Midwinter's '07

Kyle and I just got home from visiting Swayze down in San Antonio and playing at UP. Mark's new baby girl, Lauren, is really cute and turns a month old tomorrow...maybe if you beg Mark he'll post some pictures...

We are all really excited about the two midwinter's we have coming up and hope that all of you guys attending are coming ready to worship. Midwinter's are unfortunately shorter than summer camp so everyone should start praying now (if you haven't already begun to) for God to move mightily right from the start.

We are very blessed to have Kyle Brown joining us on electric guitar this time around. Kyle plays with Mark most Sundays at UP and is a great guitarist, plus he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

That's all...see ya'll soon,
Chris

Uniting the Body

I attend a meeting with a few brothers in Christ on Tuesday nights. Our sole purpose for the meeting is praying, not on a particular subject but whatever the Spirit puts on our hearts. Every week the Lord gives us unexpected thoughts and ideas to pray about. This week was no exception. The Spirit suggested the body of Christ as something that desperately needs to be prayed for. We are praying for a uniting of believers everywhere, in Spirit, into the body of Christ.

I Corinthians 12:14-15 (NIV)
"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body."

I Corinthians 12:26 (NIV)
"If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

Imagine what it would look like if all Christians were living with those verses in mind. Every action one part of the body performs affects the rest. We must live united for the same purpose: the glorification of our God. A body that is divided and working against itself cannot be effective.

Here are some more verses to pray about:

Acts 9:1-4 (NIV)
"Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples...He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?""

Note how God (the voice) says to Paul "Why do you persecute ME?" God does not use "MY DISCIPLES" He is referring to the disciples as Himself. The body of Christ.

Romans 12:1 (NASB)
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present YOUR bodies A living and holy SACRIFICE, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."

Shouldn't it be: "present your bodies as living sacrifices" No! Present all of your bodies as ONE living and holy sacrifice.

Ephesians 4:4-6 (NIV)
"There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Peace and Love,
Chris

Groundbreaking Pictures!

Hey guys,
I might be a little late getting to this but here are some pictures Mo took of the UUMC Groundbreaking Service...





Enjoy!
-Chris

Weekend Show

I know this says I posted it...but it's from Kyle.
-Chris

This past weekend we played at a youth rally down in San An, and it was amazing worship. It's so encouraging seeing people lift praise to our Lord. Chris and I talked alot about what it means to worship on the way back to Austin. I think some people have this view that it's just songs and music. Personally, I believe anything we do can be worship, as long as it is glorifying Jesus Christ. Don't get me wrong though, I'll do a little booty bumpin for Jesus
anytime. I think we're playing again in a couple of weeks, and I'm already pumped.

-kcj

boredom= remixes

I did some different instrumentation on the "Mighty to Save" demo

New Song/ Thoughts on Jesus

God totally gave me a new song tonight! I was sitting thinking about a way that God blessed me recently but I was too proud and blind to see it. God is so good to me when he puts up with my lack of humility so I felt I needed to write a song about Him. I just kept thinking "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" from the Doxology but I didn't really want to rewrite that. My mind wandered and I started thinking about Jesus...

Earlier today I had been flipping through Philip Yancey's "The Jesus I Never Knew" at my brother's apartment. It speaks about discovering the real Jesus. Not the media's, the world's, or even "Christianity's" Jesus. While I was writing, I started trying to put into words who I thought Jesus was. What was so special about him? These are the verses I came up with:

V1
You came to earth, humble, meek
No crowns or glory did You seek
You came to serve and to live the Word
But died a death most undeserved

V2
You came with wisdom beyond our world
To be the way to heavens door.
You bore the cross, God's only son
A portrait of "Thy will be done"

I also have a prechorus but it isn't important (to this topic). All of us need to explore Christ more. Sometimes I feel we get too caught up in church and/or church politics. How do we feel about this issue or that? Which way are we supposed to vote on this particular issue?, etc.

John 14:5-6 NIV (emphasis mine)
"Thomas said to him [Jesus], "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, I AM the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Let's just focus on Jesus and try to follow Him.

Peace and love!
-Chris

Jesus (a Description) Demo 8-1-06.mp3