Little Brother

Jesus, remember the little girl who asked you to keep all your children from harm.
Well, I found out my mother doesn't want my baby brother.
At least, I'm hoping it's a boy; you see, he's not been born.
Please don't let them hurt my little brother.
He should have a chance to run and play.
He's too small to talk, so Jesus I am asking for him.
Please don't let them take his life away.
Tonight, when Mommy went to bed,
I turned and laid my head down on her and I think I felt a move.
So I just cried and whispered, "Baby this is your big sister.
And I pray with all my hear that you will live."
Jesus, please don't let them hurt my little brother.
He should have a chance to run and play.
Let him see the sunshine, let him know a mother's love.
Don't let them take his life away.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the unborn children you will keep.
But if they should die before they're born,
I pray you'll take them in your arms.
Jesus, please protect the little unborn children.
They have every right to run and play.
But they're too small to talk, so Jesus we are asking for them.
Let them live to see the light of day.
Please protect the little unborn children.
They have every right to run and play.
But they're too small to talk, so we are asking for them.
Let them live to see the light of day.
Jesus, keep my brother safe, I pray.
© 1988 Judy Rogers

Are we only human when we can speak for ourselves?
A rapper, Nick Cannon, has the video at the bottom of this post, it's such a beautiful story.
God has a way of healing situations that look impossible to the human eye, even for those who aren't saved. His mercy is great. And He can heal so much.

Awesome Passage

Rom 9:16-24 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

All glory goes to God

It's raining and i'm overjoyed. I love the heightened colours and the change in scents and the chill bite of the air when it rains. I'm sitting on my bed looking out the window and listening to music and i heard this song and thought I'd post the lyrics. :) It's a good call to think. And repent and love our God for all he's done for us.

"Hosea's Wife"

I just spoke silence with the seeker next to me
She had a heart with hesitant, halting speech
That turned to mine and asked belligerently
"What do I live for?"

I see the scars of searches everywhere I go
From hearts to wars to literature to radio
There's a question like a shame no one will show
"What do I live for?"

We are Hosea's wife
We are squandering this life
Using people like ladders and words like knives

[CHORUS]
If we've eyes to see
If we've ears to hear
To find it in our hearts and mouths
The word that saves is near
Shed that shallow skin
Come and live again
Leave all you were before
To believe is to begin

There is truth in little corners of our lives
There are hints of it in songs and children's eyes
It's familiar, like an ancient lullaby
What do I live for?

We are Hosea's wife
We are squandering this life
Using bodies like money and truth like lies

[CHORUS]

[Bridge]
We are more than dust
That means something
That means something
We are more than just
Blood and emotions
Inklings and notions
Atoms on oceans

Ooh, I think I'm in love. :D

Well, the time of the year is here when even the most staunch resistors will allow the playing of Christmas music. :D My life this week has been pretty much consumed by Christmas music, as my choir, The Collegiate Singers, is holding Christmas concerts every night this week and a few of the daytimes too. :D But with all the old favorites coming out this month, I stumbled across a new favorite...yes, i'm completely revealing my extremely nerdy side, but here it is, (and i haven't heard all of them yet, but here are a few.... Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you..... (drum roll please...or at least the stomp of stormtrooper boots)....

Christmas in the Stars!

A Star Wars Christmas
(they got Anthony Daniels as the voice of 3PO!!)









(That one actually had a young Jon Bon Jovi singing in the choir...yah, this is a rather old album)





(There's a few more at imeem if you look, Christmas in the Stars, or The Star Wars Christmas Album)
Heehee :D

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim...

{Warning: Citizen Kane Spoilers ahead}

Do you ever have one of those times in your life when it seems like everywhere you go you get some saying or concept repeatedly pounded into your head? Like the preacher on sunday morning will say a phrase, then you visit a different church that night and the preacher there says the exact same thing, and you read a book that happens to say something about it, and it just keeps showing up over and over again?

For me lately the concept I can't seem to get away from is summed up in the phrase "You'll never see a hearse pulling a U-haul." As cliched as i feel that phrase is getting because of the fact that I've heard it 3+ times in the last few weeks from totally unrelated sources, familiarity doesn't diminish the truth.

I just finished watching Citizen Kane for my Film History class. Each week i watch 2 movies and sometimes write a paper on them. Citizen Kane is a film that I have heard often referred to, or seen it linked in passing on wikipedia. I think once I read the summary or in reading a list of famous movie quotes read up on the quote "Rosebud." Regardless of having known something about the movie in the past, when I started watching the movie today I didn't remember almost anything about the plot. I had heard varying reports about the movie, i know that it was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, but i had also heard that it was not a very enjoyable film. I settled in to--very objectively, of course--discover for myself an opinion on this classic film. As I watched the life story of Charles Foster Kane unfold, I enjoyed it, in the way that i might enjoy reading a biography...my pleasure in reading those fluctuates...I watched with some interest and was happy to see that the film was not boring as I'd feared it might be. As the film builds it tells the story of this man who is in many ways living the "American Dream." He starts low, has a Horatio Alger like adoption by a wealthy benefactor, builds businesses, gets women, and basically has everything he could want, which is of course the definition of utter happiness, right? Of course right. Thank you Yente. (excuse me...where was I? Ah, yes.) As Kane nears the end of his life (and incidentally the beginning and end of the film) he amasses huge amounts of art, jewels, and even builds a mountain palace that he dubs Xanadu after Kublai Khan's great palace in ancient China. By many standards he has reached the pinnacle of success, his riches are great, his grain silos are full, he can eat drink and be merry with no fear for a tax on his wallet, he probably owns the people that make the money.
Charles Foster Kane has built a kingdom, he has the woman he wants, he uses the people around him, he basically has everything he wants, but in the last 15 minutes of the film, something changes. His kingdom does not satisfy, his wife leaves, and he dies. After his death, his vast fortune is catalogued by appraisers, and it was all worth so much money. Yet, he died alone and sad. Like they said in another movie I saw this week (Quantum of Solace) "Everybody dies alone." (Regardless of what they had or who they were) What did his kingdom give him in the end? Does wealth make one happy? If money can indeed buy happiness, Charles Kane should have died of laughter or of pure bliss because he had everything he ever wanted. He didn't though, he died a sad mean old man hated by many and beloved by none. In the end his posessions are sold and some are burned. They'll all burn eventually.
I was surprised by such a powerful message from this film. The verse came to mind from Matthew 16:23 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?" Kane had everything, the money, the relationships, the palaces (literally), but he didn't ever know the truths found here. In Matthew 16:20-21 "Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." A life without Christ is worthless and a life without knowing His love and the joy and peace He gives is breathtakingly sad.
Don't live your life in pursuit of posessions and "the American dream." That's not life. They won't last. "Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing" [Luke 12:23] Seek after God's kingdom and his righteousness and He will freely supply everything you need. Serve Him with every fiber of your being and give every bit of your life over to His control. An eternal reward is a good motivator. "One's life does not consist in the abundance of his posessions" [Luke 12:15] Don't lose eternity for things that don't matter. And don't be tied to the things of this world. No thing here matters eternally. Our home is above and our life is seated at the right hand of the Father on high. Don't remember this on your deathbed. Live it out today!

Pure Genius

I'm Sure most of you saw the Dark Knight this summer like i did. Well, today i found something related that i think you'll all enjoy. :D

I love discovering new song/artists that I really like.
Tonight my new find is Brooke Fraser. She's a Hillsong Australia member, and a recording artist in her own right. :)

This is a great song; Lead Me to the Cross

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
Te word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen



To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart