[pause for station identification]

ok. i know i promised a series on voice. but i felt the need to postpone it for a bit. sorry. i know only 4 people read this on a weekly basis anyway...

i felt to share these lyrics with y'all because they've really been pulling at my heart this past week or so...

lifesong*

empty hands held high

such small sacrifice

if not joined with my life

i sing in vain tonight

may the words i say

and the things i do

make my lifesong sing

bring a smile to You

let my lifesong sing to You

let my lifesong sing to You

i want to sing Your name to the end of this day

knowing my heart was true

let my lifesong sing to You

Lord i give my life

a living sacrifice

to reach a world in need

to be Your hands and feet

so may the words i say

and the things i do

make my lifesong sing

bring a smile to You

hallelujah

hallalujah

let my lifesong sing to You

*[special props to mrs. roxana rogers for telling me about the lifesong album]

voices

i'm excited.

i'm finally going to blog something that i've wanted to work on for a while. no, it's not in this post. but i'll be posting the first part later sometime later this week.

i hope that my previous posts have served to be enriching and uplifting; not condescending or demeaning. i really don't have a clue how they're affecting people's lives as there are very few comments left behind. [that is not a hint for you to leave comments; you should never feel pressured to do anything that you do not wish to do.]

most of you who read this blog on a semi-regular basis will note that most of my blogs in the past have run along a similar vein: they appear to be a series of a sort. well, for the most part they are; albeit an unintentional series. but they were still a series.

lately, i haven't written much; barely managing a blog a week. perhaps, it was due to lack of time. i would prefer to see it as a lack of planning on my behalf. which brings me to my soon to be written posts.

i believe God is leading to pen a four-part series on voices.

as of yet, i have no clue how many posts this will cover; but i do know that the very thought at starting this elates me.

two weeks ago, i believe God gave me a basic outline for this series, so i hope i serve His purposes well...

part one is finding your voice: what is your voice? what do people hear when they hear you speak?

part two will be recovering your voice: have you compromised your voice?

part three will be empowering your voice: what does your time schedule about you? do you actively plan to utilize your voice?

and finally, part four will cover using your voice: what good is a voice if you never use it?

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...

[a broken heart decompresses]

july 5th, 2004, senior airman andrew schliepsiek and his wife jamie were stabbed to death in their home at robins airforce base near macon, georgia. staff sergeant jason king was also stabbed the same night but lived to tell his story.

october 15th, 2005, senior airman andrew witt was sentenced to death for the pre-meditated murders and the pre-meditated attempt on ssgt jason king's life.

now why on earth would i choose to write about this?

*let me preface this by stating that i'm not here to question the death penalty; to ask whether or not there are scriptural grounds for it; or to point fingers and open wounds.

i write about it because it broke my heart.

see, i went to high school with andrew witt. i played on the same high school basketball team before he transfered schools. 8 years ago, we sat in many of the same classes. today, he sits on death row and i sit at a computer. but what really breaks my heart is that i see what his family is going through right now. i see it because i know them.

no one denies his guilt. he was there that night. he did it. the witness lived to testify. there is no justifiable motive for murder. murder is what it is. killing an innocent human being is a terrible tragedy and in many areas, in accordance with the law, it is punishable by death.

my first reaction to the initial news that andrew witt had murdered a couple, was to google andrew and jamie schliepsiek. what i came across were some harsh words leveled at their murderer. and my heart broke.

it didn't break for andrew witt. it broke for those who had lost their friends; their son; their daughter; their sister; their brother.

i saw pain. and i hurt for them. i couldn't and cannot hurt with them.

now today, my heart has broken again. i've taken andrew witt's brother out to dinner. his name is sam. he's in the sixth grade. and he knows. i've sat with his sister at high school soccer games. her name is katie. she is in the eigth grade. and she testified at her brother's death penalty hearing.

my heart breaks because i can see the fall-out from poor decision making. and i am determined, more than ever, to live a revolutionary christian life.

andrew witt. was raised in a christian home. went to a christian school. attended a christian college. entered the military. and made some poor decisions.

i want, so badly, to be more than someone who shakes their head and questions the parents; because his parents didn't make his decisions for him.

i want to live an extraordinary life that glorifies God; not a life that leaves people questioning Him.

[what if?]

i've been working with allie rogers lately on her missions promotional video [it's almost done!] and one question keeps popping into my head.

what if?

the variables are never the same, but, just for once, what if?

what if someone approached us with a solid business plan that provided maximum return on investment? how much capital would we invest?

what if we emptied our busy schedules to open them up for what we think really matters? would what we choose to fill the time with satisfy us?

what if the world were infected with some horrible virus that was killing us all off? what if the only cure was if the only person who wasn't infected had to die?

what if?

what if God asked us to do something that was guaranteed? what if what He asked us to do was to help expand His kingdom?

what if the only thing that matters is the one thing we drag our feet to do?

what if Jesus had refused to die for you or me?

what if?

what if i lived my life for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory?

[what if i truly believed what that means?]

[violent prayer and walmart; changing the atmosphere where you work]

it is no great secret that i am currently working at walmart to help to build my finances to move on to the next phase of my life. what happened last week, no one could have seen coming.

what began as regular customer-associate interaction quickly became something greater. a customer had a keychain with a leather cutout of africa and i asked her if she had ever been there. she said she had. and not just to any part of africa, she had been to tanzania- the very place i have just returned from three months ago. we talked for a few minutes in english and broken swahili and then she left.

the next customer walked up to the counter and asked me why i had gone over there. after i told him, he had all sorts of questions: do you miss it? would you ever go back? did you witness any miracles? why do you think more miracles happen over there than here in america? what do you think about exorcism?

i answered the questions as they came, but that last one took me a bit by surprise. i explained demonic oppression and how people who are set free from it often tend to be healed from diseases.

then he told me about his 4-year-old grandson who was adopted out of a drug-addict home. despite having adhd, whenever the child was told of Jesus, he would shriek and cry Jesus doesn't like me!

and he asked if i would pray for jaime. i told him i would and that we could pray right then too.

i'd like to tell you that he came back that afternoon and told me jaime was set free; but he didn't. i'd like to tell you that the prayer changed the lives of everyone present; but i only know how it affected mine. i'd like to tell you that people were saved that day in walmart; but from what i know, nothing else extraordinary happened.

i know it wasn't a short, sweet and quiet prayer; but i wasn't pacing (i wanted to) and i wasn't shouting (in tongues or otherwise). it was a violent prayer. i know this because it changed the atmosphere in my little section of walmart. other customers had bowed their heads and were praying along. no one who could get me in trouble wandered through. and after he left, walmart felt different. and it still feels different.

the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force

do you feel that you need to separate your work life from your personal life? do you feel that you need to separate your religious life from your secular life? allow me to let you in on a big secret: there is no separation. if you try to separate the two you will be miserable and oppressed.

no man can serve two masters, he will hate one and serve the other; you cannot serve God and [things].

no one's opinions should ever dictate your spiritual life.

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...