Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Cathedral, 1st and 2nd movments
Here's another song I'm practicing for my recital in April... La Catedral by Agustin Barrios Mangore. This video is of the first two movements: Lento, and Andante Religioso. The third and final movement, Allegro Soleme, is very difficult compared to the first two movements... Its video is coming soon (I recorded all of these videos the same day, by the way, so I'm just editing them... )
With this song being La Catedral, meaning the Cathedral, I just couldn't resist putting some cathedral-style echo on it... :) So in case you were wondering... my room isn't that impressive acoustically! :D
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Master Potter...
Isaiah 64 presents a bleak picture of an apostatized nation. They are all unclean… Their own works, which they think are righteousness, are as filthy rags… No one calls on the name of the Lord, because the Lord has punished them for their iniquities. And they all know that God has great power, since He’s done great things in the past; yet they are afraid of what He will do to them because of their sins.
The holy cities are a wilderness,
Yet a light is at the end of the tunnel… a glimmer of hope for a nation in darkness…
“But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter, and we all are the work of Thy hand.”
Think about clay and potters for a moment. Which determines the final outcome of a pot? Or, more precisely, who needs special skill and ability to make a quality product? The potter. The clay has very little to do with it. In fact, the clay has almost nothing to do with it. All the clay has to do is submit to the potter. The potter is then responsible for the outcome of the pot. No skill or talent or beauty that the clay has will make any difference in the outcome.
We are the clay, and Thou our Potter...
Our skills and talents are not what qualify us to make good pots in God's hands. Our only qualification is to be moldable, flexible, and willing to submit to the Master Potter.
We all are the work of His hand…
He wants to make us masterpieces…
Monday, February 1, 2010
Be still...
"Be still and know that I am God..."
I had a beautiful opportunity to do that very thing this past weekend...
A major ice storm hit Oklahoma on Thursday morning. We received enough freezing rain to coat every exposed surface with almost an inch of ice. At around 5:30, our electricity flickered briefly and then all was dark and quiet.
The next three days were all very similar... Not much to do when the power's out. By Sunday our lives had pretty much become a round of bringing in clean snow to melt for various purposes, including drinking, bringing in wood, making sure our animals had fresh water...
There's nothing quite like coming in from a world of snow and ice, and taking off your boots and jacket, and feeling nice and warm... and then stepping in a puddle of melted snow from the previous person's boots...
We had many character-building experiences over those three days... :)
Sunday afternoon we went outside to play freeze tag in the snow. Matthew had made some paths in the snow, and with a few modifications to the rules of freeze tag, it made a very fun game. When we came back into the house, we had a surprise! The power was on!
God was so merciful to us...
Even if it seemed hard at the time...
The power stayed on all of Monday. Tuesday morning... it blinked some more, and then it went off again! We were somewhat more prepared this time, though. It was still not what we had wanted... as could be expected... :) But we did have some jars of clean water sitting on the counter, and lots of wood for the stove...
We had some errands to run Tuesday, and we hoped the power would be on when we returned. But it wasn't... We spent a dark evening...
At 7:45, when it was really dark, suddenly the power came on! We were so excited to have it back! But this time we knew there was a possibility that it would not stay on.
This time it has stayed on (at least for now...)
I learned a lot from that time. I had plenty of time to contemplate what God wants me to do. And also, I realized that in our modern culture, we don't give ourselves time to slow down, and be still, and know that He is God. It's so easy to rush from one thing to another, and try to get everything done that we possibly can... Productivity and efficiency and hard work are good, but overworking ourselves to the point where we lose our sense of God's presence are not. I've been there... But the Lord has been showing me that I need to take more time in His presence, not only in my morning time with Him, but all through the day.
________________________________________________
An interesting little story...
When the power came back on Sunday night, the ice hadn't melted yet. All the trees were still bent over with the weight of inch-thick ice. It ended up that there was a tree branch touching the power line... You can guess what happened when the power came back on.
Again, God was very merciful to us, and it burned out and fell where it no longer made contact with the line. Praise Him!
Friday, January 8, 2010
The real GYC
GYC was a huge blessing. Anyone who was there would agree with that statement.
GYC stands for the Generation of Youth for Christ. It’s not just a conference where we can go to spend time with our friends, although networking with other young people is certainly a valuable part of it.
