Songs That Impact me #3: When He Saved Me by the Booth Brothers

My favorite group is the Booth Brothers, a southern gospel trio comprised of two brothers, Michael and Ronnie Booth, tenor and lead, respectfully, and Jim Brady who rounds out the group as baritone. I like about anything they do, but this is one of my favorite songs. Overall, it is a great song, but what grabs me is the first verse, and specifically the third line: "I see Him excited to forgive us." It may seem like an elementary thing, but the idea of God being excited to forgive me was a foreign idea to me. I always felt I had to beg, plead, and convince God to forgive..... yet, isn't that the very message of the prodigal son story? God running to meet us when we come back to Him?

When He Saved Me by the Booth Brothers

I don’t believe He’s sitting up in Heaven
Evaluating sinners by their scars
But I see Him excited to forgive us
And it’s not at all in spite of who we are

Chorus:
When He saved me He knew
What I had done, what I would do
He looked beyond the worst in me
And saw not what I was, He saw what I could be

He looked at all the broken scattered pieces
And made a brand new vessel of my life
Every day possibility increases
‘Cause he placed me in a dream that never dies

Bridge:
And though I was a sinner, the Savior heard my cry
His mercy came and rescued me, He did not pass me by

Songs that impact me #2: Your Grace Is Enough by Chris Tomlin

My first love musically is Southern Gospel. I have far more SG CDs and songs on my Ipod than any other genre', but I do listen to other kinds of music. This is one of my favorite non-SG songs. It is just a message I need to hear often. For more than one reason, I have struggled for years to grasp this concept. A song is a great way to be reminded that His grace is enough for even me.

Your Grace Is Enough

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me [x2]

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

Songs that impact me #1: Do You Wanna Be Well? by The Gaither Vocal Band

Music is far more important than most of us realize. That is one reason I don't listen to much secular, and don't understand Christians who listen to more secular than Christian music. I need the encouragement that comes from Christian music that cannot be found in secular music. I want music that will draw me closer to God, not clutter my mind with the junk that is in so much secular music.

There are songs that impact us more than others. For something to do, and to share some of those songs, I am doing a series of blog posts about just that: songs that impact me the most.

The first few times I heard this song, I cried. I still do sometimes when I listen to it. It asks a simple question, but packs a great message. All too often, we sit back and expect God to do all the work when it comes to our struggles, but it always involves us doing our part. We have to take steps of faith, sometimes have to "take up our bed". We can't just lie there and expect God to make it an easy ride.


Do You Wanna Be Well?
By William J. Gaither, Suzanne Gaither Jennings, and Benjamin Gaither
Verse 1:

Waiting there for thirty-eight years, cried so long he ran out of tears
Just a worn out man, looking for a healing hand
Then one day his chance came along, a healing Man who could make him strong
And he caught his eyes, but his question took him by surprise

Chorus
Do you wanna be well? Really wanna be well?
Are you willing to take up your mat and help yourself?
Do you wanna be free? Really wanna be free?
If you wanna be healed and whole, you gotta wanna be well

Verse 2:
Ever tried to fix yourself? Every time you got up, you fell.
Then you wallowed there, drowning in your own despair?
Have you gotten used to the chains? Are you so attached to the pain?
You're afraid to part, and ask the Man for a brand new heart?

Chorus:
Do you wanna be well? Really wanna be well?
Are you willing to take up your mat and help yourself?
Do you wanna be free? Really wanna be free?
If you wanna be healed and whole, you gotta wanna be well

Bridge:
There's a better life waiting just for you
Endless open spaces in the sun

Chorus:
But you gotta wanna be well,  Really wanna be well.
Are you willing to take up your mat and help yourself?
Do you wanna be free? Really wanna be free?
If you wanna be healed and whole, you gotta wanna be well

Justice for Trayvon

    You cannot be alive and not be aware of the George Zimmerman trial and the aftermath. It is sad that a young man lost his life, but its also sad that so many people wanted to throw the justice system out the window and try Zimmerman on public opinion, instead of giving him what we all have a right to: our day in court, our right to be innocent til proven guilty.

   I am weary of the media. They don't just report the news. They tell us how we should feel about stories - which is feeling how they do. We can't have an opinion different from the media and liberals, or we are hateful.

  Here are some facts:
1) Zimmerman's neighborhood had been having a lot of robbery/theft problems, which is why a neighborhood watch was formed.

2) Trayvon Martin was not the innocent kid he was portrayed as. It wasn't allowed as evidence, but he had been in a lot of trouble at school for fighting, and did at least marijuana. He wasn't a good kid - and no, I'm not saying that bad kids should die, but he wasn't at all like the media portrayed him.

