i started to read back some of the notes that i had written on Facebook before i had a blog. i came across a post from July 31st, 2007 entitled “if you breathe air you should read this”. i think this post is significant because #1. i need to hear it again and say it again. #2. i find it interesting as i read these notes that God has lead me to conVerge church which lines up amazingly with a lot of the questions and thoughts that were going through my head during that season (and still drive me today).

For those of you who are LU people and have been pounded with “Utmost” too much, don’t make fun of Oswald, he’s the man! ha ha:

This is one of the best Oswald Chambers “Utmost” that I have ever read.
I have had to learn this one a few times now. I don’t think he is saying to never trust human beings, he is just encouraging us to put things in their proper place.
Oh I pray that we get this as Christians, God help me get it.

“Disillusionment means that there are no more false judgments in life. To be undeceived by disillusionment may leave us cynical and unkindly severe in our judgment of others, but the disillusionment which comes from God brings us to the place where we see men and women as they really are, and yet there is no cynicism, we have no stinging bitter things to say. Many of the cruel things in life spring from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts; we are true only to our ideas of one another. Everything is either delightful and fine, or mean and dastardly, according to our idea.

The refusal to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering in human life. It works in this way- if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; we are demanding of a human being that which he or she cannot give.

There is only one Being who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Why our Lord is apparently so severe regarding every human relationship is because He knows that every relationship
not based on loyalty to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, never bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God and in what His grace could do for any man, was so perfect that He despaired of no one. If our trust is placed in human beings, we shall end in despairing of everyone.”

For those who want a clearer definition of disillusionment i found this:
freeing from false belief or illusions
. to free from or deprive of illusion, belief, idealism, etc.; disenchant.
a freeing or a being freed from illusion or conviction; disenchantment.

I watch American Idol because I am a singer and it entertains me. Wednesday night AI did an event called Idol Gives Back, it is a little cheezy but hey, anytime someone wants to give back i think its a good thing. So towards the end of the show there is a familiar song that the contestants start singing and it is no other than “Shout to the Lord” the Hillsong worship tune. Now i don’t want to be excited about this because i’m not a “i’ll take what i can get” guy. This song was written to be sung by people who are committed to Jesus as their Savior and it was written so that they could worship him through song. On the other hand if a person wants to get excited about it, go ahead, just realize this was just a song performed on a TV show, thats it.

I actually found it very odd that they would do this song but it just shows how much christian music (and worship music) has become an industry in which they realize is very marketable. It was interesting that the first night they sang it the lyrics were changed to “my shepherd, my savior”, and then the next night they sang “my Jesus, my savior”.

Was Jesus worshiped through this? Are there believers on that stage? Was anyone drawn to God because of that? What do you think?

Watch