The real Generation of Youth for Christ is the group of young people that go home from GYC and make a difference in the lives of those with whom they come in contact. It has nothing to do with the convention. The convention is only there as a way to train young people to be prepared to do the work that God calls them to.
If I go to GYC, and spend time with all of my friends, and listen to the messages, and come forward at all the appeals, and know all of the right people, and even go on outreach… all of which are good things… and then I go home and live exactly the way I lived before GYC, then my trip to GYC was just a waste of money. If it doesn’t make a difference in the way I relate to others, to my family and friends, or cause me to reach out to others to show them God’s love, then it has been a failure.
At GYC, on Sabbath evening, Pastor Asscherick had a powerful sermon, “Unashamed of the Coming Christ.” I was sitting on the front row, in a group of some of my close friends. The message really inspired me to make a commitment that my life from this point on would never be the same. Never again will I be ashamed of Christ. Though He was crucified, and the world thought they would never hear His name again, He is my Redeemer and Savior. He’s coming soon, and I have purposed in my heart that I will, by God’s grace, be ready to meet Him. Time is running out, and the longer we wait to get ready, the harder it will be.
My dear friends made the same commitment that night. Pastor Asscherick called for all those who were willing to make a public commitment to come to the front. We all went forward. Two young musicians shared a beautiful song, “Hands to the Plow.” I can’t remember all the words, but the main point of the song was that there is work that needs to be done, so why are we waiting? There are many souls perishing, and they need someone to come and show them the way to Heaven, but we say, “Lord, send someone else…” Maybe He’s calling you…
I will never forget that night. It was such a powerful time. I don’t think that anyone else there, especially those at the very front, will ever forget it either. After the appeal song, we all sang, “I have Decided to Follow Jesus.” We were all crying (at least quite a few of us were crying, including myself) and afterwards we all encouraged one another to be faithful to our commitment. My life will never be the same. From now on, I will go where God wants me to go, say what He wants me to say, and do what He wants me to do… even if I don’t understand why… even if the world thinks I’m a fool… That’s my commitment. I want to thank those closest to me that night for encouraging me, by words, actions, and example… but most of all God, for leading me to that commitment…
Now… I’m back to normal life. School, music practice, video production, chores around the house…
This is the real Generation of Youth for Christ… the generation that lives for Christ in their personal lives… not just at the conference.
That’s my commitment…
May I ever be faithful to my dear Savior and Friend…
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
UNASHAMED!
January 5, 2010
We’re back from GYC! What an amazing experience! It really flew by…
I don’t even know where to begin talking about it. There was so much that happened within those four days… staying up very late, meeting new friends, seeing old friends, lots of great music, great sermons, going door to door inviting people to a health expo and Bible studies, sitting in the very front row with a bunch of friends, even a trip across the street to a restaurant to tease some other friends…
Wednesday afternoon we arrived at GYC, found our hotel, and settled in. We went to the registration table, and I decided to tag along, in case I saw anyone I knew. Of course, I did within the first 5 minutes… Carl and Christine Brugger. Then while we were waiting in line, I found Jenae on the other side of the room. We talked for a few minutes, and then I saw her brother standing by the opposite wall. I started to walk over to say hi to him, and Sean snuck up behind me and totally startled me! Of course, we all had a pretty good laugh over that! :) Soon Alan and Aubrey arrived, and Chanteé was also there (which was a surprise), and thus was set the tone for the rest of GYC… :)
Justin McNeilus spoke at the first evening meeting. It was very inspirational. He used the example of the life of William Wilberforce, who spent almost his entire life in the cause of eliminating slavery from England.
