Alrighty, well just last night I finished this acoustic song that I pretty much started writing close to two years ago. Usually it doesn't hardly take anywhere close to two years to write a song, but this was off and on kind of work. I wrote the words back then along with the music, but I just didn't really like it. So every now and then I would pull it back out to see what I could do with it and I just never really had any ideas. Then last night I decided to give it another try, and i finally got it the way I think it is supposed to go. Some of the words and music changed some, but that's fine because no one had heard it yet anyways, and with the way I am about acoustic shows, I'll be surprised if anyone even hears it ever. But that is ok with me, because I basically just write these acoustic songs for me to be able to play just straight to God, one on one; however, if people want to listen along, then I'm usually ok with that as well. Anyways, here's the lyrics to the song.
The Metaphor
You are the waves of which I'm lost upon. You are the chords that strum my life. You are the voice that speaks to me. You are love.
I am the lust of the eyes. I am the deception that tells lies. I am the thief that steals the innocence. I am death.
You are the air within my lungs. You are the governor of the skies. You are the maker of worlds unknown. You are love.
I am the selfishness of the wild. I am the colors of strife. I am the chaos that tears apart life. But You are forgiveness of which I seek; You are the life of which I need. You restore me.
It's been quite some time since my last blog. I think mostly the reason for that is because I am finding it harder and harder to justify the importance of some of the stuff I think about saying. But every now and then I think of something that is worth blogging about, and then I'm just not near a computer to put it "out there" in cyberspace. However, this time I have something worth sharing and I am near a computer. Which creates the perfect equation to write yet another blog. Yes.
Ok, so I've recently begun reading a book called Radical by David Platt. The "slogan" for the book, or the catchy phrase on the front cover to summarize the book, is "Taking back your faith from the American Dream." This is right up my alley because I have a serious problem with the current "system" of American Christians caught in the American Dream. The back of the book says, "What is Jesus worth to you? It's easy for American Christians to forget how Jesus said his followers would actually live, what their new lifestyle would actually look like. They would, he said, leave behind security, money, convenience, even family for him. They would abandon everything for the gospel. They would take up their crosses daily...but who do you know who lives like that?"
Now that you know basically what the book is about, I'll get to the real reason for this blog posting. David Platt tells a story in this book about a young man he met in Indonesia named Raden. He recounts the time when Raden shared his testimony with him. And this story is why I posted this blog, and I'm just going to quote it directly from the book word for word.
"One brother, Raden, shared his testimony. With a fiery look in his eye and an intense tone in his voice, he said, 'Before I became a Christian, I was a fighter. I learned ninja, jujitsu, and a variety of other techniques for taking people down.' I (David Platt) nodded. I was making a mental note: Don't mess with Raden. He continued, 'One day I was sharing the gospel in an unreached village with people who had never heard of Jesus. I was in one house sharing Christ with a family, and the witch doctor from the village came to the house.' Witch doctors and magic men are common in villages like these. They hold sway over entire communities with their curses and incantations. 'The witch doctor called me out," Raden said. "He wanted me to fight him.' Raden smiled as he confessed, 'My first thought was to walk out there and take the witch doctor down. But when I turned to go outside, the Lord told me that I no longer need to do the fighting. God would do the fighting for me.' So Raden walked outside, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of the witch doctor. He told his challenger, 'I don't do the fighting. My God does the fighting for me.' Raden recounted what happened next. 'As the witch doctor attempted to speak, he began to gasp for air. He was choking and couldn't breathe. People came running to see what was wrong, and within a few minutes the witch doctor had fallen over dead.' By now the entire village had crowded around the scene. Raden said, 'I had never seen anything like this, and I didn't know what to do. But then I thought, I guess now is a good time to preach the gospel.' Raden smiled and said, 'So that's what I did, and many people in that village trusted in Christ for the first time that day.'
Talk about power. That is the God we American Christians serve. So why do we not see these types of things happening in America? I personally believe a lot of the problem is because of the American Dream. Another quote from the book is, "While the goal of the American Dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God." I think that about sums up the problem quite simply right there.
I say all this, not to advertise a book, or be anti-American, but to show that we, including myself, could be missing a whole lot in our walk with Christ. Maybe one problem, besides our sin, is simply the Westernized version of Christianity that we live in. I'm not saying that everything we do is wrong, I'm saying that not everything we do is right.
