed a lot in some ways, and in some ways not at all. I can't be disappointed in either because it's who I am. I'm quite happy with that. I guess it is hard to believe that God is present in all seasons of life. When the hard, terrible, and confusing experiences of life seem to consume us, it is so easy to forget that God still has control.

Over Everything.   

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17

I'm not in one of those places right now. My days begin and end with a smile. But hard times are ahead. That's just life. It's important to be ready for those trials and periods of peril. It's easy to rely on the Lord when times are easy, but it becomes difficult when it doesn't seem as if He's there. So let the periods of joy and sorrow work together to bring me to a deeper faith and a better knowledge of God's never ending love and provision.  May the examination of these periods become the framework to the augmentation of faith. 

"An unexamined life is not worth living" - The one and only Socrates. 

A visit to the Doctor.

I've had a sore throat for a while. I don't really believe in going to the doctor every time I have a little ache or a little discomfort, but when you can't even swallow, it's time. I always have a hard time admitting that's it is time to see the doc. I think that's because the doctor experience is so uncomfortable. Granted, I really like my two doctors, but even with a great doctor you are still going to feel like a specimen that is being examined because well, that's what is happening. I prefer to be the one observing people, not the one being scrutinized.  But this is the way these things are, so this is what I experienced this morning. 

One word entered my head as I walked into the office and waited. 

Remedy.

I was taking a visit to alleviate physical, temporal, earthly discomforts and pains. There is nothing a doctor can do to heal a broken heart or a longing soul. Neither can a psychologist, as much as they may attest to that fact. While sitting in the room waiting for the doctor to come in, I felt relieved. For I knew this pain would soon be dealt with and healed regardless of how trivial it is compared the real pains of people around the world without healthcare (thank God). I thought about all the people in this world that are sitting in that same room, but their wounds are much deeper. Their scars much more prominent in their life. The tragedy in all of this is that for many people, the doctor is anything but Christ. The healer may be anything from a relationship to Oprah. Yet they soon find that these things aren't fixing the hurts inside. They are not being healed. They aren't even being helped. The symptoms of the real issues are simply being diluted by "positive thoughts" or "self-help" items. The truth is that Christ and Christ alone is the remedy of the world. He alone can be, for He's the only one that has died for the hurts and pains of the entire world. 

I think that's part of what Jesus means when he says,  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." Matthew 11:28-30

The beautiful thing is that we don't have to earn this healing, we just have to accept it. What a loving and caring Savior to whom we cling.

Remedy through Christ.

The following is a beautiful poem by Langston Hughes entitled "Litany".

Gather up,

in the arms of your pity

The sick, the depraved,

The desperate, the tired,

all the scum of our weary city.

Gather up 

In the arms of your pity. 

Gather up 

In the arms of your love

Those who expect

No love from above. 

P.S. Check out Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken's EP called Ampersand. Beautiful.