List #1 – Songs I’m Listening to….

From time to time I have people ask me what I’m listening to or reading currently and so I thought it would be fun to update the “world” on what it is that is sitting on Jeremy Horton’s night stand or what is playing on repeat on the ipod.

Today we are starting with the music. Below are the top 10 songs that I am currently playing over and over again (probably because they are all in the same playlist on repeat) and have been really beneficial to me over the last couple of months.

I’m hoping the “embedded” audio files work so you can give it a listen to but if not then just hit the itunes link and check it out after the jump. Remember – if you like what you hear, go ahead and purchase it up!

Here’s the list, in no particular order:

You Found Me by the Fray:

Here’s why I’m digging it – I think the lyrics are pretty thought provoking. Obviously the artist is struggling to find God in some heavy situations that are taking place in his life. I get that and sometimes it just feels good (in a weird sort of way) that I’m not alone in my struggles, though, I do know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and I also know that there is a reason for it regardless of whether that reason is ever revealed to me.

Doxology by David Crowder

I love the Doxology. Our College Life worship time has been rocking this one out for the last month or so and I could literally sit in a dark room and sing this endlessly. The message is beautiful.

Center by Charlie Hall

If this prayer could be enacted through us as a body moving out into the world – I believe lives would be changed.

From the Inside Out by Hilsong

I love me some hillsong. the chorus says it all:

“Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades. Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame. And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise, from the inside out Lord, my soul cries out.”

For Your Glory by Lee McDerment

Lyrics that truly bring us a visual image of what it will be one day when every knee bows and worships the One who deserves all worship.

Meet Me At the Table by Jeff Caylor

I actually found myself singing this song in the back of my head the last time I had communion. Again, just solid lyrics.

Your Love is Extravagant by Darrell Evans

This song always takes me back to some really formational times for me as a new believer in high school. I remember singing it on many a trip.

Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle

If I had to pick the one song out of these ten that have gotten the most play time over the last couple of months this would be it. The beauty of the work of Christ in my life is evidenced in the chorus, “You’ve called me out of death, You’ve called me into life and I was under Your wrath, now through the cross I’m reconciled.” Amen.

Beloved by Enter the Worship Circle

Another oldie but goodie. Many a quiet time over the last several months have started with this fella.

Free by Jill Paquette (You’ll have to go to amazon for this one)

Man…I could listen to her for long long long periods of time. She can sing and furthermore her lyrics knock you down. Voice + lyrics = Jeremy is connecting…

Well…there you have it…hope you find you a nugget that you haven’t already found. Stay tuned for tomorrows books that are on the night stand!

Filed under: Personal, Reflection

Here’s a verse…

Good reminder:

‘In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”

- Mark 1:35

I wish more often I would pull myself out of bed and do this…

Filed under: Personal, Reflection

Community from James 1:12-15

Today during some of my time in the word I got smacked in the face by a passage in James. I probably have read it a ton of times but today it really got a hold of me (think of the scene from Tommy Boy – not so much here…or here…but here…)

I was reading James 1:12-15 where it says:

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

As I read over this passage several things jumped out at me. The first is the most obvious – that sin really begins and ends with me. I can only be tempted by that which I set my mind on beforehand. The reality though is that I often blame my sin on things such as situations or other people but…this passage says I can’t. I have to come to grips with the truth that I can only really be tempted by what I have allowed my mind to desire.

The second is it says that, “desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin…” Desire gives birth to sin. Temptation doesn’t give birth to sin but my desire gives birth to sin. Sin is caused by that which you desire. Takes me back to Sundays sermon where Mark asked the question of, “What are you filling yourself with?”

The third is that the buck stops with me. So often I find students angry with God because of sins that continue in their lives. They wonder why they continue to struggle. Why they can’t find freedom and often using this verse to say that it’s really God’s fault because He didn’t give them a “way out.” Wrong. You desired. You got that which you desired. And…God did give you a way out – Christ came, died, rose, and now reigns so that you have a way out – a life found in Him.

While I thought about the individual aspects of these verses…I also think that there are some HUGE implications that these verses have with regards to Christian community. I think that we find freedom, love, joy, growth, pain, hardships, fun times, strength, ability to overcome, all in community but I wonder – are we on guard and protecting our minds from being tempted so that our actions don’t lead to death together? How can we do this in community?

