Day 273: God, the Solution

Sometimes in life, you find yourself in a situation where you can't really do anything to help yourself. You may think you have the answer, but in the end it only takes you to a place that's worse. I tend to find myself in situations like that a little too often. It makes me realize how much I have yet to grow in my walk with God. I know He has a plan for me, and I know His ways are higher than my ways; it's just that sometimes my ways can miss the mark and throw me WAY off. Fortunately, God's grace is sufficient to keep me going, especially when I mess up. He's been more than good to me, and I want to spend the next few weeks really diving in and seeking more of Him.

God bless,
Steven

Day 272: I Offer Devotion

In Your Freedom, by Hillsong Live:
I search for You God of strength
I bow to You in my brokenness
And no other King could have so humbly come
To save my soul and heal my heart

I have nothing more than all You offer me
There is nothing else that’s of worth to me

And I love You Lord
You rescued me
You are all that I want
You’re all that I need

I pray to You God of peace
I rest in You my cares released

I have nothing more than all You offer me
There is nothing else that’s of worth to me

And I love You Lord
You rescued me
You are all that I want
You’re all that I need

In Your freedom I will live
In Your freedom I will live
I offer devotion, I offer devotion

If there was ever one song that truly lifted my spirit in a hard place, it was this one.

God bless,
Steven

Day 271: Now or Never

This particular Tuesday was interesting. So we had chapel rehearsal, and it was fantastic; mainly because it was what the college calls a "Touching Heaven" chapel, where the primary focus is intimate worship and prayer. Also, the college changed the general call time to 7 (a half hour later than the normal, which is nice of them to do). I worked with TV just to get a better feel of being a leader there. After the rehearsal, I got some time to get ready for the day, eat breakfast, and study SLR cameras, which I have been doing for about 3 weeks now; I've been getting a lot of great input from TV leaders, college student photographers, test videos, reviews, and websites. I would really like to have a seriously good camera for the coming year, so I'm looking into my options. What I realize, especially with SLR cameras, is that at times the camera lenses can be twice as expensive as the camera itself (but I don't think I'll be needing a bunch of lenses right now, so I'll be fine.) Right now, I'm comparing the Nikon D3100 (priced around $700 with an included lens), and the Canon 550D (priced at $800). My conclusion is that they both seem to be very similar; it's all a matter of finding an opportunity to try them both and see which one I'm more comfortable with. Here in Australia, they are way more expensive, so it's either an American purchase or nothing. Moving on with my day, my Personal Evangelism class went well; after next week, Personal Evangelism will be over, and Spirit Filled Living with begin. Pretty excited about that one! The Touching Heaven chapel went great; I got to help put some powerpoint slides together for announcements, which was pretty fun. After that, I only had my musicianship/songwriting class left; 3 hours of playing music and having a blast doing it. It's by far my favorite class; I have such a good time being in a musical team environment. When that class was over, I came home to find my flatmates watching the second season of House (a hospital drama centered around a crazy doctor); now these guys got me hooked; honestly not too sure if that's a good or bad thing... I also got to spend some quality time with Donny over dinner; it's nice to have time where you can just share your thoughts with someone else. As I mentioned yesterday, I am dealing with a decision that I'm finding hard to make, but I took a risk and put it out there in front of the intended person. At this point, only God knows what will become of this choice. I can only pray that it will finish leaving me in one piece.

God bless,
Steven

Day 270: Crunch Time

I realized that I didn't write in my blog before I went to sleep; mainly because I was working on assessments. Thank God I finished them on time. Classes were great as usual, and I got some good advice over a situation I'm heavily praying over. I just hope it goes alright; pray for me.

