O Lord of all creation, hear this sinner’s prayer,
Not by my command, for I have no such power,
Nor by my request, for I deserve no favors,
But because of Your promise to all those who knock,
And because of Your promise to all those who seek,
And because of Your promise to all those who ask.
For I am knocking at the door of Your mercy,
And I am seeking and asking for Your pardon.

Though I no longer wander the streets of the lost,
And though I have found the lone road to salvation,
I often find myself confused in dark alleys
Lured away by the whispers of laughter and mirth.
Forgive me for succumbing to vile distractions,
And for sinning in spite of Your admonitions.
O Holy Light, shine as a lamp before my feet
So that I and those near may walk the path you paved.

Like a lighthouse built on a solitary rock,
A beacon of light amidst the breakers and gales,
Your example demonstrates the way I should live,
Yet I am weak and prone to fail without Your help.
Holy One, be a trellis to Your feeble vine,
And lift me up into the warmth of Your presence.
I come to You with this prayer, Jehovah Most High.
Thank You, Father, for Your mercy and forgiveness.

“And even the very hairs on Your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:30-31

Jesus- I trust You. I lay all my anxieties down at your feet. Not my will, but Yours. I pray that we be so intertwined that I won’t be able to distinguish my will from Your will. All I have is Yours. My hands are open to You. Keep giving me patience. Help me to keep walking by faith. To keep focused on You.

You are my everything. Thank You for Your sweet peace. I trust You.

Written in the journal from the Prayer Room during 40.

As winter marches forward the sky appears a little grayer
Beneath my shoes leaves are crunching in unison like a choir
The scent of those withered leaves lifts off into the air
Warmth is being reciprocated during a cold time of year
The sweet taste of something new has come to me
Blessed be the One who blesses

It can be difficult to pinpoint that which separates a “band” from a “good band,” and a “good band” from a “great band.”  While originality often divides the “good” from the “great,” the qualities which distinct the “average” from the “good” can be quite subjective. Could an arbitrary measure of passion / “epicness” be the sole factor in determining this? What accounted for the Panic at the Disco fan disappointment upon “Pretty. Odd’s.” release? Was it simply that they had changed their style? No, it couldn’t have been, for if this new style had been perceived for the better it would have brought the success the hype had anticipated.

While it may be obvious to most that music is extremely subjective, there must be a common scale to that which we hold it, or albums such as Linkin Park’s “Minutes to Midnight” would not have been so ill received by both fans and critics. It’s mediocrity that cries fowl in our ears. Music that doesn’t have a sense of passion, or seemingly lacks purpose is that which is bound to be found in discount racks across music stores.

“Anorax” is the perfect example of said music. Opening the disc is “Hibernation Pieces,” a track far from bad, but the embodiment of average. Take the smooth vocals of Aaron Marsh of Copeland, make them a tad monotone and put it over a bed layer of slowed down Sherwood guitar riffs and you have Ruth. Unfortunately most of the album follows suit with the opening track. From “Back To The Five” to “Rolling With The Punches,” each tracks just feels bland. Crossing Surrogate and the Plain White T’s is “Miracle Photo,” yet something is missing that made “Hey There Delilah” stand out from the rest of acoustic love songs.

Most of the lyrics are personal, written in first person. They survey categories from broken relationships, to life and love. This simplicity is an awkward breath of fresh air from groups such as Innerpartysystem or Genuflect, but at times feels like the listener is being subjected to the venting of a torn-apart frontman.

While Tooth and Nail generally sign and release great artists and albums, Ruth doesn’t seem to have the innovation or musical maturity to roll with rest of the roster. Although wanting to be far from overly critical, there is simply nothing that makes “Anorax” stand out. While the simplicity and calm aura that radiates from “Anorax” is a breath of fresh air, the record feels incomplete. If you enjoyed their first release, “Anorax” will likely be up your alley; if not, there’s not much new to see here.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Street Dating: October 28^th 2008
Label: Tooth and Nail

Track Listing:
1.) Hibernation Pieces
2.) Back To The Five
3.) Who I Was And Who I Am
4.) Rolling With The Punches
5.) Hearts On Sleeve
6.) Pure Concept
7.) Forgetting To Remember
8.) Nothing To Hide
9.) Miracle Photo
10.) Speechless Mess
11.) Dead Giveaway

At first glance, I couldn’t read the sign. “You Are Loved.” That’s what the cardboard sign read that a man held up on the side of the road as I drove away from home today. With all the political hype circulating the American media, I quickly made an assumption that it said Vote For _______. But then I read it, “You Are Loved,” and my heart began to smile.

The truth in those words, I believed, was greater than any proposal ever put forth by a Presidential nominee. To drive by nearly a thousand election signs within the last few months that read one name or the other and then to see a sign that read not a name, but rather a message, a message of hope, was rather uplifting and out-of-the-ordinary. Isn’t hope what the American public is pleading for? Isn’t that what the world is crying out for?

Love, everyone needs it. To know we are loved puts smiles to our faces; it mends broken hearts that have been previously or are presently torn apart. Love- it’s everywhere as is our God.

When I read those words on the cardboard sign, “You Are Loved,” neither one of the Presidential nominees or political parties came to mind. The only name that could have been on that sign was Jesus. His name fits perfectly—at the top, “You Are Loved,” and below the name Jesus. He is Hope and Love. He gives us life because He loves us—He sacrificed His life on the cross in place of us, to forgive us our sin. We are hopeful because of Him. He is Peace. He is Rest. He is Hope.

You Are Loved. You Are Loved…Say it once, say it twice. In fact, you could say it a million times and it would never change. We are loved by a God so great, a God so big, a God so powerful and majestic, and a God so beautiful and almighty. Unconditionally, God loves you.

Politics are necessary to having our present-day society move forward, but it’s only in the truth and love of Jesus that gives us hope, hope for tomorrow.

You Are Loved.

One of the biggest problems that we face in our lives as Christians is pride. I know that I face this problem all the time. There are many times when I look back at how I just acted or what I just said and I think “wow, that was prideful, I need to work on that.” Fortunately we have God’s word to help us be more humble. I’ve been thinking recently about a certain part of scripture.

When Jesus is on the cross, in Luke it talks about two criminals who were also hanging on crucifixes next to Christ. This is what it says about the two criminals:

“One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’”

Then it says:

“But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’”

This gives us such a stark contrast between the attitude that Jesus desires and that which He doesn’t. One thing we have to keep in mind is that both of these men are criminals, both of them have done horrible things, and just like the second says, they are getting what they justly deserve. They are the worst sinners around. Here’s where the difference is:

The first man is obviously not convinced this is what he deserves. He believes he should have a free ticket out. This translations says he was “hurling abuse” at Jesus. The Greek word here is blasfemeo, which essentially means “to speak impiously or irreverently of”. This man has no care for the divinity or sinlessness and perfection that is in Christ. He is only thinking of himself.

The second man is quite interesting. He doesn’t express such interest in avoiding the fate he deserves. Instead he first rebukes the other criminal for speaking so irreverently of Jesus. “Do you not fear God?” We know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). This criminal truly had the wisdom to know who Christ is, and that Jesus did not deserve what he was getting. Then instead of trying to justify his way out of his penalty, he also has the wisdom to proclaim that he is getting what he deserves. Really, the criminal is contrasting between the perfection and pureness of Christ, and his sinfulness. How could he ever bring himself to ask Christ to save him from such just suffering? Instead he is so humbled that all he says is “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” How did he know?? He was so sure of who Christ was, and that He’ll be reigning.

Too often we find ourselves in the place of the first criminal. We can’t believe that we’re suffering at all, and we act as if we don’t deserve what we are getting. We want Christ to just get us out of there, we can be so irreverent. Instead we really need to take a step back and examine our sinfulness and God’s holiness, and we really need to humble ourselves to Him.

O Rainbow, Rainbow, beautiful and bright,
Bending over verdant hills and cities
Filled with life, by the Spirit you were born
And by Science you are defined. Like the
Elusive Leprechaun, now here, now there,
Now not, you charm and tease the eyes of men

And leave them all to pine. Be thankful, Men,
Of Noah, who left the dark for the bright
Light of day and started your future there
Under the seven colored arch. Cities
Filled with life again and fauna filled the
Hills, but men soon forgot that they were born

Cradled by a rainbow from the Lord. Born
Not of Sin, this colored friend, reminds men
Of a world not their own. As true as the
Ground beneath and the sun burning so bright,
This rainbow realm is Heaven’s, and its cities
Are bejeweled with the finest gems there

Ever could be. O how sweet life could be there
In the cotton swabs, drifting as if born
By air amidst the Angels, whose cities
Are adjoined by the golden halls of Men,
Garbed in the full regalia of bright
White gowns and golden crowns and bathed by the

Seven hues of light. O Rainbow, like the
Very God that created you, you’re there,
Gliding over the hills of Earth in bright
Splendor, near, but always out of reach. Born
Wherever light and water meet, all men
Stand still and Silence visits the cities

Just to glimpse your beauty. In the cities
Or on the plains, you must tell your tale there
To all who will listen. Tell of the men
From the days of yore that were drowned by the
Cleansing waters. Tell of the Brother born
To man who can make the dark become bright.

O Rainbow, shine bright in the dark cities
When it rains for He that has born the pain
Of all. Shine bright for the dim eyes of men!

I’ve begun to realize lately how transient these slivers of life are. I feel like life as a twenty something provides nothing but change. Different job opportunities, new friendships, lost friendships, new apartments, beginnings and ends that just keep coming quicker and quicker. The anticipation is exciting; the unknown, a little bit scary.

I like change to a certain degree. I don’t ever want to feel rooted so strongly in something that I rebel against what the Spirit may call me to do. But these past few months certainly haven’t found me in my comfort zone. It’s strange to see friends all around me moving on, moving forward, and feeling so… stationary. To realize that God is working in my life and not be able to see any fruit from it just yet.

I find myself wondering what’s yet to come. How can I be preparing my heart for the journey that God has me on? I know that a good portion of that question is genuinely God honoring. I want my life to be the most fragrant and pleasing offering that I can give for Him. But what portion of this question is impatience with my God and His timing? Where is the line between preparing for the future and living in the future?

He’s been convicting me of this lately. But our God is so good. His voice is gentle; His embrace, comforting. The rebuke of our Father is often spoken with a soft tongue, and I smile because I know He’s right.

I want to be here now. Rather than anticipating change, I want to live it. What good is planning and anticipating the future when I’m missing out on the opportunities He’s laid at my feet today?

I want to be his living body- hands that wipe away tears, feet that reach lost friends. I want to be completely and wholly satisfied by my beautiful Jesus and nothing else. I could make all the plans in the world, but if my mind isn’t captivated by my Savior, I have nothing.

And so I take a step. It’s all that I can do.

What have I to say about myself is that I am a huge circle in need of filling
A crayon the size of the galaxy is what I need to fill the empty white with color
So what, I have eyes to look at you and a mouth to speak but I am still a shape
Something like a drawing that has been sitting for years incomplete
I am made up of lines and I am in need of being drawn and erased for the better
My crayons are too small, my pencils and erasers are too small
Any attempt of coloring myself is useless because I am colorblind
I am a shape, a circle that is so poor and needy

I used to have this scrapbook where you insert all different pictures from different times in your life.
Birthdays, holidays, field trips, etc…
“All About Me” was the title
With a place for facts, pictures, and keepsakes in every page
But at the very end, there was a letter
A letter that I had written to myself
A time capsule, if you will, that I wasn’t supposed to open until I graduated from high school
It had a place to fill in everything
“Who Will You Be in _____ Years?”

So came the time to open the letter
I felt as though I was talking to a different person
It seemed as though what I wanted
Was what the world tells us is “good”
I thought I was just going to breeze through life
That’s what I thought as a 12-year-old.
My, how we change!

Fast-forward eight years, and my standards are different
Have there been happy times? Yes!! Rocky times, Oh yes.
But through all of these things
God has drawn me to Him.
Now all I want is to live my life
So to make him smile.
To take the things He’s given me
And lift them up to Him.

I want to follow Him, and to lead others to Him
To take my relationships and honor Him with them
To talk to Him in prayer, and crave the Word daily
I want to live my life to glorify God!
I hold myself to the standards than honor Him
Forget what I wanted before…
God holds my entire heart.

As far as the woman I now hope to be?
I pray to be someone that He is proud of
Someone who is able to stand up in all ways
For what I believe in — Jesus Christ.
The world will throw us curve balls
We’ll trip and fall face-first in the mud
But with Jesus, we need not be discouraged
For this I know is true: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
(Philippians 4:13)