And on the Third Day...

Not being one who has been to many concerts, I truly believe that not many would top the one that Third Day gave in Terre Haute on Friday night. I think it is amazing that a band so hugely popular in their genre would even stop in this city in between shows and do one here. They even said it was the smallest crowd they had played for in a long while, but that did not make them seem any less enthused about performing for all of us. I thought the smaller sized crowd and venue was absolutely ideal. There was not a bad seat in the house and the whole experience was much more intimate.

The set list they played was almost perfect. While they negated to sing one of my favorites, all of the songs they sang were great. I almost never feel that way about concerts, or CD's, or set lists. There are always at least a couple songs that are just not what you like, but Third Day somehow evaded that. The only bad thing about the concert is that it ended. Also, Mac Powell has such a great voice live. Singing live has become somewhat of a lost art with all that can be done with altering voices now. It was refreshing to hear a band with true talent that almost mirrors their sound in the studio.

They also brought along their friend Trevor Morgan. Now usually opening acts can be a little lame and you just want them to finish so the main act can come on stage, but Trevor was different. All of his songs were also enjoyable, and his rendition of the Psalm 23 was absolutely amazing. I urge everyone to look into him. I had the chance to talk to him a little bit after the show and while he is not uber famous, it was still exciting to talk with someone who is sharing his great talents and love for God with the world.

Even if you are not a fan of Christian music, Third Day is definitely a band that can be liked by anyone. They have a wide variety of songs, powerful messages, great vocals, and what's better is that they all seem like really genuinely nice people. I want to thank them for coming to the Haute and putting on such a great show, I will definitely look to be seeing you again in concert.

Judgment Day

There is an old saying that almost every one has heard, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Meaning that you cannot tell what something is like based solely on appearances. We have heard this before, but do we take it seriously? I know I have judged people too quickly sometimes or judged them wrongly and have felt bad about it later. It is common nature to judge too quickly and to make assumptions about situations or people before one even knows them. What we are missing is tolerance. Some may say we are missing acceptance, but one need not accept something as long as they are able to aptly tolerate it. There is a story about Jesus meeting a woman at Jacob's well that fits well with this practice.

Jesus sat down by Jacob's well in Sychar where he encountered a Samaritan woman getting water from the well. Knowing full well of her sins and the woman's standing in her town, Jesus spoke to her anyway. Maybe even bigger than that was the fact that he was a Jew and she a Samaritan. In the process of speaking to her, Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah and if she drinks his water, she will never be thirsty again. Jesus accepted this woman for who she was, he did not reject for who he thought her to be, and in this case knew her to be before their encounter.

I believe that people pass judgment because it is easy. It can be hard to make an effort to try understand all points of view, all ways of life, and all decisions, but if more people did that, there may not be so much hate in this world. There are always going to be disagreements because all humans are different. I think we were all made different by God so that we could practice these habits in life. We don't always have to be right, or understand everything that happens, but making that effort is what makes the difference.

Another major part of my life is teaching social studies. The main focus in social studies is practicing good democratic values such as: tolerance, valid arguments, open mindedness, and others that go along those same lines. Looking at our democracy today, I do not see those values being emitted by the ones who it should be coming from. It is no wonder that this world still has not found the solution. There is no leader big enough and strong enough to preach these values... but wait, there is. Some people are just not listening.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28

Why Would He Do That??

We live in a world that is occasionally marred by tragedies, both natural and not, that shift the way we life. The one that most would say comes to mind is 9/11 and also Hurricane Katrina. These events allow for people to reflect, count their blessings, and adapt to a new situation. After events as these, there are inevitably those who ask, "How could God let this happen?" I am reading a book currently called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. He briefly brought up this situation in one of his chapters and I thought it was a good twist on the question.

I think what people should be asking instead is "Why did we let this happen?" Maybe God is showing us how messed up our world still is and we need to take further steps to improve it all the time. There are always warning signs before terrible tragedies and if we ignore them, and many times that is the case, then what else can He do? I'm reminded of the story about the many who was in his house and a great flood came.

Before the flood comes, a man in a truck stops by at the house of another and asks him if he needs a ride to safety, the man replies, "No thank you, I am a praying man, a Christian and I believe God will protect and save me." Eventually the water rises and a boat comes by and asks the man if he would like to float to safety with them. The man replies, "No thank you, I am a praying man, a Christian and I believe God will protect and save me." The water floods his entire house and the man is on his roof when a helicopter comes by and asks him if he would like to be saved and flown to safety. The man replies with the same sentence as he gave the previous two rescuers. The man drowns and when he gets to Heaven he asks God, "I pray every day, live life as best I can to praise and believe in you, why didn't you save me?" God replies, "I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter, what the heck were you waiting for?"

God knows about the tragedies that are going to strike us, and not being cruel, I believe He does His best to try and warn us about them before they get here. Whether we take heed of what He is trying to tell us will determine how severe the damage is. There are many issues facing the world right now and people know they exist but what is being done? Are these issues even being taken seriously? Global Warming is often scoffed at, but whether or not it is true, shouldn't we be trying to make our planet a healthier and cleaner place to live anyway? Let us not put all blame on God for tragedies. If there is something amiss the first person to look at when determining how to change something is yourself. There may be things that are definitely out of our control and some things we have no knowledge of, but what happens when we do have that knowledge could determine what happens next.