With my recent obsession over (almost) all things country music, I present to you my two current favorite songs:

Zac Brown Band - "Whatever It Is"

(I love the little guitar lick at the end of the chorus)

Darius Rucker - "It Won't Be Like This For Long"

(Dude is pretty much the only black country singer)

If for some odd reason you say that you hate country music, all I ask is that you give it a chance.  It's much less mindless than mainstream hip-hop, and a lot of the lyrics are rather touching (like these two songs).  Anyways, that's all I got for now.  Hope you enjoy the songs.


By the way, Taylor Swift is NOT country .

As the title implies, my summer just got completely full in the past week.  Last week marked the beginning of all of Impact's (our college ministry) summer activities.  This involves a prayer meeting on Mondays, and discipleship class on Tuesdays, and a eat/message/chill night on Wednesdays.
More Here...

Something that I and apparently quite a few other people in my church seem to have noticed is the prevalence of the word "just" in our prayers.  For example: "Lord, would you just help us" or "Father, we just want more of you", etc.  I'm sure you know what I mean.

Inserting the word "just" has become habit for a lot of people, but even if we're not really thinking about it when we're saying it I still believe that it influences the meaning of our prayer.  By saying "just", it's implying that that's all we want God to do and nothing more.  By saying "just" we box in God's love for us as well as restricting the ways that we want Him to show His love.  By saying "just" we limit the potential of the change that God can create in our lives.

As I wrote in the beginning, many others (particularly leaders) seemed to have also noticed this habit, and have been correcting themselves whenever a "just" slips out.  From what I've observed, by removing the word "just" a prayer becomes more desperate and more sincere.  In the long run, those are the kind of prayers that God will respond to.

/end rant

On a side note, I've downloaded a journaling program onto my computer.  I plan on using it to help me remember certain lessons that I've learned and interesting passages that I read.  It'll also be an outlet for me to vent if I ever need to.

That's all I have for now.