I could give summaries of the meetings, but that might be rather boring to read, especially for someone who wasn’t there. So… I’ll just describe about the meeting schedule… and you’ll get an idea…
In the morning at 7:00 was a devotional meeting. It usually lasted until 8:20, even though it was supposed to end at 8:00. As soon as it ended we had to rush to breakfast, and then eat as fast as we could and go to the room to get our Bibles and brush our teeth and be back to the convention hall at 9:30. At this time we had to pick from about 15 different seminars, all of which were very good, making it a difficult choice. The seminars lasted until 10:30, then we had a break until 10:45, which was the next seminar session. Those also lasted an hour, then we had another 15 minute break. After this came a meeting at 12:00 in the main auditorium, which usually lasted until 1:15 or so. Once again, we rushed to the cafeteria, amid crowds of thousands of people, and tried to inhale our food while Justin Kim reminded us to eat quickly and then leave so he wouldn’t have to keep making announcements… At 2:30 we had more seminars, and those went on until 4:45. At 5:00 was another meeting in the auditorium, which went till 6, and at 6:30 was the last major meeting of the evening, which usually lasted until 8:30 because David Asscherick would go over the time limit. Then we would all run to our pre-assigned small groups, and discuss how we could apply the message. The first night, we couldn’t find our group, so I ended up being the leader… which was fine, except I hadn’t prepared, so somehow I got a sheet with the recommended questions, and God sustained me, and it went great (although the next night we made sure to go to the right place.)… Those usually lasted until 9 or 9:30. After that we all would go to the exhibit hall, where a lot of ministries had booths with promotional materials, or videos, or CDs, or stuff to sell, and things of that nature. I walked around, and either talked to friends who were also there, or talked to the people behind the booths, both of which were fun. My friends and I tried doing both at the same time, but somehow we were either talking amongst ourselves, or walking… not both. So that didn’t work too well. After walking around for a while, we would go to our rooms and try to get some sleep before the next morning came. Before GYC, someone told me that GYC is “late to bed, early to rise” and I found that to be completely true… :) I was also told that it was “crazy busy” and such was quite accurate… but it was worth it anyway… :)
It was amazing how many people were there. At any moment, there might be 500 people in the hall, and on Sabbath, there were over 5,000 people there. GYC is quite expensive, and most people traveled quite a ways in order to get there, but they come anyway.
On Friday afternoon, we all loaded up on buses, and went out to invite the community to a health expo that GYC was holding on Sunday morning. We had a total of 38 buses, all completely full. Bus 24 went across the Ohio river, and therefore we were actually in Indiana at that point (that was the one I went on). My new-found friend Nick and I went together, and learned a lot about each other while knocking on people’s doors. Join us as we come to someone’s door…
Knock, knock, knock… “Hello…”
“Hello, I’m Zachary, and this is my friend Nick. We’re with the Generation of Youth for Christ, and we’re having a convention in Louisville this week, and I’d like to take just one minute to tell you about two great free opportunities.
“First, we have a health expo (handing them the flyer) on Sunday morning at 11:00. It’s completely free, and there will be free blood pressure and glucose screening, free doctor’s consultations, free food samples, and much more. It’s downtown at the convention center.
“Secondly, we’re offering a free Bible study course (hand them the card to sign up) which deals with Bible prophecies and questions like what happens to people when they die, why is there evil in the world if God is good, and things like that. You can go ahead and fill out this card and then give it to us, and your Bible studies will arrive in a couple of weeks.”
No one actually filled out the card and gave it to us, but some of them said they would fill it out and mail it in. We didn’t always get that far – sometimes the person would say “No, I’m not interested” and close the door. Nick and I knocked on a total of 42 doors, talked to 19 people, and left cards and flyers at the doors where no one answered. Later we found out that some of our friends who had gone to other parts of the neighborhood had knocked on over 70 doors, and even gotten some cards filled out for the Bible studies. We were told that a guy – girl pair was more effective, but as things turned out we had 2 pairs with just guys, and 2 with just girls, (among the people I knew on that bus), and I think it would have been more effective if we had redistributed… but we can try it next year. And next year, I’m bringing my gloves for sure! Nick and I ended up sharing… we alternated streets after a while, and whoever carried the flyers got his gloves, because the person who talked could put their hands in their pockets. We were out for 2 and a half hours… in 23 degree weather. I’m just thankful it wasn’t too windy. We were the last ones to be dropped off, and some of the earlier ones to be picked up. Poor Aubrey and Chelsea were the first ones to be dropped off, and the last ones to be picked up. They didn’t have gloves at all. Chelsea got very cold, and wanted to go to sleep, but of course she didn’t dare… If you’re reading this, Chelsea, just understand that what I’m writing about you is what I was told… I don’t claim to be 100% accurate… :) because I heard it from others, not from you… :D
So there is much more I could write… but I don’t have time at the moment…
And that doesn’t even begin to tell all the interesting stories that happened at GYC…
But it’s a start… :D
I am so inspired…
Let’s be UNASHAMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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