This is Who We Are

this is the title of the last song, off As I Lay Dying's newest cd, An Ocean Between Us. im not sure if you have heard previous AILD songs but this album is a lot different than their other ones. their style has changed and overall the album is very diverse, ranging from some thrash songs, to their previous metalcore style, to even some instrumental songs... (no screamo... totally different sound) this album also has a lot more singing, cuz the band got a new bass player who can sing pretty good as well...

the majority of their songs contain the vocalist "singing," if you will, (most call it screaming) lyrics that are almost impossible to understand even after listening to the song several times. but thank God for the internet... and for websites that provide the lyrics :)

just a little background on AILD... one of things i really like about this band is the melody and fast pace of their sweet guitar riffs... but the area where they shine the most, in my opinion, is thier powerful lyrics. although they do not acually put "God" in their songs, they use a lot of "You"'s, implying God and events that could only point to Christ... the You's can get confusing at times because unlike rap, the message the band is trying to get out there is left up to the listener's interpretation. many non-christians think they are talking about a girl or wife or something like that despite the capitalization....

anyways... i think this song does a good job of not confusing God with any other human. here are the lyrics:

Now this is who we are
I am no one's hero
For we are not the giant men
That some may think
You are faithful when we are not
So I'd like to tell this story
The way it is meant to be
Without the burden that's in our hearts
None of us would have ever found You
For You are faithful when we are not
You began a work
That only You can complete

[Chorus]
Now this is who we are
I'll never know the answers
And I'll always wonder why

...Why we're given grace we'll never deserve
And a second chance that we will never earn
For there is nothing I can do to save myself

Now this is who we are
I'll never know the answers
And I'll always wonder why
But You have let me start again
I'd rather be called weak
Than die thinking I was strong

although this song might not be one of the best songs on the album, i think its lyrics are top notch...

Without the burden that's in our hearts
None of us would have ever found You
For You are faithful when we are not
You began a work
That only You can complete

i think this part is talking about conviction over sin, or just something that was preventing the song-writer from knowing God. and because of that conviction, Christ was revealed in his life. i think he's talking about the point of his conversion from living for himself to living for Christ ("a work that only You can complete")

[chorus]
Now this is who we are
I'll never know the answers
And I'll always wonder why
[bridge]
...why we're given grace we'll never deserve
and a second chance that we will never earn
for there is nothing I can do to save myself

in my opinion, the meaning of the chorus and bridge is to remind us of how undeserving we were of Christ and that we will never be able to fathom God's love and why He graciously let us live... it also stresses that we are helpless on our own and we deserve nothing from God, but He deserves everything from us.

i really like the last few lines, although im not exactly sure what tim (song-writer for AILD) was meant when he was writing them...

feel free to post your own interpretations...
and sorry i couldnt put the actual song on here...

hopefully ill be able to blog more about other songs or just blog more period after i get my computer back...

Blastoise!!!

(turn your sound on :] ) and hope this works...



BLASTOISE!!!!!

i thought that this video was hillarious...
you're probably wondering how this video has anything to do with anything... but recently i came across this verse:

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." -Romans 12:11

zeal directly correlates with fervor here... both meaning an intense passion towards something, but in this case, paul is telling us to never lose heart of serving the Lord both spiritually and physically.

physically, the Lord expects us to give ourselves fully to Him as living sacrifices...(romans 12:1) this involves a great deal of faith, trusting that God will provide for our every need, which the He says He will reward... our attitude also needs to be in check... having the attitude of Jesus Christ himself, which is definitely not easy... (philippians 2:5-11)
spiritually, this can relate to how we use our time... God gives us so much of it... and we end up just wasting it... im no genius but i dont think that is fervently serving or glorifying God. we need to be zealously getting into God's Word and spiritually serving Him that way especially with summer coming up, our "free time" should be spent serving the Lord, and serving Him not because its an obligation, not because we should, but because we can and we desire to glorify Him. (that comes from a verse... cant remember it though) Seize the Summer!!!

we need to be as excited as the kid in the video, except over more than just pokemon cards, (which im sure we all used to be into :P ) but for the opportunities we get to sanctify ourselves through God's Word and to serve Him as our Lord and Savior!!

