Worship Reformationaries

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2011-01-31T18:55:00.000-08:00

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2007-12-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

Day 11-"Strengthen"

2007-02-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

Day 11- "strengthen"
Strong's definition for strengthen: from the greek krataioo (krat-ah-yo'-o); from NT:2900; to empower, i.e. (passively) increase in vigor:
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
So in essence, the Lord, speaking through Paul, is saying
'I pray that out of his glorious riches he may "Empower" you with power...' Doesn't that sound a bit redundant. Duh, will he empower us to weakness, or self-love, or pride? However, I believe the point here is that the human race has a form of power. We can wield influence, we can expand our portfolio and get people to do our bidding, we can build bombs and nukes to show how powerful we are, we can put men on the moon and robots on mars, and send spacecraft through our solar system. We can build big buildings, we can gain PhD's, we can gain wealth, prosperity, influence. We can split atoms. We can tame animals, we can, we can, we can. But in all reality, we can only do so much and in all actuality even that isn't much. The Lord can spread out the heavens like a curtain, the Lord can tell a mountain range to crumble and it would, the Lord can create Light, the Lord can make an atom, the Lord can understand quasars, the Lord can comprehend the rising of the sun and the setting of the same. The Lord can claim power over the earth and all that is in it for with His very word He spoke it into being. The Lord, can calm the seas, the Lord can raise the dead, the Lord can make water into wine and wine into water, the Lord understands equations both the simple and quadratic, he is not restrained by time, body, flesh, height, depth, width, space, earth or sky. The Lord can make planets, stars, galaxies, universes, black wholes, gamma rays, x-rays, microwaves, and the Lord can see a sparrow fall and a leaf wither. He can, Ha Can, He CAN. So, let me ask again, does it sound so strange that He who CAN, would empower us with power? I see it this way, our realm of influence is within a radius of 384401 km or roughly 240,000 miles. Now don't get a big head I'm not done yet. We're gonna talk about why we need to be strengthened. You're now thinking wow we've gone pretty far out but I'm gonna blow your mind. The farthest estimation of how big our universe is is 8,083,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles away, if I did my math right. In light years it thirteen billion light years away (one light year is about 590 trillion miles). But that is just in one direction since we are not the center of the universe we could be seeing just the closest edge of the universe, and the other edge is twice that far away making the universe a possible 24,249,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles across. Which means that our 240,000 mile sphere of influence of what we call our empowerment of the human race is only 1 x 1021 of power, of the universe. For example if you take one 3 foot step you are point 1 x 10-21 of the way to a 570,000,000,000,000,000 mile journey, or a 1000 light year trip. 1000 light years would get you two-thirds of the way to the Horse-head Nebula. I'd say we need to be strengthened. We are small, we are weak.
Finally, I also looked up the definition for strengthen and one of them was, "to fasten upon." So in essence the Lord who made the boundaries of our infinite universe also will fasten upon our hearts the same strength that comes from Him. He will strengthen us for the glorification of Himself. The reason we need strengthened is because we in our own power thought we were strong but we've been proven by nature to be rather infinitesimally small. We need, need is not a strong enough word, we must have His strength to even breath. Strengthen us Father for the works You have prepared for us!

Day 10- "may"

2006-11-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

Day 10- "may"
Grammatically speaking, "may" is a word that could quite easily be misunderstood. Often we use "may" to mean possibly, might, maybe, and other such words. Yet, I don't think that is the purpose in this verse. Webster's Thesaurus gives these possible synonyms: "be allowed, be permitted, be authorized, be at liberty to, can, be privileged to." So contextually, Paul is explaining to us and the Ephesians that He is laying prostrate in prayer with the intent that the Lord, whom whatever he touches is glorious, give us the privilege... Amazingly, through Christ our strength (which we'll go over next time) is no longer from within us, within our frail human condition. To often we believe that we deserve strength or blessing or happiness from God, but in reality, it is only through His profuse benevolence that we have anything at all. Because He has chosen us and set us as believers apart, He also has given us the privilege, the "may," of becoming like Him in strength and glory and character. "May" is not a perhaps it is a privilege. Through Christ we are privileged to see His strength up close and personal. "To be close is a mounting terror of His might."

Day 9-"He"

2006-10-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Day 9- "he"
Once again we have a pronoun, specifically, and most importantly, a male pronoun. I'm not being a male Chauvinist, but I do believe we have a God who is the epitome of maleness. He is not as some would have us believe a neuter God. He has all the perfectly and perfected attributes of a real man, but he is also spirit. "He" is not, on the contrary, restricted to "he." He is not restricted by sexual passions or the other physical hindrances to normal (or shall we say fallen) man. His maleness is not as much physical as it is emotional and spiritual. If he were not a he, we would not be able to appreciate him. However, this is a theological discussion that I really have not studied well. However, it is important that "he" is "he." This word is specifying a male individual, named Christ, who was man (remember God made man first) as God had intended Him to be. It's not that Jesus hates women or that women are less, but God has placed more responsibility on men's shoulders. Anyway, this word reminds us, once again because we often forget, of who the glorious riches belong to, Jesus. He, alone. He sees, he hears, he is the source and giver of everything!

PS- I had to laugh when a came across this very European looking, as well as very feminine picture of Jesus. Jesus was a manly man Jew! Go "He."

Day 8-"Riches"

2006-10-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Day 8- "riches"
As I read some cross-references for the word riches and as I looked in Strongs for the Greek meaning I was intrigued. First, Strongs defines riches as "wealth, possessions, abundance, and fullness." I love those last two, abundance and fullness. Meaning there is plenty of these glorious things, God's riches are not running low, he's still got plenty to bestow (Strong's gives an interesting phrase in the definition of riches, it says, "valuable bestowment"), God is still willing to bestow His weighty or heavy value upon us. Secondly, I noticed that everywhere the scriptures (and it is only in the NT) that the phrase or derivatives of the phrase "glorious riches" it was always connected to Jesus Christ. Why? Because he was the perfect one, and all wealth (as scripture says in various places) belongs to Him because he was slain. Hence, these riches are His to bestow. These riches are even more closely connected with the word grace, "Rom. 9:23 '...he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory; Eph. 1:7 in accordance with the riches of God's grace.' But what are these riches. I have come to the conclusion, because of the aforementioned ideas, that because of God's abundance in His riches and because they are so closely connected with Christ's grace and mercy, AND because Christ was completely perfect, these riches are what we generally call, "the Fruit of the Spirit." You see, the fruit of the Spirit as the Matthew Henry commentary says proceed directly from the Holy Spirit, which indicates that grace has covered an individual and that the Spirit is able to work through that person. I'm reminded of Eph. 2:8, "For it is by GRACE you have been saved through faith and this NOT OF YOURSELVES!" The glorious riches are connected with grace because they are administered by the Holy Spirit not of the flesh which is an evidence of grace. As it says a few words later in this present verse, "through His Spirit in your inner being." Grace, abundant grace, glorious and bountiful grace that is not flowing from human intelligence or cleverness or flesh, but from the very Source of grace and it is flowing right back to the Source to bring Him more gloriousness!

Day 7- "Glorious"

2006-09-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

Day 7- "Glorious"
How do you begin with a word like "glorious?" Whenever I think of glorious I connect it with a few other words, such as splendor, majesty, wonderousness, etc. However, glorious passes all of those. So, perhaps I should try and connect it with a different word a word we may not often see connected or associated with glorious. The word is weightiness. Huh? Now maybe your scratching you head going, "OK I was cool with the whole, 'I, Paul, bend my knee' thing but I'm not gonna go with 'out of his fat riches!'" However, weightiness does not necessarily mean fat. What I mean by weighty is what is meant when we say, "That guy/gal throws his/her weight around." Does that mean that person is fat? No, it means that they have power and influence and they can use their "weight" or "pull" to cause others to be of use to them. Perhaps instead of Weightiness we could use the term "influentially convincing." Strong's defines glory with words like, "one's own pleasure, to think, splendor." Yes, all of the above. You see the primary thing is that we understand that God is the epitome of gloriousness, and therefore if anything is "His" (see yesterday) it will also be filled with His glory (or His pleasure, thoughts, influence, weightiness, or splendor). The riches we are going to talk about tomorrow would be meaningless except for the word glorious that is connected to them because of necessity. If Jesus God = glory then do we want anything else than glorious riches? I personally only want what has been blessed by the hand of God and is therefore glorious. I am truly tired of the Church squandering its time and energies on less than glorious things and as a result we are falling apart. We've lost sight of the gloriousness of Christ and have in turn also compromised our love and hunger for things that are glorious--because God has blessed them. Let us seek things that are glorious and noble and upright. In that way God receives more glory. When we seek glorious things it isn't with the intent of us becoming more glorious, it is with the intent that we might be closer to God as a result.

Day 6- "His"

2006-09-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Day 6- "His"
Oh yeah, this is the one I've been looking forward to! So, "His." What do we know grammatically about the word? Well, it is a possessive pronoun for the male gender. So for instance instead of saying, "The dog belongs to Bob," you could say, "The dog is his." In the context of this verse, who does "his" represent? if the example sentence's "his" represents "Bob," who does the verse's "his" represent? On day 1 "I" represented Paul, so does "his" also represent Paul? Ah, no. It represents Him who is I AM THAT I AM! The Author and Perfector, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First, the Last, the One who upholds all things by His powerful word, Who stretched out the skies, Who threw the stars into place, Who set kings on the thrones and utterly obliterated other rulers, Who is the Word in the beginning, Who is the Amen at the end, Who controls time, is Who He is, the Son, Who humbled Himself even to death on a cross and God the Father gave Him the name that is above every name--even Karl Marx, Nebuchadnezzer, Jonah, Jeremiah, Moses, Hitler, Neitzshe, Stalin, Bush, Hussein, Ben Zornes, Your name, Billy Graham, Speilberg, Frodo Baggins, C.S. Lewis, Freud, Napolean, King Arthur, David, Saul, Adam, Eve, Mother Theresa, My mom, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Streisland, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly--that at His name every knee--including the above names--will bow and every tongue--even the staunchest atheist--confess that He is Lord to the glory of His Father; HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST MESSIAH!
And so, does this help us understand better who "His" is? His is supremacy, dominion, power, glory, praise, worship, adoration, wealth, wisdom, love, faith, joy, peace, wrath, death, life, need I go on? So, if Paul is praying with his knees bowed, with the intent that according to, "HIS." Yeah, it is ALL HIS so he can give out of it, and bestow whatever he chooses, whether blessing or curse, rain or shine. He can impart wisdom or foolishness, he can reveal and he can blind, and finally he can do what Paul is earnestly desiring for us...strength. Yet, by extension he can also impart weakness. However, when I am weak them He is strong...but that is for another day!

Day 5- "of"

