Hmmm...

I told you I would put any questions or opinions I had while you were gone here, so here goes:

This is what you said from September 07, 2005-
"So why all these songs with I and me. Even if its somethign like "Lord, I praise YOU" Why does the Lord even notice "praise" from a sinful person. I put praise in parenthesis because can we even praise God on our own?"

No! of course not. We cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ OR come to Him. How can we praise someone we cant even believe in? So now that that's completely clear, to the other part. God notices our praise because of Christ. The curtain was torn in the temple when Jesus died because the barrier sin put between ourselves and God had been conquered. Thanks to Jesus, we are both saint and sinner. Here's where i get unsure: do the praises of His saints (notice how it's HIS doing) please him? We know we can do nothing to make God love us any more or less. At least that's what I was taught. But does that mean that even through Christ on the cross we cant do anything to please him?

About the I's and me's in CCM. I completely agree. We do put too much emphasis on us, when it should be at worship of all times that all emphasis is on God. But look at the Psalms:

9:1 I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart

16:8 I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

34:4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

88:9 I call to you, O Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

89:1 I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

147:1 Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

I will praise, I have set, I sought, I call, I will sing. Could be wrong, but im pretty sure the Psalmist wasnt saying here that the praising was his doing seeing as later in verse 51:15 he says "Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise." He uses I a lot actually, all (as far as i can tell) without being a heretic. Like i said before, i think you're right about most of the contemporary songs. Im just saying, just because a song says I or me doesnt mean it's disrespecting all that God's done for us.

I hope i havent misinterpreted anything that you were saying. Let me know if I was! Hehe by the way, have you ever heard "Who Am I" by Casting Crowns? I like it, and seems pretty solid to me in what it's saying. Let me know if im missing something?

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
would care to know my name,
would care to feel my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
would choose to light the way
for my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who i am,
but because of what you've done.
Not because of what i've done,
but because of who you are!

I am
a flower quickly fading
here today and gone tomorrow
a wave tossed in the ocean,
a vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord you catch me when I'm falling,
You've told me who I am:
I am yours.

Who am I,
that the eyes that see my sin
would look on me with love
and watch me rise again?
Who am I,
that the voice that calmed the sea
would call out through the rain
and calm the storm in me?

Then it repeats the two middle things. Aaanyway, that's just what was on my mind.

Friends

Wrote this during one of the bus rides on tour...

How many times have you heard someone say: "they're/we're just friends." I know I've heard it a lot, and even said it myself. But it occurs to me... to truly be a friend is hardly a "just." When used loosely, a friend is someone you enjoy spending time with. When used it its strongest form, a friend is someone whom you would give your life for, and vice versa. Either way, I find friends (true friends) to be an essential element in getting me sanely through the day-to-day.
Everyone needs someone to talk to. Otherwise, we get caught inside our own thoughts and end up lost and confused. Some people can talk to God and that is sufficient for them. I, unfortunately, am not strong enough for this to work all the time. But God's strength is made perfect in my weakness! He's blessed me with many people I enjoy spending time with, and a few with whom I feel I can share anything.
A friend can be closer to you than a family member- if you allow them to be. To open up to someone, to wear your heart on your sleeve, is a hard thing to do- for me at least. To let someone know what an who you care about is to admit a weakness or a soft spot- admit that you can be hurt. This is why trust is a major foundation on which strong friendships are built: you need to trust that whoever it is wont use what you tell them against you. I pity those who dont know what its like to have someone they trust this much. Again, Im lucky- I've been given a few :-).

"I have found that my best friends arent those I went looking for - they're those who found me."