Books... OOOO A butterfly!

I actually finished a book and it wasn't a requirement! For me this is a big deal when ever it happens. I've read and finished plenty of books that I were required to read because of school or work assignments... but when it comes to just picking up a random book, especially if it's not fiction, I rarely finish it. It's not that I don't like reading... but seriously I don't like reading! Also when it comes to books it's like I have A.D.D. or something. I'll start a book and really enjoy that first part but then I'll see a shiny new cover of another book. "OOOOOO! I want to read that instead!" And then there's times when I'm reading and I start thinking about other things and imagining I'm a space commander and the fleet need my skills or we'll face certain doom from the evil space pirates and I need to save a pretty girl etc... not that I've imagined that before ;)

So there have been many a book that I have started, loved, and NEVER FINISHED! But today marks a special day. I finished a book! It took waaaay longer than it should have, especially since the book is meant to be read in 40 days... I honestly don't remember when I started so... It was that long ago. The book was "Stronger" by Brian "Head" Welch. It was a really good book and an easy read full of lots of stories from his life. Some made me laugh, some made my jaw drop, some reminded me of myself.

Now what? Oh yeah... start another book. Any suggestions?

Silence

What do you do with it? Silence I mean... Some people enjoy the quiet silence that comes to them by just sitting around in it doing nothing. Others can't stand it! They can't stand that awkward silence so they fill it something: music from their iPod, radio, etc. or maybe watch TV even if there's nothing of any real interest on. Some just don't like complete silence.

I grew up in the city and by "in the city" I mean IN the city! The city is loud. You can hear trains banging together, police sirens speeding by, guns shots in the distance, "baby-momma-drama" (if ya don't know what that is don't ask). It's loud! I never noticed how loud it was until I spent the night at my grandma's house when I was a kid. I remember laying down but I just couldn't get to sleep. I soon realized why: It was sooooooo quiet! I wasn't used to it at all.

Most of us now-a-days are used to a lot of noise in our lives. We wake up to the annoying noise of an alarm clock, we listen to music or talk radio on our way to work, we listen to music while at work (if you're like me), we watch our TV shows and movies, we have the noise of our kids... and not to mention the noise of construction work, horns honking, other people, etc. I think if we looked back on history, we may be the noisiest people in the history of the world.

Now to my point. All the noise we have in our lives is why a lot of us, myself included, can't stand complete silence. Yet many times Jesus Christ went off to a quiet or silent place to meet with God. Some of us do this from time to time. We go and pray and ask God to move and speak to us... But have you ever just sat in complete silence waiting on God to move or speak? Many times in Psalms we see moments of silence. Psalms like "...Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah." Psalm 4:4 See that word? Selah? It was a quiet musical interlude where there was no talking or singing or speaking. Just sitting there, quiet, waiting.

So silence. What do we do with it? Make time for it and enjoy it! We need to have some "selah" moments in our lives and most of the time we are the ones who are going to make them happen. What I mean is if we don't plan those Psalm 4:4 moments we will most likely be consumed and distracted by all this noise around us. So, have you had your "selah" moment today? I think I'll go do mine right now...

I'm fine... Really I am

"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him - work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend." Matthew 18:15

How many of us have been hurt by our friends or fellow believers? How many of us have told those friends that we weren't hurt? This isn't the way it should be. First of all I'd like to think we can all live by Ephesians 4:29 but unfortunately that's not always the case.

Have you ever been joking around with a friend and then they (or you) take it one step too far? They say something that really hurts you in a personal way. Yet most of the time you say nothing. You don't tell them that they hurt you, that they offended you... you just sit there and think all day about how mean they were being.

Believe me I've been there and am there a lot! But man, it's just not right! That verse above says it all: If you're hurt, don't keep it to yourself! I have from time to time hurt people with my words. I joke around a lot. First let me say if I've hurt YOU I am sorry. That was most likely not my intent. Second, if I or anyone for that matter has hurt you GO TO THEM!!! Don't let it turn into something so much bigger than it should be.

Jesus said the world will know we follow Him by how much we love each other (John 13:35). Yet many times we are caught offended, angry, and hurt by our bro's and sisters... In fact most of the time we tell everyone about our offense except the person who offended us. They usually never know or find out through the grape vine. Once again going back to the verse above we see that we should go to someone who hurts us and be honest about it.