2006-09-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Day 5- "of"
OK, by now I know you're thinking what in the world can one possibly get out of the word "of." What does of mean and how can it help me understand this scripture better?! Well, the first thing that came to my heart and mind was a sermon I heard preached about the different spirit's or influences we can be under or "of." For example there's the spirit of the Law, the Antichrist or of holiness! The preacher, Norm Wakefield, continually asked throughout the sermon, "What spirit are YOU of?!" Meaning what influence holds sway on you, which spirit do I take part in, what authority persuades me what to do? So, since that sermon, I have asked myself, "Ben, What Spirit are you of?" And my answer must be "The Holy Spirit is what I am of." You see when we allow ourselves to be "of" a spirit we give that Spirit (or influence) absolute sway over our thoughts, affections, desires, goals, dreams, attitudes, etc. In effect when we are OF something we resemble or accurately imitate it. I am OF my parents, meaning I came from them, I resemble them, I imitate them, I'm the spittin' image OF my Pa, get the point? Out OF his glorious riches! Ah...meaning when Jesus strengthens us with power (in the following sentence) it is OF (meaning accurately imitates or manifests) His glorious riches. I'll discuss glorious riches later, but it is important to understand OF. Because OF is a key to a lot of sentences. If we found a forgotten painting of da Vinci, we would say as we studied it that, "This is of (it accurately represents, depicts, imitates) da Vinci." Hence, I pray that out of his glorious riches...shows us that his glorious riches will be imputed to us and we will be given the exact representation of his glorious riches (oh boy and wait until we talk about his glorious riches!). Hmm...that phrase "exact representation" reminds me of a verse in Hebrews 1:3 "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the EXACT REPRESENTATION of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word, NIV." Do you see it? Right after exact representation...OF his being!!!! Beautiful isn't it! I pray that you may receive the exact representation of his glorious riches (oh boy I can't wait for glorious and riches! For now think about Jesus Character traits!).

Day 4 "Out"

2006-09-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

"Out"
Ah, this is a preposition, see I payed attention during homeschool! As I remember prepositions designated the subject's relation or position to the object of the preposition (OP). As in this sentence, "Tim went OUT of the store." This shows the reader the subject's, Tim in this case, relation to the OP, the store. Thus, we learn, if we look ahead a bit and rearrange the order of the sentence we see the verse more like this, "Paul bows his knees with the intent that He (meaning Jesus, see Day 9) would strengthen You (the Ephesians and by the rule of extension, us; see day 12) OUT of His glorious riches!" The relationship of the subject, us and the Ephesians, to the OP is the same as Tim to the store. Or, perhaps the example sentence would better parallel the verse if we rewrote it this way, "Tim took some products out of the store." Just like Jesus can take strength and impart it to us out of his glorious riches. This word out also implies there is something "in." His glorious riches are extensive and He can more than afford to give strength to us. But I am running away with myself, the word is "out." However, since out is a preposition it points to other words rather than itself (Kinda like we should do with God, but that is taking the verse out of context!). The KJV says "according to" rather than "out of. " Isn't that interesting? He can impart strength according to his strength, or "out of " His strength! Amazing! He has something, a storehouse for example, that He can take things Out of and give to others. It all belongs to Him, but He is the only One who can take "out." Praise the Lord! Out of His glorious Riches!

Day 3- "That"

2006-08-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Day 3- "That"
Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I realized what the next word in the sentence was. How in the world are you supposed to write about a word like that, "That?" Wow, umm...hmm? I guess the thing that comes to my mind is that when I write I use the word "that" a lot. Already I've used that word 6 times, that's a lot for three sentences. This could get confusing as well, since I'll be using "that" as part of my sentences as well as the subject. I'll put it in "" when I use it as a subject! OK, we use "that" a lot. We use it mostly to generalize what we are talking about. Instead of saying, "See the little speck of bright pink plastic on the blue table," we simplify by pointing and saying "That." Can you see Paul now, pointing and saying "that?" He's pulling in the Ephesians attention directing, pointing preparing for what "that" is. "That out of His glorious riches..." Make sense? The Greek word for "that" is elaborated on by Strongs this way, "in order that (denoting the purpose or the result): KJV - albeit, because, to the intent (that), lest, so as, (so) that, (for) to. Do you see it? I think my favorite one is "to the intent." Slip that in there to replace "that." Paul bowed his knees with the intent. OH, so Paul had a purpose for praying. He wasn't idly petitioning God with Aunt Millie's broken finger nail. Or that the church budget would work out, or that his wife would show up soon, or many of those things we "pray" about that really we have no intent for praying them. Think of how many prayers we pray without intent. They usually go something like this, "Dear Jesus, thanks for this day. Thanks for the food. Thanks for the pretty flowers. Let us do your will. In Jesus name we pray, Amen." Without intent. May we never be accused of praying without intent. "That" is a little more special than you thought huh? I pray with intent! Let THAT be the way, the denoting, the course of your prayers. OK, that is all I can think of for today!

Day 2- Pray

2006-08-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

This word doesn't seem very promising because we use it so often and it has become all too familiar to us. Anytime we regard a word as familiar we are in a dangerous place. My sister, Jaclyn, often quotes Michael Bauman with a very insightful phrase, "When words lose their meaning people lose their lives." Thus, the word pray seems to be, in the 21st century church, becoming too familiar and it is rapidly losing its meaning. "I'll pray for you," "Our prayers are with so and so," "Our prayers go out..." Phrases like this have denigrated the awesomely powerful word, "PRAY." When we say, "I'll pray for you," really means "I feel really sorry for what has happened to you and by saying I'll pray makes me look spiritual and caring." Rather than truly meaning we'll pray for the person's needs we are really just saying we empathize with them. How lame a use for a commanding and all consuming word! In verse 14 we see the phrase (in KJV) "bow my (Paul; see above) knees." It then goes on to say why he bows his knees in the verse we are examining. Rather than use the word pray the KJV uses the phrase "Bow the knees." When I cross-referenced this phrase I found several interesting verses that used the same phrase. Solomon bowed his knees at the dedication of the temple. Obviously during such an amazing event Solomon was so reverent and venerating that he recognized his need (not a desire or feel good idea, but a necessity) to get low in the presence of God's "big-ness." Another verse was when God told Elijah that He (God) had "reserve[d] seven thousand in Israel-all WHOSE KNEES HAVE NOT BOWED DOWN to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him 1 Kings 19:18." WOW! Remember how despicable the acts and devotion of the Israelites was. They were devoted to sexual and perverted images and idols and were committing lewd and disgusting sexual sins. These debauched Israelites had literally thrown themselves wholeheartedly into these disgusting, yet devoted, sin fests. They had bowed their knees to Baal by their unheeding devotion to this perversion. But I love how the phrase is used because it says God had reserved (chosen, set apart, redeemed, Predestined, etc.) 7,000 who hadn't thrown themselves blindly into the perversions and had bowed their knees only to the LORD Almighty.
Further, there are several references to this phrase in the Psalms, Isaiah, Ezra (when he confessed the Israelites sin of intermarriage with the Babylonians), Daniel, Luke, many times in acts and finally in the present verses. Every time, however, this verse shows up the people "bowing their knees," show whole-heartedness, whether confessing sin, praying for others, or even to false gods (via: Baal). All that to say, therefore, Paul was not just saying, "Oh, yeah, I'll pray for you guys." I love the Steven Curtis Chapman song that talks about praying for people right then and there rather than waiting, act like the next five minutes are my last five minutes. Paul is saying the same thing SCC did in his song, I'm praying right here and now, on my knees, crying out, heedless of my image, imploring God, asking God, literally begging God for...well I guess I'll leave that till next time. However, the important thing is to remember that this word "pray" is much more than how we see it as we blindly read through scriptures. This word "pray" is full-on, not half-hearted.

