Okay what I have said at the beginning of every weblog so far applies here also aka: I don't own any of the lyrics, etc and what I say is just an interpretation rambling of sorts.  This is probably not going to be the most well orchestrated entry due to my being impatient with myself and with xanga and wanting to jump straight into the subject matter itself.  Okay today we have Twila Paris's "God Is In Control"  Check the playlist at the bottom it should be there. 

This is no time for fear
This is a time for faith and determination
Don't lose the vision here
Carried away by emotion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together

God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
God is in control, oh God is in control

History marches on
There is a bottom line drawn across the ages
Culture can make its plan
Oh, but the line never changes
No matter how the deception may fly
There is one thing that has always been true
It will be true forever

He has never let you down
Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father
Watching over you and me

watching over you...watching over me..
watching over every things..
watching over you..watching over me..
every little sparrow..every little things...

The above is the song lyrics.  The message of this particular song is pretty cut and dry.  Basically "God is in Control".  That is something we need to remember especially these days when there is the threat of economic woes similar to that of the great depression and when there is gas shortages in some places and people are worried about any money they have saved up etc.  To say that things are a chaotic mess would be the understatement of the century. We just have to keep remembering that God is in control and He will take care of his children, but at the same time we have to have faith.  That's the bottom line, He is in control, He knows what is going on, He knows what He is doing, and He will take care of us.

Currently Listening True Beauty By Mandisa God Speaking see related

I am in NO way what so ever making any money off of anything on this weblog.

My purpose here is two fold:

• To minister to the world via my weblog
• To give you my interpretations of what the music means or is saying to me
  • Keep in mind that my interpretation may differ from the original intent of the actual artist
  • Also keep in mind that my grammar and spelling is not what it used to be
  • Keep in mind that, I might post more than one song by certain artists

Music speaks to me in a way that nothing else does. At work in the department I work in I am known for bursting into song much to my co-workers dismay. Just something that one of my co-workers might say sets a song playing in my head. Unfortunately, the music library in my head is much more extensive than the music library on my computer lol. I believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us.  (Please note that the following verse was taken from a website and is not guaranteed to be 100% correct in accordance with the actual Bible which I don't have anywhere near me at the moment to cross reference so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies).

Hello once again.  My apologies for not posting anything last night.  I have not quite decided how to go about this.  Not sure if I should do a daily or a weekly or every other day or what.  Not sure.   If I miss a day here and there, don't panic, I'll be back

With that being said, I also wanted to add that the site that hosts these blogs (xanga) is neat in that you can add comments to blog posts if you feel like it.  You do not have to have a xanga account to leave a comment.  To leave any comment on this site just simply click on either add blessings or add prayers.  I reconfigured the links.  They used to say add eprops and add comments but I found a code somewhere and configured it to fit the site.  

With that being said please note that any spammers will be deleted and possibly blocked from viewing this blog.  (Yes, xanga has that feature).

An additional house keeping note, if I repeat certain artists it's just because I really like the lyrics and well I have other reasons.  But there will be several artists that I will write about more than one of their songs because I really like what the songs say. 

Tonight I have decided to write about Mandisa's song "God Speaking"  You can listen to the song at the music player at the bottom of the page.

Have you ever heard a love song that
Set your spirit free
Have you ever watched a sunrise and
Felt you could not breathe
What if it's Him
What if it's God speaking

Have you ever cried a tear that
You could not explain
Have you ever met a stranger
Who already knew your name
What if it's Him
What if it's God speaking

Who knows how He'll get a hold of us
Get our attention to prove He is enough
He'll do and He'll use
Whatever He wants to
To tell us "I love you"

Have you ever lost a loved one
Who you thought should still be here
Do you know what it feels like
To be tangled up in fear
What if He's somehow involved
What if He's speaking through it all

Who knows how He'll get a hold of us
Get our attention to prove He is enough
He'll do and He'll use
Whatever He wants to
To tell us "I love you"

His ways are higher
His ways are better
Though sometimes strange
What could be stranger
Than God in a manger

Who knows how He'll get a hold of us
Get our attention to prove He is enough
Who knows how He'll get a hold of you
Get your attention to prove He is enough
He'll do and He'll use
Whatever He wants to
To tell us "I love you"

God is speaking
"I love you"

