power of love

Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

ephesians 3:14-21

Spiritual power is love in your heart. you don't accomplish anything if there is not love. there is no effectiveness. sin affects your spiritual power. it's more like, sin affects your spiritual power because sin makes you self-focused and self-loving, and that's why you sin because it is for yourself. your spirit's nature is depleted with love. your heart is more concerned about yourself than others or about god's glory. that's why it affects your spiritual power. god always wants to fill us with his spirit, with his power, but when we sin we are forsaking his spiritual power because our hearts are not full of his love but full of love for ourselves. that's why immediate repentance is needed right after you sin. immediate, because god's love for you will never change in Jesus Christ. Go to repentance so you have hatred of sin. So you are filled with love...so you are full of his power again. Again and again. Don't sit there and mope in a puddle of guilt and self-pity. Hate sin and commit again and be filled with the love of Christ. your heart will be concerned with other people..a hatred of sin and a love for Christ and love for others. your heart will be filled with power again. To him who is able to do immeasurably more. more. god uses people whose hearts are willing to be used by god. pray for the power in you. the spirit's power is what you need for anything and everything you do

the national

their music is pleasant, evocatively understated, and dense. it rewards your attention. so u play it again, from the beginning.

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (official video) from The National on Vimeo.

"excuses" i can live with

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

here i raise my ebenezer

come, thou fount of every blessing / tune my heart to sing thy grace / streams of mercy, never ceasing / call for songs of loudest praise / teach me some melodious sonnet / sung by flaming tongues above / praise the mount, i'm fixed upon it / mount of thy unchanging love

there's been talk about cool lately...

determining cool can be a tricky process. unlike being hip, which suggests that you know what’s happening, and unlike being down, which suggests you are in with the in crowd, being cool is a fiercely individual characteristic. going your own way at your pace is cool. trying to be cool is oxymoronic. asking people what’s cool is uncool, and telling people what’s cool...as i'm doing right now in this very sentence, is even less cool. but breaking the rules is cool so there’s always that out and having an out is cool.

reviving my blog thru romulus

It is probably the saddest song I've heard in my life. It's a story about parental abandonment from the pov of her kid which is pretty depressing. But I like this song bc the lines carry rich meaning in its details, like this one that captured the mother's self-destructive and self involved ways: "she smoked in her room and colored her hair / and i was ashamed / i was ashamed of her."

Recently, I tried to convey to a friend why this song resonated with me. Well, for one, I praised my man sufj because he is a master at using words and imagery to convey multiple meanings. But also, I think his playing style is enchanting. His prickly banjo pulls these lines together and tells an intimate story about a kid who has tried to move on from the pain of a neglectful mother. But it's not just about the kid, if u listen closely, both the kid and mom were coping with their own insignificance. I remember a long time ago when my mom dyed her hair. Our relationship was fine yet I still felt a pinch. For a moment, she was different and far away. I never did ask why she did it but I'm sure she had her reasons. anyway, i felt like i heard something new after repeating the song 77x, which is cool but also pretty sad in a completely different way

btw, i have bronchitis. pray for its quick death