Day 1- "I"

2006-08-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 3:16-17a "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." NIV

This I is Paul. He is saying "Me, not Peter, not John Doe, not the gas station attendant, Me, Paul. The guy who led you to Christ in the first place." He'll go on to say what the subject's, I, action is. But for now, although it is kind of a boring word I'll concentrate on "I" for a bit. I cannot imagine the relationship between the Ephesians Christians and Paul. He had led them to Christ, discipled some of them and baptized them. I remember the guy who baptised me, Pastor Glenn. I barely remember him but I have truly fond memories of him and greatly respect and admire him. I can't comprehend being told of the Messiah for the first time by someone and then having him disciple and train me in the "Messiah's Way." And then in this guy's busy schedule he takes time to write a very personal letter to me. I would be so honored if Pastor Glenn were to write me a letter after all these years, and if he were to encourage me by saying, "I, me, Pastor Glenn, not Peter, not John Doe, not the gas station attendant, BUT I, Pastor Glenn, am praying for you to have xyz character trait." What a wonderful word, I. It is so specific and I am excited to see the action of this subject "I." (P.S. As I was thinking further about this word I--which is Paul--I realized that throughout Paul's Letters he continually reminds his listeners of his credentials and trustworthiness. He is a well qualified person and what he goes on to say should be highly valued!).

OWBSM

2006-08-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

OWBSM
The one-word-bible-study-method. I learned it from Louie Giglio. And slowly but surely I've been working on the scripture below as a sort of running commentary. What you do is study each word of God's Word. Because as Paul told Timothy, "All scripture is God-breathed." Therefore even words we may find insignificant are truly important and relevant to our Christian life. So I will break it up into days for You to meditate on and hopefully be ministered to by my humble searching and studying of God's perfect and pure word. As Proverbs 30:5a says "Every word of God is pure." So I pray that these words of mine based on singlewords from God will strengthen you with power!

Eph 3:16-17a
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
NIV

My first big Gig!

2006-05-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.chec.org/

Well, so it goes like this! I was homeschooled (clap above my head) K-12. And for my years in highschool, the colorado home educators of colorado conference had been my chance to hang out with other homeschooled highschoolers. Well, to open every morning there was a teenaged performer. As the years went by I thought, "Man I wich I could do that sometime." But I'd never auditioned, thinking, "Oh there's probably too many better performers I'd never get picked)." Ok fast forward to April 10th 2006. I had been talking about this years homeschool conference to someone and for some reason I thought "hey I wonder how you apply for that performance thing." I had enough confidence and with the musical advances I've made I felt pretty good about my chances. Well I got online and I found out that the deadline was April 15th! So, I had to somehow send in a demo of the song I would perform. So Vince (http://novelthought.blogspot.com/) and I recorded a tape (yeah those outdated little plastic thingys) of a song and then I met with Caleb and recorded his part as well. I sent it out praying I had enough postage and that the the lady who was to decide wouldn't laugh at the tape!

I was told that if we were selected we would hear back in about 4 weeks. So, it was about 4 and 3/4 weeks since we had sent in the tape and I just thought, "Oh well, guess it wasn't meant to be!"

Well imagine my rapture when I listen to my messages and the lady wanted to talk with me about performing at the 2006 CHEC conference! I was like YAHOO! So the next day I called the lady and we had a really great talk. She told me that she enjoyed the song so much that she wanted us to play a second one (the song was How great is our God and I sang the chorus for How Great Thou Art afterwards and she wants us to do the whole hymn!). She said that out of all the maybe (this is a pure guess) 500 entrants they only had 2 slots to fill and my band was one of them!!!! As soon as I got off the phone with her I called up Vince and was like, "dude guess what..." and proceeded to tell him. He was like, "Dude, no way, are you serious?" Vince don't sound so surprised! That night we played poker with him and his buddies and he was all bragging about it to his friends, "Guys, we got a gig, its like 1500 people and stuff!" They were all impressed but asked that he concetrate on the poker game (they're hardcore).

Next I called Caleb, who was at work but his mom was excited!!!!! And we're peforming on his birthday!

So anyway, I am gonna lead worship for over 1500 people!!!! Saturday June 17th! I am so excited to lift up God's name and shine for Him before so many people! SO yeah I got a sweet gig coming up! I have always been behind the homeschooling movement because for me and my family it was always about training children to live for God's greatness. I am so excited to lead for a cause I am so passionate about! We are a generation of families united for one purpose and that is the greatness and enormity of a God so large!

Ever For His renown,
BenZ

PS: Ben Vince and Caleb have a blog (http://bvcband.blogspot.com/) that is being worked on as you, well, read. BenZ Vin & C have a combined total of 30 years of homeschooling!

OK so I lied!

