The Angles Sang

It's a Wednesday afternoon
And I'm sitting in this church in my black dress
Wondering why I'm here for you
Cause you were gone and it all happened out of the blue


Heaven opened up and the angels sang
And you had that huge smile on your face
All your pains and all your tears
Were washed away
When the angels sang


Down here you left a hole in our hearts
And the burden of having to live with our grief
But through our pain we see hope
Because we know that soon we'll be home


Heaven opened up and the angels sang
And you had that huge smile on your face
All your pains and all your tears
Were washed away
When the angels sang


And we are still here waiting for the day
When we can join you in paradise
Standing side by side to worship our King
As the angels sing


Heaven opened up and the angels sang
And you had that huge smile on your face
All your pains and all your tears
Were washed away
When the angels sang


You had that huge smile on your face
When the angels sang

School, Heaven, and General Senior Things

So it's been over a year since Virginia died and I find myself healing. There are still those days that hurt, there are those days when the grief is overwhelming, but then there are those days when I'm sitting doing homework and the only thing that comes to mind is, "I'm so jealous that Virginia doesn't have to study this right now!!"
I guess that's just one more thing that's going to be awesome about heaven. We won't have to study anatomy or calculus.

That must be the most awesome thing ever.
Ok, well. On to something else...

A few days ago, we had our senior pictures (I know, its completely weird) and I couldn't help but think about how we were short one senior. My mind wandered to Virginia and how one of the first things that I thought of last year when she died was, "But she was supposed to graduate with us and go to college." It's funny how God had his own plan for her. While we are down here, suffering through school and senior thesis and anatomy, she is up there having the biggest, rockinest, neverending party.

I can't wait til we get to "party on the rooftop on top of the world" (weird how that kinda fits) with her!!

Kurt Cooper Part 2/3

How can I enjoy Media as a Christian? was the title of his elective.

Media gives us images of things we've never experienced.

What are we letting in without a filter and discernment?
-Romans 12:2

We treat movies, music, and books passively -- it's affecting us whether we know it or not.  We should actively filter media through the Bible.

Creation (Gen. 1:31) - Fall (Gen. 3:7) - Redemption (Gen. 3:15)
We were made to hear this story and celebrate it. God has given us a couple of things to guide us.
-Ex. 20:12 -  parents
-Rom. 13 - government
-Rom. 14 - discernment

We are to be looking for these things in everything.
If you like something that you can't tell your parents, you probably like it for the wrong reasons.

Kurt Cooper Part 1

Moses:
-Born under persecution-babies being killed
-Raised by Pharaoh's daughter
-Led Israelites out of slavery
-Led them to the promised land
-Parted the Red Sea
-Hit rock=water
-God gave him unusual command over nature
-10 commandments-gave God's law to the people
-burning bush

Jesus:
-unusual command over nature
-parted the Red Sea
-Herod was killing babies
-led his people out of their slavery to sin and to heaven

We need someone like Moses but BETTER. Jesus Christ is the answer to our question. We were made to find Jesus everywhere.

Philippians 4:9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, thing about these things.

You don't have to feel guilty for liking excellent things because excellent things point to Christ.

Blake Smith Part 3

We will see God as he is in the new heaven and new earth.

What's wrong with us?
-Mind: faulty view of who God is, who I am, what the world is.
-Emotions: If I could set the rules, life would be perfect.
-Will

We don't have the capacity in our soul to celebrate life and enjoy God all the time. We get bored having to sit to long and listen about God. You will not long for heaven until we are tired of the turmoil within ourselves. Everything that we have had happen that harms us we have done to someone else -- Jesus will solve that delimma. We need to be stripped of our pride. We need to be freed of all our problems. We need to be made new.

HELL:
Moves in the direction of brokenness, not restoration. It's separation from God. Hell is God finally giving us everything we want...living out from under his sustaining power.

Matthew 8:12-weeping and nashing of teeth
Matthew 18:8-9-far better to enter kingdom of God maimed than into hell whole

We want to live life the way we want but God won't do it.
Fire consumes and destroys -- you are always moving towards frustration.

The good in this world is a little taste of heaven.
The bad is a little taste of hell.