God bless,
Steven

Day 269: Hearing God

Lately, there's been a lot of things happening around me concerning hearing the voice of God. This is something I've always wanted to develop and master; I've been looking forward to getting to that point in my relationship with God where I could hear Him loud and clear. Today, church seemed to be all about that; Sy Rogers spoke on living in obedience to God's ways, and Robert Fergusson spoke on spiritual guidance and hearing God. I don't find this to be coincidence; in fact I find this to be God at work in me. I've spent many years praying to God for all kinds of things, hoping that I would get a tangible response from Him; as I got older, it became more clear that God just doesn't work that way. God has no physical limitations like I do. God doesn't have a short attention span and lack of clarity like I do. He's God!! His ways are higher than my ways, and that's all that matters. I don't have to be worried about the future. I don't have to try and picture God speaking to me as if He was a physical person sitting next to me. I don't have to limit my view of Him to the extent that I do. Yet I do it anyway. I do it because I'm human; I can't help but worry, imagine, and try to find the answers I don't need. I don't need to know God's system of work; all I need to know is that He knows what He's doing. God is in control in my life, and no matter how many time I stumble along the way, He always has a place in His heart for me; a place that doesn't shrink or lose value every time I mess up. That whole thought convicts me every time; how can God have so much love for me that even when I screw up daily, His love doesn't change? How can I learn from my mistakes and trust Him more and more as I move forward? Why does this relationship have to be so hard to maintain? I ask these questions a lot, and I get the same answer a lot: "Because you're not seeking me hard enough." I feel like God tells me all the time to step it up, to take a stand for my beliefs and build my relationship with Him. The only obstacle? ME. In my spiritual life, I am my enemy; I am my ultimate flaw and weakness. My spirit may want to grow in my God relationship, but because of my humanity, I find it harder and harder the more I try. I don't stay consistent like I should. I don't pray enough in a day. I don't spend as much time with God as I most definitely should. I don't always live up to standards I set for myself a while back. Looking back at it all, I'm a very professional screwup; but regardless of my failures to stay faithful, God remains everything I can't be. He remains faithful, pure, patient, passionate, loyal, encouraging, comforting, trustworthy, and loving every single moment I am not. God is seriously the man. He's just awesome!
This is where you come in. I see myself in a place that's getting harder to survive in with every new day that comes. I see myself desiring so much to grow, but being too lazy to actually get up and make an effort. I see myself truly in need of a God encounter to get me on the straight path again. So all I ask of you, o respectable reader, is for your prayers. I need prayer to get back on track, no matter what it may cost of my flesh. I want God to help me overcome my darkness; this is just one of those things I can't do on my own.

God bless,
Steven

Day 268: Stepping Up To the Tower

So today was absolutely fantastic! Street Teams, like most Saturday mornings, are really what set my Saturday up for a win. So one of the leaders for the Lawson tower (where I serve weekly), Leanne, is on a rest period from Street Teams; frankly she deserved a break because she's such a hard worker. So while she is getting time off, Mel chose me to take Leanne's place in the meantime. As of now, I have led a team twice, and I can proudly say that it was loads of fun. It was another morning of Russian connections, and we did quite a bit of cleaning. I didn't really have much else planned today, so it was a bit unclear at first. However, the rest of my day was hanging out with Josh and having some bonding time over a well placed game of Star Wars Battlefront II (it's good to just sit back and fellowship with these guys when I can; they're almost always doing stuff, so we don't hang out as much) and hanging out with great friends and watching Ridley Scott's version of Robin Hood starring everyone's favorite gladiator, Russell Crowe. I have to admit, I didn't think too much of this movie before, but I will say it was a rather impressive movie. Especially since I'm becoming a film buff, I took notice to how the movie was filmed; I give the movie a full 10 solely based on the cinematography. I just love seeing creative geniuses like Ridley Scott showing these amazing battle scenes in great angles and alternate perspectives. I'm kinda thinking about doing this whole movie cinematography studying a little more often..

God bless,
Steven

Day 267: The Entertainment, That's Me

Today:
A wonderful 6:30 call time; chapel rehearsal was quite the eventful time, because the worship team had to practice without their ear inputs (which lets them hear everyone else in the band). Fortunately it didn't stop us, and we had a great time preparing for chapel later on.
I seriously love Tracey Barrell's Christian Doctrine class; you've heard me say it before, but I just can't stop expressing my love for this class! It's just SO good! We talked about Jesus' humanity and deity, which is an awesome subject if I may add.
Chapel was awesome too; it was around 20 minutes shorter than usual, because our college's vice president extended the prayer for all kinds of needs in the college. It was a powerful, spirit filled time, and we all left inspired to press onward.
After that, it was my songwriting lecture, where we discussed how to deal with the disappointments of songwriting. The whole subject gave us tips on how to deal with the pressures of writing a song, including criticism, doubt, and other irritations; very informative and helpful.
a few hours later, and I was back in church to help with the Wildlife TV crew; unfortunately due to complications with camera 2 (that began just before the Healing Seminar), we can't use that camera anymore until the church figures it out. So instead of that, I did some directing training and brought some energetic atmosphere to the evening. It was a lot of fun, and I hope to continue doing that. A little while back I was dealing with fears of getting exhausted, but now I feel refreshed and have a different mindset about it all. So it's all good now!

God bless,
Steven

Day 266: "What are you thinking, Sy?"

Since today was the last day of the Healing Seminar, Sisterhood was cancelled. For most people, this would be a cause for celebration because of the chance to sleep in a little bit more; however, I still had to come to college early for a chapel meeting (which went well, thanks to the planning of our Touching Heaven chapel coming up soon). Right after that was my New Testament class (moved to the morning so that we could get enough rest for the seminar). Duncan absolutely rocked this morning; we discussed and workshopped how to read the New Testament letters in their context; he said it could possibly change the way we read our Bible, and it sure did that for me. After that, I had some down time before I met up with some friends to work on assessments. I can proudly say I finished one of the many assessments coming up, so that's one less for me to worry about! I couldn't stay too long afterwards because I had to meet up with my friend Patrick, who's one of the head panchos of the TV crew. Since the current college TV leaders (Logan and Vanessa) picked my flatmate Josh and I to take their place as they are leaving after this semester, Patrick will meeting with us every two weeks to keep us updated on what we'll be doing and what kind of training we'll need to take these roles full on. I'm excited to see what comes of all this; it's awesome how God works completely against your own plans sometimes. I never would have seen myself as a future leader of a TV team, let alone one from Hillsong's college. after that meeting, I headed back to church to rehearse for Healing Seminar, since I was operating cameras again. This time went so much better, because I knew the kind of shots my director was looking for. Sy Rogers apparently gave an epic message, seeing how much the congregation was so engaged the whole time; I just got the DVDs (for free, of course), so I'll be hearing the message sometime soon. Good day, good experience, greater God.

God bless,
Steven

Day 265: Brighter

today was great. I woke up a bit later than usual, which was awesome; I enjoy the days I get to sleep in. Around noon, I talked with my parents and sister (not to mention I got to hear my dogs barking in the background; I'm sure that's them telling me they're alright haha). We caught up on a lot of things that really encouraged me; I felt so at peace by the time the talk was over. after that, I went over to my friend Celeste's place and watched I Love You, Man; I gotta admit, the more I see that movie, the more I end up enjoying it. After watching the movie, I went with her and Donny (who was also present for the movie) to have dinner before I had to go to church. Tonight I helped with camera operating, which turned out to be so much fun. It was the start of the Healing Seminar, which is an event that's made just for the church. Tonight's message was given by Dr. Robi Sonderegger, who spoke on emotional healing. Unfortunately, because I was helping with cameras (I used TWO tonight!), I didn't get to hear the majority of the message; however, I will be getting a free copy of it so I don't get left out. So it's all good.

God bless,
Steven

Day 264: Energized

Today was my renewal of energy. Turns out all I needed was some chapel. Today went much better than the past couple, mainly because I got to hang out with my band and work on our worship songs. If anything, God uses music to heal me; I like that. There's been a lot on my mind lately, and it's good for me to just relax that way. I'm thankful that regardless of my circumstances, He remains faithful and comforting. I've really been praying over people back home. There's so much going on, and I feel helpless since I'm all the way over here. I hear about the death of a friend, connections of others, family matter, etc; all kinds of stuff is happening, and I feel like I'm missing out on it. I know why God sent me here; I just haven't figured it out on my own terms. I have so many questions, and I know where to find the answers. What's stopping me? ME. I'm the obstacle, thanks to laziness, insecurity, weakness, lack of focus sometimes, and laziness. I'll be honest with you, I'm struggling a bit; this college is taking a lot out of me, and I feel like I've been trying to run on the wrong fuel for a while. Don't get me wrong, God speaks to me everyday; I on the other hand don't necessarily speak enough to Him. Sure, I might pray in the morning and read a chapter or three every day, but I know it's not enough. My teachers referenced a quote saying "I can't read the Bible for an hour, but I can't go an hour without reading the Bible." Man, that convicted me like no other! I look at my life, where I stand. I see myself, looking upwards to Him and what He has planned for me. Then I look down, to see myself stuck to a platform by chains called "my past mistakes" and "lack of enough faith." I know what I need; better yet, I have access to it almost all times. I simply choose not to take advantage of it. It annoys me how I haven't fully embraced what this college can do for me. I've been here more than seven months; I've learned so much, but I haven't put much of what I've learned into practice. I know what I'm doing wrong. I know I need to stand up for myself and say enough is enough. I know I need to take this journey seriously and not as an extended vacation from drama. Please keep me in prayer, friends. I need more than myself to get through this one.

God bless,
Steven

Day 263: Thinking..

Can't process my thoughts today either; sorry about this. Hopefully I can get this blog up to speed soon. It was a good day overall; my classes were great, and I got to rest some more. Thanks be to God for being as loving as He is.

