This came out of a conversation I've been having with my brother and sister, and I just wanted to share...
Negativity can be found almost everywhere you look, and that makes it that much more difficult to overcome. But the good news is that we have a choice - we can allow it to overcome us and make us miserable (like I did for so long), or we can strive for happiness in our lives and fight it. I now choose the latter. People feel differently, but to me, life is for living, not just existing - and is far too short to spend going along with the grain of what popular society dictates. In my depressive state (I struggled with depression for 11 years before I was able to realize that I needed to get help, and spent another year and a half or so in therapy and on medication before I overcame it), I became a huge victim of apathy, and I was so numb to everything that I used to just go along with whatever was going on around me just to "save face" or "blend in". Now, although I still have my days, overall I refuse to go down without a fight. The war will go on, but I take it one battle at a time. Even when I lose (and I've lost my share), I know I gave it my best shot, and in that respect, I actually won. I'd give anything to have realized this 10-15 years ago when things started going downhill, but I'm thankful to know it now.
Also, as people, we have an incredible tendency to be influenced by others - spend time around someone in a negative mood without putting up any resistance, and just notice how we "naturally" jump into the pit with them eventually. Here's the funny thing - and I encourage you to try this - focus on something that makes you happy, I mean REALLY happy, and go against the flow of society by not allowing negativity to overcome this joy in you. Do this on an ongoing basis, and believe it or not, you will eventually rub off on others, too. If nothing else, someone will start to wonder, "dude, what's up with you anyway?!". Moods, attitudes, and people in general are a funny thing - they can change in the blink of an eye, but only if/when we allow the change to occur in us. The line between negativity and reality only becomes blurred if we allow ourselves to believe that it is. Society has no power over us to do this, we do. By consciously choosing to focus on the positive, no matter what that thing may be, we have the power to break the cycle.
I share these things with you in the hope that they will encourage you. It certainly doesn't mean to be naive and think that life will be a bed of roses - that's just stupid! LOL...Tough times and negativity will happen, and we of course shouldn't blindly just ignore them. By the same token though, we don't have to take these things lying down. A long time ago, Mom posted something on their fridge that has stuck with me, to the effect of, "Life is only really 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we deal with it - it's all in our Attitude". I'm also reminded of the t-shirt my sister once patched when she was younger that read, "Dare To Dream". These things encourage me, even now, all these years later. :)
Thanks for reading, and God bless,
Chris
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, October 27, 2008
Prayer...or is it really?
Currently, our church is doing the Experiencing God study, and it's been a real eye-opener for all of us. Lately I find myself questioning my motives when I pray, trying to figure out, "am I just making a daily ritual or routine out of bringing a repetitive 'laundry list' of requests before God, or am I really striving to cultivate that love relationship that He pursues with me?". It even sometimes comes to the point of spending a little less time in Scripture and more time seeking that "quiet time" with God that I haven't really given the time to before. Now don't get me wrong, we should drink from His Word as much as possible because it shows us the way in this life (see Ps 119:105), and God wants us to come before Him and ask Him about the things that burden our hearts (see Phil 4:6) - but Psalm 46:10 also says, "Be still and know that I am God", and I think that for the first time in my life I might finally understand what that really means. God seems to be leading my heart towards getting right with Him above all things.
If you find yourself in the same boat, I encourage you to cry out to Him in prayer, and ask Him to, "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Ps 51:10).
In Jesus,
Chris
......
If you find yourself in the same boat, I encourage you to cry out to Him in prayer, and ask Him to, "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Ps 51:10).
In Jesus,
Chris
......
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
TX needs your help...YES, YOU!
My friends, the reality is this: the effects of Hurricane Ike are FAR FROM OVER! So many - by the thousands and thousands - were forced to evacuate Galveston Island, Houston, and other surrounding areas, before the peak of Hurricane Ike's intensity. The media came, and went, because they now have "more important" things to focus on (yes the sarcasm is intentional), like the upcoming presidential election and gas prices. Now before anyone goes throwing a fit, yes, those things are important, but so are all God's children who are still in the midst of their suffering after sitting through hours and hours of seemingly endless traffic, to finally come home after weeks of evacuation...to nothing. I mean, nothing - homes are destroyed, if not overcome with feet of water or impossible amounts of mold to deal with, which renders these former homes unliveable anyway.