2006-04-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't realize that I wouldn't have access to a computer while I was in New Jersey and that I'd be up till 1:00 every night and up by like 7:00! However, to make up for my grandiose slackagge...I'll catch you up on all that happened and hopefully do it a couple of times as I get pix from other people who took pix. It all started with a very early morning on Wednesday. We got in to NJ about 4:00 in the afternoon, and immediately started meeting the "bigwigs" as I endearingly called them. These are the people who are behind the bestselling CD's. You never hear about them but they are there! I met some pretty cool people and did some neat stuff. Like I got to perform in front of everyone at the conference during a mix-n-mingle time.
Here is me presenting my original song, "Hallelujah Song" with my friend Tim Phillips during his set of music.

Tim and I singing "Healing Rain."

Jammin' in the name of the Lord.

Me just plunking away with someone I don't remember their names!

In the hallway showing off my amazing guitar skizills! ;)

So, in the songwriters competition I won "3rd" place (the scoring system was whacked but I am pretty sure 3rd is the right term!) for my song "Holy God, Humble King (aka We Adore)." There were maybe 100 other people competing. Also, another one of my songs got a couple of 10's which was (I was told really rare). One Judge said I had really good presence." Whatever that means! Also, I got to play for Ginny Owens the blind artist who is known for her ballads and other stuff. She said "You have a good ear for 'hooky' melodies." Cool!

In the vocal competition, I barely missed 2nd place, out of maybe 75-100 people. My vocal coach was one of the judges and scored me lower than the other judge did. I thought that was funny! He was like, "You're still not..." I was like "Yes Sir."

Anyway, I also met with 2 different agents one basically said, "You're not cool enough for me to take interest in." I was like that's good! I'm not cool but that's ok! Another one was much more gentle and he said, "Ben, just run your race, and pursue what God has called you to." I was like that is cool!

Also, I got an email from a producer who expressed interest in possibly working with me sometime down the road. I was like, "Sweet!"

And finally, I thought I'd leave you with a picture of my vocal coach. Thanks Dr. Scott! Thanks Tim! Thanks Family and Friends! Thanks mostly for and to Jesus!

For His renown,

BenZ

Coming Soon...The Chronicles of a Reformationary

2006-04-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hey all I'm gonna be in New Jasey April 19th-23rd. I'm going to a Worship leader/become famous/learn how to sing right/network with other artists convention. I am going to do my best to blog at least 3 times during my adventures. Please pray as I go! I am really excited about some of the possibilities that could come of this! For instance, I am going to be in a songwriter's competition as well as a vocal competition. I really pray that God will use me to leverage my minute minutes of opportunity and stage time to magnify His Renown! More to come...

GMA for His Renown

2006-04-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

Right: Chris Tomlin with his 5 dove's! Left: RSJ and Kirk Franklin doing something!

I am completely and utterly S-T-O-K-E-D about the Dove awards (the Christian equivalent to the Grammy's). MY fave bands and worship leaders took away a total of get this 10!!!! dove awards! For instance, Chris Tomlin took home five, including the "Artist of the Year" award, "Male Vocalist" and "Song of the year." The fact that "How Great is Our God" was the song of the Year excites me. Isn't this what reformationaries have been praying for. I truly desire that the leaders of contemporary Christianity will take heed to a new trend. When we cease to sing of our trivial problems and sing of His greatness. When our eyes see Him, our hearts will be purified, for only the pure in heart may see Him in all his grandness and glory!!!! Go Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Matt Redman, Louie Giglio...you are being used to reform a generation!

Check all the official results from the dove awards!

http://www.gmamusicawards.com/

Also, go to Louie's blog and give them all some love! www.268blog.blogspot.com!

PS- Found an even better picture later! From L-R Louie, Chris, David, Shelly (Louie's Wife)

Baseball Bats

2006-03-29T15:57:00.000-08:00

Advice from young 'uns

"Never trust a dog to watch your food."- Patrick, age 10

"When your dad is mad and asks you, 'Do I look stupid?', don't answer."- Hannah, age 9

"Never tell your Mom her diet's not working."- Michael, age 14

"Stay away from prunes."- Randy, age 9

"When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair."- Taylia, age 11

"Never let your three-year-old brother in the same room as your school assignment."- Traci, age 14

"A puppy always has bad breath - even after eating a Tic-Tac."- Andrew, age 9

"Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time."- Kyoyo, age 11

"You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk."- Amir, age 9

"Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts."- Kellie, age 11

"If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse."- Naomi, age 15

"Felt-tip markers are not good to use as lipstick."- Lauren, age 9

"Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat."- Joel, age 10

"When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she's on the phone."- Alyesha, age 13

"Never try to baptize a cat."- Eileen, age 8

Boy I can empathiz with the one highlighted Red. A few years ago, my sister and I were at a picnic and I was sitting in a lawn chair in a circle of those plastic, plaid aluminum folding chairs that never could be stylish even if they tried.

Well, Jaclyn got bored and decided to try hitting a baseball as far as she could.

"Oh, no I know where this is going" you may be thinking.

Wrong. You don't. Now sit still and listen to my story!

Anyway she stepped away from the circle (wise girl) and aimed away from the circle (wiser girl), tossed the ball in the air (great accomplishment), raised the bat (smart move), and nails the ball! Prety cool huh?! Well, the ball goes flying, and I still ended up laying on the ground grabbing my head!!!!

What had happened was that she hadn't stepped far enough away from the circle of plastic tweed dorkeo chairs! As she followed through with her swing, PING there's Ben's head. For a while I thought she did it on purpose and couldn't figure out why. A thousand ideas rushed through my throbbing brain.

Was it because I told Adam she thought he was cute, or because I ruined her 16th birthday, or was it the time I hit her on the head with a hairbrush, or the time a put her panties in the "dirty" toilet?

Umm, none of the above, she simply failed to step far enough away from the circle.