God bless,
Steven

Day 262: Stuck to a Television

So today wasn't really about tv (I just felt like being random), but it was a good day. I chose today to be my Sabbath; just resting from life, not wanting to feel burnt out. It was just one of those days where I needed to get away from stuff; I've had too much on my mind lately. In terms of this here blog, I don't want to go into details, but all I ask from you is prayer. There's things in my life that need changing, rearranging, and growth; things of all size, shape, and form. I don't feel like writing much more today; I'm super tired at the moment. However, I got two things out of today: 1, God is just one really cool guy, and 2, I couldn't have gone through this day without Him.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. thanks to everyone that gave me and the guys great feedback from the mini series episode; it's much appreciated.

Day 261: Premiere

This Saturday was one of firsts and lasts. In the morning, it was Street Teams; I got to visit some old friends in the Lawson, as well as re-acquaint with others I haven't seen in a long time. What really made Street Teams significant was the fact that it was the last day for our friend Cornelius; this week he's returning to Germany to help his church out, and he sure will be missed. We got to have a lunch get-together for him at Yvonne's place; probably the best roast chicken rolls I've had in like.... a long time..
Afterwards it was an attempt to get my assessment done (didn't get very far today) and uploading the first episode of the mini series. There were a couple complications during the upload, and I had to try 3 times before it actually worked. However, it is done and waiting for you to check it out if you haven't already (it's on our Facebook page). Church tonight was great; Joel and Julia A'Bell gave an awesome message on commitment, specifically in relationships. After church I got some dinner and joined some of the guys downstairs as they were trying out the new Halo game; these guys are going to have many, many late nights thanks to this game. I will say, though, it is a very impressive game. Anyways, today was a good day; God pulls through without fail, and His love and mercy are more than enough for me.

God bless,
Steven

Day 260: Cosmic Love

Another college open day today; and it was quite the turnout. We had a lot of visitors that joined our classes and got to see what we as Hillsong International Leadership College are about. Tracy's Christian Doctrine class is by far one of my favorite classes of the semester; every new subject comes with a massive amount of knowledge and insight that just makes me excited. Today's class in particular really got to me though. She spoke on how claiming to be a Christ follower involves having a spirit of excellence around you in every part of your life. Then she asked a soul-piercing question: "When was the last time you sat down by yourself and read your Bible?" I really thought about, only to realize that it's been more than a few days since the last time I opened my life manual. I left that class really convicted, because I've been very busy these past few days, yet inconsiderate of my personal goal to seek God's ways in my life. It's amazing how lazy we can get sometimes when we're caught up in our own schedules; it opened my eyes to what I NEED to do to get back on track. This is my public confession and apology to God for making this mistake.
You know what's really cool though? God still cares about me, regardless of how lazy I can get. His love is something truly amazing; I couldn't ever repay Him for how much He's given to me. Even just thinking about it now has given me a revelation of His love; no wonder in the psalms, it says many times that "His love endures forever". I'm gonna try and make a schedule for Bible reading, because if I can manage to eat every day, I should be able to chow down on some spiritual food too, right?
Moving on, college chapel was epic this morning. It started with an incredible rendition of Florence + The Machine's Cosmic Love, sung by Lauren Koch. We had 8 drummers for this song: 1 on a full drum kit, and 7 on toms (let's just say it felt like an earthquake in the auditorium with how powerful the drums were.) I was helping TV with producing for the first time, and for the most part things went well; I just need more training. After chapel, I had a small break before my last class of the day; I just went home, left what I didn't need and took what I did need. I also visited the Post Office after the class to pick up a couple gifts I ordered a long time ago. I had time to make some dinner before serving with the TV crew of Wildlife, so I ate well and quick and headed over to church again. The weird thing was that I was getting a bit discouraged at the idea of burning out for serving a lot; but in the end, God came through and gave me the energy and passion to serve at my best. I left refreshed, and I hope I can continue to serve without reaching a burnout point.

God bless,
Steven

Day 259: Why So Not Serious?

Today was one of those days that despite a lot going through my head, it remained a good day. Sisterhood was a highlight; I just love working with these amazing people. They're all full on legends in my book! No matter what we do, we always have fun serving the church in a rarely noticed way. I've always loved the "silent servant" thing; like, I don't have to get attention or time in the spotlight for being a servant. I'm more than happy to just be able to give to the house and nothing else. Now, I'll admit, I found it very difficult to stay focused during my New Testament class today, but what I was able to process in my mind was great; gotta love Duncan's Biblical wisdom. I had a little break before the master classes (for which I was volunteered to help with, against my will. Just kidding.) and that was awesome. We had this guy named Steve Foxe talk with us about why the bass is so important to a band; I feel more empowered after the master class. When I got home, I shared dinner with Donny, chilled with my neighbors, and tried skinny jeans for the first time (let's just say, slim fit jeans are WAY better for me.) All I need to say is that I'm grateful for God's mercy, even though there's way too much of it over my life.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. By the way, Flat 223's mini series is well on it's way to launching. We made an official Facebook page, where people that become fans of the show can see all kinds of cool stuff. We have pictures from a mock up photo shoot, a 223 forum where we can chat about ideas for episodes, and soon we will be posting the episodes on the page. See for yourself:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/223-The-Series-Fanbase/101798706551370

Day 258: It's About Time, Guys!

