That's the God I praise...

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With a pen in my hand, the world becomes a story. A story that we are yet to tell. With a brush between our fingers, oh do I wonder what about life is not a canvas. A canvas to write on. And to me, it remains inexplicable how could God create all that we see, all that we feel, even all the we breathe. In a matter of six days. All that inspires derives from a God perfect in his creation. No flaw, no dent, no crooked or too foul a scent, for all he held before His mighty hand had a purpose in its elaboration. He that made out of our beautiful tongues, an exquisite speech, with melodious harmonies to hum and sing. A wonderful spiritual being, one that created beautiful green eyes, one that created all but a wonderful sky, and indeed the same God that created that   wonderful ingredient in Momma's pies. That's the God I praise. A God that I see through all of creation. A God that sends my mind to far off destinations. A God that fills me with holiness and all-wonderful sensations.
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It's not a how, not a why, or even a when, but rather a wow. Because awesome this is, and wonderful you are. A God that teaches me to love, and makes me contemplate the sky and all its beautiful doves. A God that makes me dwell in those eyes, a God that tells me no lies. One to deliver me, the same God that commanded thousands of tiny raindrops to form a rainbow in the heavens... That's the God I praise... A God perfect in His creation.
Who am I to say that I love? For I was loved before my creation. A God that knew me from the womb, and sang me lullabies as I came back to life in the moment of my birth. How can my words express who you are, O God? How can these lips even taste the saccharine excellence that you are? My soul is that of venom when it speaks nothing of you, yet as sweet an essence of Lilies when you dwell in my lips.
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That's the God that I praise, the God that I love. How can I say that I love, if you love even more. My love is nothing compared to yours. For I cannot say that I love, without loving you first. For God, is my first. The God that I praise, the God that loves. The God that showed me the beauty reflected in all His creation only visible in those eyes...

That's the God that I... Praise.

Music: Where does it fit in my life?

As a child, and even now as an adult, music has been something I could never picture this world without. When words fail to express a thought, idea, or perhaps even a memory, somehow lyrics seem to make it all make sense. I take great joy in writing music, that although may not ever reach any other ears but my own and the occasional casual listener, I never let my pen rest for too long.
Whether it be to worship God, reassure your love for your wife, or any other reason, music has the power to influence us without us even knowing. Unlike someone simply talking, music can actually portray the same ideas and words that one may hear as an advice from a friend, and at the same time, place a melody upon it that makes it delightful to listen to over and over again.
But what makes music good can also make it a tool for evil. Just like listening to Hymns or Contemporary Christian (O Church Arise; Indescribable) music can be used to express our love for God, other genres like Death Metal or Pop can be used to exalt the devil or to influence the mind of its listeners into desiring worldly pleasures (Slayer? Justin Timberlake?).
This of course sets a limit into what Christians should listen to and not listen to. How exactly would you take it if you found your Pastor on a weekday bopping his head to an old school Hip Hop beat in his car? Do you think that because you don't have the responsibilities of your Pastor, that you yourself can say that its acceptable for you to listen to that kind of music in your car? Don't ask me, ask yourself that. Wise words like "Do as they say, not as they do," are suitable here, right?

My music preferences? Varied, but you will never find me listening to something that contradicts what the word of God says. But what can I listen to? Christian music? Well yes, I most certainly do, and I love it. Yet I constantly find myself asking myself if a certain song I listen to is truly Christian. It is all too likely that most Christian artists out there aren't truly saved, but I cannot say that, for I do not know there heart, only God knows. Is that an excuse to not find out the origins of this artist? Of course not, I will do my research on them (And not the sugarcoated Wikipedia entry on them either). Some artists however choose not to go under the recording label of Christians for the sake of limiting there sales, and that's something they will give answer to God for. There are many in the closet bands, who just won't go under the Christian label because they've been without one for so long, or for the fear of losing a couple million fans. A good example of this is something like Linkin Park versus the "Christian" counterpart, Skillet. This person here (being a pastor) has his own take on music: http://oursovereignjoy.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-can-christian-radio-learn-from.html  I can mostly certainly say that just like Linkin Park has its own Non-Christian like songs, so does Skillet and most artists under that label out there. But then again, what you listen to is what you listen to. Does that mean that as your fellow brethren in Christ I should not help you see the wrong in listening to some secular music? Absolutely not, but it's ultimately up to God to convict us of what we do.

God may call me to give up all music, and I'm okay with whatever he has in store for me, and nonetheless, something like piano or guitar expresses beauty without words. God calls us to take dominion over the world, does he not? Let us also take dominion over music and claim it for God!






