Not that anyone has asked, but I thought I’d share some of my favorite bands and artists. Here’s a short list of the music I’ve been listening to lately. Just a disclaimer: I’m not a top 40 music fan (for the most part).
Here’s my list (in no particular order):
I’m always looking for new music…so who do you listen to?
“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves. When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little. When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord.”
That title may be shocking to some of you, but one of the locations of our church meets in a former sex club. Pretty crazy right? The church is in a pretty bleak part of town (or as one of my friends calls it, an “armpit”). The church is across the street from a well known “crack alley”. Prostitutes are known to walk the streets at night. It can be a very dark place. Whenever I get to visit that campus, I pray all the way from my car to the doors and then when I leave I pray from the doors to my car. I clutch my purse a little tighter. I double check that my car doors are locked. I walk a little faster.
I heard a disturbing story this week about an incident that happened at the church late at night. I don’t want to share too many details, but let’s just say there was some shady stuff going on! I heard the story Sunday morning and, after laughing for a little bit, I said out loud, “we need to get out of there” (meaning, that neighborhood).
It didn’t occur to me until today (Monday) that I shouldn’t have said that. THAT IS EXACTLY WHERE WE SHOULD BE! God has put us there. We’ve been there for 4 years now. Why should we leave? The area needs Jesus! I just realized how bad that must’ve sounded when I said it. Yes it is a bad neighborhood and possibly very dangerous but God has us there for a reason. These are the people Jesus hung out with and cared for. Thank God we are there!
I found this earlier today on Mark Batterson’s blog. I don’t always read these things, but today I did. Today was different. I needed to hear this today. Thanks, Mark.
Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.
Chase the lion.
p.s. if you haven’t read this book, you need to.
So I’m not gonna lie…it freaks me out a little when I see what people have searched for and somehow clicked on my blog. Most of the time it is something about pizza…because of this dumb post I did a while back.
I’ve noticed about 2-3 times a month, someone searches for “jenn collins”. That’s what weirds me out. Who is searching for me? Are they really looking for me or another jenn collins? It’s just an odd feeling to see that someone actually googled me.
Life in the Real World 
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