From Rob Stearns:

Selah (A Christmas Song)

A child is born
In a faceless farmhouse
A child is born
The Prince of Peace
Prophecy fulfilled
She holds him so close
To ponder what he means for us

Selah Selah Selah
Prince of Peace
Prophecy Fulfilled
Selah

She calls him Josua
And Emmanuel
God is with us
On this wondrous night
Savior for…
All mankind is here
Lying safely in his mother’s arms

Selah Selah Selah
God is with us
Our savior Emmanuel
Selah

Over yonder, above the fields
A choir of angels
Sings his praises
Dancing on the stars
Above the city of David
Our king is born
Resting safely at his mother’s breast

Selah Selah Selah
The angels sing
In David’s city
Selah

Oh sweet child
In your mother’s arms
The King of kings
And the Prince of Peace
Prophecy fulfilled
Emmanuel
O Josua, in your mother’s arms

Selah Selah Selah
Oh sweet Josua
In your mother’s arms
Selah

In this night
When you were born
The angels sang your praise
And filled the sky
Our savior born
For us to save
We can rest, in our Father’s arms

Selah Selah Selah
Oh how the angels sang
Selah Selah Selah
Our savior born
Selah Selah Selah
O Prince of Peace
Emmanuel
Selah Selah Selah

This is my friend Ritah. I am the one next to her glowing like an angel (sorry for the bad picture!). Last evening my family and friends participated in a Multicultural Community Dinner at Normandale Community College. It was an evening of International dishes, dance, poetry, guitar playing, and singing. Ritah, one of InterVarsity presidents, had the honor of singing and representing her homeland of Uganda. But last night she represented more than Uganda when she sang. She represented her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As she stood on that little stage in front of 100 or so people from their various countries and faiths, Ritah proudly stated she was going to sing to her Lord. She told the listeners she was singing a song in her native Ugandan language entitled, “Let me sing“. She said her performance was dedicated to the one who has blessed her life…Jesus. She hoped her singing would bless all who listened. I believe it did!

As Ritah sang “Let me sing” I looked around that room and saw faces from Mexico, Vietnam, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Russia, Canada, and the United States (to name a few) watching Ritah worship undignified before God. It made me think of the day when every tongue, tribe, and nation will bow before Jesus and “sing” to the King of the Earth. It convinced me even more that I was right where I needed to be…using my life to “sing” the wondrous news of LIFE to the nations in my backyard. Thanks Ritah for last night. You touched my heart along with so many others. Let’s keep singing and watch the world meet Jesus.

“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.”

– Paul to the church of Corinth in his first letter to them.

I wonder how much of my life consists of meaningless words? I hope and pray this is not the case. I pray my life is a living evidence of the power of God. I pray when I say to God, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” I really mean it. I pray I am not relying on the the gimmicks or programs of man to transform lives but rather the transforming work of Jesus on the cross and His blessed Counselor given to us. I pray these things because if they are not true, my life isn’t really about what God is about. I pray these things because I desire to hear my Father say “Well done”. I pray these things because I want people to experience God through me not simply my version of what God may or may not be like. I pray these things because I don’t want the following quote from Mark Scandrette’s book Soul Graffiti to be true of me…

“It can feel naked and agonizing when you realize that your sense of identity is not matched by action.”

From Rob Stearns

I wrote this the other day. I was really looking forward to being in church. I didn’t go. For reasons I do not want to discuss at the moment I didn’t make it to church. I felt like I missed out. Something from my day, or week, was gone…and I wanted it back. Then I talked to a friend of mine who kept going on about how great the music was that day. How the worship service really spoke to her heart. I was jealous…but had no one to blame but me. Then she said the sermon was really short (always a plus) but right to the point…and perfect for our congregation…then it was followed by more singing. God was there in the midst of everybody…but I wasn’t there.

Missing You

I missed you today
you were there–as always
but i didn’t make it
I heard you looked–
you looked beautiful
As always.
but I wasn’t there to see
they told me you sang
as only you can
I wish I had been–
been there
with you. with them.
but I ddin’t make it
I missed your voice today
I love to hear you sing
I–
I wasn’t there.
they said you spoke
they said you touched their hearts
like you would have mine
if I had been there
but I wasn’t.
I didn’t make it.
I wish I was there.
I wish I had made it.

An interesting article from today’s Star Tribune was recommended to me. The caption says “a survey finds that many youths draw a line between being spiritual and participating in an organized religion“. If you want to read more you can find the article HERE.

Due to the website problems these pictures are a little late. But I guess the old saying “better late than never” applies here. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak at Winona State University at their InterVarsity Large Group Meeting. Jordan & Jessa Anderson met me there and played some of their original music. If you are thinking of doing a concert I highly suggest you contact them. My talk from that night is available at our itunes podcasts.

Folks….we apologize for the issues you’ll be noticing with the site over the next few days.  Please bear with us as we update - very soon we’ll be rolling out some updates that we’re pretty excited about!  Stay Tuned!

I want to introduce you to another friend of Consumed….Mr. Tim Benedict. He will contribute to this site from time to time. Tim truly resonates with the message of life and has been an ally to Consumed. He led a group of men from Northeast PA in a Fully Alive Group and saw God work in amazing ways. I broke my personal rule about double blogging (sorry Abs) because the entry below is beneficial for you to read. So here it is…”Is there Room For Failure?”

