I don't really like to sit in the window seat all that much. The feeling of being enclosed and not free to roam or walk to the bathroom without having to ask someone to get up is just sometimes more than I can bare. So where do I begin? A couple weeks ago, 5 other guys and I went to disney world to play in a 3 on 3 national tournament. Well... we went on a plane and i ended up sitting in the window seat on both the way there and the way back. On the way there, our flight was at 6:30 in the morning so you can probably guess that not too much deep thinking went on there. On the way back however, I had to work on a government paper. We had to write a bill and while I was working on it, I was listening to music on my sisters laptop. I was listening to the song I don't want to be by Gavin Degraw and the chorus says I don't wanna be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately. So i was sitting in the back of an airplane listening to this song when I had one of those crazy revalations. I started thinking and I turned the words in that song around. I changed to chorus and applied it to my life by saying. I dont wanna be anything that I've been trying to be lately. Chapy and I did our first podcast for the first finding God on Your ipod series and as he pointed out, I pretty much the entire idea of the song around but it just goes to show you that God can reveal Himself in so many different ways. Revalations don't have to come from "Christian" music or from "Church". God is so much greater than any of our everyday settings.
by Jake Augeri
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33 comments:
yeah man i like what you said!
DeGraw really nails it in this song. So many of us change to fit certain niches in our schools and unfortunatly even our churches. If we just be ourselves then what could go wrong?
Good luck getting that ipod!
Travis Hammill
Jake this is awesome and so true that God can reveal himself in so many different ways and not only through "churchy" things. I think often times we dont see God in our every day lives, and we put him in a whole other catergory. This is an awesome piece and I hope you win! :)
Nicki
what happeneds is that the people of today, including Christians, tend to get caught up in things in which we shouldn't. Like how dress, how to look, or does that person like me. Society basically feeds us information telling us how to look or what to wear. And being human, we tend to get side tracked and focus on the less important things. Being a hardcore Christian will never be normal but people try to make it seem that way so they don't look different in front of anyone else. Honestly i want to be abnormal for God. I want to be looked at as different for who i am. Because being different makes a statement, which is what we as Christians should be doing. I want to be different and abnormal for God. And that is what i got out of that Jake my man.
Tum Tum
Totally agree with you, Bup. I'm convinced that God is involved just as much in the secular world as He is in His own family. I mean, if we look around at the world - mountains, oceans, the moon, the stars, the sky, music, sports, art etc. - there is just so much beauty in it all. And He can take anything, no matter how distorted or perverted and turn it into something good - something that He can use to show His love for us. Love moments like that! Keep looking for them, listening for them, and I just know He'll blow you away with so much more =)
"....God can reveal Himself in so many different ways. Revalations don't have to come from "Christian" music or from "Church". God is so much greater than any of our everyday settings."
thats pretty awesome. i've kind of been experiencing that lately, through circumstances and happenings and its amazing. i love how God doesn't limit himself by revealing his will and glory only through christian related things but through anything and to anyone whos looking. right on, jakers.
To be completely honest when I heard about finding God on your iPod I was thinking that I'd just find a Christain song on my iPod and write about it. Nothing too heavy. Just basically say what they say in the song. Now reading your post Jake was really enlightening. You dont have to have music classified as Christain to get a message from God out of it. It doesnt matter if He speaks to you through rap or country, whatever. You can interpret the lyrics in your own way. It's awesome the way God sneaks up on you and then hits you with revalations. Some of my favorite times. Awesome job Jake! Hope you get it.
Hello, this is "Jeffimus", Amy's friend. I'm not sure if I believe in God, but I think it's great that you're so impacted by Him. To have complete faith in something is a quality that I can respect.
JJAKKEEEHHH,
I'd like to say that your writing has come a long way since we were last in school together (although, i've always thought your writing was amazing). Great words of wisdom.
But what stuck out to me most was the layout of this site (wow, i'm a nerd). Have you ever heard of the site PostSecret? THE LAYOUTS ARE THE SAME!!! here, i'll link it
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/#115171061953478662
this site is amazing. i save my favorite ones.
anyway, after all of that i just want to say i support you. Jacob, you deserve the world... or if anything, that ipod
Love, Amy Nguyen
PS: apparently i have to make some account or something and i am NOT going to do that. i believe my mother might have one. i hope this doesn't send her spam emails or soemthing.
NEVERMIND. she doesn't have an account. THE THINGS I DO FOR YOU JACOB
Hey,I'm Ken. I am also one of Amy's friends commenting on this.
It's just astounding to me how many interrelationships a person can find about God, even in the most simplest of places. He leaves "road signs" everywhere for us to see. However,I must agree that we all get caught up with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and it distracts us from Him many times. Taking a few moments to ourselves to think back over the day's past events can put things back into perspective, and maybe even change the way we view different things.
Hey there, this is Amy's friend, Josh, or, "Ping"; nice to meet you.
