Many Topics to Discuss: Nathan Displeased

The first topic I feel compelled to discuss tonight, being that it is Sunday, is the topic of worship. Now worship here at Belmont University is a touchy subject. The reason being is that among music business students, we are aware of the artists that are out there making worship albums because it's an easy cash crop. Worship music is redundant, it says the same things most of the time, and the music is simple. This may be, but there are some people out there that use that music to actually worship God, as suprising as that may seem to some. I think a wise thing to do if you believe that there is a devine being over the universe would be to leave those folks who worship God through such music alone. You say it is wrong to say "I love Jesus" because it is cliche. Well, I hope it is said enough to be considered cliche honestly. And if Jesus is who he said he was, and he comes back like the good book says he will, I wouldn't want to be the one pissed off at all the people who say they love him. If i were to say I love my family, would I be cheezy? If I were married and I were to say that I love my wife, would that be cliche? In the same way, the God of the universe who died for me not because he had to but wanted to, if I were to say I loved him are you going to hate me? I think the outcome of such bitterness has come from those who love God with their lips and their lips only, but if you plan on generalizing those of us who are genuine in with the hypocrits then don't expect me to sit back and take it easy when you hint at such subjects. Christians are supposed to be meek, but we're not supposed to be nice. I WILL challenge you if you bash worshipers. I personally find greater pleasure in worshiping God in a more complex manner than the redundant worship songs that have become so popular, but that is because I understand the vastness of music and it's potential, not because I hate people who do not understand the same things. We are called to worship God, and you must understand that as Christians we are destined to worship God for eternity. So if you hate worshiping God because you don't like the way it's done, then that requires independant soul searching. Worship does not come out of the music played. It is an internal celebration of the Grace of God by your spirit. Those who have received that grace and understand it are the ones who worship in genuine passion and they can do so to any form of music and the most simple and childlike of lyrics. Why? Because they understand that the music is not what God hears. The words are not what God hears either. God hears what our hearts scream out during worship. He hears us hate and love Him. So certainly a church might be singing in unison, but if you were to hear the sound from God's perspective, you would hear silence, you would hear crying, you would hear shouts of rage, you would hear hateful sarcastic remarks, and you would hear humility and passion. I merely bring this up because if you honestly and genuinly believe and accept what the scripture teaches and believe that Jesus is salvation, then harassing those who come to him in humility would be a bad idea. Remember that as you judge the hearts of these, your heart will be judged to the same manner (without any knowledge of your individual self and your convictions, but by the mere display of your presence).

Subject Two: Nothing in life will ever come to you. If you want something, God has endowed you with that which is needed to attain it. If you want peace, you must seek. If you want to succeed in your education, you must study. If you want to thrive as a musician, you must practice. If you want to be loved, you must strive to love. And if you want holiness, you must persue it. Now we have to decide what it is that we want don't we? Our lives are short and we don't have time to concentrate on everything because if we did we would find ourselves familiar with, but lacking in everything. This is the hardest part of our journey I think. Especially right now as many of us are yet uncertain of who we are and what we want to be. Our personal will is finally maturing into our individual will seperate from the world around us and we are confused as to where we want to go now. There is a great vastness all around us, and our destinations are unclear, but we must choose. Even sitting idle is a choice, but it is a choice that must be made. We all know of the amazing product of such musicians as Mozart who spent their entire lives studying music. They put all of their effort into it and it in return yealded great things. We as individuals all have that God-given opportunity to thrive at what we set our hearts towards. And we are not told what we are to do, but we have a choice. So what do you want to do? What do you want to yeald profit in? Do you want money and success? Do you want relationships that are meaningful and eternal? Do you want to be pure in the way you live life? I have come to realize that the ammount of time we have to invest in these things is limited, but I wish to have both a pure life and meaningful eternal relationships. Lesser than these are my success, my music, and my educational wellbeing. I have placed these in order of importance to me, not others. But this means that I will actually have to put forth effort. I can't expect to have purity if I do not desire it enough to persue it. The same goes with relationships. Why should I expect to be wisked away in a relationship if I do not put forth effort? It doesn't happen. But relationships are more complicated. They're more of a two way deal unlike all of the others. Your school work doesn't have to put forth equal effort to you in order to bring out your educational success. But whoever you are with has to put out atleast some effort, or it will not work. You will wind up in love with someone who cares nothing for you. There are few things in life that are worse than this mistake: A mistake I will not make twice.

For the most part I think I've pretty much got it all off of my chest. Now I have to go to bed or else I'll pay dearly this week. Peace and love.