Recommended for those who love Modern Christian Hymns is the book "Modern Hymns New Classics for Today's Worshipper" as it even contains amazing songs like "O Church Arise" or "Amazin Grace (My Chains are Gone).

IndoctriNation: Public Schools and The Decline of Christianity in America

“The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality”

When you send your child to the public school system, what is the purpose you are trying to achieve? To perhaps provide your child with the proper education to make a good living? Perhaps because you yourself did not have such privileges of proper education as offered today by the government? What do homeschooling parents attempt to achieve by educating their own seed? 

Before you educate your children, you must first ask yourself what is the purpose of it all. It comes to no surprise that most parents who send their child off to schools, do not have an established sense of purpose in their child's future.

Jesus says in Mark 12:30, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." A Christian educator puts upon himself the purpose of instilling upon the mind of his pupils the education one needs to obey Jesus Christ, and once he takes on the responsibility of an educator for Christ, but does it for some other purpose then to spread the kingdom of God, not only is he failing God with his motives, but the ones who are receiving the education. We must understand that all truth is God's truth! He reveals Himself not only through the Scriptures but through the creation all around us! Through research and study of natural and social sciences we see proof of his existence and of all His truths. We must understand that we not only learn to understand but to obey God!

Education is not to inject facts into a person's head, for this only leads to pride and self-importance. We do not need knowledge to live and inherit the kingdom of God, but only wisdom, and wisdom alone! And where does wisdom come? From the truth and holiness of our Lord God almighty. Let's be clear; education is given to help a person learn to think, and thus construct questions, give true answers, to observe, recall information, and employ all learned things towards the creation and fulfillment of that individual's given purpose.

Christianity and Christian education fills in all the gaps where secular living fails. All that is secular is not of God, and secular education thus tries to teach half-truths or facts that try to depart themselves from God completely, but only succeed in living a big gap in the mind of the hearer. Secular things can only take you so far, by answering questions such as "who am I and why am I here?" with a half-hearted attempt that usually leaves the person more confused than what they were in the beginning, because not only is this individual confused, but he now believes in the same things that can confuse all of those around him and therefore poison the spread of the living truth of God to all those around him.

If it is not of God, it will not bring you closer to God! And by pursuing things that are not of the living truth, we are truly blind as a nation. We must see how Godless a nation we have become! Just look at our fruits, is it not written that a tree shall be known by the fruits that it bears? Something needs to change, and it needs to change now, because if we as a nation are crumbling to our knees, we are not with God and all who are not with God will perish. The construction of a nation starts at home, with the education of the future scholars and leaders of our nation, and if those who lead us are taking the complete wrong steps, it is without a shadow of a doubt that this began in the home and therefore the education of the individual. By no means must we be blind to our surroundings in the construction of the kingdom of God because those who surround us, themselves are blind.

With this in mind, I wanted to present to you a movie that will hopefully affirm your view of Christianity and the wickedness of secular education in the United States. A member of my church happens to be the producer, and without further ado, I present to you IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America. You can visit their website at http://indoctrinationmovie.com/

IndoctriNation Trailer from IndoctriNation on Vimeo.

Dusting Off The Bookshelf: Radical by David Platt

"Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for? Do you believe him enough to obey him and to follow him wherever he leads, even when the crowds in our culture--maybe even our churches--turn the other way?"

I believe that books are a means of telling stories or showing points with amazing imagery and emphasis, that would otherwise be lost to common knowledge. Every time that you pick up a book, you must consider and keep in mind that this book has the potential to change how you see things around you. But you must be aware that the only book that has the right and therefore the authority to change us inside out is the Holy Bible of Jesus Christ.

With this in mind, I began a search for a book that could not only strengthen my spiritual views, but that wouldn't make me feel like I was reading the Declaration of Independence while at it (I tend to be picky about my books; mighty good habit). After reading a couple of book descriptions about books here and there, I kept stumbling upon this book: Radical by David Platt. Though I have not yet began to read this book, I encourage you to read it with me or if you have read it, please feel free to share your view on this book. Here's an excerpt from the description of the book, along with an amazing trailer video. It's a book that you can only dare to put down.

 In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ's followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing.



Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

Footsteps of a stride

I am Patrick Thomas Rogan II, and this is per se, a  Journal of my life, one which I intend to carry from generation to generation. Feel free to be a spectator, an adviser, a commentator, or a source of inspiration from all that I do, will do, and must do.

I have no claim to the world, for the world is not mine to claim. I however will begin this journey in the creation, with no definite end, to this blog. My words may be many, but in the pinnacle of it all, I may lack enough words to express what I intend to portray. I pray that my words may glorify God, and that all my words are for God and by God. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.