Check out the pictures below. The media ran the first one, trying to show him as an innocent little kid, yet there are several pictures of him looking like a thug with his middle fingers held up. You think that was an accident? No way. Yet, they found an older picture of Zimmerman to run that made him look bad. So much for no bias.

 

 

 3) Trayvon could have left at any time, but he hung around and from all accounts and evidence shows, picked a fight with Zimmerman. Eyewitnesses puts Trayvon on top of Zimmerman, beating his head into the cement. The evidence shows it was self defense

 

4) The media did their best to make this all about race. They called Zimmerman a "white Hispanic", a new term just coined for this case. Oddly, they don't call Obama a "white African American", though he is also half white. Even Obama had to stick his nose in it.... he would never have said a word if the victim had been a different color than him.

 

5) NBC edited the 911 call to make it sound like Zimmerman was a racist. Original call had the 911 dispatcher ask Zimmerman what color Martin was after Zimmerman said the kid looked like trouble, and he replied "he's black". In the version NBC played, they cut the question out, so it had Zimmerman saying "the kid looks like trouble, he's black". Zimmerman is suing, and he should win. NBC deliberately did him damage.

 

   From what I am getting from the media, liberals, and majority of the black community, the evidence should be thrown out. They focus on the fact that a teenager was killed. Several comments were made "its ok to kill black teenagers now". The jurors' and Zimmerman's lives have been threatened.

 

  It is sad a young man died, but the evidence proved it was self defense. And something the media and liberals are ignoring, is we are innocent til proven guilty, and guilt should be beyond a reasonable doubt. Too many people listened to the media and not the evidence. The message I am getting, is Zimmerman had no rights, he was guilty til proven innocent, the evidence doesn't matter, and he should go to prison just because a segment of the US hates him and wants him in jail.

 

  If you don't think this is about race, read this news story on Breitbart, Trayvon Martin and the forgotten dead. It lists several tragic deaths of black people, many young, even kids, that we haven't heard a peep about. Why? Because they were killed by other blacks...... so why did a self defense shooting by a Hispanic man of a black teenager become such a national news story? Why has the president, members of congress, sports figures, etc gotten involved? Because there is an element in this country who wants to keep racism alive. Had Trayvon been white, we would never have heard about it. And no, that is not a racist statement. It is true. There is white on black crime a lot, black on black, and we never hear anything about it, but especially since Obama got in office, the media likes to focus on any white on black violence or crime, or in this case, Hispanic on black. If they didn't want to fan the flames, then why don't they cover the stories in the news article above?

 

 

   It is a tragedy that Trayvon Martin died, even though he wasn't the good kid the media portrayed him as, but that doesn't mean Zimmerman should go to jail. He was innocent til proven guilty, and a jury examined the evidence - something the media refused to do - and reached the verdict they did. We need to move on and stop the threats, the protests, the hate. When OJ Simpson (black) killed Nicole Simpson (white) and was declared innocent, and unlike this case  the evidence showed guilt, but he got off....... I don't remember rage, rallies, the president and congress getting involved.

 

  There are young black kids killed daily - murder, not self defense, and you don't see the media, Obama, congress, sports figures, singers, etc honoring them, having rallies, and demanding justice for them....... if the answer to why they did it for Trayvon wasn't to stir up racial tensions, then what is the answer? Why are the same people screaming about Trayvon Martin ignoring all the other deaths? That is a question that needs to be answered.

 

  In the meantime, yes it is sad Trayvon died, but the case has been tried and Zimmerman has been found innocent. Story over. Move on. Pray for the families if you want, but let's quit the hate and racial tensions.

Why I vote Republican, and didn't vote for Obama

Back in January-March I worked a job I ended up hating. My first day there, somehow I "outted" myself as not having voted for Obama. One of my new co-workers seemed shocked and asked why. I didn't want to take the time to list all the reasons, so I told her there were more than one reason, but my main reason was because I am pro-life, and as a Christian cannot  and will not vote for someone who is pro-abortion. That seemed to satisfy her, but I would have liked to go into more detail.

 Specifically about Obama: I knew too much about him. About his terrorist buddies, about the anti-white comments he had made in his life, about his pro-socialist views, and anti-American views. But the fact that he is a Democrat is reason enough.

I actually consider myself a conservative, but vote Republican since their views more closely mirror mine than those of Democrats.

1) I am pro-life. Abortion is murder, and I cannot in good conscience as a Christian vote for any politician who is pro-killing babies and will further that cause. I've heard Christians excuse voting for pro-abortion candidates by saying things like "well, its a law anyway, it isn't going to change" and "if it was illegal, women would be using coat hangers, at least its safe this way". Safe? For whom? Certainly not the baby...... and if a woman dies getting an abortion, doesn't it serve her right? If someone died trying to kill a baby outside of the womb, that is what we'd say.

