Too much time on my hands

So I had a little too much fun tonight with this while I was bored.  I am posting all 3 because they all have things I like about them.  The first one I made is disco...

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I like that one a bunch just because of all the disco dancing.

Next is the Charleston.  I like this one because of how perfectly it ends...

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Finally is the country one.  I like me doing the fish dance with Laura in it.

I hope you all found this as funny as I did.

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And the semester is done...

I can't believe I only have one semester left in college.

During this past semester there were several moments that were very frustrating, but I think when I look back on this semester, I think it will be one of my best.

First of all, I got really good grades.  It was probably my best semester of college grade wise, and I had some pretty difficult classes.

Secondly I learned a lot about myself and my talents and skills.  I had never done much in the way of composing or arranging before, but it turns out, I'm not bad at it.  I took a film scoring class which to begin with I was terrified of.  I had never composed anything before, and to have my first experience with it having to match film was very intimidating.  But as the semester went on, I became more and more comfortable.  I already posted my final project on here.  I'm really proud of how it turned out.

The same went for my arranging class.  I had never done anything like that before, but it turned out to be something that I really enjoyed.  I arranged two pieces, Pennies from Heaven and Chattanooga Choo Choo.  The Belmont Jazz Band played them both, and it was very cool to hear something that I arranged played by them.  

I think I'm really starting to figure out where my passion and talent lies musically which is a very exciting thing.  I'm so thankful that God is teaching me in that.

I have plenty of things I want to write about, and now that I'm home, I'm hoping to update a few more times.  Be on the lookout for that.

A few end of the semester goodies...

This semester I took a film scoring class.  At first I really wasn't looking forward to it as I had no interest in the matter.  While the class was a bit tedious and way more time consuming than I imagined it would be, I did enjoy my work.  It still isn't my life's passion, but it's fun none the less.

For our final project we were giving a knock off star wars piece called "Duality."  My teacher then took the sound out of it so we could score it.  I'm posting what I did with it on here just for the fun of sharing, and I'm pretty proud of it.  Know that were it a real movie it would obviously have sound effects.

I also wanted to use my blog as a plug to all 3 or you who read this and already know about what I'm about to talk about.  None the less, if anyone else does make their way to this blog, I want this on here.

Back around Christmas of last year, my girlfriend Laura exposed me to the music of Derek Webb.  Over the last year, I've become a huge fan of his music and him as a person.  One of the things I like about him is his view of the music industry and music in general.  Derek started a website called Noisetrade as a tool to help artists get their music out there.  Fans can either get music from artists by paying what they want (anywhere from $1-25) and the artists get 90% of all the profits.  Or they can send a link to the artist's noisetrade page to 5 of their friends.  This helps get the word out on the artist to potential fans.  Also if you download the music, your e-mail address is stored so the artist can contact you when they are in your area performing.  This helps show attendance.

All of that to say, you should check out Noisetrade.  You can check out Derek's newest album the Ringing Bell below.

That's all the sharing for now.  Enjoy

I walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes...

My Mom always gets very frustrated with me and Dad because we never see things that are right in front of our faces.  We'll be looking in the pantry for food or through drawers for a certain document, but we can never seem to find them.  We'll then ask Mom where they are and she pulls it out from under our noses.

I should mention as an aside that I am much better about this than I used to be.  Now I just dig through everything until I find it instead of glancing around.

Perhaps what I'm about to write might be something that you has been completely obvious to you.  It might seem ridiculous that I never realized this before.  However, since this was pointed out to me last night, it has been an absolutely incredible revelation.  Where better than to share incredible revelations than my blog, right?

I've been reading in Ephesians a good bit over the past few days.  Yesterday, I was struck by the phrase in Chapter 2, Verse 8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith."  I have read/heard this phrase hundreds of times, but never thought much of it.  When I read it yesterday I honestly did not quite understand it.

The problem was my understanding of faith.  I had always been taught that faith (at least in terms of "Christian Faith") was essentially just believing in God and Jesus.  While this is true, there are many implications of that definition, and also more specific definitions of faith that fall under that.

When I tell a friend that I have faith that they'll get their work done, I'm telling them that I have confidence in them.  While this is the same thing as telling them "I believe in you," confidence has a much more direct meaning.

With this meaning for faith, verse 8 makes more sense.  By the grace of God, I am saved from my sins through faith.  By placing all of my confidence in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross, I am saved.

But placing my confidence in Christ means having no confidence in myself.  Actually, not even enough confidence to place my own faith in Christ.  The second half of verse 8 and verse 9 say "And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  

There are hundreds of different directions that I could go with this.  I think for now though, I'm just going to leave my post with that.  I thank God for that free gift that we can have every confidence in its sufficiency for us in all of life, and pray for the grace to receive it more daily.