A New Day... A New Year.... A New Plan...

What Spring Break Inspires

So I have been on Spring Break all week... and it has been amazingly awesome! My family has our old exchange student here... and we were inspired to use our boredom for something productive... ok, maybe not productive... but really fun.

So with the help of some special friends :) I have created my first generic feel-good love song. That's right folks... boredom has struck. Enjoy the vid.

My Heart Goes Bop
-by Daniel Broas

I sing this song on this bright sunny day...

I can't keep the smile off cuz you're coming my way...

I start to sing to rhythm of my heart and it goes...

bop ba bop ba bah bop ba bop ba bah

And even if today the clouds come and bring rain…

I know that if you’re here you’ll melt the clouds away…

And the beat of my heart will continue to play…

It’ll go… bop ba bop ba bah… bop ba bop ba bah

And I'm standing on the beach watching waves on the shore...

The sun is rising high and my heart even more...

And you and the sunrise make my heart go bop...

And I'm singing, dancing, laughing strumming...

My guitar is really humming...

The sun right above the horizon...

And now my heart is really bopping... bop ba bop ba bah... bop ba bop ba bah

Finding a Call in a Nightmare

Just this week my school started a new campaign. It's been the focus of my life for awhile. It started out as a dream really.... literally... a dream I've had for awhile. In my dream I saw a documentary of my class changing the world through my friend's campaign called Loose Change to Loosen Chains. It was the intro to a documentary. The catch to it was that the documentary was yet to be created.... because my class needed to create it. In it are people of all different groups.... different personalities.

The crazy thing is that most wish for dreams to come true, but a lot of us have the logic inside us telling us that it's not likely. So that when the dream does come to pass and is waiting on your doorstep... sometimes you feel so shocked that you don't have the ability to open the door and run with it. Somehow inside all of us though... the dream of something always lives... and asked to be chased after. Some dreams require all of your passion and energy to chase though.

For my dream... my passion came. The thing about passion is that you can't just pull it out of nowhere... it has to build inside of you from somewhere. The meaning of passion in latin means suffering. How crazy is it that the most passion comes from the most pain? I see why God uses passion... he's always asked for everything. The catch is that the last thing we give up is that which pains us most. Those memories, sins, failures... those we seem to always hold on to. A couple weekends ago I saw some of this come out. I haven't cried in a long time.... in fact the last time was in a hospital in Denver when my mom was diagnosed w/ cancer. It's a memory which pains me most... a nightmare you go back to. For me it's a chair in an empty hospital hallway. I was forced to come back to this memory at a retreat w/ my dad. With it came tears, an external show of suffering inside... and a giving up of that suffering... letting it out of that cage within your heart. It is this release that gives way to passion. Now that I think about it, that's when I truly fell in love w/ God... in that empty hospital hallway... because it was there that I had nothing else to rely on.

It's not much different for the most passionate in the Bible. There was Peter... his suffering was the three denials, the three rooster crows. What brought him back to this? It was the three times Jesus asked him if he loved him. Right there Peter went back to that horrible night... it was there Peter relived his nightmare... and let it out. But what's even more important is what Jesus does with that passion... "Feed my sheep"... it was there Peter found calling.

Every single person has that calling for something bigger than themself. It brings me back to a movie I saw this evening about a young boy who was a music prodigy. He saw music in everything... every moment he breathed he could hear it around him. This brought him out of his cage and led him to look for his mother and father. He used it to call out to them everyday... so they might hear him. His passion flowed from his life... it called to him everyday.

One of the most astounding scenes was when a man asked him what name he wanted... a name that described him. What did he choose? Found... The man said no... that name is too simple... too ordinary... so he gave him some other flashy name. That's what the world tries to do... live out some huge life in the world for the world. But really... that simple word... that describes what we all want and need.

So the true reason to live with passion is against the world. We must live with the passion to be found. My passion is to change this generation. Why do I live it out? Because I am found. How is passion spoken into my life? Dreams... For some their passion is found on a soccer field... in a classroom... in the mission field. But no matter what, we must chase this calling. We must always keep on using it for something bigger than ourselves... because we are found. This is a much different life from what the world would tell us to live. So change it... Be the change...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Q1EK7538I

Just Do It

I haven't updated in awhile... and I've been thinking a lot of what to put down... and I really didn't come up w/ something real concrete.