It has been forever since my last post. I guess I just got slack with it since I've sorta been busy doing a lot of stuff lately. Divide the Sea is currently on the Southern Hospitali-Tour with Wrench in the Works and Strengthen What Remains, and it has been a blast so far. We are having lots of fun hanging out (currently in Florida). All the dudes in the bands are super awesome and cool to hang out with. I'm going to be sad when we part ways. But be sure to check out Wrench in the Works and Strengthen What Remains for some solid beliefs behind some solid rock music. These guys really know whats really going on so give them a listen.
Also, our music video by Michael Dalton at Dreamery Films just came out about a week ago or so. I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. The video is for the song "In Knowing, Triumph." The song is about David and Goliath and how we as Christians can slay the giants through Christ who gives us strength, but we have to know Him personally and have a relationship with Him. And of course, if you know anything about Divide the Sea, you know that we like to keep things fun. So the music video has some crazy silly things in it (with lumberjacks fighting robots), but there is an overall message through all the funny, stupid stuff that we put in there. If you look hard enough and understand the lyrics, I'm sure you'll be able to see it. We also had a good friend, Aaron Moller, create a little behind the scenes video on the music video set, and Caleb's girlfriend, JoAnna Webb, took some awesome photos. Now I'll post both videos for you to watch. Ok? Ok.
"Behind the Scenes with Divide the Sea":
"In Knowing, Triumph" Music Video:
I hoped you loved both videos. If you did, be sure to show your friends and spread the word about Dreamery Films. Alright, I'm done blogging for now. Until next time, Peace be with you, and I'll leave you with these words of awesomeness:
Psalm 10
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, "Nothing will shake me; I'll always be happy and never have trouble."
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims.
9 He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, "God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees."
12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, "He won't call me to account"?
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.
16 The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
A good friend and teacher showed this to me, and it really opened my eyes. I hope it does the same for you.
Parents, teachers, friends and media images taught you acceptable and unacceptable ways to look, act and believe.You learned which behaviors earned you approval, which “self” of all your possible selves would be accepted and loved.Using this knowledge, you constructed an acceptable personality and internalized the rules of conformity.
You can suppress traits that don’t conform--dangerous thoughts, naughty impulses--but you can’t destroy them.They go into hiding, creating subconscious personalities or shadow selves, the cast of characters for your dreams and a rich source of insight into human nature for anyone willing to venture into wild, uncharted areas of the psyche.Your public persona might earn the acceptance and love you want.But you lose a lot, too--all those possible other selves you might have been, the authentic impulses you never express, the creative resources that might have enabled you to live more fully, effectively and joyfully.
And your mind may pick up a constant, numbing fear:if you must suppress some of your impulses and inclinations, they must be wrong or even evil.That means you must be wrong or evil, too.You may fool the world into thinking you’re okay, the reasoning goes, but deep inside, you know what a wretch you really are.You may become terrified that a shadow self will emerge at the wrong time, like a belch at the dinner table, and you’ll be found out for the faker you know yourself to be.When that happens, all your love and acceptance will be snatched away, leaving you alone and miserable.
Only in moments of extreme intimacy do you ever get to see anybody else’s shadow selves.Usually you see only the assured, confident masks others wear.So you may believe you’re the only pretender, all alone in your deception and fear, the only one in the world who must forever wear the lying mask.It takes a lot of energy to create the mask and to keep it from slipping.The constant anxiety and underlying sorrow costs still more.The strain may even make you sick.
“You are healthy when you are most yourself,” according to Dr. Kenneth Pelletier, an expert on links between stress and disease.“There is no prescription for health other than that.Do anything that gives you a sense of enthusiasm and joy, and be yourself.”
If you could put down your mask, release your fear, welcome your shadow selves out into the sunlight--imagine the energy, health and joy you might also release.It’s easy to say but terribly hard to do, after a lifetime of keeping the mask firmly in place.It may be the hardest work you’ll ever do--and the most rewarding.
“This is my way,” the philosopher Nietzsche wrote.“What is your way?The way doesn’t exist.”But how do you begin to create that authentic “you” as opposed to a masked self?You don’t.The real you is already there.You need only let it emerge.Take off the mask.Stop pretending.Be what you are.Set your own standards.Strip your life of any object or action that is false to your true self that clutters and complicates your life and separates you from your true self.
