The run away song

If you have read any books about writing like Ann Lamont's Bird By Bird or Annie Dillard'sThe Writing Life (seriously who does that?!) you will notice a theme. The same theme can be found on some of my favorite songwriter's blogs. The idea is to let the work go where it wants. If you have an idea and start writing and the story, theme or direction begins to change, go with it. Very rarely, in my experience, does the song or story come out exactly as I planned or outlined. This is especially the case in the studio. I never consider a song "finished" until the album is printed up and in the consumers hands, but even then I reserve the right as the songwriter to mess with it in performance. 

Nothing about today was any different. I worked on the song I started yesterday all day long. It is taking a shape I really enjoy and sounding good, but it's not totally my original idea I scratched out yesterday morning on a paper towel (sometimes you gotta rock what you got before it goes away). AND today the first of NashVin's friends stopped in to record some fun parts on the new tune. You should be able to hear some rough demos soon.

And so it begins (our little secret)

I woke up this morning humming a tune. I proceeded to get ready for church, jumped in the car, and no gas (in my car OR any gas station for miles), so I came back in still humming the same tune. I milled around the house and started singing the words that went along with my little morning song. Before to long I realized the song I was singing wasn't really a song at all...yet . It has been so long since an idea just fell out like that, I almost forgot what it was like. Since I was all out of gas, confined to the house and my roommates are out of town I decided to run with it. So I took the really gross old strings off Ope, my primary acoustic. I put on some nice new strings and began to write this new song. It was really exciting. After a while I set up the whole rig and recorded my ideas as they came. 

All that to say... I have been putting it off and putting it off and putting it off, but today I think I started my solo record. 

So here's the deal. I will keep you posted on here, put up fun pics, lyric ideas, questions, and progress reports if you will be super patient, encouraging, and participate in this project with me. Keep your ears open.

HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD?

Lots of different experiences come together at the front of one's mind every now and then to create the proverbial "Ah ha", "Duh", or "Oh crap!" moments. You with me? Know what I'm talkin' about? Here are some of the experiences followed my the moment.

CRASH: BHS has this FCA type event on Friday mornings (at freaking 6:30. shoot me in the face), and this morning I spoke and lead worship for 'em. It was fun. We sang Mighty To Save and Julie Wafford and Kelsie Overton were worshiping like nobody's business in that little, off white class room surrounded my classmates and friends. It warmed my heart.Savior. He can move the mountains. My God is Mighty to Save. FOREVER. Author of salvation; He rose and conquered the grave.

All the while Travis was speaking at Ravenwood's FCA. I figured we got done about the same time, so as I was leaving I texted him. Our exchange went something like this (starting with me): "It went well I think. 7 souls were saved, 3 re-dedications, 6 re re re-dedications, and one girl even decided to start loving her mother. Have a great day." "Wow. I only saved 3 souls, but there were 8 levitations and two ppl dancing in the isles and speaking in tongues." "Cool. I've never had any levitations but a kid did call down fire once last year." "Yeah. That kinda reminds me of the girl who turned in to salt after I warned her to stop texting during my talk."

Now you know Trav and I, so you know we were just joking.

POLITICS: Best friend Ben is an educated dude. A lawyer, an aspiring politician, and he is well read. He always has some sort of political commentary, world news satire, or the like on our tv. I imagine it's like ESPN or Sports Center in a freshman guys dorm room. Even if he is working on something or in another room it is on and loud enough to hear. Last night as he was working and I was reading the Colber Report was on back to back...to back. Every once in a while Ben would chuckle or talk to the tv while I was trying my hardest to focus on the pages before me. Anyway, at this point in our upcoming election everyone is focused on all the changes that are being promised. How will the next Pres save the world? What are the issues that he or she (well not anymore) will stand for or against?

BAG-O AND BURGERS: I was at a birthday party a few weeks ago (we played bag-o and ate burgers...don't worry about it) at the LaRue house. Party conversation swarmed the house and the back yard (where the bag-o was happening), and like it often does one pocket of discussion, which I was in, turned to "christian" stuff. Phillip's dad told us about a book he was reading that is a collection of miracles experienced in other countries by missionaries. He told of healing, watching whole limbs grow back in front of your very eyes like in the movies, and even the occasional raising of the dead...like a couple of days dead. Of course we we're all like Mmmm Hmm. Okay. But then he said something that has stayed with me. He said "You know, here [in America] we have options and doctors and stuff. In some of these other places there are no other options. It is God or not at all."

THE MOMENT: How "far" have we come that we doubt miracles, joke about people experiencing the living Christ, and look to our government to fix things? The president may be invested in our country, but He has never invested in me. Politicians may be pro this and anti that, but loving believers took me in and taught me. Church and State may be separated, but the Church that Jesus preached is about healing the state by healing those in it. This love and healing in not in legislation. It is in the heart of the Living God, who is not a joke. I expect a normal dude downtown to cure my runny nose, why do I question that my God is healing people around the world.

We sing God is "Mighty to Save" so why don't we expect him to? We sing Jesus is "More than Enough" so why don't we let him be? So I ask you how big is your God? Or maybe it is how big do you let God be?

I answered my own question (see previous post)

Actually in my mind it wasn’t really a question. I simply asked it to offer pause and thought to all who read my thought here… all four of you. I figured maybe it could generate some good conversation for youth, friends, roommates or even strangers. For me the answer lies in a bit of scripture that I have kept close to my heart for many years now.

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

2 Corinthians 3: 2-3

Thinking about all this also reminded me of some words from the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (‘cause he is way cooler than I).

“If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk to long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize; that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards; that is not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.”

We all do lots of different things for lots of different reasons, but I hope we each come to a place where we end up simply living our lives out of a genuine response to the Living Christ in our midst. 

Hopefully Jesus is paying attention...

Last night I asked a friend a question and it has been plaguing me ever since. So... I figured I would post it here and let everyone weigh in on it.

Why live the life,  walk the road, set the example and invest so much in other people if all they do is say "well thats just insert name here. They're like super human or something."?

If noone else takes convictions and callings seriously I hope it adds up some time or another. It's not an eternal game of bingo. Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is now. Why is everyone else waiting?