One thing I knew I would talk about was identity. It's been on my mind a lot lately... who am I? why am I here? There's a nike slogan that shows the best of the best doing what they do. What they're made to do. Am I doing what I'm called to do?

In a blog a long time ago I talked about how God is first in my life and has sent me on a mission. Recently I think I figured out part of it. My mission is to instill some passion for God in the freshman class. I've been so psyched about it... I've dreamed about it... focused on it... and now... I feel so weird about it. In dreams things all seem to come together so perfectly... but not always in reality. You see, the freshman class has potential for passion, but doesn't necessarily use it. I started thinking if this was worth giving my life for... giving my passion for.

As I pondered that in church today I thought of a story about Ezekiel. It was how God called him to speak to dead bones. Literally, Ezekiel did it. It made me think, if this is where God calls me will I be committed to use my passion on dead bones... on unpassionate freshmen.

Heck ya, that's what God wants. He doesn't necessarily want a revolution from me... a world change. He wants my heart... that's all... he wants all of it. So if I'm called to try to inspire dead bones... well then, I'm going to lose my lungpower trying to inspire them. I will leave no regrets. I've chosen this life, and if I choose the identity of a God-follower, then God wants all of me.

In church, pastor Brian talked about Saul and how he did half of what God said until it didn't fit his desires. He totally lost his identity as king... and lost his kingdom... to a man who gave his heart to God.

It reminded me of a friend this week that learned this lesson the hard way. I know who he really is... he's a dreamer for God. But the last couple of weeks... he didn't see much in it. He saw a desire... and he chased. He totally gave up who he was and became someone else... and now... he's paying for it.

I want to be souled out for God... following that call... so that when my passion dies... I have no regrets that I used it wisely. There's a switchfoot song that says "I wanna burn out bright!". To take that path requires sacrifice and God made me realize that. I have to sacrifice my dream of glory and awesome change... cuz it's not about that. It's about following God's call... A call for me to inspire. And I'm going all in. This is who I am. This is what I do.

Superfans and Superplans

Last week I was w/ a bunch of my friends, and we were superfans at our high school basketball games. It was a crazy, amazing time and I most definitely lost my voice. While I was there though I came across a crazy concept.

Now every team feeds off of momentum. Momentum is such a big factor in the game of basketball(and any sport for that matter). So as the teams started playing each team started off slow. And then we superfans came and started screaming at the top of our lungs... it was very, very loud and obnoxious. There was an obvious change in play on every team. A spark that ignited a fire. And this fire was huge. To sum it up, every team clobbered the opposing team... it was epic...

It made me think a lot about the Christian body. It's capable of so much. Every single person, especially youth, has the potential to be something big. Often times what the world sees are the players on the court. The people who score points, make passes, devour the enemy... but there is an important part for everyone. There are the cheerleaders... the superfans... they may not be seen on the court, but they make a difference in the game.

So when we think of growing in our Christian walks and doing big things for God, we've got to remember that we aren't always the lead role. Sometimes we're backstage... but not less important. After all, it's not man's glory we're after, but God's approval.

This weekend I've been filled w/ these big thoughts for God and big dreams and changing others and changing the world. Little did I realize that God needed to work in my life too. After the Break-out I thought I would be revitalized, rejuvenated. But my energy had all gone into rejuvenating others. It's this weekend that I just let God work in my life. I stopped worrying about the world... about being revolutionary... I just sat and talked w/ my totally amazing heavenly father... it was peaceful.

And recently this week my Bible teacher came up w/ this talk of freedom and captivity. I think God freed me of a lot of burdens. It's not my job to be the "most Christian", to "change the world"... it's my job to just follow him. That's a freeing job... And it's a freedom that came w/ God's grace. A freedom that gave peace the day I accepted his Amazing Grace. So here's a song I wrote because the hymn means a lot to me as it always reminds me of Elim... It's a song of freedom. Sorry about my voice and all, It's not the greatest... but the lyrics were sort of inspired... here it is. Let God free you a bit today. Of sin, of jobs, of anything but following him.