This song really struck a nerve with me.  And I do not mean anything bad by that.  Maybe I should say it made a bit of an impression on me.   Sometimes it's important to just sit back and listen to what God is trying to say to you.  He speaks in so many different ways and through different mediums.  He uses His children to get his message across in different ways.   His timing is impecable also.   Okay for example, I have had a lot on my mind lately in regards to some things that are going on in my life.  And I have been feeling kind of like "how can God love me after this or that".  Even though I know His love goes on no matter what, I still think things like that sometimes.  I mean face it, we as the human race, we don't deserve His love, or His grace but He gives it freely.   But anyway I digress, it was kind of funny how last night I was over at Jamie's.  I left his house probably around midnight.  And I don't know about you but when I'm in the car I have to be listening to music.  If it's a talk show I usually change it because I want to hear the music.  I'm really bad about station hopping.  Some people are channel hoppers during commercials, etc, well I'm a station hopper when it comes to the radio lol.  But anyhow, I left his house and I was driving back to my apartment which I guess you could say is about 20 to 30 minutes away depending upon the route and traffic etc.  I took the long way last night.  But anyway I was in the car and I cranked it up and turned the volume on the radio on.  I had it on 89.3 WBDJ (I think but am not sure those are the call letters for the station, but it is simliar to K-Love, can't pick up K-Love here so it's the next best thing, it's very simliar) and they were not playing music.  They were broadcasting a preacher at the time.  Now normally, I will change it to some music or crank up my ipod.  But for some reason I did not change the station.  I was sitting there driving along and the more I listened to this preacher on the radio the more I felt like this preacher was preaching directly to me because the sermon fit exactly what I was struggling with.  It was almost like God knew I would be in my car right then and would have the radio on.  The timing was just inexplicable.  Here's the thing, normally on Wednesday nights I go to karaoke at a local restaurant that has it every Wednesday, normally I would not be listening to the radio.  I think God knew that.  That sermon was exactly what I needed to hear at that time.  But it's things like that, that just amaze me.  When He wants to tell me something, He just has a way of doing it.  It's like wow I needed to hear that, I was meant to hear that. He speaks to us all sorts of ways if we just take the time to listen.

Currently Listening Rescue By NewSong Rescue see related

I am in NO way what so ever making any money off of anything on this weblog.

My purpose here is two fold:

• To minister to the world via my weblog
• To give you my interpretations of what the music means or is saying to me
  • Keep in mind that my interpretation may differ from the original intent of the actual artist
  • Also keep in mind that my grammar and spelling is not what it used to be
  • Keep in mind that, I might post more than one song by certain artists

Music speaks to me in a way that nothing else does. At work in the department I work in I am known for bursting into song much to my co-workers dismay. Just something that one of my co-workers might say sets a song playing in my head. Unfortunately, the music library in my head is much more extensive than the music library on my computer lol. I believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us.  (Please note that the following verse was taken from a website and is not guaranteed to be 100% correct in accordance with the actual Bible which I don't have anywhere near me at the moment to cross reference so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies).

My apologies for the same introduction as yesterday.  I promise eventually I will design a custom header for the page that will contain all that info so I don't have to repeat it constantly on every post.  I'm just trying not to get sued lol.  Hence the I'm not making any money off of this site bit and attributing the rightful authors/artists names after the works in order to distinguish their work from my thoughts. 

I must admit this blog has been on my mind a lot today I was listening to some music while I was at work today and thinking about what I could right.  And oh my the ideas that came to my mind as to what song I could talk about next and what it's lyrics mean to me. I thought I had it all planned out.  Then a friend sent me a poem in an email (thanks Judie).  The poem was by Maya Angelou or however you spell it.  And I found the perfect song to go with it and to talk about both at the same time.  However I will have to refrain from that at the moment.  I will get to it eventually I promise.  But man oh man the different songs that went through my head today.  There are so many songs out there that just speak of His love, and at the same time tackle many of the issues we have to deal with today.  But ironically enough I'm not choosing to write about any of the songs I thought about earlier.  I will admit I am a scaredy cat. Every since I watched Amityville Horror and The Exorcism of Emily Rose (I slept with my Bible for about six months after that, forget a teddy bear, I was holding on to God lol) I have been abit jumpy.  I also read a book by Billy Graham that confirmed my reason to be jumpy.  So anyway I just heard a loud noise in my apartment that scared me because I could not identify where it was coming from or what had caused it.  Didn't Newton say that for every action there has to be an equal and opposite reaction.  Okay so if I'm in the living room, what in the world is making noises in my kitchen lol.  It certainly got my attention.  So I started playing this song, and then decided hmmmm I can use this for my article.  You can listen to it by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking the song in the music player.  FireFox users I am not sure if the player is compatible with your web browser.  It should start playing. There is a chance it might already be playing, but if Mandisa starts up instead of Rescue you can click on Rescue and play the one that goes with this post. 

The song is by a group called Newsong.  If you are not familiar with them, they sing that popular Christmas song, "The Christmas Shoes".  The song by them I have chosen to write about today is called "Rescue". 

You are the source of life
I can't be left behind
No one else will do
I will take hold of You

I need You Jesus, I need You Jesus

My heart is Yours for life
I need Your hand in mine
No one else will do
Lord I put my trust in You

I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go?
There's no other Name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

My heart is Yours for life
I need Your hand in mine
No one else will do
Lord I put my trust in You

I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go?
There's no other Name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

This world has nothing for me (I will follow You)

I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go?
There's no other Name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

This world has nothing for me (I will follow You)

I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go?
There's no other Name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

If anyone out there reading this has ever been to a Winter Jam concert within the past few years, you will recognize this song as one of the main songs that they play every year.   (Yes, I attempt to go to the Winter Jam concert every year).  Newsong frequently uses this song right before the altar call.  It amazes me every year that I go to that concert that when they are singing the song, you can look around and see people standing up holding their hands in the air eyes closed and singing along.  And of course some are waving their lit cell phones in the air also (much safer than a lighter ya know lol). 