I enjoyed a long conversation with a close friend of mine this week. I walked away from this conversation reflecting on something that ruffled the ‘force’ a little for me this week. It’s an expectation that almost bothers me, that is if I didn’t find it within me from time to time. I guess I’d call it the expectation of ‘perfection,’ or maybe overall-progress. It’s the expectation that came out of the industrial revolution–the promise that our intellectual abilities and skills could only lead us to amazing progress, if not earthly perfection. But history in a nutshell only proves this promise wrong, brutally wrong–or at least forgot to mention that this ‘perfection’ would only come at the cost of selling our soul to the Devil. What I mean is that it’s hard to define recent ‘human’ history as ‘progress.’ Thus, we live in the days of great mistrust of these promises–the alienation couldn’t be deeper. And on and on we could go.

What if failure is actually the crucible in which true, godly character is formed in the children of God. What if this whole journey thing is about learning, and not about achieving progress. Do you think maybe we need to walk by faith into the future, so that when our endeavors seem to be a failure to everyone around us, we can have courage to keep moving and speaking into the future? It’s funny that when we fail, we need people the most. Maybe God’s trying to get our attention. I hope He’s got mine for more than five minutes tonight.

From Rise Up by Rob Stearns:

What does John 10:10 tell us? The first part of the verse tells us that Satan is hunting us. And to what end? “To kill and destroy us.” He hates us so much that not only does he want to kill us, but he wants to destroy everything in our lives.

But I can’t. I can’t give up. That’s only half the story.

This is just a sampling of Consumed Publishing’s latest book Rise Up by Rob Stearns. I’m taking some time to shamelessly plug this book because the bottom line is I really believe this book will helpful for you. It will open your eyes to the truths of Scripture regarding our fight against the enemy and God’s desire for us to be alive and chasing the dreams He has placed inside of us. It is an open, honest, and raw book from a guy going through some pretty crappy times, yet still believing God isn’t done with him yet. So order it, read it, and tell others to get it. Learn about the other half of the story!

You can order the book through our website or through Amazon.

The Double Blogger Nazi (Jamie) is posting the first entry from another Consumed Blog Writer - Abigail Joy Amos. Enjoy!

Blood. Never a word anyone wants to hear, or discuss. I don’t even like the thought. I will never forget though, this one time my Grampy was in the hospital, and he needed blood. Several times during his time there, they had to give him blood. I hated it.

I’ll always remember rounding the hospital hallway, stepping into his room, and seeing my Grampy laying in the bed, propped up a bit with the bed tilted up, and a white towel wrapped around his head. He looked like a shepherd. The shocking part to me was how pale he was. I had never seen anyone so pale before, and it was horrible. It was because he needed blood.

It was at that instant that I felt the desire to give blood. Now, mind you, I hate needles. I have fainted before at the thought that I might have to get a shot. Needles are a huge fear of mine in life. HUGE. I tear up, get all clammy and sweaty, my stomach hurts- the works. You get the drill. I am saying this to remind those of you who hate needles, too- that I get it.

That incident with my Grampy was years ago- but it has always stuck with me. Recently, as I was leaving work (I work at one of the Starbucks in the Mall of America) I looked over the balcony down to floor one, and saw this weird scene. All these chairs that looked like tall beach chairs were set up, nurses were bustling about, and there was a table of soda and cookies. I was on the phone with my mom at the time- describing it to her, and all of the sudden I said, “ICK! People are donating blood!” I was so disturbed by the scene. Like a moment from a horror movie or something! My mom kindly prompted me, “You should give blood. It would be good for you.” Never in a million years did she think I would- she was half joking with me.

In that instant I knew. God wanted me to give blood. It was finally the time. My time. It made me think of my precious cousin, Holly, who had been killed in a car accident a year ago. She was an organ donor- and was able to give life to so many people in need of life. I was so inspired by Holly, and so proud of her selfless gifts. She gave me the final courage to step up to the table, and say, “I want to give blood.” In my heart, I knew I was donating my blood in memory of Holly, and in honor of my Grampy.

The whole process was amazing. Truly a supernatural experience! My nurse totally rocked- and I was even able to share with her about Holly’s life. The needle and all was nothing what I had always dreaded. It was virtually painless. But, even if it had been painful- people are in need. Blood saves lives, and I have healthy blood to give! My body is not my own. After it was all over, she told me I needed to eat and drink some sugar. No way! I was stoked about this! That was God’s special gift to me!

I got a letter in the mail showing me pictures of people whose lives were saved from blood donors. It was hard not to cry. They also sent me my blood type. Turns out, I have a rare type of blood. My heart soared when I found out. Not only did God lead me to give blood, but I gave, and I gave blood that is rare. Who am I to keep my blood in me just because I am afraid of needles? And now, especially because I have rare blood! This has been a profound experience for me, and something I aim to continue throughout my life.

What about you? Have you ever donated blood? Think about it…and just think, not only do you get to save lives, you get to be treated with mountain dew and cookies when it’s all over! Now if that’s not God-ordained, I don’t know what is!