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.