I don't understand Christians voting for pro-abortion candidates. God is pro-life, and from all I read, He would consider abortion abhorrent and an abomination... so how can a Christian vote for someone who will further the cause of killing the most innocent of lives?

2) I am pro-traditional marriage. Again, how do Christians justify being for gay marriage when God says homosexuality is a sin, an abomination? Pro-life is my main platform to vote by, but this is a close second. Why vote for someone who will further a sinful cause? Who will further making a marriage legal that mocks God and what He ordained for marriage?

3) I am not a racist. The Democrats are the party that fought to keep slavery legal. They fought against civil rights. The Republicans fought to end slavery, and fought for civil rights....little known fact: The Klu Klux Clan was comprised of Democrats. Second little known fact: Lyndon B Johnson, a Democrat, said when he came up with the food stamp program: "I'll have thise n**** voting Democrat for 100 years." Why would I want to be part of  the party that fought to keep slavery and fought against civil rights?

4) I am for smaller government. The more government we have, the less freedoms we have. Our government is getting too big, bigger under this president than its ever been, and we are losing freedoms.

  Things are different now. Any Christian worth their salt shouldn't vote for pro-abortion candidates and pro-gay marriage candidates....... yet why did Christians vote for those who supported slavery and were against civil rights? Are people praying about who they vote for? Are they lining their voting up with the Bible as much as they can? I fear not.

Slavery should have been outlawed long before it was. Civil rights should have come about long before they did......... but even then Christians voted and stood for things they had no business voting for and standing for...... just like today. We have different issues, and we have too many Christians on the wrong side of the issues, and voting for candidates on the wrong side of issues.

I'm not saying Republicans are perfect and they are all good.... there are many I'd like to kick out of office, but they stand more for what I believe in than the Democrats do. That is why I vote Republican.

Excuse Me, Are you Jesus?

   I didn't like this song very well the first time I heard it. I didn't think it was well written and the group that performs it isn't a group I like very well, but the more I hear it, the more I like it.... and the more convicted I am by it.

  How many people would mistake us for Jesus as they come across our path? Are our actions, demeanor, the things we do, the things they see in us things that would cause them to as us this question? It should be our highest aim to be like the Savior whose name we claim by the very thing we claim to be: Christians....... but how much Him are we really? Enough for someone to ask us this question?

We can all be forgiven, except for Paula Dean

It is impossible to have listened to the news lately and not heard about the evil Paula Dean. She admitted to using the "N" word close to 30 years ago, and now half the US, or so it seems, wants to condemn her to hell for it. Her show was canceled and she has been kicked off of TV. Walmart and Target have quit selling her books. Pretty harsh. Especially if you read the details.

  Paula Dean had been robbed and held at gunpoint. In her defense, she was very shaken up, most likely angry, and scared. She used the word to describe her attacker. No one would have ever known about it, but she is being sued by some money grabbing, greedy chick, who accused her of using the word against her. Under oath, Paula denied using it then, but admitted to using it back when she was attacked close to 30 years ago. Come on, people! This is overkill. The woman apologized, and saying that word close to 30 years ago does not warrant what she has gotten. No way.

  I know I said that word before, when I was a kid or teenager. Do I deserve to be tarred and feathered, or whatever punishment I should get since I don't have a TV show or published books? The vast majority of Americans have done worse than that. Saying that word isn't a sin. It is wrong, and should not be used, but not a sin, and we all have sinned. This should be a case of let him who is without sin, cast the first stone.

  Ironically, the same stores that quit selling her books, sell all kinds of music that the word is used in. Seems hypocritical to trash Paula, and not them, doesn't it? And a white man, Quentin Tarantino, produced the movie "Django Unchained", which has multiple uses of the word in it.... and Walmart and Target sell it. And the same producer dropped the word at the Golden Globes, yet Walmart and Target is not pulling his movie...... why? Why be so harsh to Paula Dean and not to this producer?

  For the record, I have never watched Paula, never bought one of her books, never even cooked one of her recipes. I am just disgusted at the reactions of something she said so long ago, something she has apologized for, and disgusted at the double standard. A movie using the word multiple times is fine, and the producer saying the word is fine, but if you're Paula Dean, admitting to using the word close to 30 years ago, in the aftermath of being held at gunpoint, your actions are unforgiveable and you must be punished harshly and forever. Makes me want to buy one of her cookbooks in support. Maybe I will.