These people, as well as those who volunteer to help them (Christ In Action is an example), are in desperate need of financial donations, prayers, and volunteers to help the thousands in need in and around Galveston and Houston.
I am blessed to have seen my wife Angie (along with her friends Cindy and Monica) answer God's calling on their hearts, and help out down in TX with Christ In Action over 8-9 days (she just got home yesterday and is understandably exhausted, but also so blessed to be used by God for doing His Work). Being a single Dad for a little over a week to my 17-year-old step-daughter and 5-month-old little girl may have been challenging and trying at times for me, but in comparison to what work God used Angie for, it's nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
How can I say this? The miracle of Christ that works in me each and every day. The Bible says in Romans 8:18 (NIV), "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.". In this case, my "sufferings" as a single Dad for 8-9 days were absolutely nothing worth comparing with the glory that God received in the Work that He accomplished through Angie and the Christ In Action team while she was gone. Homes and yards were cleaned up. Large trees fallen over were completely uprooted and removed out of the way. Thousands (yes, thousands!) of people were given hot meals daily. Faith-based consoling was given to many in pain and grief. Many were prayed over and for. The literal hands and feet of Jesus fed His lambs and took care of His flock - they gave them something to eat (see "the feeding of the 5000" in Matt 14:13-21 if you're not familiar with this story). Souls were won for Christ. Volunteers willingly died to self, and gave so much for the Glory of our Almighty God, who is to be forever praised - Amen!
The following is today's blog addition from the Christ In Action website (www.christinaction.com):
Hurricane Who?
Today we ran out of food by 12:30 in Galveston! We have never given out 1,100 meals by that time before. We had teams in Houston cutting trees off houses in areas that still do not have electricity.
That is something I want to discuss in this blog. The national media has taken it's attention away from this storm and back to the presidential race and the financial melt down of banks and major financial institutions. That is all well and good, we need to be aware of those things in our life. However, there are still areas in Houston, the fourth largest city in America, still without electricity this long after the hurricane. Plus Galveston just opened for residents to return six days ago. Many Christian groups have been trying to set up and start feeding these residents who have no water or electricity. To date, as far as I can determine, besides the Salvation Army, Christ In Action is the only group feeding on the island and we have fed thousands and thousands of meals. I have been told that come groups have packed up and gone home, because of the lack of finances. One organization said "the media is gone, the money is gone and so are we."
Tomorrow we have a tractor trailer of ice and water coming to our site in Galveston that we will be passing out to the residents.
I have to be honest, since the media attention has turned from this storm, our finances have dried up. We are about $20,000 in the hole here. I need some serious funds real fast. Please go to the "donations" page and make a donation. Any amount will help, $10 from enough people will make a difference. Also, get your friends to check out this blog and ask them to donate $10 or more. If everybody does a little we can get this debt paid for. There is way too much work to be done for us to pack up and go home. I want to finish strong, I don't want to pack it in because of the lack of finances.
I have a great power point filled with some awesome pictures of the devastation from Hurricane Ike and would love to e mail the power point to you. Send me an e mail requesting it at denny@christinaction.com
That is something I want to discuss in this blog. The national media has taken it's attention away from this storm and back to the presidential race and the financial melt down of banks and major financial institutions. That is all well and good, we need to be aware of those things in our life. However, there are still areas in Houston, the fourth largest city in America, still without electricity this long after the hurricane. Plus Galveston just opened for residents to return six days ago. Many Christian groups have been trying to set up and start feeding these residents who have no water or electricity. To date, as far as I can determine, besides the Salvation Army, Christ In Action is the only group feeding on the island and we have fed thousands and thousands of meals. I have been told that come groups have packed up and gone home, because of the lack of finances. One organization said "the media is gone, the money is gone and so are we."