Ten things that can tempt and bring death to community:

1. Focus on your individual walk and not that of the entire community. Are you all growing together?

2. Avoid hard conversations with those who need the conversation because you might not be liked afterwards.

3. Wanting to be heard instead of listening.

4. Making decisions that please people instead of the right ones, especially if you lead a group.

5. Always acting like you know all the answers.

6. Never seeking advice or wisdom of the group for fear of appearing incapable and “unchristian”

7. Believe you’ve learned all there is to know about what it means to be in community.

8. Fear of being known.

9. Fear of being known.

10. Fear of being known.

I pray that as we continue to move out into the world and be Christ to those around us that we would also be vulnerable, highly relational, and overly authentic with one another as we continue to grow along in our walks together.

Filed under: Church, Personal

Dissident Discipleship…

I have recently started going through a book called “Dissident Discipleship” by David Augsburger and he has been rocking my world. He asks a lot of great questions about community and ourselves at the same time.

Here are some of the great questions that he has been asking throughout the book thus far that I have been writing down:

1. How can I learn a spirituality that nurtures human wholeness unless I commit myself to do all I can and contribute all I can to building a community where we together are seeking ways to practice imitation of Christ? Or will I have to be content with a spirituality of desirable but finally optional ventures?

2. How can I find spiritual co-travelers who are willing to invest time, give attention, risk self-disclosing, and jointly covenant for a life of shared responsible discipleship? Or will I have to go at it alone?

How can I learn a spirituality of accountability to God the Other unless I have the opportunity to be accountable to significant others? How can I live a spirituality of accountability unless I participate in a community where my acts and their consequences are visible to all who are affected by them? Or will I have to settle for a spirituality that is answerable ultimately only to itself?

3. How can I learn a spirituality of humility and equality before God unless I live a community where hierarchy is unnatural, where dominance is not rewarded, and where superiority is neither desirable nor inevitable? Or will I have to claim my place in a spirituality of entitlement if I am privileged, or of disentitlement if I am not?

4. How can I learn a spirituality of immediate and reflexive concern for the needs of others that seeks to do something about the unjust distribution of resources unless I contribute to a community where sharing is meaningful because we agree to consume less, waste less, do more with less? Or will I have to follow a spirituality that costs me very little?

5.How can I learn a spirituality of dissident discipleship that takes risks in the imitation of Christ unless I join a community that offers support for maintaining a consistent and sensitive conscience? Or will I have to find a rationale for a spirituality that smoothes the contradictions and offers comfort for my unease before the call of Christ?

6.How can I learn a spirituality of deep reverence for the preciousness of persons unless I practice such honor of others in a community where we are persons, not roles, to each other? Or is the cost of all of this too high to consider in a world that allows self-realization as its highest good?

Great stuff but yet again, the downfall of it all is ourselves. At some point we have to come to the poker table and push our chips all in and claim who we are in Christ and then move out into the world knowing that the things he asked me not to do are actually in my best interest not to do.

Since I’ve started using poker analogies (which I am sure God will pull me aside in heaven and say, “not real sure that was the best analogy”) I think it’s interesting that Christ going to the cross at no point thought twice about his commitment to us. Sure he may have asked if there was another way but his intention was always to get it done. Christ goes all in. Shouldn’t I? And maybe the first step of the “all in” card is community. Actively participating. Being vulnerable and being known.

Filed under: Church, Religous

Finally…the answer I’ve been waiting for!!

I’ve always wondered why you have to have a 30 minute break between the time you brush your teeth and the time you throw something back down the pie hole. I guess you don’t have to wait the 30 minutes but if you don’t that nice slice of pizza sure doesn’t taste like that nice slice of pizza.

I found the answer late last night. Mystery solved.

According to they mentalfloss guy,

You can thank sodium laureth sulfate, also known as sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) for ruining your drink, depending on which toothpaste you use. Both of these chemicals are surfactants – wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid – that are added to toothpastes to create foam and make the paste easier to spread around your mouth (they’re also important ingredients in detergents, fabric softeners, paints, laxatives, surfboard waxes and insecticides).

While surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam. Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they’re broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.

