back...

its been a while. sorry.

spanish and english have been kicking my butt this semester. it seems that i always have an essay due in english and im definitely struggling to conjugate and form sentences in spanish. i mean im starting to mix the two together and trying to put spanish verbs into my english essays and its just not working out. im losing my mind.

since the last post i've been blessed with the opportunity to play in a band called the lilies and sparrows. we have been playing a bunch of shows and writing a bunch of songs. we came out with a short cd of about 5 songs and we sold somewhere around 100-120. we have another shipment on the way. our upcoming shows are going to be pretty sweet. in may we're opening for sequoyah prep school (again, the first time was fun) and we are booked the first three fridays of april.

my birthday is coming up soon and im going to be in charleston. i cant wait. relaxation, hanging with old friends, and longboarding will abound. so ready.

im currently applying to anderson university for music ministry. hopefully ill get it all in on time and they will think im awesome so they will accept me. who knows. if its where God wants me to be then im sure ill be there.

going bowling tomorrow in anderson with some new friends. should be good times since its seventies themed.

as for now, i must head out.

God is love.

-mike

its been a while...

so camp was amazing.

i learned two things while i was at camp:

1. i now have a better understanding of spiritual warfare.

2. im able to do way more work with no energy left than i thought i would be able to do.


ive never been so spiritually attacked in my entire life. i was pretty much sick from week one. its amazing to see God take over where you know you cant go on. i got to a point that i had nothing left to give. no energy, no uplifting spirit, nothing. thats how it was every morning. it never failed that by the end of the day my selfish ambitions had gotten pushed aside by God and had been replaced with an energy and excitement only from Him.

it was definitely an experience and i hope that i get the chance to go back next year. there will be a lot of staff that wont be coming back but i think its just something about that camp that im drawn to aside from the people that work there.

even though the summer is over and im kind of bummed im not getting up every day to hang out with kids at the pool or play and sing in the chapel, im definitely glad to be back and be helping out at church and get my life on the road as far as going to a 4 year college. im looking to transfer out to anderson university here in the spring. i plan on majoring in music education and teaching in schools or private lessons. im still not sure about that part but i know i want to teach instrumental music.

hopefully ill have more time to update now. until next time.

"whatever You're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos, somehow its peace." - sanctus real

God is love.

-mike

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