This is all you need to know about today: The mini series is done. It's taken a while to make it happen, but what matters is that it's done. So, in the joy we have over finally getting this thing ready for release, we have made an official Facebook fan page to get the word spread out to our friends and family. As of right now, the page has been active for about two hours, and we already have 13 fans (as of the very moment I'm typing this). The momentum is back; now it's a matter of uploading it and letting the video do the rest of the work. I am so proud of how it's looking; I can only thank so many people for their contributions to making this possible. I know, it's weird that I'm treating it like I won an Emmy, BUT I'm just happy right now, so don't judge me =) so yeah, filming; it's awesome.

God bless,
Steven

Day 257: Didn't See That Coming..

Ever get really, really surprised from something you didn't think too much of? Well, that happened to me today. Today in my musicianship class, we decided on the songs we were gong to pick for our worship set which is happening in about 5 weeks. It just so happens that one of the songs picked was the song I wrote with Kristin; pretty stoked and surprised about that one. I guess it's because I wasn't expecting it to be chosen, but Mary saw potential in it, which is why she picked it. So what will be happening is that we will be workshopping the songs to get them ready to play for a worship set; I really like that we get to do this because it's helping us see the kind of songs we should try to write for a congregation. It really inspired me to see the potential I have in writing songs; I want to develop this more and more so I can get better. Other than that, classes, and LVN, it was a full day but a blessed one.

God bless,
Steven

Day 256: Video Challenge

So today was interesting. It started with my New Testament class with Andy instead of Ben; it was a great class where we talked about parables and a whole new perspective on it. It really opened my eyes to how we can read these parables. Normally I would have had my musicianship/songwriting tutorial around 12:30, but because of the master classes on Thursday, we didn't have that class today. Instead, we had to endure a larger break until our last class of the day (which I used to just rest from a packed Sunday). The Christian Doctrine/Personal Evangelism tutorial is one of my personal favorites of the week; we get so much input on what we're learning, and it empowers me to dig deeper. The rest of my day was more resting and hanging out with my flatmates; this is really a very generalized blog, but it was a very general day.
However, there was another part to mention. During my last class, the chapel creative team had a meeting for the open day coming up this Friday. My video team and I are tasked with making a video to go with the song they will be performing to start the whole thing off; fortunately, God has blessed me with some talented people to work alongside me to make this happen. We have a lot to film and edit this week, but Lord willing we will get it done on time. I have a vision for it; hopefully it can come together in the end.

God bless,
Steven

Day 255: The Longest Sunday

Sometimes you just know where your limit lies. In Hillsong terms, that can be from serving in one place or many, in one service or several. Today, I got to see just how much I can handle. I wasn't rostered to one service like I have been for the past several weeks; I was rostered to four. The first one was the 8 a.m., where I served with the choir. I love choir; it's another piece of home I get to experience every week, and it has the same atmosphere as it did in SFC. For one of the warm ups, we sang the Sister Act version of Oh Happy Day (I learned how to play it over the past week just for this morning; loved every moment of it too.) After that, I went back home with Donny to recover some rest before my next service. Donny went to sleep, and I just relaxed on the couch and had some breakfast. It soon came time to go back to church to be a FOH (Front of House/Production) assistant to Dan, one of the sound gurus of Hillsong church. Like every other time I've worked with production, I was on communications and had a decent time doing it; it even had it's funny moments. After that, I had a half hour break before I had to head back for a Street Teams creative meeting with Gary, Liz, and Charlie. We brainstormed over some possible ideas to make Street Teams more appealing to outside people, and for the most part, our ideas seem like we're heading in the right direction. Almost directly after that, I went to the TV studio to get ready to serve in the 5 and 7; I was supposed to work with camera 2, but for some reason I was never given, I ended up being assigned to camera 3 (which is the one responsible for following the worship leaders, MCs, and the key speaker. One of the awesome things of the evening services was getting to hear Christian's epic bass solo again as part of the X Factor, a random talent thing happening in the next few weeks of church. I wasn't going to miss it this time, so I got Donny to bring my camera so I could film it; I should be posting it soon... Anyways, the tricky part of the evening was the message. Scott "Sanga" Samways spoke in the evening, and if there's one person that the TV crew knows if difficult to follow on camera, it's Sanga. He's a very energetic speaker (and one of the best, if I may add), and therefore he was difficult to keep on the center of the screen; but I survived, and the night was a success. Looking back to it, I see how big of a capacity I have. God's blessed me with that; there wasn't one moment where I was stressed about anything. I just served and kept pressing forward. Mission accomplished.