Tomorrow we have a tractor trailer of ice and water coming to our site in Galveston that we will be passing out to the residents.
I have to be honest, since the media attention has turned from this storm, our finances have dried up. We are about $20,000 in the hole here. I need some serious funds real fast. Please go to the "donations" page and make a donation. Any amount will help, $10 from enough people will make a difference. Also, get your friends to check out this blog and ask them to donate $10 or more. If everybody does a little we can get this debt paid for. There is way too much work to be done for us to pack up and go home. I want to finish strong, I don't want to pack it in because of the lack of finances.
I have a great power point filled with some awesome pictures of the devastation from Hurricane Ike and would love to e mail the power point to you. Send me an e mail requesting it at denny@christinaction.com
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
My Gear, both then and now...
Ok, ok.....being a guitarist myself, I understand the need we have as "gearpigs" to talk shop and about the gear we use (and the fact that we can go on for seemingly days talking about it!). I have owned multiple guitars and amps since starting to play just before I turned 14 (I'm 33 now...hard to believe how time flies...).
With electric guitars, I have gone from an entry-level Charvette (2 points to anyone out there who knows what those were), to a couple Ibanez's (an RG570 and an S540FMTT), to a 90's Strat Plus, to a couple of Washburn N4's (including one of the original rare Padouk models from their original Chicago custom shop - I miss that guitar sometimes, great Floyd Rose equipped axe!), to a couple of custom handmade Ed Roman Quicksilvers (these were fairly expensive, and I had to sell them both at different times for financial reasons, and more importantly, God was calling me to not make idols out of my music gear).
I now have a Schecter C-1 Classic in Antique Amber finish, with stock Duncan Jazz neck and JB bridge pickups. The string-thru body combined with maple neck-thru construction and mahogany wings really makes this axe sing unlike any other guitar I've ever played (all the others were bolt-on/bolt-in). I added a few upgrades to really make this a killer guitar:
- Earvana compensating nut - it's not a gimmick, folks, they really work! Every note on the neck is in perfect tune, and chords all over the neck are sweeter-sounding because of this too. We're talking under $50 total for parts and tech labor to have near-perfect intonation - worth every penny!
- Planet Waves Auto-Trim locking tuners - best tuners, locking or not, that I've ever used, and believe me, I've tried them all...no, really...Schaller, Sperzel, LSR, whatever - and the tuning stability of the Planet Waves is every bit as good or better. Not only that, but they automatically cut the excess string off for you when you restring and tune up - don't know why none of us thought of that a long time ago...this works great!
- I also upgraded the stock Tone Pros bridge with a Tone Pros Superbridge - gotta have those String Saver saddles, I won't own another electric without them! Not only do they help your strings last longer, but the brightness and life they breathe into your tone is just awesome!.
I string it up with Elixir 10's - there is simply no better guitar string on God's green Earth (no, I'm not a paid endorser, although that would be nice! ;) ).
I'd like to have a Strat-style guitar at some point down the road, because when you get right down to it, only a good Strat-style guitar will get those Strat-like tones authentically. Maybe a Carvin Bolt - I like their construction techniques and standard components and features a lot. Haven't heard any complaints about Carvin anything either - they seem to do a lot of things well from what I gather...
With amps, I've had entry level solid-state Peaveys and Fenders, a Johnson Millenium JM150, a Johnson J-Station, and a Mesa Boogie Road King (pre-series II) half stack - that last one was REALLY hard for me to let go, but as with the Quicksilver guitars, it was something God was calling me to do. Also, with what I do right now - playing/practicing at home, and playing direct through the PA in my local church on Sundays - it just plain wasn't practical, and God blessed me once again to help out my family finances by selling it. I now use a POD XT Live, fully loaded except for the bass expansion pack, which handles all my tonal needs just fine and sounds great.
