"Why would God call someone into the secular music industry?" 

I was asked this question this weekend and it REALLY got me thinking....

I believe there shouldn't even BE a secular industry, first off.
We are supposed to be doing God's work. 
Why have we let the devil take over every single industry? 
Every single school? 
Every single city? 
Why have we let crooked men and women lead the way for our nation? 
Our generation? 

Our "idols" are crooked politicians, drugged up celebrities, unhealthy models and 
people who sleep around. 

No wonder we're screwed up.  


But as for the question "Why would God call someone into the secular music industry?" , i answer with a few more questions. 

If we can't be "in and not of" the world, saving the world from the inside out, why are we even here? 
Why did Jesus tell us to go into ALL the world? 
Christian ministries and the Christian music industries are not the ones that need our help. 
If we spend our lives singing solely in the Christian industry how are we supposed to reach the ones that really need our help?
You can sing a song about Jesus on a secular station.
It doesn't have to have the word Jesus in it to be about God. 
You don't have to say Jesus' name to stir people to SEARCH for him.
Sure, it's hard, and many will fail. 
But Jesus still calls us. 
He called Judas knowing well in advance that we would betray him. 
He calls us to do OBEY.
He never intended for us to sit on our asses in our little Christian circles and not BRANCH OUT. 
Jesus hung out with those who NEEDED him. 
He came to save us ALL. 
He CALLED us to branch out.  
If all we ever do is stay in our little Christian circles, our little Christian industries, we're not going to get ANYTHING done. 
We're not going to save ANYONE. 
We will have FAILED our Mark 16:15 duty.
Go into ALL the world. 

Never ask "How do they make me feel?"
Because feelings change.
Instead, ask "In what ways do they make me better and complete me?"
Because love isn't feelings. It's two halves becoming a whole.

Please be careful

I want to spend long days on the beach. 

I want to blast the music with the windows down on a nice long drive. 

I want to continue to stink at longboarding.

I want to plant a garden. 

I want to go outside without wearing six layers.

I want to go barefoot. 

I want to get out my bike. 

I want to see green EVERYWHERE.

I want colourful flowers to bloom. 

I want to take long walks without freezing.

I want hot sunshine and a cool breeze. 

I want picnics and theme parks. 

I want day trips and laughter.
I want to get a tan.

I want to open all the windows.

I want everything to smell fresh.

I want to live in my Toms.

I want to swim and sit in the sand. 

I just want spring and summer to hurry up.

So back in the summer, i was at a friends house.

The brother was still at work and wouldn't be home until dinner, but since he was working in town, we thought we'd pop in for five seconds to say hello before heading off to the park.

At the place where he was working, the family had a dog.

I didn't even see it at first. In fact, i didn't see it until we had said hello and were leaving and i can't recall the breed.

I think it was a border collie, or something fluffy like that. 

The dog didn't bark when we walked by.

It didn't move a single muscle except for a twitch of it's tail and a slight tipping of it's head.

I wondered why, behind it's flimsy little baby gate, it didn't seem all that excited that strangers had come.

At first i wondered if it was just a very well trained dog... until i saw the diaper.

My heart hurt for the dog and for his family. It was old and frail, it would soon have to be put down.

Later that night after dinner, a bunch of us sat downstairs and the subject came up again.

"I feel so bad, they should just put the poor thing down." i said.

The brother that had been working at the house looked at me and said "well you wouldn't put an old woman down if she was sick"*

I recall saying that dogs are different than people and that's pretty much where the conversation ended.

I don't know what brought the story back to my mind today, (I believe it was a friends tweet about the philosophy of putting a suffering ant out of it's misery) but i started to think about it.

Does he think i'm cruel for putting my own dog down when she had a stroke?

Had he been there that day and seen that she couldn't even stand on her own, and could hardly keep her eyes open, would he have said "don't do it" ?

Yes, i consider animals and humans very similar and was glad to know that he wouldn't just take a dogs life with no remorse or while saying "it's just an animal"

But at the same time, i think it's selfish and cruel to keep an animal, hurting that much and that old, alive.

They don't have a soul. They can't comprehend what is wrong or why they hurt. They can't tell you when something hurts.

If it can be fixed- fix it. Don't take a life unnecessarily.

But when the bad days outnumber the good and there's not a thing that can be changed- do what you have to.

 It's unpleasent. It takes a part of your heart. The hurt stays for ages and maybe you'll have regrets, but keeping them alive at that point is cruel. It is SELFISH.

 They've lived a good long life and their time has come.

Yes, the circumstances will always be different.

You may wonder if you're doing the right thing.

A bout with samonella was the cause of the problem with my dog.

She was 10 years old.

Old by some standards, but still had the energy of a six month old puppy.

It was not her time.

But circumstances changed and she was taken away.

To keep her alive would have been cruel, and solely for the sake of MY heart.

I've always thought of dogs almost as little people.

You have to care for them and give them love just like you would a child.

But in this way- our pets and ourselves are different.

*paraphrased of course, seeing as it happened some months back

"I love when you become so close with someone that you can see parts of each other in one another and you begin to say the same things and steal lines from one another and have a similar sense of humor and can exchange an inside joke with just a glance you don’t even have to talk because you have such a strong connection with them and you can sit in comfortable silence but also talk for hours it’s really hard to find that kind of compatibility."  - unknown

“The Child Who Was Never Born”

sculptor: Martin Hudáčeka

location: Slovakia

Some people just ACT like they are trying to help you.

""I love it when people are affectionate with me. I like when they always invite me places, or text me, or call me, I wouldn’t even mind if they blew up my fb wall with hearts and what not. I would rather have that person than someone who makes me text them first all the time and replies back like 10 hours later.""   - unknown 

Lilacs are my favourite.

<3

*internally screaming*