2 Samuel Chapter 7

In this chapter, David notes that "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the Lord remains in a tent."

And Nathan receives from the Lord a revelation, which is passed on to David. The Lord, in a nutshell, says "I never asked for or desired to have a house" and he also says, instead, that he will establish David's house, and that a descendant of his will be the one to build the temple (this turns out to be Solomon). The Lord promises that his kingdom shall endure forever and his throne will be established before God.

David responds by praying to the Lord in humility, thankfulness, praise, joy, and with glorification, saying "Who am I, O sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?." He continues to praise the Lord for his blessings, and asks for God to fulfill his promise, "so that your name will be great forever. Let men say, 'The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' " One thing that I am in awe of is David's sense of perspective, of how he can see himself through God's eyes, and humbles himself knowing how small he is, and it is incredible that he glorifies God in every turn. The amazing thing being is that he has given over his victories to God's glory from the beginning. When he came to Goliath, he said to him:

"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day, the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the Earth, and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. All those who are gathered here know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

God's Gift to Women, Literally?

Interestingly, my mom sent me an email recently about being a blessing in the lives of others, specifically women. It is her hope that unlike so many men she has encountered, I would be a blessing to women and know how to treat them right.

Some women are easy to love. Sometimes, it's hard to be a blessing to difficult people, women or not. Interestingly, and maybe this is absolutely wrong, but I have found that I have more in common with women, not less as I have gotten to know some of them. We may not express it in the same way, or arrive there in the same way, but there it is.

I think that I have blessed the lives of some women, and I don't think I have hurt or offended too many in my life, at least in the realm of college and this new chapter of my life.

Jukebox Hero

I am listening to this song on the radio, it's called "Jukebox Hero" by Foreigner:

Standing in the rain, with his head hung low
Couldnt get a ticket, it was a sold out show
Heard the roar of the crowd, he could picture the scene
Put his ear to the wall, then like a distant scream

He heard one guitar, just blew him away
He saw stars in his eyes, and the very next day
Bought a beat up six string in a secondhand store
Didnt know how to play it, but he knew for sure

That one guitar, felt good in his hands
Didnt take long, to understand
Just one guitar, slung way down low
Was one way ticket, only one way to go

So he started rockin
Aint never gonna stop
Gotta keep on rockin
Someday hes gonna make it to the top

And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
He's a juke box hero
He took one guitar, juke box hero, stars in his eyes
Juke box hero, he'll come alive tonight

In a town without a name, in a heavy downpour
Thought he passed his own shadow, by the backstage door
Like a trip through the past, to that day in the rain
And that one guitar made his whole life change

Now he needs to keep rockin
He just cant stopGotta keep on rockin
That boy has got to stay on top
And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes

Hes a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Yeah, juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
With that one guitar hell come aliveCome alive tonight
Yeah, hes gotta keep rockin

He just cant stop
Gotta keep on rockin
That boy has got to stay on top
And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes

He's a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes
Just one guitar, put stars in his eyes
Hes just a juke box hero, aah aah aah
Juke box hero, juke box hero, hes got stars in his eyes

Stars in his eyes

...it's like Ziggy Stardust (Bowie)/Shooting Star (Bad Company), except the protagonist doesn't die in the end...

2 Samuel Chapter 6: Praising the Lord

I recently led a study on 2 Samuel, Chapter 6. In it, David's forces, flush with victory, bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, but on the way a man touches the ark and does. So David sends the ark to another man's house in fear. Then, when he has heard that the Lord has lessed the man's house, he has it brought back to Jerusalem the way it should be, and dances before the Lord and "worshiped with all his might". His wife, Michal, sees this and hates David in her heart, and rebukes him saying that a king should not disrobe and lower himself to the level of slaves. David replies that in the eyes of the Lord and himself, he is nothing more than that, and that by becoming as the people, David is glorified by them.

The part about the Ark aside, I have to try and learn to be more like David and less like Michal. There have been times where I have been judgemental of epople who serve the Lord with joy, and I often accuse them of being false or smarmy, and not genuine in their behavior (in my heart, not to their face). But I need to be the one who is genuine and worships out of honesty and with fearlessness as David did.

The Christ tied this in well, in the Gospel of Mark when the discpiples are agruing amongst themselves who is the greatest as they walk to Capernaum. He told them that if you wish to be the greatest, then you must make yourself the servant of all. David danced before the Lord stripped of his kingly garments with the slaves and common people. Christ died lower than anyone else on the Earth, condemned, cursed, and hated as a crucified ciminal would be.

And so I must be, willing to take up my cross and follow the Lord, praising with all my might.

I am something of a perfectionist; in whatever I do, I like to do it well and see it through to the end. Anything less than a good job in my work that pleases my boss frustrates me. I want to be able to worship, using my instruments that I am fortunate to have. This means that I should practice often, so that when I worship the Lord, I can worship with all my might and skill.

In the end, I want to hear, more than anything else, "Well done good and faithful servant."

I would have it no other way.

A Minor Detail...

I led my first worship last night! Woohoo! Me and Joey both carried the day. The enemy doesn't stand a chance when we're both there, praisin' our hearts out!

...of course, Joey is a much more competent guitarrador than I am, but still, I was pleased to finally show the world (well Monday night worship and prayer group, anyway) what it might sound like if a drunk orangutang was given a guitar and some worship songs!