God bless,
Steven

Day 254: Tragics and Rejoices

Today was a mixed day; there were many parts that made me extremely joyed, and others that made me cry inside.

Here's the good stuff:
Street Teams was absolutely epic. Thanks to one of our Russian students, we were able to connect with a couple people in a whole new way. This morning alone made my day.
I got to relax during the afternoon and catch up on some things.
Evening church was great, and I feel refreshed after the worship and message.

The not so good stuff:
I heard of the death of one of my former classmates, Jessica Morales, from the San Bruno fire; very unfortunate news.

Okay, so that was the only real not good thing that happened, but God is control; and that's all that matters.

God bless,
Steven

Day 253: Dreams Don't Matter

Ever since I was young, I've had many dreams of what I wanted for my future. Ones I specifically remember are being an inventor (that one didn't really work out at all), a really good sports player (kinda glad that one didn't happen..), a cartoonist (pretty much the only one that's stuck around), and a cool guitarist (still working on that one.) My imagination would run wild whenever I placed myself in"the future", doing what I wanted and getting a lot of respect for it. I'll admit, those moments come around every now and then (because that little kid inside me is still present at times), but I've learned quite a bit about dreams since then. Today was a reiteration of one of the most important lessons I've learned over the years: my dreams don't matter. I could imagine myself to be whatever I wanted; doesn't mean it's what I WILL be doing, right? My mom always wanted me to be a doctor, but frankly I couldn't put myself in a place like that; I mean sure, having a degree and wearing those white coats with that heartbeat checking thingy around my neck sounded like a cool thing, but I don't think that's what I've been called to do. Today, Andreas (one of the amazing guys that actually left today to be part of the creative team of Hillsong Stockholm in Sweden) gave a word of encouragement before chapel; he said that our dreams don't matter in the end. What matters is taking what's in our hands and seeing what God will do with it. I examine what I have, and this is it: instruments, computers, a video camera, and all kinds of other essentials. When I first came here, the last thing on my mind was being part of the things I've participated in (mainly production, TV, and kids). Now look at me. I'm being trained to not only master the areas of TV but also head the whole team next year. I'm working on video projects of various types for either ministries, other students, or for my personal entertainment. I'm serving all over church life, and not one of those areas (other than choir) involves music. I came to receive more on God's calling for my life and expand my knowledge on music, but instead I'm receiving tiny bits of God's calling and learning how to get artistically solid close-up shots of drums, guitars, and hands being raised during worship. It's interesting how your normal expectations of a new season can be completely blown out of the water, especially when God's at work. I don't know what's in store for me in the remainder of the semester, but one thing I know for sure: It's exactly what I need to do and where I need to be.
Don't let this little thought of mine make you think differently of your dreams; instead let it encourage you to make God a factor of your dreams. If that dream is something you feel God may have you use later on, then run with it. If not, work with what you do have, because we've seen how well that works out. Just think of David, Moses, Samson, and other persons of the Bible. All David had to kill Goliath was a sling and some rocks. All Moses had to stand before the pharaoh was a staff. All Samson had to kill hundreds of Philistines was the jawbone of a donkey. All the little boy had to give Jesus was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. All Mary had to give to Jesus was her finest perfume. Yet in all these situations, God proved Himself high above all; He used the resources in each of these people's hands to do incredible things that are still talked about today, despite them being more than 2,000 years before our time. Don't underestimate what you have; you may see God use it in ways you've never thought of before. I'll leave you to think about it; who know, maybe you'll get something out of it if you ask God for some clarity.

