Saturday, February 14, 2009

Music

I know I haven't posted in a long long while, but I figured why not? Nothing to do on Valentine's Day, how about resurrecting the old blog. Anyway, a generous family member of mine gave me a $30 iTunes giftcard for Valentine's Day, and well, I've already stumbled upon something incredible. Last week's Newsweek had an article on Miles Davis' 1959 album Kind of Blue, praising it as one of the best albums in history, and I figured, with thirty dollars to spare, why not check it out? Oh....my...gosh. With six tracks coming in at almost an hour, in one listen this album has become an instant favorite of mine. With so much soul and so much power in the music, you can clearly see that Davis, John Coultrane, Julian Adderly, and Bill Evans (Google these guys if you don't know who they are, you won't be dissapointed) are having a ball and are putting their all into every note they play.

Listening to this album is bittersweet for me for the simple fact that this kind of music is almost impossible to find today. Not jazz music itself, but music that moves people. With the exception of just a couple of bands, I cannot stand mainstream music for the simple fact that it has become a waste of time. The past Grammys were an example of this. You don't have to have talent anymore to be famous in the music industry. As long as it's catchy, it gets played, and the "artist" gets paid. This also applies to some contemporary Christian bands. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen artists labeled as contempory Christian bands, but upon listening, find almost next to no mention of Jesus in their lyrics. That's not to say their are not contempory Christian bands out there who are witnesses in their lyrics, but I'm just saying, this apathy in the music industry has also reached into the contemporary Christian market.

The blame is not 100 percent that of the music industry, a big part of the problem is the average music fan. In an era where people like Soulja Boy, Fall Out Boy, Nickelback, and the Jonas Brothers are household names, it proves that average music fans will listen to anything. The music doesn' t have to mean anything, but as long as it's catchy, it's pretty good music. But I know that there are some out there who still know what good music looks like, and to those, I saltue you. I just hope that one day we can get to a place where music means something again, and that good music is more than just a catchy song on the radio, but is something that has a message and moves people in ways they never thought possible.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Politics

Seeing as how I'm not 18, this post is somewhat irrelevent, but if someone has an opinion on anything, it's going to be politics.

Anyway, the next presidential election is huge for this nation. On one side you've got the charismatic, change-promising Barack Obama, and other you have the veteran, "The Maverick" John McCain (Notice Ralph Nader, who I define as simply "Nut-job", is absent from the list of candidates). Both of these men strike me as extremely interesting candidates. Obama represents a new direction for the country after 8 years of Bush, while McCain represents someone whose main goal is keeping our nation safe and free. While some people see this as a lose-lose for America, I see it as a blessing because I believe that regardless of who is elected, we have someone who can step right in and lead the country.

People bring up experience. All the experience in the world cannot prepare one with the task that the next president faces. I believe that both of these candidates, however, want what's best for our country and I believe, whether it's Obama or McCain, the next president will bring the U.S out of it's current crisis. The fact that these men even want to be president during this time period should say something about them.

As for the issues...

When it comes to the economy, I'm 100 percent Obama. I'm all for his tax plan and see it as something that will help out the "Average Joes" of the United States. I personally think McCain's tax plan will just put money back into the hands of people who already have too much money as it is. In all actuality, when it comes to issues of energy, foreign policty, etc. I'm 100 percent Obama. But there is one issue that is out there that would prevent me from ever voting for Obama.

Abortion. Yeah, I'm a guy and I don't plan on getting anyone pregnant before I'm married, but it is an issue that I feel needs to be talked about. In a time when we hear "Economy! Economy! Economy!" I could understand how morals could take a backseat, heck I even ignored them until I was really convicted about this issue over the past couple of days. I think abortion is wrong, especially partial birth abortions, where they partially deliver the baby and jam scissors into the back of the baby's neck, severing the spinal chord and in most cases, killing the baby. (There are some cases where the baby doesn't die immediately, and well, you get the picture)

As much as I support Obama when it comes to the economy, energy, and foreign policy, I just can't support someone who will put people on the Supreme Court who will be all for abortion. I've had classmates who have said the moral issues don't matter, and up until recently, I felt the same way, but actually friends, the moral issues matter more than we know. I don't expect everyone to agree with this, but this is just something that I've been feeling convicted of in the last little bit.

To put it simply, as an American, I support Obama, but as a Christian, who believes that God has a plan for every life and believe that Jesus died for everyone, whether it be fetus, baby, toddler, child, teenager, adult, or senior citizen, and that is way I cannot give my full support to Barack Obama this election. On November 4, if it were me stepping into the voting booth, the person receiving my vote would be Mr. John McCain.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

LeRoi

As many of you know, one of my favorite bands on the planet is Dave Matthews Band. Well, considering I follow them very closely and have gotten to know the band very well over the past few years, I have to say it struck a chord in me when I found out that founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore died Tuesday afternoon in LA. In most circumstances anyone would cancel the show they had scheduled for the upcoming evening, but in a suprising move, DMB did not. They took the stage at the Staples Center at 8:00, just like they always do, seeking the ultimate healing in what they love, music.



