Pieces of You

There's a crazy talented writer the goes by name of Tablo. He's Korean, lived in B.C., Canada for a while when he was younger and graduated from Stanford University when with a Bachelor's and Master's in English Literature and Creative Writing. This 229 page book is filled with short stories he wrote as an undergrad there. Now he lives in Korea and is part of a band called Epik High where he helps write their lyrics. If you're interested in writing, and awesome writing you can check out some of the links below.

If you're interested in his book "Pieces of You" you can find it at the link below. It's off an Asia based website but don't worry, it's trusted by EVERYONE! I've even used it and it's a very good website. All the prices are worked out in US DOLLARS so if you come from any other country you can change your preference at the bottom of the page. This only tells you the conversion rate so you can figure out the actual price yourself but the price will still show up in US dollars.

~Epik High MySpace
~Epik High Homepage
~Buy Pieces of You

Cyndere's Midnight

Ever since I've lost my jump drive back in December, I've gotten really discouraged to keep finding quotes in my books again. I've decided to start back up again starting with the last book I finished: Cyndere's Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet. There were 3 that really stuck with me. Like I mentioned in my blog Midnight Reviews, they are my "And do the lion fell in the with the lamb...". BTW: If you are a Twilight fan, I just found this cool site called Twilight Quotes where you can search quotes from book and character. EVERYTHING is there, even if you wouldn't consider it important. I though it was pretty cool. Even if you aren't a Twilight fan, it's always good for inspiration. I've read all the book and that is one thing they're good for. Stephanie Meyer is an incredibly gifted author. So...without further ado...

"Distance is an illusion."
~Cyndere (pg.342)

"...I have two hands. I can take hold of this with my left hand. With my right hand, I can hold this. But my heart -- I have one heart. Your heart can only hold one thing...Your heart has one hand."
~Cyndere (pg. 169-170)

"Such distractions helped him endure the lsating ache of his thirst for Essence. And he was certain that the ache was slackening, that its grip on him was falling."
~Jordam (pg. 362)

The Secret of Agendas

School agendas are AMAZING for inspiration from all your favorite stars, celebrities and historical figures. I have soooo many quotes and tips from it that I will be posting as soon as I get a minute. They cover sooooo many different themes it's crazy! So look forward to it!

I also found a good gift idea. Last Saturday was my friend's birthday party and my friend gave her a box filled with small folded pieces of paper. Each of these papers had quotes and nice things written on them; there must have been about a hundred papers in that box. It would be kind of nice to pull out a piece of inspiration every morning wouldn't it???

One Touch

So I hope you're comfy cause this is going to be a long series of notes. I think how I'm going to do them is, for each message I'll make a different post, starting with the last one so that you can read them in order.
Our speaker this year was the new senior pastor at Kingsview Community Church, Pastor Jeff Johnston. He's an extremely blessed man and has helped do so much in so many lives this year at Freestyle '09 (our youth retreat). I would like to thank him for his stories, illustrations and messages over this weekend. He really spoke into my life.
What happened at our retreat, I don't know if it's the way you do yours, but we had 2 services each day except on Friday, we had only one. So that means I've got 5 messages to share with you (plus one more) and hopefully my notes will illustrate what Pastor Jeff wanted to get across. As for the bible verses he used, I won't be typing them out. I'll just say where it's from and you can go and look it up later. If that's not how you roll then you can have your bible with you or open another window and go to Bible Gateway where you can find the verses in pretty much every version of the bible there is.

At youth the day before we left to go to Bancroft (location of retreat), our youth pastor gave kind of an into message to the weekend. I'm going to post this here then start the individual posts.And just a little note on my note-taking style, I write sentences in point form so this won't be big paragraphs in case you're wondering.

One Touch
2 Samuel 22:32-46
1 Chronicles 16:21-23

~Sometimes we take credit for God's work.
-It wasn't us, it was God
~NEVER put your fingerprint on God's touch
~One touch from God makes a world of difference to all of us
~God's waiting to touch and mold us
~The fire bells in our sanctuary looks so out of place. They're red and everything else is bland compared to it. It looks like they shouldn't be there, like they don't matter. But, one fire breaks out and it instantly becomes the most important thing in the building; it could save everyone and everything.
-The devil tries to convince us that the fire alarm (us) isn't important and that we should conform to what's around us, we shouldn't stick out.
~We should brag about how much God loves us, not how much we love Him
-People (non-believers) will be able to relate much more easily to that than us living in God's presence
~There's no height or low to reach the limit of His love. You can only walk through it
~As human beings, we need to touch, be touched, and feel love
~Everyone can receive something from God if we want it, all we need is desire

