Be Still

     Whad up, blogland. There is a lot going on round here, schedule-wise, and also in my brain. So, let me tell you about it. I think that's what this blog is for...idk haha. I'm not sure what the specific purpose of this blog is (I can't even say "my blog" cuz it's not even mine technically). Alright, so now that I've gotten distracted a few times, let's move on.

Life. Coming at me way faster than I would prefer. Wait, I'm sorry, did somebody say I'm a senior this year?! And I'm taking college classes? Whoa now...

Yep that's right. I'm officially a college student this year. And it's weird. Making daily commutes to colleges in this here city. So anyway. That's happening. Did I mention that I feel old? I know people say that all the time...but here, right-now-in-this-moment, I legitimately "feel old". 

Yeah, so on top of doing old man things like college and stuff, I am also going to be crazy busy with a whole bunch of other things that I won't even list in order to spare you from being bored. Which, you probably already were five words into this post, but whatever. If you're still reading this, props to you. Oh and now my super rad sister lives 4 1/2 hours away. *tear* So that's gonna be a new thing this year. Attending Northern State University (go Wolves, by the way) in Aberdeen, SD. Got her all moved in this past weekend. But the really cool thing is that her boyfriend lives there (what a coincidence) and so now they get to hang out all the time!! So that's exciting for her. 

Anyway, lots of change this year. But nothing God didn't see coming. In fact, nothing God didn't plan before the foundation of the world. It's good to chew on that fact. Downright tasty actually. And all the things that will come this year that we don't even know about, God knows. It's already happened in His plan. Because He is not bound by time. We get to live it out, knowing that God's plans are good. If only we could step back for a moment and see that. 

Psalm 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God."

--Rye Bread

P.S: On a completely different note, I finished my little album! The title of it is Simplify, it has 12 tracks, and I'm excited for people to hear it! Yay! I'll probably have more details later. Til next time...

It`s Okay To Not Be Okay

                               "Why do we fake it? Probably, so they`ll think we`re godly."

     Check out this video that actually kinda goes with my last post. The dude`s name is Dillon Chase and God`s really given him a gift for writing. You should check it out, along with another video that I`ll post of him talking about worship and what it truly is. Enjoy, and I hope the words point you to Jesus, that you might worship Him while listening to/watching these videos.


It's OK Not to Be OK from People's Church on Vimeo.


Love To Worship from arandvideo on Vimeo.


Fix your eyes on Jesus today, by His grace and by His strength. He is the prize. Man`s praise is empty. The King`s glory and honor is what matters. Find ways to point back to Him when people praise you. It should`t be hard, after all He is the one who gave you everything you have. We have nothing to boast in but Christ. So, I encourage you, don`t get distracted. But press on. Press on in His strength.

Later,

--Rye Bread

Momentary

                 Psalm 103:14 "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are but dust."

There are times in my faith when I feel so strong. There are times when I feel invincible. Times when I have such a bring-it-on mentality. These times are some of the sweetest times. But they can also be the most dangerous. For though God always remembers that we are dust, we are quite capable of forgetting. I know I forget. And it`s almost always in those strong times that I do so. I begin thinking things that suggest that I am self-sufficient. That I have the strength I need.

                                       "I`ve gotten this far, why not a little more?"

When all along, I have done absolutely nothing, and my Father has done absolutely everything. And God is slowly, bit by bit, taken out of the equation. Of course, we would never admit that we would ever think things like this. I mean, that`s not what Christians do. Right? So, even thinking about thinking those things is completely ridiculous and impossible. Ridiculous, yes. Impossible? Eh...

God, by His grace, has been showing me and reminding me of my weakness. Teaching me humility. After all, when I think of how weak I am, humility is really the only proper response.

We are not invincible.

We are not here forever.

We are but dust.

So, let`s give thanks. Let`s give thanks that we`ve been given breath today. Let`s give thanks that, despite the fact that we were in sin and darkness, the Almighty God sent His only Son to redeem us.

Also, let`s pray that He might give us strength to fight against dependence on ourselves. After all, we now call Him Father. Think on that. Hit your knees. And tremble.



--Rye Bread

Well hello there

            Hello there, blogging world. Nice to see you again. Back in action. Here we go. I guess I`ll just kinda be filling you in on what`s been going on around here...

As far as I know, I won`t really be posting any pictures, because I don`t have access to them at the moment. So, I guess I`ll just be typing a lot. ;) Anyway, something that is super exciting is that I started taking guitar lessons recently! Soooooo super uber pumped that I get to do this!!! I started playing when I was 13, so 4-ish years ago. But I had mostly taught myself over that period of time, so this is going to be excellent for me, not just as a guitar player, but also as a musician in general. 

           While I`m on the subject of music, I will officially publicly reveal that I am working on an album. Although I think that most of you knew already anyway haha. But yeah, I am really excited about it and I am having a blast recording all of it and experimenting. I hope to put together a collection of 12 songs. I`m up to 7 right now, but those aren`t even quite done yet. I`m sorta hoping to  have it done by the end of the summer, but we`ll see what happens. :) Maybe I`ll just release an EP or something...I don`t know. Anyway, yeah, that`s happening and it`s really fun!

           Summer is almost here! Crazy. And speaking of summer, it is the season of finding a job for many, including me and my bro. We are hoping to work at Family Christian, and we`ve already put in about 10 hours there, but we`re not officially hired yet. Confusing, I know. They needed help moving in to a new location, so we helped out with that. Hopefully, we will get put into the schedule, but we`ll have to wait and see. 

