Broken Hearted
Lyrics and Music written by James Spencer April 26, 2009
Verse:
You break my heart into a thousand tiny pieces
over a thousand dying people
over the poor and oppressed, the starving and the thirsty,
the naked and the poor, the widow and the orphan…
Chorus:
And how can I let them live like that,
and not do anything, to help them myself? (x2)
Bridge:
I want a heart like yours, of love and compassion,
to do the things you did, to serve You and Your Kingdom. (x2)
So give me your heart, give me your heart, give me your heart, yeah.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
A God Thing
So Good Friday was encouraging. God continues to amaze me with the things he has up his sleeves.
During Spring Break I attended the Jr. High Youth Group. I helped lead worship at it with a few friends and it was all peaches and creme until we finished the second to last song and I suddenly heard someone yell "SHUT UP!!!" It shocked me to hear a sixth or seventh grader shout something like that in the middle of worship, whether they are focusing on God like they are supposed to or not. This discouraged me very greatly because I am supposed to be interning there this summer, and seemingly nothing had changed since I had left and gone to college. I immediately got discouraged and afraid about what my internship was going to be like during the summer.
Later, at the end of the week on Sunday, I was at church. Brandon had just finished sharing about how he felt God was going to use the church for great things. We then started to sing "God of this City," by Chris Tomlin. That song is soo powerful. I immediately felt connected to God's heart and so I stood up and lifted my hands while I sang my heart out and proclaimed "Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are still to be done in this city!"
God spoke to me in those moments and encouraged me about the summer. He told me not to worry about the summer because he was going to do something great in and through me. It was so encouraging and so comforting. I sit and think about what God could do this summer, and I get really excited.
That was amazing.
Then I go home this weekend for Easter. My parents came up to Redding on Thursday to pick Bryan, Dan, and I up. Before we even left Redding my parents told me that we were moving right at the beginning of May (like right after I get out of school). Instead of living in our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, atleast 1,600 sq. ft. house, we will be living in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 600 sq. ft. shack behind our good friends' house. This is not exciting to me at all, and I also have to live in our camper trailer the whole summer. But I keep getting reminded of what God wants to do this summer. I am also encouraged by the fact that my parents are talking about how they are getting ready and are waiting for what God wants them to do. I really have no idea what they are going to do, but I am so joyful that they are trying to find God's heart for them.
Back to the story, I go to the Good Friday service at my church. I get to talking really quickly with my Youth Pastor Dewbe, whom I will be interning with during the summer, and he tells me that he and Dave (the head pastor) want me to be at the church full time and that he is working on getting people in the church to sponsor me so that hopefully I can get paid $1,000 per month. That is way more than I imagined I would get paid. God is definitely taking care of me and setting things up for the summer, and I feel so blessed.
Lord,
THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE DOING!!! I pray that You continue to work on my heart for this summer and for the hearts of people in Brentwood. I pray for opportunities and divinely constructed events for me and others in the church to share your love with people. Lord thank you for taking care of me and setting things up for the summer. I can't help but get excited when I think about what you could possibly have up your sleeve for this summer. I love you very much!
Amen.
Your Willing Servant, James.
During Spring Break I attended the Jr. High Youth Group. I helped lead worship at it with a few friends and it was all peaches and creme until we finished the second to last song and I suddenly heard someone yell "SHUT UP!!!" It shocked me to hear a sixth or seventh grader shout something like that in the middle of worship, whether they are focusing on God like they are supposed to or not. This discouraged me very greatly because I am supposed to be interning there this summer, and seemingly nothing had changed since I had left and gone to college. I immediately got discouraged and afraid about what my internship was going to be like during the summer.
Later, at the end of the week on Sunday, I was at church. Brandon had just finished sharing about how he felt God was going to use the church for great things. We then started to sing "God of this City," by Chris Tomlin. That song is soo powerful. I immediately felt connected to God's heart and so I stood up and lifted my hands while I sang my heart out and proclaimed "Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are yet to come! Greater things are still to be done in this city!"
God spoke to me in those moments and encouraged me about the summer. He told me not to worry about the summer because he was going to do something great in and through me. It was so encouraging and so comforting. I sit and think about what God could do this summer, and I get really excited.
That was amazing.
Then I go home this weekend for Easter. My parents came up to Redding on Thursday to pick Bryan, Dan, and I up. Before we even left Redding my parents told me that we were moving right at the beginning of May (like right after I get out of school). Instead of living in our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, atleast 1,600 sq. ft. house, we will be living in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, 600 sq. ft. shack behind our good friends' house. This is not exciting to me at all, and I also have to live in our camper trailer the whole summer. But I keep getting reminded of what God wants to do this summer. I am also encouraged by the fact that my parents are talking about how they are getting ready and are waiting for what God wants them to do. I really have no idea what they are going to do, but I am so joyful that they are trying to find God's heart for them.
Back to the story, I go to the Good Friday service at my church. I get to talking really quickly with my Youth Pastor Dewbe, whom I will be interning with during the summer, and he tells me that he and Dave (the head pastor) want me to be at the church full time and that he is working on getting people in the church to sponsor me so that hopefully I can get paid $1,000 per month. That is way more than I imagined I would get paid. God is definitely taking care of me and setting things up for the summer, and I feel so blessed.
Lord,
THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE DOING!!! I pray that You continue to work on my heart for this summer and for the hearts of people in Brentwood. I pray for opportunities and divinely constructed events for me and others in the church to share your love with people. Lord thank you for taking care of me and setting things up for the summer. I can't help but get excited when I think about what you could possibly have up your sleeve for this summer. I love you very much!