I believe our churches have done the same thing, we aven't stepped far enough away from the "box of the church." Many branches of our churches have stepped away from the "traditional" facets of church. They've abandoned anything that smacks of traditional Christianity and embraced contemporary and cool, hip worship formats. Conversely, many churches have been scared by the "singing on the wall," drums in the church!, no suits and horror of horrors no Offering plates, They've stepped away from anything that seems like a cultural thing and embraced everything we have once called dear and familiar and traditional. Now neither traditions or new approaches are wrong in and of themselves.

However, either direction have we truly abandoned the "circle of tweed chairs" or have we only stepped far enough away to still whack people on the head! We have churches that abandon all traditions and what do they do, they smack older people in the head and perhaps many souls are lost as a result. Other churches become recluse and get stuck in the 70s when 8-tracks of Bill Gaither was contemporary music, and Tweed Jackets were actually cool, and hymnals and "piana-music" was the only music in the church; and they end up pegging people in the head with a baseball bat and scare younger people away from Christ as a result of the church.

No matter what our worship approach is it must not be close enough to nail people on the head with a baseball bat! I forgive you Jaclyn!

The Devil Can't Kill Me Because I'm So Cute

2006-02-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

You sometimes have got to wonder about people. I mean most of the time people are ok to be around and they seem pretty normal, but other times you're like, "I'm seriously concerned that we're being invaded by aliens from planet Cryptonia."

For Instance working at a Christian bookstore I get to meet all kinds of people and yes I mean ALL kinds of people. One guy came in the store dressed as a monk, and immediately I could tell not everything was there for him (he was a few milkshakes short of a dessert.) So, I went up and asked him (he had huge bottle cap glasses) if I could help him find anything. He tersly responds with his retarded lisp, "I'm lost." And they he proceeded to start looking all over the store for something; finally his friend came in and shouted, "Robert where are you I know you're in here!"

I've had nearly everything from people who think that burying a statue of St. Joseph in the front and backyard's upside down will help their house sell better. I've seen people adament that if they stick an angel on their bumper they won't get in an accident. I've had customers come up and tell me I need to "let go and let God." (That was fun, I responded, "Absolutely, every day through the Holy Spirit I surrender myself to Christ and His will." That suprised the guy. I don't think he'd ever heard that comeback, he usually got strange stares.) I've had shoplifters who claim to be looking for "The Footprints in the Sand" poem, I ask them "So, is that why your sticking those CD's in your coat sleeve?" I've had people chew me out and spit me up. I've had some people tell me "I'm looking for a book that has scripture in it." I kinda go, "Well, then, take your pick! :)"

I thought I had heard everything, until about a week ago, this lady topped the cake.

It was Tuesday morning and John (my co-worker) and I were just opening the store. A lady was waiting outside and I knew she was gonna be interesting as soon as I saw her. First of all she looked like Carol Burnett, and when John asked her how she was doing this morning she said with a giddy, annoying little voice, "I'mas fine as frog's hair!"

John was like, "Oook."

She said, "I'll bet yav never heard that one before!"

He said, "No I haven't, are you from the South somewhere?"

She said, "No, but don't tell my friends that, whoo I love those pills. See I have a pill I take every day and it is really something."

John and Ben were like "OooK!!!"

So as she did her shopping we watched her with concern. Luckily john ended up helping her check out. As she was checking out she decided she needed another book. We didn't have the book in stock but "we can order it for you!" She decided to order it. Anyway, while I avoided her like the plague and John helped her out. Their conversation went something like this!

"You know the devil tried to kill me once," our unconventional customer stated matter-o-factly.

Oh, really?" John replied with an air of slight disbelief (slight being used in the broadest sense of the word).

"Oh yeah, nine times" she continued without hesitation, "Yeah, when I was eight, he threw me into a seizure and I bit off half my tongue, then I bled to death and went to heaven, well, actually I've bled to death twice, drowned once, gotten shot once, jumped from a building once, and I've been to heaven every time!"

"Oh really?" John replied with a whole demeanor of 'this can't be happening to me.'

She wen tright on without taking a breath of air, "Yeah, so now whenever the Devil tries to kill me, I tell him he can't cuz I'm too cute!!"

"Hoo boy," John didn't say but was all over his face!

So after she was done checking out she continued to shop around the store, then she went to the bathroom. While she did her thing in there, John and I quietly discussed our options: call the police, call the manager, call the loony bin, cast the demon out, pray (which we both were doing fervently), panic. Soon, she was ready to check out and John wasn't around so I felt it only fair that I should share in this burden. Our conversation went like this:

"Is this all you were needing?" I asked trying to be polite.

"Oh, yes of course honey," she said. "Oooh, isn't the Lord good?"

"All the time," I replied praying that God would be good to me and get the lady out of the store.

She said, "Honey," and I really don't like being called 'honey' by ladies 30 years older than me and I don't know and they're nut cases! But she went on, "You know the devil killed me once."

"Oh really," I responded in the same manner John did!

"Oh yeah, and I went to heaven though and boy that sure is a pretty place you want to go there."

I said with authority, "I am going there because of Jesus' death on the cross."

She didn't have a reply for that one.

I checked her out and then she went to the bathroom again. When she came back she said, "Hoo, boy Jonathan (she called John, Jonathan, which he doesn't like being called) I had hot peppers last night and they're keeping me going, if you know what I mean."

He didn't.

Well, all this time she's been the only customer. We open at 10:00 and as 10:30 rolled around and she was still there, other customers were beginning to show up. The nut approached an older lady, "nut" began praying for the older lady. Older lady, showed signs of nervousness. When "nut" was done praying she said, "Ohh, praise Jesus, now your gonna be better, I'll get blessed and my children, oooh, they'll get blessed, and honey and Jonathan will get blessed, and everyone will get blessed and we'll all go to heaven!" Before she FINALLY left she had some parting words for the whole store to hear, "Hey if ya'll go next door to Peaberry's Coffee, they'll put some Whisky in your drink if you tell 'em I sent ya! Whoo that'll get you going, if you know what I mean! I am gonna go take my pill now!"