           Also, related to summer, our sister Sunshine is home from school!!!!! Which is just fantastic. 

           Also, not really related to summer, my parents headed for Jamaica in the wee hours of this morning. Which means that we children are home alone for 6 days or so. Hopefully we will hold down the fort adequately. ;) 

           Just a couple nights ago, our little sister Peaches officially graduated kindergarten!! Whoohoo!!! The little program they put on was just great. It was so fun for me, T-bird, and Sunshine to watch, because we had graduated from kindergarten at the same school, and with the same teacher that Peaches had! They did a lot of the same stuff that we did in our graduating program. That was 11 years ago for me and T-bird....weird...I feel really old. 

           Oh, and our youth group just started going through Proverbs. We`re gonna be going through it throughout the summer. It`s been super good!! As we read it, we`re trying to find connections to Christ mainly, but also other New Testament stuff. It`s pretty amazing how much you can find when you`re keeping your mind open to more that just what you`re reading. It`s caused a lot of good discussion as well. I think it`s a really excellent way of edifying and encouraging one another as fellow believers. I`m really excited to continue with it!

          Anyway, there`s probably a whole lot more going on that I missed, but I`ll stop there. Have a fantasmagorical weekend!!!!

--Rye Bread

                 

More Christian music...

http://faithlikes.com/2014/04/05/this-is-why-switchfoot-wont-sing-christian-songs-anymore/


"Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach`s sonatas Christian? What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset?"

--Jon Foreman--

Well said, Mr. Foreman. Well said. Read the whole thing. It`s not too long, so go for it!



--Rye Bread

Good tunes...

    Hey everyone! I just thought I`d share some good music with you. It`s some good stuff by Robbie Seay Band. And honestly, I never really ever listened to them because I thought their band name was lame. Haha pretty weak reason. But I`ve actually been giving them a chance the last couple weeks and I`m digging it!! So, you can get their album Rich & Poor for free on Noisetrade (pretty much my favorite website). Yeah, so here`s the link. I think it`ll do your soul some good. It did mine. Alright, so now that I have shared yet MORE music with you, I`ll get going on signing off. Seriously though, pretty much all I do on here anymore is share music. Haha oh well. I do hope you give it a listen. Okay, so if you don`t listen to any of it, at least listen to this one that I will post:





I love the simple cry in this song:
I wanna live for the King!
I wanna live for the King!

That sounds so simple and it really is. But can it not also be the longing that is found deep in your soul? I know when I listen to this song, my heart sings along with these words with such a passion! Because I want my life to glorify my King. And it`s not by my strength that I can do this. So, it`s almost a plead to God, saying, "I wanna live for You!" And that`s all wrapped up in this simple, yet deep phrase. Oh, my King. Do not let me live simply for Christianity.



Don`t wanna live for an ideology
Oh I want to know You, not just know about a God who saves



--Rye Bread

Another post..for lack of a better title

  This is another blog post. I don`t really have a cool title for it as you probably saw. Because I really don`t even have a game plan for what it`s going to be about. So, brace yourself. Yeah, so here I am again. Typing. Life is busy, so that`s why there hasn't been a lot of it going on lately. :) Lots of things going on, like college basketball! March Madness has begun and (as usual) my bracket is completely destroyed. Haha so it goes. But yeah. Anyway, that`s sort of irrelevant. Just thought I`d let you all know. ;) So, anyway, one thing that amazes me--especially as of late--is God`s faithfulness. And I've probably said that quite a few times, but it really just never ceases to overwhelm me that a holy God would save us wicked people from His wrath. And after this we STILL run from Him, STILL wanting our own way, STILL chasing after vain things, even after all that He`s done for us. But through our rebellion, He still pursues us, brings us back to the gospel, and reminds us that everything we could ever need is in Him. We do not deserve this kind of faithfulness. How many times have I failed miserably and He still brings me back to His arms? O Lord thank You! Does this not cause you to want to shout for joy?? He still loves us! With a fierce, jealous love. Despite our wickedness. Despite our ugly sin. He loves us enough to speak to us through His Holy Spirit while reading our Bible. Causes us to read something that we didn`t even know that we needed to read! Pretty unbelievable. And we are so weak. Just when we think, "Surely I can`t possibly make that same mistake again," we`re right back where we were. We need grace. And lots of it. Lord we need You. Every day, every hour, every second we need You! How I want more of Him in my life! To come and purge me of myself and my selfish ambition. I want Him to be my all in every aspect of my life. Because if Jesus is only in our life and is only important on Sundays and Wednesdays, then we`re embracing Jesus Christ the religion, not Jesus Christ the person. He should be our all in everything we do, including things that nobody even sees. Our God is to invade and affect every decision and every move that we make. Otherwise, how different are we from everyone else? I think there is more to this "Christian" life than we realize. Luke 14:25-33. And I am directing all of this at myself. I sometimes feel so deeply that there is more. There`s more for us to reach out and grab. There`s more than going to church on Sunday and learning good theology and doctrine. We still need those things, but surely we can go deeper in our spiritual lives. But again, this is not something we can do on our own. We need to ask our Father that He might graciously reveal His presence more in our lives. So, anyway, those are just some things running around in my head right now. Also, I`m pretty sure this gets the award for one of the longest blog posts ever. Haha alright, enough rambling. I`ll just leave you with this song by Gungor that kinda ties in with what I was saying about God`s faithfulness. I love the hope at the end of the song. You should give it a listen. Anyway, hope you enjoyed (or painfully endured) reading this post and I apologize for my tendency to ramble! :) Haha have a good weekend!




--Rye Bread