Wisdom Attend

tonight, tonight

There's a different schedule of events for tonight's youth group.  In lieu of sitting together and listening to music, Jeni is sending music home with you, as in your very own CD.  We'll get together over the summer to talk Modest Mouse and other interests. 

Evanescence :: Going Under

Now I will tell you what I've done for you
50 thousand tears I've cried.
Screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you
And you still won't hear me. (going under)
Don't want your hand this time - I'll save myself.
Maybe I'll wake up for once (wake up for once)
Not tormented daily, defeated by you
Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom

I'm dying again
I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through
I'm going under

Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies.
(So I don't know what's real) So I don't know what's real and what's not (and what's not)
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore

I'm dying again
I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through
I'm...
So go on and scream
Scream at me I'm so far away (so far away)
I won't be broken again (again)
I've got to breathe - I can't keep going under

I'm dying again
I'm going under (going under)
Drowning in you (drowning in you)
I'm falling forever (falling forever)
I've got to break through
I'm going under (going under)
I'm going under (drowning in you)
I'm going under

 

Stop and Stare

One Republic
Stop and Stare

Watch You Tube video

This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands, just take the wheel...
And every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal... for the life I lead

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're 'here' not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see

They're tryin to come back, all my senses push
Un-tie the weight bags, I never thought I could...
Steady feet, don't fail me now
Gonna run till you can't walk
But something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down...

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need

What you need, what you need...

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see...

Questions to ponder:
1.     What is your favorite lyric?

2.    What is this song about?

3.    Is “Stop and Stare” negative or sarcastic?  Why or why not?

4.    With the lyric “I’ve become what I can’t be,” could somebody’s notice of the main character help    
him become something different, something better?  If somebody took the time to “stop and stare” would his life be better at this point?

5.    They sing, “And you'd give anything to get what's fair/But fair ain't what you really need.”  Is life fair?  What happens when it isn’t?  What happens when you’re not fair

6.    He sings, "Un-tie the weight bags, I never thought I could..."  What is weighing you down?

7.    What is the main character’s sense of hope?

8.     What gives you hope?

Ooh Ahh :: The Grits

My life be like
Ooh Aah (yeah), Ooh Ooh
My life be like (yeah)
Ooh Aah, Ooh Aah (yeah), Ooh Ooh
Ooh Aah (yeah), Ooh Ooh
My life be like (yeah)
Ooh Aah, Ooh Aah (yeah), Ooh Ooh
My life be like (yeah)

It's times like these that make me say
Lord if you see me please come my way
Leavin' bread crumbs for when I stray
Rely on sacrifice and the price you paid
Feel me like a fingertip (fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip)
Sometimes I fall I slip
My heartfelt desire be more like you
Tryin' not to quench your fire with the things I do

I'm on an island by my lonesome stranded
Low key and stayin' candid
Reflect on all the things I try my hand at
Church for the equations to persuasions I'm used to
Finding comfort in the zones of closet bones I get loose to
A mountainous fontaine
Spinnin' and monsoonin', grinnin' it's hign octane
Explosive how I came
Rollin' down hills cause lifes a hastle
Encircled by my folly like a moat surround a castle
Stay afloat, catch a second wind
Thin
Is the air I breathe
Teary eyed nose runnin' wipe the snot on my sleeve
I'm callin' on the Savior to be all that I need
Please forgive me my behavior had me lost at light speed

It's times like these that make me say
Lord if you see me please come my way
Leavin' bread crumbs for when I stray
Rely on sacrifice and the price you paid
Feel me like a fingertip (fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip)
Sometimes I fall I slip
My heartfelt desire be more like you
Tryin' not to quench your fire with the things I do

The fear of never fallin' in love
And the tears after losin' the feelings of what you thought love was
Like the dirt still up under the rug (My life be like)
Bad characteristics covered in Christs blood
The joy of new birth and the pain of growin' up
The bliss between givin' my all and givin' up
The highs and lows
Paths and roads I chose
In the cold I froze
Tryin' to ease my woes
In this world of sin
Clothes to thin to fend
So to God I send
Words of help to win
In grumblings so deep letters could never express
So the sound of Ooh Aah beneath my breath projects

It's times like these that make me say
Lord if you see me please come my way
Leavin' bread crumbs for when I stray
Rely on sacrifice and the price you paid
Feel me like a fingertip (fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip)
Sometimes I fall I slip
My heartfelt desire be more like you
Tryin' not to quench your fire with the things I do

My life be like
Ooh Aah Ooh
Dum dum ditty
Here come that boy from the Capital City
Last up on the Grits new ditty
But eight bars or the truth well do (uh)
I believe theres a private stunnin
And I believe in the Kindgom Comming
I believe if you seek the truth
You don't need to look far cause it's gonna find you
So why oh why do I trip and stumble?
And ooh aah as commitment crumbles?
I can't believe that I'm here again....