I was thinking why didn't you take your pill before you came in the store, was your pill Ritalin? Oh, John and I were so glad she left. We laughed the whole day about her! Where did she get such ideas, what sort of pills was she REALLY taking.

But as I reflected on it, "nut" isn't alone. Far too often people with already unstable minds, get fed "biblically" based teachings that in some form or another have been twisted, or misconstrued by the teacher. So, often even in "normal" looking churches we have people who are teaching just slightly off the truth. You know what, the will remember the "nuts" of Christianity, the ones who blow up abortion clinics, the KKK who claims to be a Christian organization, the "nuts" who don't have their head screwed on straight or otherwise. The world remembers those sort of "Christians" better than the five missionaries who gave their lives to the Waroani indians of Ecuador so they could know the gospel. The world remembers "nuts" better than the 6 college men in Northwest America, who spent a whole day praying and crying in a barn and as a result of their tears and ferver, revolutionized their college campus, for the better, in the beginning of the 20th century. We need fewer people who can tell the devil off by their good looks, and more people who are willing to graciously and honestly show the world "Christ in You."

Now I am not saying we shouldn't be radical and do "crazy" things for God; we are NOT supposed to conform to what the world does and as a result the world will think of us as looneys. But I'd rather be considered a looney because I am in my right mind going full on for God than being considered looney because I am one and the love of Christ is not in me! I hope you see what I am getting at, we as believers need to be less like Benny Hinns, and the TBN people, and more like, well, oddly, Christ!

Don't be a Christian because you are crazy, be crazy because you ARE a Christian and Christ's love constrains you to not hold back!

The Joy's and Inspirations of Thrift Stores

2006-02-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

OK, me and my buddy Eric are kinda wierd when we get together, well I guess we're wierd all the time but...! Ok, let's start over, Eric and I hadn't seen each other since November 1 at the Indescribable tour! ROCK ON! Anyway, I called him up to talk and we found out both of us were off the next day...so, we decided to do lunch. Well, we decided on Cici's Pizza , If you've never been to a Cici's they're pretty decent, the slices are small, the price is fairly low and the variety is incredible. So, we went through the line for the first of many times (it's a buffet place) and picked up, oh, probably 4-5 pieces each. I tried the new maccaroni and cheese pizza, pretty good. Well, we talked, we pondered the worlds problems, and solved none of them. We decided we're pretty fallable, we encouraged one another, and most importantly we tried to out eat each other. Neither of us were very succesful, but we both ended up with overfilled stomaches and a silly grin on our faces!

We decided that a trip to the local Goodwill for a treasure hunting adventure. Well, we went in and started snooping, perusing, and overall making far too much noise for the fellow shoppers and associates. We went to the book section and started skimming the books, yes with our hands ready to cover our eyes should a romance novel attempt to intrude upon our innocent vision. Well, Eric found the Lost Adventures by J.R.R. Tolkein. He was totally excited and made a ruckus. I don't think ruckus is in the dictionary, but if it is it probably has a picture of Eric and me next to it! To shorten this already ridiculously long story let me tell you our spoils.

Eric got a water fountain like the one pictures below, and the afore mentioned Tolkein Book!Ben got a nifty vest..............................And this pair of shoes for only 6 bucks!
But the point of all this is that I also found the hymnal pictured above. I am not methodist, I don't know too much about methodists except that the Wesley's started it way back when. As I flipped through it I saw, right on the first page something like this:

Directions of Singing

I. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.

II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.

III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

VI. Sing in time. Whatever time it is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing to slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when He cometh in the clouds of heaven.

From John Wesley's preface to Sacred Melody, 1761

Wow, there's some good stuff in there. Read over that a few times. Let his wisdom soak into your hearts. And the next time you sing, think of Wesley's words. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature.

Go to the thrift store and check out the book section and find a hymnal. They have some incredible stuff in them!

BenZ

The Wonders of the Mandolin!

2006-01-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

Alright here's what you gotta do:

Click on the following link http://www.722.org/video/currentseries.html

Then scroll down to the service titled "Part 1-Losing my Religion"

Click on whichever speed your computer can handle, unfortunately those of you that are so late 90s who still have dial-up are probably sunk along with the Titanic and Argile socks.

Once the service is loaded fast forward to 14 minutes and 36 seconds.

Then sit back and enjoy the wonders of the Mandolin played by Jason Horde (playing for Alex Nifong who was away playing with Steve Fee at another event) from Griffin, Georgia. Jason was 15 years old when he beat out Chris Steeley of Nickle Creek in a Mandolin competition! Why do I need to know this you ask? You don't I just thought I'd provide those details.

-----------------------------------------7:22-------------------------------->
Anyway, that's NOT THE POINT! The point is that the Mandolin is making a comeback! Along with the word "rad" (thanks to Mr. Vince Rogers!), Spandex, and the whole big bangs that were so popular in the 80s, the Mullet, and bluegrass.

Praise the Lord, I Saw the Light!

BenZ

Obituary

2006-01-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

This was a neat email I got. Kinda puts some stuff in good perspective!

If You click on the picture it will direct you to a new page where you can expand it to a readable size!

Sound Familiar

2006-01-18T17:04:00.000-08:00

"Man, worship was really good this morning!"

Oh, how many times have we heard this and uttered these words so recklessly. I'd ask as a humble plea, don't say worship when you mean music. I think that this is one vital place where would could begin to reform the church, holding worship as what it is rather than our concept of what we think it is! See www.worshipdrivenmissions.blogspot.com. Begin by reforming your concept of worship the Church will see a radical change!

Blessings,
BenZ

Wake Up

2006-01-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

Here is the first section to a book or dissertation I began writing awhile ago!