God bless,
Steven

Day 252: Dark Is the Way, Light Is A Place

By the grace of God Almighty, the new Anberlin album has been released. That alone made this week worth living so far. These men of God have definitely been blessed with songwriting and musicianship talent, and they continue to be an inspiration. But that's not the purpose of today's blog (although they get major props from me for their new album)

So today was jammed packed with awesome. Sisterhood simply rocked this morning; the creative team rearranged the stage again, and now there's room for cameras 1 and 2 to be on stage. I was supposed to do producer training again, but I ended up doing camera 2 because my friend Henrick wasn't comfortable enough to handle it. He did prove to be a great assistant though. After Sisterhood, I had the chapel meeting with all the leaders; we discussed ideas for the college open day coming up, and I'm going to be doing a couple videos for it. I'll admit, I'm pretty excited about it. The only downside to the meeting was that because of it I missed most of my New Testament Intro class (but one of my classmates explained what Duncan talked about, so it's all good). So the rest of my afternoon ended up being more relaxed than normal; that's more than fine with me haha. The time for Team Night soon came, and we worshipped and received a message from Sarah Morgan, who many people wouldn't know without her husband, Reuben Morgan. It was a nice way to end the evening (despite being asked by Donny to help pack down the auditorium). So all in all, this day was once again a blessing to be a part of. God, thanks for giving me such a good life to live; I owe it all to you.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. some more praise reports for you:
1. Donny and my other good friend Andrew are starting their new jobs at Toys R' Us on Tuesday
2. My flatmate Josh got his renewed Confirmation of Enrollment within the day of applying for it; so he can stay in the country for another year!
3. The mini series finally has a release date set that will be announced soon!

Day 251: Feeling Some Pressure

Today, being my day off, was great. I really just felt a lot of freedom in this day; I couldn't really explain, but it was just good. My morning was basically just relaxing (because relaxing is good) until I spoke with my parents on Skype. From what I heard, they are doing well, which makes me happy; hearing squeaky toys in the background gave me reassurance that the dogs are doing just as well. After that I got read before chatting with my friend Hannah, and after that conversation I had a homemade dinner before going to Powerhouse. Here's where it gets interesting: my leader, Valerie, told me a few days ago that she wasn't going to be able to come because of work. Since I am her understudy, she asked if I thought I could handle doing her job/responsibilities for the night; naturally, I felt some doubt in myself. However, I overcame that and successfully got the job done. It was a lot of running around, chasing people all over the church, and carrying a lot of radios, but in the end I think I did a decent job. I got a lot of help from other people, and that I'm grateful for. God is just so good; I got to think about it more than usual today, and I loved that. I can only hope I can be more consistent in my life with Him.

God bless,
Steven

Day 250: Parting Some Water

Today was another full day. It started at 6:30 with chapel rehearsal, which went awesome. I got to try out camera 4 this time, and even though I need some more practice with it, it went well. After a powerful Personal Evangelism class talking about how to talk the gospel, we had chapel, which was so good; we got to hear from the one and only Sanga, who I think is one of Hillsong's best speakers. After an hour break, I had my music workshops, where we were assessed on learning songs in an hour; I had so much fun figuring out bass lines without using song charts. The band just went all out today, and I think it showed. The best part of the day hands down was the chapel workshop; we got to learn one of the new songs and try them out as bands. Apparently, the workshop was epic, because I broke a nail in the process (I don't mean that in a feminine way at all.) It was... interesting. Tonight was nothing but connect group, which went great. It was awesome hanging out with some amazing guys, and I feel encouraged being in the presence of such strong men of God. This was one of those days where God was just at work, and I can't wait for tomorrow. Oh, and praise report: Donny has a job interview tomorrow morning. Pray that the interview goes well!

God bless,
Steven

Day 249: Still Waters

Back home, there's a place called Lake Merced; it's your average, everyday park environment surrounded by city life and ducks. I remember walking around the river with my family a few times, and despite the exhaustion I felt afterwards, I had a great time. For the past few weeks, I've been working on a song called Still Waters; it was for a song submission as part of my songwriting class. It was the second time I've ever co-written a song with someone (the first being with my friend Kazemi when we wrote a song about our last year at Competition in Santa Maria), and this time was WAAAAY more difficult. Probably because it was a worship song. If there's one thing I learned from this whole experience, it's that worship music can be the hardest stuff to write; especially if you want to avoid using recycled phrases and such. Fortunately, the song was successfully written and submitted, so I can finally take that burden off my shoulders. Despite a day full of classes with absolutely amazing teachers, the best part to me was having a devotional time. At Hungry Jack's. Accompanied by a couple chicken wraps, fries, and a drink (and all for just $4.95!!). I was reading some more from Isaiah, and I was reading chapters that spoke of God's redeeming of His people. That's the kind of thing that's been on my mind for some time now; I'm glad I read this part of Scripture today. I felt relieved after this day; you know how you have those days where you just get refreshed? Well, that was today for me.

God bless,
Steven

Day 248: Father's Day?