For those of you that don't know, the band was formed in 1991 in Charlottesville, VA. If this was me, and my brother, because let's face it, in a band, you are a family, that I had spent the last 17 years of my life died, I don't know if I could take the stage for a long time after, much less the NIGHT of his passing. I already have tremendous respect for DMB as musicians, but I'm in awe that they could go on after losing a brother like that.



The main thing I mourn is Leroi's eternal future. As far as I can tell, the members of DMB are not Christians. Dave Matthews is an agnostic, and the other 5 members do not give anyone reason to think that they are Christians. Everyone in DMB has been blessed by God with the ability to perform musically, and to think that people who play such beautiful music could end up enternally separated from God kills me inside.



It doesn't have to be this way. Christians are called to be a voice to the lost, and it hurts me so much to see someone so blessed and so well off, fail to acknowledge where it has all come from. Leroi's death has put it into perspective for me that we should not put off witnessing to others. Leroi was 46, too young to go. Granted his death stemmed from an ATV accident suffered in June, but nevertheless. God calls us to be witnesses TODAY, because those souls that are out there to be won may not be there tomorrow. We cannot be apathetic, because when we are, that is when souls are lost.



Listening to LeRoi play the sax showed me what real music sounds like, and it is very distant from the mainstream stuff out there today. I can only pray to my Father in heaven that he's jamming on the sax with the Heavenly host right now.



If anyone has never heard of DMB, I strongly recommend checking them out. I've seen them three times live, and quite frankly, no one can touch them when it comes to live performance. These men are real musicians, and have been around for a long time, and are a far cry from some mainstream junk, in my opinion. They are truly in an elite group when it comes to music.



Anyway, I guess the real point of this is that someone I looked up to as a musician is gone, and though I never even met the man, I know that he was loved by many, and I hurt for them. I know to some people, I may just seem like a big fanboy ranting, but all this is just something on my mind at the moment. We are called to be witnesses, even to the rich and famous, and just the thought of someone as classy as LeRoi ending up in somewhere other than heaven is really hard to think about. The music he left me with is something I will treasure for a long time. I strongly recommend anyone reading to check out LeRoi's work. It really is something special.



RIP Leroi, you will be missed.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Confusion

It's almost three in the morning, the morning of my birthday. I just got back from seeing the Dark Knight (amazing movie), but that's not why I felt the need to write in the early morning hours.

I mentioned before in my earlier posts that I am in no way a "ladies man", which I was reminded of tonight. You see, I accept the fact that I'm not smooth, and when in doubt of what to say, I don't say anything at all. I'm the self-proclaimed king of rejection, I'm afraid. I have what rejection looks like and the awkardness that follows in the days and weeks down to an art. I've been told every reason in the book why I'm a great guy, but just not "that" guy, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong, I cherish friendships, but I'm beginning to wonder what in the world "that" guy is supposed to be. It's so confusing to me. I am myself, but apparently a good guy kind of self doesn't cut it as opposed to "that" kind of self. I was raised to treat others with respect and to simply be myself with other people, but it feels like respect isn't what people are looking for anymore. It's frustrating, because I want to offer more, but no one seems to want it.

I don't write this because I'm upset at anyone; I write this because I am confused and upset at times because I know rejection so well. It's really late, and apparently I turn 17 today. yay!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Home

Wow, what a week. Tonight I along with over 80 of my fellow youth returned from the week of missions, worship, and craziness that is M-Fuge. Let me start by saying that I can't think of a better group of people to spend the week with in the city of Mobile; you guys are awesome.

Every year, God teaches me something new. This year, it was that I am important to Christ and that I am loved. Not loved only by Christ, but by my peers also. This past week, I feel like a friendship with a friend of mine was strengthened to the point where it could withstand a roundhouse kick to the face from Chuck Norris, and that, friends, is a strong relationship. Considering she is someone I saw as a sister before the week began, I praise God for how strong our relationship has become in the midst of a weekt that was God-centered. I praise God for blessing me with a friend I can also call sister.

Anyway, as for the missions itself, I got the chance to be a part of the Games and Rec track this week. My track leader, Dustin (aka Tim Cougar), was a blessing to me and hopefully to the rest of the group. He's an instrument for Christ if I've ever seen one. I feel blessed to have gotten to know him and to have been able to spend the week with him. As for our track group, there were 30 total, 7 of those being from FP, and what a group it was. I enjoyed the company of every person there. Two guys I met, Dan and Greg, were awesome guys to get to know and it was a joy to see the work of Christ carried out through them. They're a couple of classy guys, that's for sure. We went to an apartment complex called the Family Place, and just to see the joy in these kids eyes from just loving on them and playing with them and just showing the love of Christ was a blessing to sasy the least. The guys in my track group were incredible, and help make this week a memorable one.

At the beginning of the week, we talked among our church group about students, regardless of age, can make an impact on their ministry sites. I experienced this first-hand. Sara McCutcheon and Debra Story absolutely blew me away at site this week. Every single child they came in contact with, they loved on them like Jesus would and treated every child like they were special. Those two young women have great futures ahead of them for sure.