There is a serious problem in the Church today. The objective observer of the Church—both global and local—will notice many extensive failures. The Church is dominated and monopolized by unbiblical, slothful men and women who have their own designs in mind rather than Christ’s. Churches brainstorm for hours, in numerous committee meetings, on how to reach the lost. Then, after hours of deliberation, the committee finally has a revelation of a sure-fire program (which a committee member probably heard about at a conference or in the latest book). This program will exponentially increase the number of people in the pews. Everyone gets excited. People volunteer, sincerely. But, inevitably, the program dies out and the sincere Christians are left drained and frustrated by the lack of commitment.

The Church is plagued by scandals such as adulteries, fornications, abuses of power, rebellious children, ungodly leaders, unscriptural teaching, and occultist tendencies. The Church is inundated with so called “wars” over so called “worship;” neither word is applicable, “Armageddon” and “fleshly desires” are more accurate. In one church the observer may find a tyranny of worldly, unbiblical traditions, and in another church the observer will find a dictatorship of undisciplined and irreverent behavior. The believers leave a service saying “Wasn’t the worship great today!” What they really mean is, “Man, that guitarist rocks, and he has a killer voice.” Or, “The organ prelude was a real tour de force!” Nay, worship is absent 50 Sundays out of the year.

The Church says “Worship” when it means “Music.” It says “Discipleship” when it means a “six-week class.” It says “Evangelism” when it means “Hand out tracts and hope they’re read!” It says “Fellowship” when it means a “social gathering centered around exotic casseroles and unique salads.” It says, “God says” when it means “I feel/want.” It says “We” when it means “Me.” It says “offensive” when it means “convicted.” It says “tolerate” when it means “we don’t have the backbone to resist.” It says, “love” when it means “warm and fuzzy feeling.” It says, “Stop judging” when it means “I’m in sin!” It says, “Grace” when it means “license to sin.” Wrath and judgment are harsh; tolerance, wavering, false love, secular ideals and sinful behaviors are common place.

“Holy” now means nothing. “Sacrifice” is meaningless. “Throwing off the sin that entangles” is bad news. The Old Testament is antiquated. The New Testament was written by deists. The signers of the Constitution were atheists. Science should be trusted above the Bible. Evolution is right, Creation is wrong. The early church was full of disgusting, immoral orgies. The founders of this nation were not Christians, they were—horror of horrors—white, heterosexual, property owners, who oppressed women and blacks. Christopher Columbus was a tyrant. Jefferson was a Deist. Benjamin Franklin was an agnostic. Lincoln was spineless. Paul was homosexual. Jesus and his disciples had love fests. Jesus didn’t know he was God. He wasn’t really dead when they buried Him. Moses was a dictator. Noah was crazy (after all, we now know the global flood was only a local flood). Isaiah was a Nazi! Martin Luther was a Beer drinking infidel. Christianity is a word spurned by Christians (see 1 Peter 4:16). The Christian faith is only the result of human traditions not a supernatural revolution in the early years of this era (oh and don’t dare use the connotations B.C. and A.D., use the politically correct B.C.E. and A.C.E.). The church’s theology
and heritage is a mess!

Furthermore, Sunday morning Bible studies are haunted by moralistic and remedial teaching, and the Name of Christ is ignored as offensive and out-dated. Christ is not recognized as the reason for the gathering together of believers, rather they gather to “have a good time,” or because “I’ve always gone to church.” The Church starts classes for divorce recovery, after a divorce has taken place. Marriage classes begin after marriage. Child rearing classes begin after foolish, young rebellion begins.

Addiction recovery groups try to help remove addictions after a stronghold has been rooted in an individual’s life rather than instilling a desire for Christ alone in that person’s life when he was a child. When a teenager rebels, the parents come to the Youth pastor and says, “Fix her!” Children who were at church the day after they were born (so their “super-Deacon” dad could unlock the doors) are leaving for college and never coming back to church. Some have said that 80% of “Churchy” high school students, leave the faith after their freshman year of college!
The church is motivated by anti-Christ like manners, rather than Holy Spirit manifested impulses. The Church looks to men and man-made devices (pastors, deacons, the rockin’ music, the organ, the old ladies Bible study leader, etc.), rather than looking to the Lamb who is worthy to take the scroll because He was slain on Calvary and by His blood made sanctification for our many sins, even the ones we deny. This Lamb is still at work redeeming, sanctifying and restoring this thing called the Church, which He boldly declares His Bride! There is a severe problem in the Church of this age. It is a slumbering, sleeping Giant, beautiful, and yet pacified to lazily shirk its duties of preparation for the Bridegroom. Church, WAKE UP!

Sad...Reformationaries arise!
BenZ

When enough becomes More than Enough

2006-01-17T18:35:00.000-08:00

I am distraught. I am dissilusioned. How does something so beautiful become so tragic? I have seen all to often the devastation our pride and selfishness causes the Bride of Christ.

I want to introduce you to a concept that has been in my heart and mind for several years. Numerous Christians are leaving the "traditional model" of church for more intimate, and less rigid forms of fellowship. House churches are springing up, casual church is catching on. However, our concept of church is still in need of refining.

When Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the church in Germany, he sparked a move towards what Christ intended his church to be. However, after years of ignoring problems in our churches we have returned to what the Reformation sacrificed many lives for. If the church continues in a path of putting flesh before Spirit, pride before humility, then it as an istitution will fail. Ultimately, it is inevitable. God does not desire sacrifice but obedience, and the Church is not being obedient to what Christ laid out. Thus, as believers I believe there is a stirring amongst us. We can all feel that tinge of reformation tugging at us in Sunday School, or worship services. Something, that once was there, is now missing. The Commands and Example of Christ is missing.

Therefore, will you rise up and become a Reformationary? Will you lay it all out on the line to see how Christ will use your insignificane to reform His church and to make her the beautiful warrior bride he intended her to be.

This is the vision of saints and martyrs throughout the centuries and we must join with them to the Glory of the Father. Join with me on this epic and enormous journey for the renown of our Father and Saviour and Counselor!

For His renown and to His Kingdom!
BenZ