I don't quite like the saying "God works in mysterious ways", because it's so cliché, but I do agree with it. You have an amazing idea and I hope you continue with it!
dude I can totally see where you're coming from. I listened to this song after I read this and I definitely see the connection now. I never would have thought of it like that before I read that.
this is Kelci, Amy's friend
at first I had no idea what connection was going to be made but at the end you just like summed it up and I was like "WOAH, I totally get that." hahahah
nice job man.
Jakester,
My recent experience of finding God on an iPod did not occur in the back of a plane, but I did have to take a plane to get there.
Last month I flew a long ways to see my family, and it was the first time I had seen my brother in a year and a half. We've always loved each other, but growing up it was that special sibling love, you know, the "let's see who can kill the other first" kind of love. One and a half years really erased the chalkboard for me though, and all I could think about was how to bridge the gap and maybe begin to connect in his life.
We hung out together some, but when I crammed into the car next to my brother for a family drive, something clicked. He had his iPod on hand, so for the next hour or so, as the scenery flashed by unnoticed, we sat like the two-headed monster from Sesame Street--joined at the iPod listening to his music. Not only did I find that we had more in common than I would have guessed, but I also learned a lot about him, about how he had changed, and about his thoughts on life as he sees it.
Where is God in this never-ending story you ask? All over it! God used an iPod to help me really connect with my brother for the first time in years...and finding my brother in his music felt like tapping into the heart of God in a whole new way.
I actually wrote a blog very similar to this topic a few weeks ago. I agree that you don't necessarily need to learn life lessons from a "Christian" source. If we limit ourselves to finding truth only in our Christian circles, we're missing out on so much that the world has to offer. Some of the most profound words that have ever been spoken have come from the mouths of atheists. Ayn Rand was one of the most brilliant people who has ever lived, and in her absolute hate of the institution of the soviet church, she found many of the truths of what real Christianity is supposed to be about.
We also must realize that we should guard our hearts against such things. Because, like Paul said, if anything differs from the Gospel that is written in God's Word, let that person who speaks it be condemned.
Good stuff.
John
what was your revelation? you only talked about what you did, and what the lyric was...how did it first affect you and how did you change afterwards? please email me back your response
mitchissaying@gmail.com
ahh jake you are so awesome!! This was really inspiring! I lovelove what you wrote. Keep up your amazingness and stay strong! :)
Amber Holmeees :D
Hey Jake!!!
Omgosh, I haven’t talked to you in forever! So first things first, your writing is AMAZING. And I know that feeling Jake, yeah ok, you probably remember me as the rebel and the "lets make the teachers mad" kid, but honestly I've changed. Hopefully Amy has clued you in on my life, but my religious aspect has changed dramatically and is continuing to. This writing is so true, about revelations happening all around us. I have that song on my ipod, and I agree with you on what you have to say about it. So anyways, great writing, and I hope your faith continues to grow in God! Hope you win that Ipod Jake!!! Hope to keep in touch! GOOD LUCK =]
--Adriana P.
Okay so post #2
I really like what tum tum said about being "abnormal" for God. So many people think that to be a Christian is to become uncool! i think that the "cool" thing to do is to stand up for God and show others his love! yeah it may be abnormal but nothing goes wrong when you got God on your side...
it doesn't get cooler than that!
God Bless!
Travis
Wow.
Did you know that when you rearrange the letters--
*slap!*
Agree-ness on this one. We try to conform to get what? Satisfaction for a few years, but only pain in the long run because we messed up? And those years aren't even a drop in the ocean compared to waht awaits us in the end.
Go get that iPod!
I really think this idea of "God on your ipod" is amazing. It is so true that God is not only in the church, but also in every aspect of our lifes. I am really looking forward to reading more.
God Bless!!
thats pretty cool
wow jake it is pretty amazing wat you do!!!!!!!!!!!
~Everz
So true! As Christians we are called to be IN the world but not OF the world. That being said, why wouldn't God use Christian things as well as secular things to grab our attention? He works in strange ways...His ways are not ours. That's what makes Him God!
yeah man!
this is post #3
Be IN not OF!
Get that ipod!
Travis
#2
iPod!!! Get!!! Now!!!
Too bad no Source tonight, I was kinda looking foward to someone chewing everyone out for being slackers and not putting up songs.
dang it...i just had this huge long insightful paragraph written...and i wasn't a user yet so when i signed up it deleted all of what i had written...maybe i'll write it again at like 3am when i have nothing better to do...hehehe =) "Great odens raven" and good day...i will speak with you shortly!!!
and #4
if found that sometimes the choice of the style of music that i listen to can affect my behavior.... even if the words are God centered...
Travis
Jake that is so true for me as well.
Passion... Good Topic...
i have had many conversations with adults who have helped in the youth ministry at BCC and something that i always hear about is how passionate the kids are during worship and in prayers... what if we could carry that passion into our schools? would our teachers notice? would our administrators notice? would our FRIENDS notice?
Jake... you need to write more... running out of ideas!
umm... i like what you said... yeah!
Travis
everytime I read this its as tho you are saying what I think! good job jakers
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