This song means a lot to me.  The first time I heard it was when I got to attend Winter Jam for the first time.  It was amazing.  I kept thinking to myself I have got to download this song.  So I downloaded it from iTunes very shortly after I got home. 

A lot of the times I find myself messing up. Like for instance, this past Sunday was the first time I have been to church in a long time.  Perhaps it was only the second time I had been to church in three months.  Additionally I have only been to church maybe five Sundays this entire year so far.  (I will explain more about the church issue in another blog which will reference a song by Casting Crowns).  So I'm not around that many people of the Christian faith on a daily basis and as a result my life starts to become more worldly, and instead of drawing closer to God like I should be doing, I often times find myself drifting further and further away.  Earlier this year I was dealing with some personal issues (personal as in I'm not telling specifics here) that were pretty big.  I was on a very slippery slope.  I still am on a very slippery slope but that slope has leveled out considerably since then.  I keep finding myself talking to Him about what I'm going through.   At one point earlier this year I had, had it and just threw my hands up in the air and was like please come to my rescue!!!!!!! 

The point I'm trying to make is, with the world we live in today, we are constantly bombarded with worldly temptations (perhaps devil created temptations?) that pull us away from God and potentially drive a wedge between us and God.  Whatever it is you are going through, whatever it is that is driving a wedge between your relationship with Him, let Jesus rescue you.  Have a lot of faith and pray to Him and tell Him what all you are dealing with.  Put it in His very capable hands (which I know is sometimes easier said than done because face it whether we admit it or not we all have trouble with patience).  And also, if you keep messing up or don't even know Him.  He came to the earth to save us from sin. The punishment of sin is death (I'm paraphrasing here).  He died in our place to save us so we might be able to go live with Him one day.   He has come to our Rescue should we choose to accept Him into our hearts.

Currently Listening True Beauty By Mandisa The Voice of a Savior see related

I am in NO way what so ever making any money off of anything on this weblog.

My purpose here is two fold:

• To minister to the world via my weblog
• To give you my interpretations of what the music means or is saying to me
• Keep in mind that my interpretation may differ from the original intent of the actual artist
• Also keep in mind that my grammar and spelling is not what it used to be
• Keep in mind that, I might post more than one song by certain artists

Music speaks to me in a way that nothing else does. At work in the department I work in I am known for bursting into song much to my co-workers dismay. Just something that one of my co-workers might say sets a song playing in my head. Unfortunately, the music library in my head is much more extensive than the music library on my computer lol. I believe that music is one of the greatest gifts that God has given us.  (Please note that the following verse was taken from a website and is not guaranteed to be 100% correct in accordance with the actual Bible which I don't have anywhere near me at the moment to cross reference so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies).

Some people try to listen, to the bottom of a bottle
Some people try to listen, to a needle in their arm
Some people try to listen, to the money in their pocket
Some people try to listen, to another’s arms

{Chorus}
You and I are not that different
We got a void and we’re just trying to fill it up
With something that will give just a little peace
All we want is a hand to reach to
Open arms that say I love you
We’d give anything to hear
The voice of a Savior

Some people try to find it with blind ambition
Some people try to find it where no one else has gone
Some people try to find it in the crowns of victory
Some people get defeated and lose the strength to carry on

{Chorus}

Some people try to find it in the shadow of a steeple
Some people try to find it in the back row pew
Some people try to find it in the arms of Jesus
That’s where I found it, how about you?

{Chorus}

(lyrics taken from http://www.lyricstime.com/mandisa-voice-of-a-savior-lyrics.html)

I keep hearing this song on the radio.  I did not know who sung it the first few times I heard it until this morning when the radio announcer said it.  I know what you're thinking, not another American Idol wannabe.  Okay so maybe I don't buy into all that American Idol stuff either.  However, Mandisa does not fit what seems to be the stereotypical American Idol mold.  She is strong about her faith in God.  I was privilged enough earlier this year to see her in concert at Winter Jam 2008, in Greensboro, North Carolina.   She gave a wonderful testimony about who she was and what she stood for. 

To me, this song can be taken at both face value and have a deeper meaning at the same time.  Each of us has a void inside us.  We try so many different things to try and fill that void up.  And each thing we try might temporarily fill that void, but most of the time it usually ends up hurting us.   The chorus line of this song could not be more true.  We all want to be loved.   Too many times we look to other sources to fill up that void.  How many times do you hear yourself saying or thinking "If I just had more money I'd be happier."?  Or "If I just had a significant other"?  then I'd be complete.  (Those are just examples).  Well for one, money is the root of all evil.  The more we get the more we want.  It's like eatting a potato chip, you can never just eat one.  Or perhaps we toss ourselves into hurtful relationships just to try  to fill that void.  Perhaps the point is, we consistently seek superficial means to attempt to fill that void and while they may temporarily work, there is only one permanent thing that will work and that is Jesus.  Once you have Jesus, you won't have to seek to fill up that void.   He loves us all and wants us to ask Him to come into our lives.