I would love to upgrade to a new POD X3 Live, but I know that God has provided for my gear needs with what I have now, and if I'm meant to have it, He will provide the means to get one.
Acoustic guitars - I had a lower-end Jasmine (by Takamine) in the beginning, then moved to an Ovation Standard Balladeer, and finally, an early 90's Ovation Adamas II, which I still have today. To put it plainly, I will never sell it - the walnut predominance in the neck and fingerboard give it a very unique tone. Because the Earvana nut and Planet Waves locking tuners work so well on my electric, I had these put on this acoustic too. Elixir strings on this one too, I use 12's.
(/end music gear rant) ;)
With electric guitars, I have gone from an entry-level Charvette (2 points to anyone out there who knows what those were), to a couple Ibanez's (an RG570 and an S540FMTT), to a 90's Strat Plus, to a couple of Washburn N4's (including one of the original rare Padouk models from their original Chicago custom shop - I miss that guitar sometimes, great Floyd Rose equipped axe!), to a couple of custom handmade Ed Roman Quicksilvers (these were fairly expensive, and I had to sell them both at different times for financial reasons, and more importantly, God was calling me to not make idols out of my music gear).
I now have a Schecter C-1 Classic in Antique Amber finish, with stock Duncan Jazz neck and JB bridge pickups. The string-thru body combined with maple neck-thru construction and mahogany wings really makes this axe sing unlike any other guitar I've ever played (all the others were bolt-on/bolt-in). I added a few upgrades to really make this a killer guitar:
- Earvana compensating nut - it's not a gimmick, folks, they really work! Every note on the neck is in perfect tune, and chords all over the neck are sweeter-sounding because of this too. We're talking under $50 total for parts and tech labor to have near-perfect intonation - worth every penny!
- Planet Waves Auto-Trim locking tuners - best tuners, locking or not, that I've ever used, and believe me, I've tried them all...no, really...Schaller, Sperzel, LSR, whatever - and the tuning stability of the Planet Waves is every bit as good or better. Not only that, but they automatically cut the excess string off for you when you restring and tune up - don't know why none of us thought of that a long time ago...this works great!
- I also upgraded the stock Tone Pros bridge with a Tone Pros Superbridge - gotta have those String Saver saddles, I won't own another electric without them! Not only do they help your strings last longer, but the brightness and life they breathe into your tone is just awesome!.
I string it up with Elixir 10's - there is simply no better guitar string on God's green Earth (no, I'm not a paid endorser, although that would be nice! ;) ).
I'd like to have a Strat-style guitar at some point down the road, because when you get right down to it, only a good Strat-style guitar will get those Strat-like tones authentically. Maybe a Carvin Bolt - I like their construction techniques and standard components and features a lot. Haven't heard any complaints about Carvin anything either - they seem to do a lot of things well from what I gather...
With amps, I've had entry level solid-state Peaveys and Fenders, a Johnson Millenium JM150, a Johnson J-Station, and a Mesa Boogie Road King (pre-series II) half stack - that last one was REALLY hard for me to let go, but as with the Quicksilver guitars, it was something God was calling me to do. Also, with what I do right now - playing/practicing at home, and playing direct through the PA in my local church on Sundays - it just plain wasn't practical, and God blessed me once again to help out my family finances by selling it. I now use a POD XT Live, fully loaded except for the bass expansion pack, which handles all my tonal needs just fine and sounds great.
I would love to upgrade to a new POD X3 Live, but I know that God has provided for my gear needs with what I have now, and if I'm meant to have it, He will provide the means to get one.
Acoustic guitars - I had a lower-end Jasmine (by Takamine) in the beginning, then moved to an Ovation Standard Balladeer, and finally, an early 90's Ovation Adamas II, which I still have today. To put it plainly, I will never sell it - the walnut predominance in the neck and fingerboard give it a very unique tone. Because the Earvana nut and Planet Waves locking tuners work so well on my electric, I had these put on this acoustic too. Elixir strings on this one too, I use 12's.
(/end music gear rant) ;)
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