There's this thing at Fuge called Mega Relay. It's basically a relay between every single track group at the camp. It's the night of this event where people go absolutely crazy and have the time of their lives with a group of believers. The different parts of the relay are fun and at times absolutely crazy. I had to eat peanut butter and jelly off of a guy's face with a bun, if that gives you some insight. That was also the first time I"ve ever had jelly, the stuff's not half-bad. I am proud to say, that we won the relay part hands-down, but didn't win the spirit award, but it's ok, we had to give the other groups something haha, just kidding of course. As crazy as our group was, there was groups that went above and beyond, and were quite a sight to see.

As for me, I limped quite a bit this week. The first day on sight while we were playing kickball with the kids I stepped into a hole while I was running around and apparantly ripped a ligament of the bone in my foot. It wasn't my first choice on how to spend the week, but I wasn't about to let a bum foot ruin my week at Fuge. It's about the work God has for us to do rather than about us, and that thought helped me get through when my foot really ached.

This past week was incredible, and I praise my Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to experience ever minute of it. God moved in a big way and it was amazing to see up close and personal.

When I arrived home this evening, I brought my suitcase into my room, went to my living room, collapsed on the couch, and just began to cry my eyes out. I was already missing the people I had met and the great staff that guided us the previous week. The reality that I was back home and the reality of the real world had began to sunk in, and after a week with fellow Christians, reality wasn't the best feeling in the world. I was afraid of losing the intimacy I had found with God in the past week, which is usually the standard when coming off of the "camp high". I began to focus on things other than Christ in those moments and it made my doubt grow even stronger. I was able to see though, that with God's aide, and with focus on him, everything that is not Christ will fall into line according to his will. And that friends, is a concept, though hard for me to practice, is a concept that is attainable, and is capable of filling us with joy. Christ's love is bigger than our doubts and worries, and with focus on him, our doubts and worries can become next to nothing at all. Praise Him.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Fuge

It's 8:35 pm. Our youth group leaves for Fuge in about 8 hours and 25 minutes. I've been on this trip three times before, but it doesn't change the fact that I still have some butterflies in my stomach about the upcoming week. Not the bad kind of butterflies, but the kind of good butterflies like the ones in that game that came out when we were kids where they shot up in the air and you had to catch them with a net. Dancing butterflies, I guess you could call them. I'm anxious to see where God is leading not only myself but my fellow friends and youth this week. In all honesty, I've never led anyone to Christ at Fuge, but there's a first time for everything I guess. Like I've said before, I'm as shy a person as you'll ever meet, but God seems to bring out the best in me when it comes to socializing on these trips.

While God, the missions, the new friendships, and meeting needs is why we go, I want to mention what we leave behind.

The thing about trips like Fuge is that our only problem becomes God. Let me elaborate. When we're at home, many of our everyday problems and troubles are trivial, like our obsessions with having the best clothes, accessories, etc., or who has the best tan, or whatever the case may be. The reason I say God becomes our only problem is because He allows us to see things about ourselves we don't want to see, because we are blinded by a society that surrounds us into thinking that a lukewarm relationship with Christ is actually an extraordinary relationship with Christ. Society's become that bad, it's easy for us to think we're that good.

For me personally, I leave behind the load of cow dung (putting it nicely) that is summer reading, and I leave behind a situation where I don't have a clue what's going on (hopefully I will in about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, anyway, that's another story for another day). Crap and confusion, in which both cases are of no long-term importance. But when we tend to think that our problems ought to be the world's problem, trivial things become catastrophes.

What I'm trying to say is, at Fuge, we lose sight of what is trivial, and get the tiniest, yet awesome grasp of what is eternal and what is real. We see that we are that ugly and we see that God is that beautiful and forgiving and loving. It's going to be a great week. Please pray for everyone involved. Night guys.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Skin

I guess this is my first actual post about something.

I don't really know how to start. I guess I should start by saying my name is Evan (which hopefully you already know) and I'm just doing the best I can everyday. My friends say I'm really smart, but I don't really feel that way much of the time. I'm the shyest person in the world until you get to know me, so sorry if I"ve ever given you the cold shoulder, it's nothing personal, just the way God wired me. If you could think up the exact opposite of a so-called "lady's man", well, you're looking at him, baby. I'm smooth as sandpaper when it comes to the opposite sex, but like I said, I' m just trying my best everyday.

With that being said, I just want to say that I've learned over time, how important it is for us to be comfortable in our own skin. What you read above is just a little bit about me, but that is me, nevertheless. I see all the time people trying to put on a front and put on a show just to fit in, all because they feel like they can't be themselves. I recognize that a lot because I've been there, and I still venture there once in a blue moon, but I love who I am and I can only hope the people who are reading this, if anyone is at all, can say that about themselves. Love the person God has created you to be and embrace him or her with open arms. Once we do that, I think that allows us to connect with others at a deeper level, but hey, that's just my opinion.

anyway, gotta run. good night to all.