In the Gentle Whisper

This has been a crazy week and I still look back and see that God has taught me a lot in this little time.

With school starting came drama... and lots of it. Now I'm not the kind of guy that drama happens to... but I am the kind of guy who loves to know about it. I totally forgot about my goal as a man and the fingerprint I want to leave on earth. I was pretty much happy to know the drama rather than remember the purpose God wanted for me. And then today I read an email about a man named Mr. Nelson and the Nelson family. One of the coolest families I will probably ever meet.

Mr. Nelson has stage 4 cancer and he found out that it had spread all over his body. Scary stuff... it's real life... it's real deadly... it scares me. At that moment I felt like I was going back through a nightmare.

I was there... standing in that dreaded hallway. Around me walked every other person in those scrubs and that smell of too many flowers... a hospital. I'm invisible... I feel alone... weak. Why the pain? Why the agony? I walk to school and who knows but me what is going on. My mom is on a hospital bed w/ cancer eating at her body.

I fast forward to the present and let the feeling sink in. This is what the Nelson's feel. This is what a divorced parent's child feels... this is pain. This is what I was called to support. To reach out to those in pain and truly live the epic life.

Heroes live epic lives... but how? Do they live it in selfishness? NO it's the opposite. A true epic life is a life that is given up. To remember that there is a world of hurt out there and I should be using my time and energy. I was called to the epic life....

That time in my life when my mom was sick was my desert. Today in Bible I studied Elijah when he ran from Abijah. He ran to the desert... felt alone... felt let-down... felt pain. And there in that desert God spoke to him. Not in a gigantic way, but a whisper... why? Because it is in the desert that we listen... and that whisper makes a memory... an assurance of the call to an epic life. Elijah lived it... he went through the desert... and he committed himself to an epic life. May I remember God's gentle whispers... for I need that more than the latest high school drama.

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 18

What was he doing there... He was listening to a whisper... a whisper of his calling... an epic calling.

A Confident Fingerprint

So this past week after New Years has been quite interesting. The Freshman Break-Out occured and this weekend has been non-stop busy. The Freshman Break-Out went well and it made me think a lot about who I was. To myself (and maybe in the eyes of others) I see myself as a person who becomes obsessed w/ something. For this week it was the break-out and those at the break-out might've seen that I'm passionate about doing big things through the young generation. It made me think of the kind of man God wanted me to be.



So the day after the Break-Out I had soccer fitness training. Now I haven't been training... and most definitely was not ready for running. We ran stadium stairs like the ones in the picture. We hopped up them, ran them, jogged them, did step-ups on them... and suffered on them. As I was running I thought a lot about how they are like life. Running up them is like the struggles in life... You feel tired... and wonder if you can still go on. I felt like this after the Break-out, I was drained of energy... and didn't know how I could keep up my passion. And then there's running down the stairs... the time where you feel God is right there w/ you and life is easy. I felt like that during the Break-out. Then there's those flat parts between stairs where you start to feel dry-mouthed and wonder if the run is really worth it. When God is silent. I wonder... Is it really worth it?

It is... there is no doubt in my mind. For the difference between Christians and non-believers is that there is a goal in the end. The prize that we must run after. What good is running this race of life if we run after nothing. And it is for that motivation that we keep running.

But as I run... I started wondering this weekend if I fully understand that calling... that prize. On Sunday a guy asked me this: "When you leave this world, will people remember that God did something through you... will you leave your fingerprint?" It got me thinking about being a true man of God... a man who was not confident in who he is, but in who God is. And that confidence is what should show through me. That is the confidence of what a man after God's heart should be. But is that who I am?

I come across to a lot of people as confident... starting freshmen in varsity... lion award in middle school... class prez... but who I am is actually nothing. I am who I am because of who God is. So maybe that is the confidence I should look for.

And it is w/ that confidence that I run toward the prize of leaving my fingerprint on this earth. A fingerprint seen through a life of touching other's lives. For in the big perspective of things... It is not more important that I make it up the stairs... but that w/ all my being I carry myself and everyone I can up the stairs w/ the passion and strength God has given me. "So that his light may shine through you that men might see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven." (Matt. 5) A true man is confident in God... A true man can truly run...