You can read the rest of the article HERE

Filed under: Random

Three Translations…

I’ve been thinking about this idea of how to get the Bible from my head and my heart and into my life. Our leadership team within college life is currently going through the book, “This Beautiful Mess” by Rick Mckinley and we are finally to the section of the book that gets me each time – part 3 – application.

This is the third reading of the book for me and each time I love thinking through how awesome it would be to apply biblical truths to my life. To move out into the world as Christ moved out into the world and to put my hope, trust, and faith in the person of Christ and His restoring power in and through me. But…as much as I love and get excited about opportunities – I always end up back on the couch.

We’ve all got excuses. Time. Jobs. Awkwardness. Not knowing where to start. Not trusting.

As I wade through these issues I have found that there are really three translations that we go through as we read the Bible. By that I mean that there are three ways to translate the Bible. You can translate it with (1) your mind (2) your heart and (3) your life.

The problem is that most of us, myself included, settle for the mental translation. But the end result of this translation is information and not change. And what happens is this: we learn more, do less, and think we’re growing spiritually. But not if that’s the only translation.

The second translation is emotional. And the emotional translation may seem more subjective than intellectual translation. But that is when our hearts break for the things that break the heart of God. It’s not just information. It’s transformation. For the record, I think one person with one deeply held conviction will make more of a difference than someone with a hundred good ideas.

Finally, there is the life translation. That is when we become a “living epistle.” That is when the noun turns into a verb. And that is how we change the world. At the end of the day, Jesus isn’t going to say, “Good thought good and faithful servant.” He’s going to say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Imagine a church filled with people who are translating the Bible with their lives!

Filed under: Church, Reflection, Religous

Killer Smog…

Surely this can be good…right?? The photo above is not the result of poor lighting, bad film exposure, or just terrible photography – it is the result of a smog cloud that hovers throughout China.

According to this article this smog cloud cause natural light to become 10 to 25 percent dimmer in cities such as Beijing, Karachi, Shanghai and New Delhi.

The worst part about the article is when they begin to talk about how the cloud shifts locations based on global warming and our natural seasons. Sometimes the cloud makes it as far as California and Oregan during these shifts!

I wonder…when will we take notice? What should our involvement be globally?

You can read the whole article HERE

Filed under: Random

What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church? A Parable.

more about “What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Chu…“, posted with vodpod

Is in funny because it many ways it’s very typical of the church? Javaluajuah!

Filed under: Videos

Big Announcement!!!

If you missed College Life last night you missed the “big announcement” of how we are going to be changing some things up for the spring semester – it is super exciting and I am pumped about it. If you weren’t there, no sweat, keep your eye on your email inbox as follow-up messages will be going out today but…

Here’s the gist:

Below is some of the “Q&A” from last night:

Why Sunday Mornings?

• We believe in small group! We believe that this is where life change happens and where you are provided the opportunity to grow, be real, and be known by those who desire to grow, learn, and glorify Christ with you!
  
  By moving off of Thursday night – small groups become our midweek focus! So get in a small group! Don’t worry about having to decide between Thursday night College Life and a small group – now the choice is easy!

Why 9am?

• We believe it’s important for the body to gather together as a multigenerational body. We don’t want college students to use College Life as their sunday morning “service” but to be an additional piece or “element” to their sunday morning service.
  
  It will be a natural flow – from college life into the service together and then maybe some grub afterwards

Some other benefits of the time shift:

• Majority of students naturally create space on Sundays for church – now they can connect to the college ministry on sunday
  
  It allows students coming in from OKC who desire to be a part of a college ministry to easily connect with us.
  
  Frees up a night during the week for you. We hope you will get into a small group, be involved with crusade, or get in an OU organization.
  
  Lines up with how Wildwood is currently doing ministry. The adult fellowships are on Sundays, the Children’s ministry is on Sunday, Youth meet on Sundays, Connections meets on Sundays, and now College Life will meet on Sundays.
  
  Hopefully by freeing up a night during the week we will be able to be a bit more social during the week then just scheduling everything on the weekend.

What will the partnership with Crusade look like?

• Details are still being ironed out but you will see some overlap in the ministries.
  
  Possible campus outreach events together
  
  Missions will be through Crusade. Trip to Moscow this summer…
  
  Mike Beckham will teach at College Life on Sunday mornings a couple of times each semester on evangelism and outreach and I will speak a couple times at Crusade each semester on connecting to the church, doctrine, and theology.