Uncensored

***To get that One Touch from God you have to live a life uncensored in Him. That is what the next 4 messages will be about.***

Uncensored
Proverbs 24:16 1 Corinthians 4:20

:. Uncensored means no limits
:. We live in a society that is image driven and so much of it is based on words
:. It's time that God's people live an uncensored life in God, not a life of words
:. A lot of Christians live a censored life in God
ex. Adam and Eve covered up because they didn't want others to see the reality they live in
:. Don't cover up, take the uncensored road through life
:. Admit to your faults and problems

High Places
2 Kings 23

~They're an altar of worship to false Gods
:. Jaraboam built high places and lead Israel away form God
:. There are Jaraboams in our lives that try to teat down God in our lives, that try to convince us to go against the word of God, telling us that He won't get mad
:. High places aren't necessarily sins or our fault ex. anorexia, cutting, surgery
~They're the result of the sinning of others. The result of them hurting us
:. You read of people who have good intentions but it's time for us to go beyond that realm
:. It's time to teat those high places DOWN
~We've lived with it long enough
:. For most of us, there's this vice, this cycle of sin
~We fall into loneliness, compromise, hatred, brokenness, insecurity etc. These are our high places
:.God hasn't called you to fail and is offended by that high places in your life
:. He wants to partner with you to tear is down for good
:. To get right and serious with God, you need to get your high place out of the way
:. We feel we can't face and conquer our high places because we feel we don't have the authority or strength
:. We need to break out of the mind-set of being bossed around all the time and realize that because we have God in out life He gives us that authority and that strength to tear it down
:.He chose to be our eternal lamb so we didn't have to kill another animal or shed anymore blood for our sins

Living an Uncensored Love

Living an Uncensored Love
John 5

* Life is full of shameful, humiliating moments that attack your self confidence
ex. Lady singing National Anthem
* Once it happens a lot, the devil uses it as a foothold
* You need an uncensored love. It's unconditional and doesn't rely on appearances or actions or material items
* Moments of shame are horrible because we feel disgrace and it minimizes your sense of security; we feel exposed
* People wear the shame that's put on them from the phrase "shame on you"
~they wear it like a shirt
* The shame on you can come from different aspects
~social status, financial situation etc.
* That's how the devil gets you where he wants you
* John 5 = invalid not invalid (sickly person)
* With one touch, God can take away your shame and make you valid
* To live under shame is to be unworthy, to be worthy of guilt
* Shame can come into your life from violation, by you or someone else
* "My sin is ever before me"
-King David
* 70% of people in mental hospitals could be released if they just found a way to walk in forgiveness
* Zechariah 3
* Satin is the accuser of God's people
* God, Jesus Christ, is our defense attorney, our advocate
* It doesn't mean that what we did was right but he's always willing to give us another chance
* He gives you new garments that represent a new mindset and takes the shame and violation away
*Ephesians 3:17-18
*When you're rooted and established in a love based on someone else's love, eventually you'll be disappointed
*You have to be rooted and established in His love first because His love is unconditional and uncensored. He will never let you down
* It NEVER goes away
*Absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God

Uncensored Lift

Uncensored Lift

~It's time to go to higher places in God
~God will move in you, but only if you want Him to. You have to desire it
~Speaking in tongues is just physical evidence of God's spirit in your life (don't worry, not everyone can do this)
-What's most important is that you are actually filled with His spirit and want His unconditional love
~There's an aggressive part of us that comes out when we're pushed to the edge
- God's fiery and zealous and we have that inside of us too if we just push past that aggressive nature
~In a culture of continuous high speeds, God wants to be chased and desired
~He wants us to slow down and seek Him on a regular basis and wholeheartedly
~You have to persevere and press in
-Something happens when you don't give up on Him
~The uncensored moments with God are sometimes the most special and important
~So many people lose God and His power in their lives and never try to find it again because they're so busy with other things
~This world is full of great starters but not many great finishers because they're faced with opposition
~When something goes wrong, not the way we want it to, we give up on it but we have to let God change our minds and hearts so that we may try again, have a change of heart
~To run after God, you have to disrobe yourself before Him because "looking the part" doesn't matter
ex. King David bringing back the Arc of the Covenant
-It all comes down to the presence