Well it's past 10:00 and since I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon, and is one of those night owls, sleep is pretty far off right now. I was originally going to post about our trip to VA. but God has laid an issue on my heart that I would love to share if you are willing to read.

Honestly, today was just one of those days for me. Those days where you're on edge, everything and everyone seems to upset you, God seems far away, and all you want to do is be by yourself, or just sleep, (which would explain my nap ;)). This evening as I was taking a walk, I passed by our SAAB and remembered that I had left my Bible in there the previous day so I thought I'd better grab it before Dad left the next day. So I went inside, grabbed the keys, and while I was getting my Bible I decided to turn on the radio to see if anything "good" was on, (i do this allot). After seeing that there was nothing I turned off the radio and flipped through my Bible and as I did so, I looked back on my day. Only then did I realize that I had acted in a sinful way toward my family and ultimately to God. Then came the "feeling sorry for yourself" stage, you know, the sorry questions like, "Why did God choose me to be His?" or "Why am I even here?". Ever had those? I started praying, and as I did I felt an urge to turn the radio back on to a station that I hardly ever listen to, 88.5 WBNH. This was one of those stations that Mom had always told me to listen to cause it has edifying music and not that "up-beat/teeny-bopper" stuff. Yeah, that stuff. As it came on, music wasn't playing. Instead, there was a speaker named James Macdonald who is the senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago. This wasn't the first time I had heard him, but I hadn't heard him in a while. His sermon was titled "Winning the war over Worldliness". "Hmmm", I thought, "this should be interesting." So I turned up the volume, and opened my bible to 1John, all the while hearing Mom's voice in the back of my head saying, "See? Told you.". Don't you just love Moms? ;) Here is the passage I read: "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." Pretty powerful words, huh? As I kept listening, Pastor Macdonald said something along these lines, "...the world is the enemy of Holiness. All the growth God wants to do in our lives gets attacked by the world. The cares of the world chokes what Scripture is." He went on to say that "Worldliness is the attitude that leads to the action of sin..." Then he gave us a list.

1. Money

2.Travel

3.Hobbies

4.Food/Fitness

5.Career

Can you guess what this list is of? Yep. It's a list of things the average person "loves". Loves so much that it becomes their one focus and for that they leave their First Love. This is worldliness, loving the things of the world more than Christ. (matt. 6:24) God gave us many things for us to enjoy, but not to love. Do you see the difference? Lets take food. God gave us food because that's what sustains us. And who isn't a fan of food?? But if we enjoy it too much it turns into something called gluttony, and it becomes more harm to us than good. Drinks are good too, but if you drink too much you'll become drunk. What about sleep? Who's a fan of sleep? I know I am! But too much=laziness. So do you see the difference?

The list of 5 things above is a great one, and one that we, as Christians, should think of. But I think I'm safe to say that neither of these has affected me as a Christian. But I guarantee that as time goes on, *at least* one of these will be! To be completely honest, I'd have to say that music is my big thing. And, yes, even though God has given us music to praise and glorify Him, the world has corrupted it into being something it was not meant to be. If you're a family member or a good friend of mine, you'll know I'm a huge fan of hip-hop and country music. Hip-hop is a great style of music, especially if you're using it to exercise, but sometimes you can be enjoying the beat so much that you start to not care about what the lyrics say or what the message of the song is (if there's even a message!). As time goes on, I've realized that the most fun, catchy tunes have been the ones with the worst lyrics, and I have to ask myself-does this glorify God? Then on the other hand, there is Country. There are many who don't care for this style, but lately I've found myself enjoying it more and more. I especially love the feeling of driving down the highway on a Summers day with the windows rolled down, and the Country music turned waaay up. You know the feeling-wind blowing your hair, sun shining in your eyes and you feel absolutely great. Its a great feeling, and I'm not saying it's a sinful feeling, but we must ask ourselves, why do I like this music? Is it JUST because it makes me feel good? Newsflash, if we JUST live life by our feelings, we're heading down the wrong path. So should I really be listening to the music of this world? Am I letting this conform me into a lukewarm Christian? Does this music affect me in a non-positive way? Does this music affect me as a Christian? I had to ask myself these tough questions and only then did I realized how the music and "beat" were affecting me. It distracted me, and when I would feel down I would immediately turn on songs of love or sadness in ones life when I should be turning to God's Word for comfort. For this reason, and with God's help I have decided to turn my ear toward the preaching of the Word instead of running to music...It'll be hard, but if you want to change, it'll take work, and that work will be hard. Now I'm not saying that if I'm at your house and you start playing Country music I'll scream bloody murder and run to the computer/radio and switch it off, or if I'm riding in the car with you and you turn on the most popular songs in America, I'm not going to get all mad and dramatically turn off the music. This is a conviction God has laid on my heart, and I think it'll help me as I try to be an authentic Christian and Glorify my Father in Heaven.

Now I'm not saying you have to do the same thing as I, but I do ask that you would ask yourself these 2 questions. #1. Am I loving the things of the world more than I love the Holiness of God? And, #2. What can I do to change?

As I close, I want to humbly ask that you would pray for me as I take this task on, not only as I try to distance myself from wordly music, but also as I grow more in Christ and be a postive example to my friends and family. Matthew 26:14 says, "Therefore watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." My spirit is definetly willing, but I am only human, and my flesh is just what the verse said, weak. I need your prayers as I press on toward the goal of Christ. We're all in need of prayer, and if you have a prayer request I would love to pray for you. :)

In Christ's Love,

~Sierra