It won’t be easy, especially at first.The longer you’ve responded as your masked self, the more automatic those responses have become.Your first thought will be the one you were taught to have.Your first impulse will be the acceptable impulse, the “right” behavior, the desire you’ve learned to let yourself have.Take a deep breath, challenge that first response, and ask yourself if that’s what you really want to do.If your gut tells you that what you were about to do is false to what you believe, don’t do it.
If others disapprove or fail to understand--as they surely will--grant them the freedom to react as they must.You want their love and approval, of course.But you don’t need it.And when you drop the mask, you’ll begin to attract those who can approve of and love you for what you are, not for what you’ve worked so hard to seem to be.
Don't wait for something crazy, catastrophic, or phenomenal to happen to you to make you turn your life towards Christ. If you claim Him, then live like Him. Many people would easily call themselves Christians, but they leave out certain parts of the deal that they would rather not do. Would Jesus flick someone off for taking his parking place at the grocery store? Uh...no. This is just one example, but I think you know what I mean. The word "Christian" means "little Christ" or "like Christ." If you claim Christianity, then imitate Jesus. Jesus was beaten with a whip until his guts were basically hanging out, but instead of cursing the humans doing this to him, he carried his cross (his undeserved electric chair) up a hill and was crucified. Through all of this, any of us, if we weren't dead by this point, would be extremely upset with the people causing all this. But what does Jesus do? He asks his father (God) to forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing. IMITATE THAT, CHRISTIAN. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Which one are you excluding? There are times when I struggle with all of them, but I could easily say the hardest ones for me are faithfulness, self-control, and lately...joy. I have decided to follow Jesus, which means I've decided to work my butt off on the things I struggle with. I pray you will do the same. So help me please, God.
"All my life I've been searching, face by face, and day by day. I've walked a hundred shorelines, but all my footprints have been taken by the waves. I've trusted and I've loved, I've reached out time and time again. I've lied and I've betrayed, I've whispered evil things into the wind. Everything I've ever seen, or felt, or heard has left me with no purpose, or meaning, or reason. But were I to curse God and die, that would be the ultimate treason. Well I feel so dead, even though I'm alive. It's the things that I have done, that I could never deny. I met a man the other day, as he pulled me aside, he told a story with a fire burning in his eyes. He said I know who you are, and I know where you've been. I've walked the same shorelines, and I've felt the same wind. I've lied and betrayed, and I've said evil things. I put my trust in the world, and I know what it brings. I remember my wife, and the love that we shared, and the smile on her face, and the smell of her hair. On the day we met, I was dead inside, but then she spoke these words, fire burning in her eyes, 'The Lord knows who you are, and he knows where you've been. He keeps an eye on the shores, and an ear to the wind. Though you make your bed in the pit of hell, He'll stay by your side, and He'll love you still.' Well it's been five years now that she's been gone; I'm giving you her words, so you might carry them on. This is love, this is hope."
How in the world is someone supposed to be or act when someone very close to them is taken away so abruptly with no warning? You hang out with someone everyday non-stop and you are best friends with them, and then all of the sudden they are gone. There was no time to say good-bye; no time to see it coming in the first place. It just happened. They're gone and you're left standing still not knowing what to do. Some people might quickly confide in others, whether in a good or bad way. Their former joy is replaced with a new sense of "normal." Some people turn to God, as they should, and they find peace in His perfect plan; knowing He is in control. And others close up. Turning away from what they know they should do. They don't confide in others because they feel like no one else will understand. They don't turn to God because they don't understand why this has happened, and they can't accept that they may never understand; even if they know in their hearts that God has a perfect plan and is still in control.
Before this happened to me, I never once questioned anything. Life was fun, joyous, bright. All the questions seemed to have simple "feel-good" answers. But then this. Life now is just dull. All the answers turned back into questions. Even when I feel that I make progress towards God, I am again smacked in the face and I realize I am completely closed up. How can I learn to completely trust God in this? Yet even through all of this, God is with me. God is here and He loves me. He is love. I understand that, whether or not I understand His plan. God help me be patient. God help me trust. God help me be opened to You.
"Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So He subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron." -Psalm 107:10-16
Hello everyone. A long time ago, I wrote some songs just for fun, and I recorded them with a friend to kind of get the songs out of my head and into more of a real format. That was a little more than a year ago. Well I've recently uploaded those on the internet for free download. So if you like slow, soft, I'm-going-to-fall-asleep-to-this type of music, then you might like this stuff. If I had the chance, I would probably go back and change some things in these songs now, but they are what they are. If you have any questions about any of the songs or their lyrics, just let me know and I'll try and answer them. Here is the link if you want this free music: http://jaredsnead.bandcamp.com/
Well we are coming to the close of this tour. I believe we have three shows left and then we are headed back home. This has been loads of fun times for sure. There are a few new videos up with us doing random things from this tour on YouTube, but I will show them here too!
On this tour we have met some crazy people. Some of these people told us stories. One of the stories that was told to us, we wrote down so that we would never forget. I have decided to put this certain story on this blog entry for all of you to read. However, I must include a disclaimer. This story did not come from me, and there were a few cuss words in the original telling. This version is the edited version. Ok...you can read it now, I just wanted everyone to know that I don't advocate some of the language in this.
This man walked up to us as we were loading our trailer after a show and asked for cigarettes. When we told him that none of us smoked and didn't have any, he then proceeded to tell us a story. This is directly quoted from him. Enjoy.
"You know how we beat the Revolutionary 9? First you have to take the square root of an odd number, then you go to hell and you come out. Then you go to hell and come back a few more times. Then you rise up from the ashes like a phoenix, and you bounce off the f***ing moon and turn around and there's a square around Earth. That was the end of the War. But all that is f***ing bull-crap...and Thank God."
After this man told us this story he said, "Alright...yall have a safe trip and God bless." We were completely dumbfounded and amazed. So just in case you are wondering, no...this doesn't make any sense to me either.
I hope you have found some entertainment in this post. Until next time....
There once was a terrible thing that happened in my life. Because of this event, I was forced to reckon with and consider parts of life that before had only been something that happened on the news or in the movies. Death. Death is without a doubt the most bizarre thing to think about. Everyone must face it; no one likes to think about it; it's scary, yet intriguing; there is no escape from it; and it is never truly comprehensible. When death hits close to home, it raises countless questions. One of these questions for me is the question of understanding. Many people have told me, "You may never understand why." Others say, "God can tell you why if he wants to, but he doesn't have to." My question is - Why am I supposed to accept that I can't understand? But then someone showed a verse of the Bible to me. It says, "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter" (John 13:7). In context, this verse is referring to the time when Jesus washed the disciples feet at the Lord's supper, and Christ was alluding to the time when he would be betrayed and taken to the cross to die and then be raised 3 days later. I had heard/read this before, but in regards to what I was facing, this verse hit me in the face. God tells me that I may not know now, but I will be able to understand later. I do not have to accept that I may never understand, but I have to know that God will reveal his perfect understanding to me when he is ready to do so. Patience. By the way, what is humanity's greatest problem? Death. Why not follow the one person who conquered it?
As you can read in my "about me" section, I do play guitar in the band Divide the Sea. We have recently signed to Blood and Ink Records and we are going to release our first full length album entitled "MAN" on January 26, 2010.
We are currently on tour right now traveling through the southeast and we are having a lot of fun. We brought a friend with us, Jacob Lawter, and he has been filming, editing, and posting videos of our tour on YouTube. You can visit his YouTube page by clicking here. These videos are titled "Divide the Sea is World Tour" and are labeled by episode numbers. If you don't feel like leaving this page, however, you can watch the videos here!
I'm sure most of you won't sit here and watch all of these at once, but if you did then that's cool. I'll more than likely be updating this blog with further snippets of our tour along with more videos and pictures. If you want to, you can got to the Divide the Sea YouTube channel and watch other Divide the Sea videos from previous shows and tours. See yall later.
I've never really been too interested in blogging, but I realized there were sometimes certain thoughts I would like to simply "throw out" there that were either too long for Twitter and Facebook, or I just didn't want those thoughts to show up in the home page of all the popular social networking sites. This way I can "throw" those thoughts out there and if you want to you can read them, and if not, that's totally fine with me. I felt like this was simply a lot less pushy as far as social networking goes. If you disagree with anything I say or you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me through Facebook, Twitter, email me at jaredsnead@gmail.com, or post a comment below.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I love my family, friends, and people in general. I love playing music and I currently play guitar in the band Divide the Sea. Want to know more? Ask.