So September 5th is Australia's Father's Day. Quite the interesting twist from the American Father's Day I'm so used to. However, I can say I enjoyed it. Hillsong's advertisement for Father's Day was a mustache; therefore, I found it appropriate to wear a fake mustache for the day (you can see it's awesomeness on my Facebook profile). I served in the 12 p.m. service, which was awesome; the best part was seeing a rap video featuring some cool dads talking about their lives as fathers. Seriously epic. After an encouraging word from Brian Houston, the rest of the afternoon was composed of working on assessments. I finished and submitted 2, but I still have one more left to finish. My evening was hanging out with the guys, eating some amazing pizza and ice cream and then saying bye to a few of our good friends that are heading back home to Sweden. They sure will be missed, because they are such amazing people. It won't be the same without them. If there's one thing I really got out of today, it was a revelation of God's mercy. I was thinking about it a lot for the past two days, and it's just inconceivable how great it is. We couldn't exist without it, and that's what makes God's mercy far beyond what we could imagine. Think about it.

God bless,
Steven

Day 247: The Way Things Were

Have you ever been in a situation where you were taken away from a place you love, and when you get to come back you realize how special that place is to you? That was this morning. Street Teams has been dear to my heart ever since I started, and I absolutely love how it's a piece of home to me. Because of the video I was working on in the previous 3 weeks, I wasn't able to go to the Towers, but today was the day I got to return. Boy, was I happy about that! I got to return to the Lawson and visit a couple of my friends. The first one was Edmund, a Lebanese man who we actually found out is 80 years old and seemed more like he was in his sixties. The Australian aging process is so intriguing... We got to vacuum his place and chat with him. It was awesome. Our second visit was to Rina, a sweet Russian lady who I heard had a heart attack during my absence. Fortunately, she had an operation and had a pacemaker put inside, so she's feeling better now; I was still super worried when I received the news. All we did was clean her bathroom and talk about books; it was nice. When I really think about it, this is all that I needed to have a good day. God has a heart for these people, and I'm honored to be part of placing value on them.

God bless,
Steven

Day 246: Stepping Up To the Camera. Again.

My whole day revolved around cameras. How normal haha. This morning I was supposed to get training on being a producer (fancy name for running TV), but due to a lot of mix-ups during rehearsal I ended up not getting of that. After an amazing Christian Doctrine class on Creation, I was supposed to assist my team leader, Vanessa, with producing, but because of a missing director and another person getting nervous before trying out camera 1, she ended up directing and I ended up using camera 1. It was an awesome morning though!! After that, I had a small break before my last class of the day, which is my songwriting lecture. Today we had Nato, one of the guitarists, talk with us about rhyme and all the technical things behind a good rhyme. After THAT, I had another small break before my call time for camera operating for Friday Night Live (so September 5th is Australia's Father's Day; therefore on Sunday there won't be church in the evening. and since Sunday Night Live was supposed to end then, it was moved to tonight.) I got to use camera 2, and it was so much fun. I'm just glad the day is done; I could use some more sleep tonight.

God bless,
Steven

Day 245: What an apple

Today was great; it's amazing when you think on how God's mercy is so great. The only thing I wish I had more of was sleep, since I ended up working on the Misterhood video until 2 a.m. It was worth it, so I heard; I couldn't see it because I was running a camera for Sisterhood. It was different this time around because I had to work around some random bench with a mannequin that was set up in front of the drums... but other than that, it was loads of fun. After that, I went to a chapel meeting (which will now be weekly) where we gave updates on all the parts of college chapel; so far, things are going great. After the New Testament class with Duncan, I went back home and worked on the co-written worship song; it's fully written, and now all that's left is to record it. After that, there was a little bit of time before Team Night, and I will say that Team Night was awesome. The ultimate highlight was seeing Christian perform a bass solo; that totally made me look at the bass in a whole different light. There are times when a bass can be overlooked, but now I don't see how I could EVER overlook the bass! Christian is such a legend. Now I'm watching Law Abiding Citizen, which is a surprisingly good movie; loads of suspense. That's all for today.

God bless,
Steven

P.S. If you haven't seen the new line of iPods, I recommend checking it out. They are just too epic for words. I can proudly say it was worth waiting 2 years, because now the iPod Touch is WAY better than the ones before it. Now it's just a matter of saving up little by little..

Day 244: On the Couch

Today was full of plans. Most of those plans didn't go through as intended, but it was still a good day. I got to talk with my dad AND mom (which was AWESOME), and I got to go to the city with Donny to bug the manager of the store he wanted to work in (unfortunately, they already filled the position... he's not so happy about that). The only lame thing that happened was getting a call around 9 asking about the video for the men's group tomorrow morning. They forgot to remind me it was for THIS Thursday and not NEXT Thursday, so right now I'm frantically working on putting it together. Lord, help me...

God bless,
Steven

sorry for the small blog today, but I just really need to finish this vid!!