Amen.
Your Willing Servant, James.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Post-Spring Break
So I know it is long overdue, but here is my Post-Spring Break Blog.
Spring Break finished and it was awesome. Though I spent waaaay more money than I would have liked, it was great to hang out with some people from home that I had not hung out with in a while, and it would not have been the same had I not gone out to eat, gone to the beach, and gone out to eat again. It was soo great to experience friendships outside of Simpson and at Church. It was encouraging. The last night of Spring Break everybody came over to my house. The plan was to eat tacos and then watch Jurassic Park. Only a few people came over to eat tacos... and we never really watched Jurassic Park. Instead, we ended up going out to the pier out behind my house really late at night and hanging out there. There were soo many people too, and it was amazing.
Then Sunday came and it was time to go back to school. Matt and I weren't supposed to leave until late because we were picking up Sarah at the Sac Airport at like 11. Her flight from Pennsylvania ended up getting pushed later and later, and she ended up missing classes monday. So matt and I left around 8 or 9 I think.
We then had a week of school. That week of school was not hard. We had our Spring Formal. It was soo much fun. I attended with a large group of friends. Me, Jeff, Eric, Hannah, Aubrey, Danae, Eleanor, Stephanie, Natalie, Hillary, and Caleb. We all had soo much fun. I'm so glad I went. There was a part where they taught us how to swing dance, and that was pretty cool and not too hard. I ended up dancing a lot with Aubrey during the swing dancing thing, and she did well. I also must express that all of the girls looked very beatiful! Honestly. They were amazing! AAAND... It's soo fun to get dressed up.
Then came this past week. All day Sunday I was in the library writing a 7 page, 7500 word paper on the conflicts in cross-cultural terms in the movie Fools Rush In. The rest of the week was a sinch, and now I'm at home for Easter weekend. It's kinda nice because we have four days (FRI-MON).
In other news, I'm really excited about this summer and next school year. This summer I am set to do an internship with my Youth Pastor, Dewbe Wright. He's really awesome and I have been getting this feeling, from God presumably, that He is going to be doing some great things this summer in the East Bay, which is probably why I am soo excited. I'm not the only who has been getting this feeling. I am also stoked about next year as an RA, and it being my senior year and all, but I am soo pleased at most, if not all, of the people that Residence Life has hired as leaders for next year. I really wish my friend Jeff had been chosen because he is really great; I hope he applies again next year.
Lord,
I thank You for who You are. I am soo excited about this upcoming summer and next year. As I serve You, I pray that You would teach me what it means to serve You, as well as continue to develop me and my character into the man, and future youth pastor, that You want me to be. Lord I pray that You would bless us all with Your love this summer and that You would continue to be magnificent in our lives. I ask that You would continue to reveal Yourself to us.
Amen.
Spring Break finished and it was awesome. Though I spent waaaay more money than I would have liked, it was great to hang out with some people from home that I had not hung out with in a while, and it would not have been the same had I not gone out to eat, gone to the beach, and gone out to eat again. It was soo great to experience friendships outside of Simpson and at Church. It was encouraging. The last night of Spring Break everybody came over to my house. The plan was to eat tacos and then watch Jurassic Park. Only a few people came over to eat tacos... and we never really watched Jurassic Park. Instead, we ended up going out to the pier out behind my house really late at night and hanging out there. There were soo many people too, and it was amazing.
Then Sunday came and it was time to go back to school. Matt and I weren't supposed to leave until late because we were picking up Sarah at the Sac Airport at like 11. Her flight from Pennsylvania ended up getting pushed later and later, and she ended up missing classes monday. So matt and I left around 8 or 9 I think.
We then had a week of school. That week of school was not hard. We had our Spring Formal. It was soo much fun. I attended with a large group of friends. Me, Jeff, Eric, Hannah, Aubrey, Danae, Eleanor, Stephanie, Natalie, Hillary, and Caleb. We all had soo much fun. I'm so glad I went. There was a part where they taught us how to swing dance, and that was pretty cool and not too hard. I ended up dancing a lot with Aubrey during the swing dancing thing, and she did well. I also must express that all of the girls looked very beatiful! Honestly. They were amazing! AAAND... It's soo fun to get dressed up.
Then came this past week. All day Sunday I was in the library writing a 7 page, 7500 word paper on the conflicts in cross-cultural terms in the movie Fools Rush In. The rest of the week was a sinch, and now I'm at home for Easter weekend. It's kinda nice because we have four days (FRI-MON).
In other news, I'm really excited about this summer and next school year. This summer I am set to do an internship with my Youth Pastor, Dewbe Wright. He's really awesome and I have been getting this feeling, from God presumably, that He is going to be doing some great things this summer in the East Bay, which is probably why I am soo excited. I'm not the only who has been getting this feeling. I am also stoked about next year as an RA, and it being my senior year and all, but I am soo pleased at most, if not all, of the people that Residence Life has hired as leaders for next year. I really wish my friend Jeff had been chosen because he is really great; I hope he applies again next year.
Lord,
I thank You for who You are. I am soo excited about this upcoming summer and next year. As I serve You, I pray that You would teach me what it means to serve You, as well as continue to develop me and my character into the man, and future youth pastor, that You want me to be. Lord I pray that You would bless us all with Your love this summer and that You would continue to be magnificent in our lives. I ask that You would continue to reveal Yourself to us.
Amen.
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