Praise the Lord school's out... AND blogger's working... thats amazing :P

pardon my french...

wahoo!! first blog since february... procrastination at its best :P
its kinda long so consider yourself warned :)

everywhere you look these days, whether it be music, tv, or just media in general, the amount of words they are allowed to say is ridiculous. even at my school, they blare music in the quad and i guess they wanna be cool so they play all this rap and other popular songs, and because of the way this world is, the popular songs all have to have something bad in them, whether it be just flat out bad words or an nasty implied meaning. so evidently, its perfectly acceptable to blast explicit, inappropriate words across campus but praying is debatable?!?!?!

in today's world, everyday language is heading downhill and its heading downhill fast. walking across campus, you are almost guaranteed to hear someone spout out a bad word and they could care less. not only is it bad words but theres talking behind other's backs and just badmouthing people in general. a few, uh... months ago, (haha, when i first started writing this), i noticed how much the Lord cares about how we the mouths He has given us (still notice it today too).

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." -Ephesians 4:29

that seems pretty self explanatory, yet extremely hard to do. if u think about it, when your sister trips over her own feet and falls on her face, it is almost impossible not to laugh and say something discouraging. even a first grader could have known that that wasn't benefiting those listening...

"But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips" -Colossians 3:8
easy right? ... not. lets go thru some definitions...
malice: desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another--- whens the last time someone punched you in the face and you immediately thought doing something nice for them?
slander: to attack the good name or reputation of, as by uttering or publishing maliciously or falsely anything injurious --- looks like this one could fit in the gossip category... and its also one of the 7 things the Lord hates... (see proverbs 6)
filthy language: go to school tomorrow... you'll hear tons of it

another verse with a more implied meaning... i heard these

"We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited." -2 Corinthians 6:3

if your friends know you are a professing christian, there is nothing they would love to do more than to thrash you if you "let a word slip". "When the paper’s crumpled up it can’t be perfect again" -forgotten, by linkin park
i overheard these lyrics and thought that it describes our influence on our non-christian friends. after just one offense, it becomes a stumbling block to them. they now can get the impression that, "if that guy is doing it, and he is a christian, it must be fine" or something along those lines...

these verses i read a while ago definitely got me thinking twice before i speak...

"...for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." -Matthew 12:34-37

just that first sentence says a lot. if everything that comes out of your mouth is discouraging, selfish and harmful, it says a lot about yourself. the next two sentences back that up....
the most convicting sentence in there (to me) was "men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken." there are way too many careless words flowing out of my mouth, mainly toward siblings, and occasionally parents... it is the easiest thing to criticize siblings, especially if they are younger than you... that could start a whole other blog on humility... but most people i know have at least one sibling, and if you don't, you have no idea how much they test your patience, and how easy it is to notice their faults.

Another instance where word choice could be improved is conversations with parents and obeying what they tell you to do. story time:
my family... there's six of us... two or three meals a day... thats a ton of dishes...
so after we finish dinner on sunday, i start my homework... and my dad yells at me to do the dishes... no surprise there... except one problem... we are out of dishwashing soap... so 3 days worth of dishes are sitting in the sink... so i was forced to handwash a ton of dishes... until after a slight argument, we agreed upon leaving one load's worth in the dishwasher. lots of careless words were probably if not said, going through my mind as i was doing those dishes. well im glad to say that its all been worked out and we have soap now so i have no excuse now.


Our words need to reflect Christ's love to us, which should be so evident that nothing but love should be flowing from our lips. unfortunately, we live on earth, so our minds and hearts are being polluted with the sinful ways of this world. we need to fight off the evil ways of the enemy and remain grounded in the Word to keep us from being swayed from the truth. so i hope this post helps you be a little more conscientious of the words God has graciously given you because He will judge you based on how you used them.

my testimony...

tomorrows the big day...
might as well practice :P

...i grew up in a christian home, with a christian family and relatives.
when i was six, i said the prayer to ask Jesus into my heart, but as i look back on it, i never saw a change in my life, so during the summer of seventh grade, one night i wanted to make sure of where i was going to spend eternity.
at that point i knew what i was doing, and came to the place of repentence and placed my faith in Christ's death and resurrection so that i may have eternal life with Him.
since that point, i can say i have been nicer to my siblings, and my walk with the Lord is getting a lot better. reading my bible isnt such a pain anymore, it is a pleasant daily routine. it is nice looking at all the things the Lord has blessed me with, including a great church, family, friends... the list could go on... but most of all, i am blessed with the grace of God and my salvation.

IXOYE!

i finally got around to remembering to look this up....
ive been seeing it on those ><>'s and i knew it stood for something, and i actually figured it out :P yay
it means: Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Savior
all the letters are abbreviations from greek words...
that means Jesus^^ ^^Christ ^^God ^^Son ^^Savior (isnt that e thing cool?!?!?!)

Jesus is.... Jesus
Christ comes from messiah, who was promised unto the world...
God is Jesus (john 1:1-5)
Jesus is the Son of God, as simon peter would say, "you are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Savior... He is the saviour of the world!

i just thought that was cool how all these words perfectly describe our Lord.