Nothing makes me more frustrated than when someone gets really hurt and then when asked, "Hey did I hurt you?" they answer saying, "No... I'm fine... Really I am." I'm telling you: that is a cancer that will grow and grow until it consumes every part of you! Unfortunately I have experienced this from both sides.

Bottom line is this... in fact I can't put it better than the way Jesus said it so again: "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him - work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend."

Please follow this and let's stand together!

Salad!!!

So I am like to worst blogger EVER!!! It has once again been over a year since my last post! What's up with that? Not that I have 100,000 people that have been wondering where I am or anything... But hey even if its just me talking to myself here I am. Oh hello there me! (Ok enough of that)

SALAD!!! I have been absolutely CRAVING SALAD for awhile now. Today I made one and as my mom always says, "YUM-O!!!" It was so much better than I had imagined! The first bite was amazing. The crunch, the freshness, the lettuce, the grape tomato's, the chicken! I could go on and on! And hey don't laugh. I'm serious. It was incredible. So good in fact I may have it again tomorrow! SALAD!

I too am curious why I'm going crazy for salad... I mean, I rarely eat it and I never crave it EVER. So why have I been craving it then? Am I getting old?! Oh no! Joy did find a gray hair when she was cutting my mo-hawk last night. LOL... I honestly hope that this craving continues because it tasted so good and its good for you!

No real point. Now I know that some might expect me to do what all pastors do: Take an ordinary story and do a Jedi mind trick and give you a sermon out of it! Well... sorry to say that won't be the case here. I just wanted to simply say I loved my salad and YOU NEED TO GO EAT ONE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT'S SO AMAZING! (Whoa, must of bumped the caps lock button)

Love,
Daniel "Feeling like Sparkles" Hopkins!

News...

Youtube: So I guess I'm putting some vids up on youtube... go! watch! like! subscribe! that's all

Band: still don't have a band name... its kinda a bummer but we can't seem to come up with a good one. We really like the word and/or theme of "surrender" but who knows... The ones that we come up with that don't sound like metal bands sound waaaaay too campy and cheesy. So someday we will have a name... Wanna help? Make a suggestion!

Saturday: You can come worship with us this Saturday! We'll be at
Briarcliff Chapel
1251 NW Briarcliff rd
Its going to be outdoors under a tent so come on over and see us!

Sorry if this post seems like a bunch of bullet points lol...

DHop

We're a Band!

That's right... its all but official: I'm officially, unofficially starting a band! Wait... wah?

Ok so I'm starting a band with two guys from the worship team at the Mardi Gras outreach! I'm really excited about this next step I'm taking. Those who know me well know I've wanted this for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time! There's still a few details we'll hammer out this weekend (that's why its not completely "official") like our heart and what we want to get out of the band, a name for the band, and vision. But I'm pumped! We already have a place that wants to have us play worship for a few outreaches! More details to come plus once we get a name (may take some time) we'll make a myspace and facebook fan page!

An old journal entry

I have no idea where this came from but today I found a random page on my office floor when I came into work. It was an old journal entry (written on a random sheet of paper... not actually in a journal). So I thought I'd share it with you today:

March 6, 2008
As I was singing "I Lay Me Down" by Darrell Evans, I began to feel a change in my head and body. When I got to the end of the song I was crying out, "AND FREEDOM WILL BE THE SONG OF MY HEART!" I started to feel chills run up and down my spine and the pain that was in my neck disappeared!

Then I saw a vision of Jesus, my Savior, my best friend, begin to rip off layers of what looked like rotten hamburger but it was hard as rock. It was Jesus tearing away the layers of rejection, bitterness, anger and unforgiveness! I kept singing and singing and He kept tearing and tearing!

When I finished, I litterally felt a weight had been lifted from me! Praise God for He is great! Then I felt led to Psalm 32:7 it says, "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah"

Praise God!!! I then found an old song I wrote called "The Pieces of my Heart" (its about the rejection I've felt) God told me to rip it up! He said, "you don't need that song anymore; FREEDOM is now the song of your heart!" Amen & Amen

Never forget

Wow God is still so good! I love that verse: "...and [He] will surround me with songs of DELIVERANCE." God's freedom is something I find difficult to put into words... it is so amazing! Well I hope this post encouraged you and remember FREEDOM IS THE SONG OF YOUR HEART!


Soli Deo Gloria