Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Passion!

This is basically me typing down some things I wrote down from a Campus Church event I went to at UNL. The speaker was (apparently) talking about passion, and what it means to live with passion. So here it is:

Rarely is passion detached from sacrifice.
What you do now will affect you later in life.
Passion usually starts with a decision that involves action.
Engaging in your passion means you will encounter resistance.
When is the last time your faith cost you? With passion comes a cost.
God doesn't do random. You were designed with purpose and passion.
The life you want will always cost you something.
What will/would be said of you?
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (I think that is in James somewhere.)
Passion - money can represent passion.
Passion is required to pursue God and do His work.
Passion doesn't just happen, it is a choice.
Passion is contagious, and it can be negative.
Things happen that we don't understand or want, but they shape us.
Passion in our culture is rare.
When we look back [on our lives], what will we see?
We often don't live up to the potential (the passion) we have from God.

And here is the set of verses I wrote down:
Acts 16:22-34 - The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Free Music (v. 1)

Hey, so I had this idea the other day. I know of some websites where you can get some pretty neat free music every now and then (or pretty regularly if you want) and I want to share some of that with whoever reads this blog.

So here is the first post. First off, there is this website called iTickets. They have a free song every week, and each song seems to be available for about 2 weeks before you can't download it anymore. You have to sign up to the website to get the free songs, but it is an easy process and they don't send you emails except to tell you when new music is available and/or when there is an event/concert in your area. The site seems to be focused on Christian music, and you can see the free songs here. (Both links should open in a new window.)

Next is NoiseTrade. They have a ton of music available for free, and you can even send a tip to the artist if you like their music. There is also an option to share an album/song/artist from Facebook or Twitter, which is kinda handy. NoiseTrade has music available for a limited amount of time, but there doesn't seem to be any set limit or date on anything (as far as I can tell). Again, you have to sign up to the website, but it is pretty straightforward and they don't spam or share your email address except when you download music. Then they may share your email with the artist that you downloaded. For today, I'll give a list of the music that I got by showing you the artists' pages:
http://www.noisetrade.com/griffinhouse
http://noisetrade.com/eisley
http://noisetrade.com/gro
http://www.noisetrade.com/heathmcnease
http://www.noisetrade.com/bronzeradioreturn

NoiseTrade also has audio books available from time to time, so if you want to listen to a book you can do that too.

And I think I'm going to call that good for today. I hope you are doing well. Stay healthy!

Psalm 150:1- Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens.