To all you mourning Celina band students:

Two of our three band directors are leaving for new jobs in other places. Mr. Cummins and Mr. Aune are taking up different jobs in different towns, but they are not too far. I want you, band kids, to take this as a letter of encouragement, not a reminder of despair.

Mr. Aune has been in CISD for two years, teaching the HS band kids and easily making friends in the middle school. He helped teach my class’s trumpets, and I would not be surprised if he taught some 6th grade band kids this year. He is an exceptional director and a good man.

Mr. Cummins has been in CISD for four years, directing the middle school and assisting the three HS band directors that have been present in his time here. He is dedicated, humorous, and can easily bring out the smile in anyone. He has taught some of my best friends, and they are the top in their section. He is in charge of the top middle school band, while his colleague, Mr. Olmstead, is directing the second band.

Both of these men have brought something special to each band student’s life. Now that it’s time to see them go, we can not let those memories and skills go to waste. They taught us not so that it would go in one ear and out the other, but so that we could use it to prosper in everything we do. Proverbs 4:13 says to “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go.” We should rejoice in the time we had with them, and not wish we had more.

Celina bands, this is just one (or two) door(s) closing. But God promises that when one door closes, another opens. This is our chance to look around us and see which doors are open. If you are mourning with us, please pray for the future of these two musicians and for the future of Celina bands. No matter who we get as their replacements, God will go before. He will never leave our sides– all of us. Remember that we will see them again, no matter what.

Mr. Cummins, Mr. Aune, on behalf of all of Celina bands, I want to say thank you for everything you’ve done for us, especially the stuff behind the scenes that we never notice or are grateful for. Thank you for teaching us all we know. Thank you for being our favorite teachers and best of friends.

 

For kicks:

Hope can be found in even the darkest of places, if one only remembers to turn on the light.                            ~Dumbledore

Considering that this is 9/11 (which I conveniently forgot about in my last post; sorry guys!), I think I should give a contribution to the three buildings and four planes that were destroyed in the first terrorist attack since Pearl Harbor, 1941.

Two planes, controlled by terrorists and full of people, were flown straight into the Twin Towers in New York City, demolishing them and the planes themselves. A third was flown into the Pentagon, and altogether they killed nearly three thousand people. The fourth plane, however, was overrun by the passengers, who took over from the terrorists and managed to crash it into a field instead of the intended Washington D.C., sacrificing themselves to save countless others.

Both the twin towers collapsed within 2 hours of the initial impact, all 104 stories of both buildings, and few on the top floors escaped. Even those that did caught diseases from the toxic fumes and things in the air from the burning and crumbling buildings. At the Pentagon, around 125 people died from the building itself, and all the passengers on the planes died as well. The passengers that overtook the plane from the terrorists all died in the crash on the field.

If it weren’t for the bravery of the people on the fourth plane, the firefighters and law enforcers that helped during the attacks, and the clean-up teams in New York City and Washington D.C., America would have a completely different story to tell about that day, and the following months and even years. Shout out to those who survived the attacks, those who helped in the reconstruction of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and to those who didn’t survive, but sacrificed themselves to keep others from further harm. Please agree with me in prayer and praise that God had significant things for us to learn from that day, and the months following it, and that we will one day get to see the people who passed again in the throne room of our King. Pray with me in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that we will continue to learn from it, and that the story that has such significance today can continue on for as long as we live, and to the next generations that secede us.

Hey guys! I’m back!

This summer, my family and I went on a long, two week trip around the Southwest U.S.– through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. To summarize– I’ll go into full detail later– where we went, I’ll say this: we went to Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the Grand Canyon, and Crested Butte, Colorado, before returning home. What I saw transformed my small, enclosed, sweet little county I call home– and my world– into something I can never dream of saying is insignificant. Allow me to recount my adventures in order. If any of this offends you, I am sincerely sorry. This is all from my perspective.

Week 1 part 1: New Mexico

The first day was boring, driving across the plains of the Panhandle of Texas. It was kind of an insult to someone who lived in the green and rolling hills of North Texas, and it only got worse when we crossed the border to the desert. Brown, brown, and more brown; that’s all I saw. There were some pretty mesas and plateaus in the first fifty miles, but then it became monotonous, and I dozed.

Our first stop before setting up camp was Santa Fe. Downtown was nice; lots of tourist shops, a nice (green!) square, and much to explore. The St. Miguel chapel, the first to be made in the U.S. by Spain (I think) was where we went to church that Sunday, the day before we left. To be honest, it was a little disappointing, but maybe that’s because we went to the Latin Mass, and I could understand none of it.

Week 1, part 2: Arizona

Monday was a driving day. We drove through red, brown, orange, and more brown into Arizona, but it was a sight better than New Mexico to see the aspens and pine trees when we arrived at the plateau that makes up the northern end of the Grand Canyon. On the way to the Canyon, I found the perfect spot for my story (tell you later).

But the first sight of the Canyon took my breath away. I had only seen pictures, but they don’t give it credit enough. I was amazed at the sight of the at-places mile-deep dip in the ground. The mighty Colorado river was a mere speck in the distance. We spent the whole day exploring the trails and pre-named outcrops, examining the Angel’s Window, Freya Castle, and many more.

The second day, July 4th, we went to the South end, the one they advertise the most because of the colors. All the things we’d seen as magnificent on the North end were tiny from the South end. The 3-hour drive was a lot more like New Mexico than my comfort zone allowed, but the sights were pretty anyway. We had lunch and watched the July 4th parade in the small town outside of the reservation before heading back to our campsite.

Week 2: Colorado

On our way out of Arizona, Dad decided to strike up a conversation about the GC. While we were on the South end, at the visitor’s center we’d watched a couple of documentaries about how the Grand Canyon was formed (I was thinking yeah, right the whole time, so this conversation helped me a little). He said that God created with apparent age, right? Man didn’t start out as a baby. The lions weren’t cubs at Creation. Chickens weren’t eggs. So couldn’t he have created the Grand Canyon with apparent age, that of which men were trying to figure out? Carbon dating can only go back so far. Scientists say the world is 4.5 billion (4,500,000,000) years old, but according to the Bible, it’s only 10,000 years old, max.

I loved that conversation. Best I had on that trip.

We drove through Utah, which was almost as bad as NM (that’s kind of my least favorite part, unfortunately). But the mountains– oh, the mountains! I saw my kind of green again, and reveled in it. Day 1, we explored Ouray and Silverton, two small mountain towns, with the Red Mountain in between them. We stayed at a camp park nearby that first night. I got my first glimpse of the Milky Way, and I still can’t get it out of my head. The thick, dark line against a population of white stars that lit up the sky better than any artificial light has captured me ever since.

The next day we went to our friend’s condo in Crested Butte, north of Gunnison. The next day, Sunday, we went to the town church, Oh Be Joyful, and enjoyed a cool summer morning worship service outside (it was the one week they had it outside, and it felt great). Mom knew the pastor, so we stayed around afterward for a little while before heading back up to the condo and resting for the rest of the day. Mom and the boys played with the Atari in my room (the pixilation was awful), I watched some of my Harry Potter movies, and we relaxed for the first time in over a week.

Monday we went whitewater rafting for the first time as a family, Tuesday we chilled in the house all day, Wednesday we explored the surrounding county, and Thursday and Friday we explored the town. Saturday we left for home, arriving late that night.

But what I learned most from this journey– because, truly, it was a journey– was that God is not limited to what we’re used to or surrounded by– be it people, places, things, or a mix of the three. He is immeasurable, inconceivable, unimaginably magnificent in comparison to the things that happen on this little planet we call Earth. In a children’s worship song I used to sing at my church, it says He’s wider than the universe and beyond my wildest dreams, and I learned what that meant this summer. My favorite part, however, was not the things I saw here on the Earth: it’s what I saw above me.

The stars.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands.”
Psalms 19:1

At my church, we are doing a sermon series called New Testament Live. Last winter, we did Old Testament Live– which is like what I’m about to describe, just set in the other 39 books of the Bible.

New Testament Live is a six-week journey through the–bet you can’t guess–New Testament. It goes through the six main areas in the last 27 books, starting with Jesus’s Birth and ending with General Letters and Revelation. Week one– which has already passed, and Sam spoke mostly about temptation– was about Jesus’ Birth. The next will be about Jesus’ Life. Then Jesus’ Death and Life (no it is not backwards; read Matthew 26-28), then (I think) the Early Church, and second to last is Paul’s Letters. Finally, last but most certainly not least, General Letters and Revelation.

If you want to tune in Sunday mornings from 9:15-10:30 or 10:45-12:00, just go to this link. To see it all– from RightNow Media to past sermons– visit the official website at www.fbcmckinney.com.

I hope to see you there!

“Anno Domini,” “the year of our Lord.” What a name for these past two thousand years— especially when the majority of the world denies the Lord of all Creation.

This is important to me because when Jesus ascended, He told His disciples that He would come back one more time to take His children back to Heaven with Him. Some people call it Armageddon, or the end of the world, and the sun will blow up (maybe it will; same thing with the Big Bang Theory– again, later) but Christians see it as the beginning of a new life with our God. “The year of our Lord” is telling people that this is the year that the Lord will come back– maybe not in the next 365 days, twice that, thrice that, even, and maybe not for another thousand human years– but He’s coming back, and when he does, we’ll be ready.  It may not be a year for us, but to God, the Earth is a speck in the elapse of time– or even beyond time.

Hey guys! This article is one of my very own, and it is coming off the following video. I give you, Light of Christmas, by Owl City, and featuring one of my favorite Christian singers, TobyMac.

I don’t have much to say about the first four lines:

 

Build a snowman with the wind at his back

Got the day planned, with presents to wrap.

Fight the windchill with all of my friends.

‘Cause it’s Christmas time again.

 

The next four are him expressing joy in giving. It is part of the Christmas season to give, and in the kids’ point of views, to get.

The next part is TobyMac telling a short story of a man outside a mall, and he’s reminding people that his Christmas isn’t going to be about him. And that is one example of the light of Christmas, shining through. The next few lines are Mac saying that the smallest thing could make someone’s day, and maybe someone’s Christmas. Then Owl City is just saying that he can’t wait for the big winter holiday, but the real catch (the one that made me pick this specific song) is that he says that he “finally figured out what Christmas is all about.”

And that’s Jesus. The birth of the King of kings was a mark in history, Heaven came to earth, and we knew it. We know it now. That’s why we have B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini, which means “in the year of our Lord.” I call that significant; but I’ll get to that later). Some nonreligious people say B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era), but most people call it B.C. and A.D.

Christmas may have giving gifts (or receiving them, depending on who you are) and spending time with family, and maybe vacations to other places. But we give gifts at Christmas because on that day, over two thousand years ago, God gave us the greatest gift of all: His Son. And He came to spend time with His children, and to make His family grow in ways we will never comprehend.

Isn’t that amazing?

And that Son would grow up to be the Light of the world, and he would give himself up to be crucified on the cross in our place, so that, in the end, we can live with God for eternity in Heaven. Oh, such love that has never before been shown to our dirty, broken world. A dirty, broken world made new. All of creation watched in awe as the Son of Man and the Son of God came to the earth to perform miracles beyond our wildest dreams, and, in the end, be the one and only Lamb that could give us life.

Oh, what love.

 

The light of Christmas is a big thing, because without the Light, we wouldn’t have Christmas anyway, would we? Take some time to think about what you can do to be a light in someone’s Christmas season. Go and be a light, and let the Light of the World guide you.

Today at my church, my pastor looked at and dove into Matthew 25:31–46, which talks about the “sheep and goats.” Since the other half is less cheery, I will be talking about the first half, verses 31 through 40. To see the full chapter, click here.

One of the first things Jesus says is to the “sheep”: “I was hungry, you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; I was without clothes, and you gave me clothing; I was sick and in prison, and you visited me.”

All of these things are examples for us to do to the least of these. That does not mean that you have to give money to the church every Sunday or Wednesday (if you go to that); giving is optional. But you should want to serve others as Jesus has served—and is still serving now—us by the cross. If you don’t, I think that that is perfectly normal. I have difficulty putting others first, and that is, unfortunately, normal for almost everyone. Selfishness is a prominent sin in this world, and can trigger many other sins. While there is an internal struggle, the small but strong and steadying voice in the back of your mind that is telling you the right choice. It is up to us to listen or not, and we all know the right choice, even if you “persuade” yourself that the other choice is the one.

One of my youth group leaders talked about a woman that he’d met in India on a mission trip. You may have heard of her. Her name was Mother Teresa. He said that she was the most giving and loving person he’d met. She gave to the poor and those that needed help- all because the love of Christ was flowing through her, giving her strength to do His work. She is a wonderful model for the life God wants us to live- one with Him at the center of it all.

If there are hungry people, feed them; thirsty people, get them something to drink; strangers, take them in; without clothes, clothe them; sick and imprisoned, visit them- all of this you do in the name of Jesus. It could be literally, or spiritually. If they hunger for something more, give them the Bible; if they thirst for love, show them the love of God; if they are strangers to the Word, acquaint them to your Savior; if they need to be clothed in the gospel, give them the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11–18); if they are sick with sin or imprisoned by their past sins, set them free with the truth that breaks chains and changes lives.

In other words, live life like Jesus. I hope you learned a little something. Go love the world.

Hey guys! This is my very first post, so I apologize if this topic is not of your type.

I am using one of my mom’s posts for this, but I can relate to it immensely. To see it all, check it out here. She did not ask my permission to put this up, but she did, and it was six months later that I saw it. After I confronted her with it, she laughed and asked if I liked it. I did, and still do.

I led a Prayer Club last year at my middle school. I started early spring and continued to the very last day of the year. We met once a week, every week, to learn a little something and pray together as equals. I taught from some notes I took at church from our pastor. They listened, although- being teenagers, or almost- they talked every time I took a breath. I think they took something from every session, and I hope, more than anything else, that I at least got their attention. I am sure, however, that if it continues, it can help people from one situation and bring them out of the dark and into the light.

This year, I am in junior high and wish to continue Prayer Club, although I have not gotten information back on that just yet. I will let you guys know when it does get started, and if you want, I can post the notes I took for it. I’ll see you guys later, and happy Fall!