It's times like these that make me say
Lord if you see me please come my way
Leavin' bread crumbs for when I stray
Rely on sacrifice and the price you paid
Feel me like a fingertip (fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip)
Sometimes I fall I slip
My heartfelt desire be more like you
Tryin' not to quench your fire with the things I do
It's times like these that make me say
Lord if you see me please come my way
Leavin' bread crumbs for when I stray
Rely on sacrifice and the price you paid
Feel me like a fingertip (fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip)
Sometimes I fall I slip
My heartfelt desire be more like you
Tryin' not to quench your fire with the things I do

Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
My life be like
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
Ma-ma-my life be like
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
My life be like
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
Fa-finger tip, fa-finger tip
My life be like

Much More Beautiful Person :: Bowling for Soup

Song: A Much More Beautiful Person
Band: Bowling for Soup
Album: The Great Burrito Extortion Case

Jeanie has a dad that might as well be dead.
A case a day habit and three other kids.
She's a much more beautiful person
Then you’ll ever know.
She hates the world
At least the one outside.
She's a Myspace kid livin a virtual life.
She's a much more beautiful person
Than she'll ever know.

Close your eyes and the time ticks by.
In this life, it’s OK to cry, sometimes,
It can be hard to see what’s right in front of you
You’re gonna smile sometimes,
Your worlds collide
I know you’re tired of waiting
So when you’re through with hating,
You’ll be a much more beautiful person
And Now You Know.
And Now You Know.

Tommy can’t help but feelin’ alone
Walking the halls with his head hung low.
And he’s a much more beautiful person
Than he’ll ever know
High School kids can be so nasty
In a cut-throat war for popularity
He’s a much more beautiful person
Than he’ll ever know

Close your eyes and the time ticks by.
In this life, it’s OK to cry, sometimes,
It can be hard to see what’s right in front of you
You’re gonna smile sometimes,
Your worlds collide
I know you’re tired of waiting
So when you’re through with hating,
You’ll be a much more beautiful person
And Now You Know.
And Now You Know.

And you don’t feel so lucky,
But I’ve seen so many things in you.
Believe me, I know just what you’re going through
So stand up and take a bow,
Hold your head high
Don’t ever let them get you down
It’s all about you
And it’s not what they do
You’re gonna smile sometimes
Your worlds will collide
I know you’re tired of waiting
So when you’re through with hating,
You’ll be a much more beautiful person
And Now You Know.
And Now You Know.

Questions to ponder:

1.    What lyric gets your attention the most?

2.    Do you relate more to Jeanie or Tommy?  Or, do know people like Jeanie or Tommy? 

3.    What does the song tell you about appearances and judging?

4.    What would help them or you to know that you're a much more beautiful person?

5.    What makes something beautiful?  What makes you beautiful?  What are the good things in you?

6.    With the lyric "When you're through with hating," what is it that you hate?  What seems to be the      
       obstacle in the song to not hating?

7.    What makes up "your worlds" and how do they collide?

8.    What are you looking forward to that makes the waiting now easier?

Breathe You In :: Thousand Foot Krutch

Anastasia sent me this video. It's pretty neat. Enjoy!

How Great is our God

Under the Bridge/Psalm 22

This video is for Wednesday Night's discussion

Sometimes I feel
Like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of angel
Lonely as I am
Together we cry

I drive on her streets
cause shes my companion
I walk through her hills
cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds
And she kisses me windy
I never worry
Now that is a lie

I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way

Its hard to believe
That there's nobody out there
Its hard to believe
That I'm all alone
At least I have her love
The city she loves me
Lonely as I am
Together we cry

I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way

Under the bridge downtown
Is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge downtown
I could not get enough
Under the bridge downtown
Forgot about my love
Under the bridge downtown
I gave my life away

1.  What are some words that come to mind about the video?

2.  What images in the video do you relate to?

3.  What images in the video do you think Jesus relates to?  (Where is Jesus in the video?)

4.  How does Jesus' cry, Jesus' use of Psalm 22 echo your own?

Here are some words on Psalm 22:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

This cry from Jesus’ lips echoes the cries of the faithful throughout human history.  It is an ancient and anguished complaint to God because God is silent and absent in a time of great personal distress, for Jesus this comes on the cross.

Jesus takes up the ancient cry of Israel whose psalms arose within the experience of worship.  The psalms foster individual prayer, communal praise, private reflection and learned instruction; they provide a window through which ancient Israel’s response to God’s presence or absence may be viewed; and they give voice to our prayers and praise today. 

When Jesus uses Psalm 22, a psalm used to express grief at God’s absence in the face of unknown causes, Jesus asks, “My God, my God, why?  Why the cross, why the suffering, why the humiliation?  My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Forsake is not a common word anymore.  To forsake is to renounce or turn away from entirely, to abandon, to desert.  Forsakenness carries with it a sense of absence, or a loss of the intensity that presence brings.  Jesus still calls out, “My God, my God,” Jesus doesn’t doubt that God is God or that God is real, Jesus questions God’s silence at his time of need.

While God’s presence to Jesus diminishes in intensity on the cross, God’s presence in and for Jesus, as well as for the whole of creation, remains intact, and at what seems its weakest, is stronger than ever before and ever since.  One can gather from Jesus’ cry that this presence remains hidden from Jesus.

But the cross is the time and place where God’s everlasting will for salvation is carried out, amidst great silence the cries of Alleluia are born. 

The gift of worship

what do you listen to when...

...you feel like this:

what words would you use to describe this photo?

what emotions are happening here?

what is it that makes you feel like this?

what music reminds you of these times?

what music helps you through these times?