Good good things to come!!

*** A special reminder though – we will be finishing out the semester on Thursday nights @ 8pm with a special sneak peak of the sunday morning gathering on December 14th!

Filed under: Church, Sunday Morning Reflections

Worship is…

The other day I was standing in the gathering hall of our church drinking my coffee and taking in the people streaming in for our Sunday services. While standing there I heard one of the most interesting comments come from a group of people…it went, “their worship is legit.” I’m not sure if the person talking was speaking of Wildwood’s worship, though I think Greg does a stellar job, but it got me thinking…what is worship? And what makes worship “legit”?

Is worship the music? The people? The atmosphere? The backgrounds? The band? All of the above? Possibly…

So I started thinking about worship and started making a list, and I admit the list is still unfinished, but the list is titled, “What worship is not…”

I thought that by starting with what worship isn’t, maybe it would help me understand what it is…

Here’s what I’ve got thus far:

Worship is not…

• About feeling good all the time.
• All my favorite songs
• Without using my brain
• Always convenient
• About my preferences
• Something for me

That’s what I have up to this moment. I had some other bullets but didn’t like them and so they got crossed out…be interesting to see what I come up with after a week or so….

Filed under: Church, Reflection

Give a kid shoes!

I’m super excited to have been hit up to partner with hundreds of other bloggers in a grassroots social media challenge that has already been picked up by Forbes and CNBC.

The challange – can we affect global change through our blogs and rasie enough money for 50,000 shoes in just 50 days?

It’s a pretty big goal but I think that it is totally doable. I’m going to abstain from the coffee shops this week and give each $5 cup to shoes – I could potentally have shoed six kids by the end of the week! Just think, there are more than 300 million kids around the world who do not have the most basic necessities – shoes…we can help!

How does this work? Great question!

The partnership is through the Nashville based Soles4Souls. The campaign website is 50000shoes.com and it just launched today!

A $5 donation buys two pairs of shoes for a person somewhere in the world with none. Imagine, for a little more than what we spend on our morning cup of coffee we can put shoes on the feet of two needy people! All of us can give $5, many can give more!!!!

What can you do?

1. Give

A $5 donation buys two pair of shoes. We can all give at least that much. Head over to 50000shoes.com and give generously and sacrificially.

2. Spread The Word

Your sphere of influence is much larger than just your blog. You have friends and family that are just a phone call or email away. Set aside some time to reach out to some people and share this awesome opportunity with them.

Filed under: Church, Personal, Social Justice

Phrases NOT to use in conversations…

The other day I came across a study done by the University of Oxford where they came up with the top 10 most annoying phrases. Not real sure why it takes a bunch of college researchers to come up with this list but alas, we have documented proof.

So whether you want to stop annoying people or annoy people much more effectively – you should at least take a look at the list. You can find it HERE

The phrases I hate the most from the list are:

3. I personally

5. With all due respect

Anyways, enjoy!

Filed under: Random

Just be.

With the semester continuing to tick away, the leaves disappearing from the trees, and the sound of Christmas music starting to drum up in the back of my head I find myself waking up and wondering – where did August, September and October go??

About this time of year is one of the busiest times for our college students and for most of us as we prepare for the upcoming holiday rush. I think that in these times that it is REALLY important to make sure that we take time to unplug in the middle of the busiest of seasons. Don’t wait until you burn out; by then it’s too late…

I think some good practical ways that we can unplug and that will potentially keep us from burn out are:

• Find ways to get closer to God.
• Evaluate your task lists. Do your tasks directly connect to your priority commitments? When I just looked at mine, I discovered that I have scheduled everything that needed to get done for ministry in and was pumped but I left out Michelle and my date night – not good. The date night should come first. I love my wife.
• Identify areas you will spend less time doing and more time being. I know being is a hard thing to do, and no, facebooking does not count as “just being.” Are you allowing time in your day to listen and watch with no agenda? Or are you in a perpetual state of get-r-done? Admit it. You can’t get it all done so quit trying.
• Take a break. You think you can’t afford to take time off? I say you can’t afford not to. Go get some coffee with friends. Take a walk on campus. Go take in a good bible study. Go and be.

Just some thoughts. We all need to remind ourselves to step back and breathe. Hopefully we will do it before we drown…

Filed under: Reflection