I played Lord I Lift Your Name on High, Amazing Grace, and...golly, what was that other one [Create In Me A Clean Heart]? Well a third song that I like :D .When my vast library of 3 songs was exhausted, Joey picked up the slack and carried on. It was really good.

And in case you're wondering, I didn't look at all like I did on the picture below.

"I'm the One" by Van Halen

As an aside to whatever discussions may be going on here, I thought I'd take a minute to say that "I'm the One" by Van Halen has to be , in my mind, the PERFECT rock song. It made me damn near start head banging in the office. I was sitting in my office chair bounching up and down, but in my head I was doing this:

Being a Christian is Hard

This whole "love everybody" thing is difficult. I now have so many people I know that it's crazy. At least to me. I find it dificult to keep up with them all. Let alone keep some of them in prayer. I barely pray as it is.

Know this: If I'm praying for you, I really must care a lot, because praying solo is hard for me. IN groups? Not a problem. The Holy Spirit is so much more potent in groups, I barely have to make any effort. But when I pray alone, my mind wanders badly. I'll literally drift off to sleep mid-prayer if I'm praying in bed.

I have a pretty heavy prayer burden this week, or at least heavy for me. Liz, Joey, Mark, Adam, Jess, Jen, Lindsay, Virginia, Graham, Ben, Rachel (yes, you Rachel), Taka, Ishmael, Rebecca (the woman Graham is trying to witness to), My mother, this woman in a coma who a friend of mine needs me to pray for, and last but not least, myself, who I rarely pray for. And anyone else the Lord puts on my heart.

I need to learn how to pray constantly, at any time in the day, so that I will be able to pray for all this.

Paperwork Makes Me Want to Offer Up the University to the Lord...OT style.

I am now in a sea of college spawned paperwork. Also, I need to start looking at some possible scholarships...I'm probably too late for all of them, but I should at least know about them for next year. When it comes to getting scholarships, I really do suck. I'm very lazy. Part of it is because I loathe all the paperwork and hours of researching...it's annoying. I'd rather be living life, or even trimming the hedges than be scholarship hunting.


Amazingly, I went completely debt free my first year thanks to tireless efforts from my mother (love you, mummy!) and my Grandparents on both sides pitching in. But I can't rely on my mother bailing me out forever, and I need to become savvy at getting these scholarships, or to the loan sharks (aka banks/lending institutions) I go...

There is one Calvin and Hobbes comic where Calvin's dad is trying to teach him math. Calvin states that he'll just find a job that doesn't involve addition. Calvin's dad asks him what real job could possibly not involve math, to which Calvin replies, "I'll be a caveman!". Sometimes, I want to be a caveman...but I feel that through my college experience, God has been equipping me to do things in his name. I have learned so much in just one year, academically and spiritually. If I have to, I'll take out loans, but whatever I do, I plan on finishing.


Even if it means I have to suffer through this insufferable paper work to do so.

Battle Favors the Prepared

The past few weeks, I've had my eye open for good locations to take theoretical girlfriend who certainly does not exist. Being a bit of a romantic and someone who loves the outdoors, I've been noting beautiful places outdoors where we could meet and have picnics and such. It's kind of fun, acually, coming up with ideas for dates (even if you don't have someone to take them on). It's also challenging to find good ideas when you have a low budget and no car.

I also need to practice some good songs I can sing to the theoretical girlfriend who certainly does not exist. "Something" by the Beatles comes to mind. Also, "From the Beginning" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

My only problem is that these types of things I think of aren't really "first date" kind of things, they're more "ninth or tenth date" kind of things, when the relationship is more developed. The first few dates are going to be hard...I don't want to do anything too cheap, but don't exactly want to do a meal at Le Bec Fin, either. Nor do I want to do something SUPER fun...that sounds counter-productive, but why show my hand so early?

I think I've got it:

-Introductory Dates: 1 & 2 Probably just meals and talking (not that others won't include this, but these will be more "screening" dates, I guess, just to ensure my hunch that I'd like her in a more romantic sense were correct)

-"Keep Her Interested/Start Bonding via adventures" Dates: 3-5 do fun & exciting things to make her more interested, and to show that I'm not a bore...and to help us get closer.

-Late stage dates : Hopefully by this point, I won't have to jump through flaming hoops to keep her around (like on dates 3-5), she should like me enough that me being me will be the big draw, not what we're doing (and vice versa). This means romantic stuff, like cooking meals, picnics, watching the stars, and serenades. Not that I plan on stopping with the "Fun and exciting" dates, but they shouldn't be completely necessarry by now.

First Topic: Facial Hair

So, here is a topic I've been wondering about, maybe the ladies can help me.

Facial hair. Yes, or no? Currently, I've got a moustache and some chin hair (dunno what to call it). Last time I tried to grow it in, it was kinda thin and bad looking (I looked like a mexican immigrant), now it's coming in a little darker and thicker than before.

One girl complemented me on it, which is pleasing. But still, I'm just curious, is there some kind of consensus among women?

Ladies and Getlemen, Start Your Engines!

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Thought Engine, aka David Hynes' blog. Like peeing in the ocean, really, but what the heck- maybe I'll make some kind of a difference. I hope you enjoy being here, and I hope I never get too whiny.