God is really amazing me here lately. tuesday night bible study was too good, people were really sharing their hearts and i honestly believe that God showed up and touched lives in some way.

so im off to camp here pretty soon. i got the job (another act of God). its gonna be awesome. im way too excited but its pretty bittersweet cause im leaving a lot of my friends for 7-8 weeks. ill be back on weekends hopefully.

here is a great video of a new favorite blues artist of mine doing a johnny cash cover. you all should recognize this one.



God is love.

-mike

blessings in disguise

so frustration led into total and complete worship tonight. its a long story but the basic rundown goes: we were asked to play a couple songs for the whole church tonight for a special service. at first we were too loud and we weren't really sure if we could really play any quieter. time was running low seeing that we were going to be going prayer walking around the community within the next 30 minutes. so as a band we decided that if we were even going to play (most of us were set on not playing cause we were too frustrated and in the wrong mindset to lead any type of worship service) we should atleast stick together and get back at the same time. we walked around the community and prayed for the families living in the neighborhood we were assigned and at the end we all met back up and prayed in a circle in the neighborhoods little community center area thing (i really dont quite know what it was, it looked like a gazebo with a parking lot). we prayed first of all as a group for the community and secondly for guidance on whether or not we should play. on the way back to the church i wasnt even still sure if we should play but when we got to the church we talked about it and decided just to go through with it. the first song was hosanna by hillsong united. it went very well and people seemed to be responding. we closed the set with in christ alone which is a great, awesome hymn. by the third verse i heard atleast 15-20 people start clapping and really just praising God. we finished that last verse and chorus and pastor looked at us and said "play that last verse again" and so we did and it got even more of a response. im not quite sure what it looked like cause i dont even think i had my eyes open for any of that song but i do remember hearing many, many voices singing loudly. it was pretty powerful. God really showed up and took our frustration right out of us and turned it to joy, praise, and worship. its funny how some of the best worship services always seem to start with a very bleak outlook.

i will possibly be working at a christian camp this summer leading worship. a friend asked me if i would be interested. the funny thing was, 5 minutes before she asked that i was praying that God would help me find a job for the summer. the best part is that the guy thats over the praise band at this camp is the same guy i led worship with at the channel (a christian coffee shop here in town) for a bible study they did on sunday nights around christmas. it was a blessing and a half.

tomorrow im recording some cello parts for my friends new cd. (you can check her music here) she wasn't too happy with the way the first cd sounded so shes making another run at it and hopefully we'll have some of the new stuff up by the end of the summer. im pretty stoked about it. i recorded some for her last year but shes got some great new songs, some worship, some just about life, and some about love. its a good healthy mix. recording from 10-3ish and then maybe a cookout at my house with some friends and then definitely a bonfire with some smoreage goin down (if smoreage is even a word).

three words on my weekend so far: God is good.

three words to always keep in mind: God is love.

-mike

busy busy...

sorry i haven't posted in a while. its been quite busy round these parts. things are going good. im really excited for our co-worker bible study on tuesday night. we did our first one last week and one of the main guys that i was trying to reach out to talked to me this weekend and he said that he got a lot out of it. i was glad to see that God is starting to move in his life (again or maybe for the first time? im not sure). but i really dont have the time to spell out the whole week, nor would you want to read all of that mess. so in its place im going to leave you with the video of a very favorite band of mine.

Anathallo - Kasa No Hone

im going to the hospital today. one of our older members in the church is having a pretty serious surgery and is not guaranteed to make it off the surgery table. its all been pretty short notice seeing that he just found all this out about a week or so ago. its things like these that make you think of what you're doing with your life. he was pretty optimistic about the whole thing. he said if the worst that could happen is he goes to see his God and his wife then so be it. i think this is the root of faith. when you have nothing left and you know that its going to be ok. please pray sometime between now and this afternoon (4 pm on 5/14/08). i will be with some of our pastors and i would imagine some other members from the church. hopefully we'll have a big prayer session before we get any news. i would love to see a miracle but Gods will is going to be done either way.

God IS love. remember that.

-mike

honey nut cheerios...

just finished a bowl of them...pretty good stuff. i highly suggest checking them out.

so the past week has been a lot of fun. i have had my fair share of hanging out with friends, playing guitar, eating, sleeping (or lack thereof), longboarding, driving, working, and playing "sorry" (the board game). its been pretty classic if you ask me.

tomorrow is the first day of our bible study with our co-workers. i really hope and pray that God and his Spirit show up and move in big ways (or little ways, we'd love to see either). im kind of nervous to see how many and who shows up but i know that whatever the outcome it is strictly what God wants of it for that night. im not completely sure what is going to happen since it is the first one. it might be one of us talking the whole time or it might be a huge group discussion (more of what we're hoping for). i would rather it be discussion based cause i really would like to find out more of where my co-workers are at with their walk.

im excited for this weekend. our friend julie from work is turning 20 and she is having a 1920's themed party. im probably gonna wear my suit with my black fedora hat. it should be a good time. if im lucky maybe there will be finger foods. pigs in a blanket, cookies, chips. if you want to get really fancy with your finger foods you get chicken fingers, cheese squares, crackers for the cheese squares to go alongside, and some off the wall dessert that no one really has ever had but eventually comes to love. im still gonna look good no matter what. :)

"i will not keep silent, my salvation reigns in me!" - fixed til tuesday

God bless.

-mike

staying up WAY too late...

and that is quite literally what i have been doing since wednesday night. staying up waaaaay too late. its been too much fun though. ive been hanging out with some friends of mine from work and getting to meet a lot of new people (their friends). it tends to mostly be something completely random and off the wall like going to play tag on the playground equipment but the only rule is you cant touch the mulch or you are it (a lot harder than it sounds), or playing ultimate frisbee at the ymca around 11 or 12 at night, or even just playing cranium turbo til 3 in the morning. i definitely dont know my fair share of barry manilow songs so when the "humdinger" card gets picked and someone has to hum "copacabana" and the whole team is depending on my point, that point usually doesn't get earned. oh well. we had fun.

im excited for this tuesday, im going to my first atlanta braves game with alyse, will, wimberly, and amanda. it should be a good time.

our bible study that we are planning on doing with our co-workes is probably gonna be focused around romans. it seems to be just a good all around book that can apply to a lot of things that people are dealing with.


im worn out so im going to bed, its about 1:45 right now and ive already tore up my leg longboarding as well as fell off the slack line this evening and popped my head on the ground, neither felt good to say the least. but my friend josh did manage to get some good pics of us skating today.

God is love.

-mike