New Song - 'Wanting the Real' (full lyrics)

Dear friends and prayer partners,

I believe God has given me the full song now... now I just have to work it out on guitar. I thought you might appreciate it. If you think someone else would appreciate it's message, please feel free to send it to others. It's not my song, it's a song God is giving me to use to encourage those He brings across my path...

Some of you already got the partial, this is the full version.

Btw, I'm still working on the Galatians 6:7-9 study - an amazing study. I hope to send it out when I'm finished, but at the moment, I'm still digging into it ~ : )

Well, I'd appreciate your prayers for the music for this song and that God will use it to bless/challenge people according to His purpose.
But, even more, that I will keep learning to love His Living Word more and more and that I will keep learning how to teach His Word more and more clearly.

Thank you.
your friend and prayer partner,
a servant/life-slave of Jesus,
Steven
Luke 14:33
Isaiah 53:2-6
John 14:21


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Wanting the Real - 08/03/2008

This song was inspired by some of my life-verses, and from the testimonies and stories of those I've met...

Luke 9:23 says:
"Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

1st Verse:
She sits in a room full of silence
But her mind's full of noise
So many questions, so few answers

She puts on her make-up
But inside, she's tired of hiding
She puts down her fantasy,
Puts down her headphones
And lets out this cry

1st Chorus:
She's wanting the real.
She is tired of her ways of hiding.
She's wanting the real.
She surrendered control of her heart.
She's wanting the real.
She's so tired of the fake,
Tired of running and she wanting to be free,
She's wanting the real.


2nd Verse:
He chats with his friends,
But inside he knows
That they don't really know him

His mind's full of contradictions
He's tried to drown it out with games
He sets it all down and just listens
Jesus calls him to give Him everything
Yet, he's been running, until now

He's tired of living a lie,
Ready to love the truth
He sees that the only way forward
Is to pick up where he left off

2nd Chorus:
He's wanting the real.
He is tired of walking in darkness.
He's wanting the real.
He surrendered control of her heart.
He's wanting the real.
He's so tired of the fake,
Tired of running and wanted to be free,
He's wanting the real.

Bridge:
You and I are in the same situation
We're surrounded by lies and deception
Jesus stands in contrast to this world

He calls us to follow and offers us life...

The question stands before us
What is our answer?
(says: I don't know about you, but...)

Ending Chorus:
I want the real.
I don't want to hold anything back.
I want the real.
I surrender control of my heart.
I want the real.
Jesus calls me to follow.
I'm tired of running; want to walk in freedom
I want the real.

I surrender my life to You, Jesus,
I want the real.

Tag: (?)
I hear Your beautiful voice
Calling me back,
Calling me to give all to You, Jesus
You can have all of me
I want you to lead my life
I want to be free to follow,


Luke 14:33 says:
"So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."

Hey - a fishing update! : )

Greetings to our fellow laborers and prayer partners in the harvest, in the name of our Master and Savior Jesus Christ. 08-08-08

These past 2 weeks have been very busy! God keeps training us how to talk more about Him and helping us study His Living Word and He keeps opening up new doors. It's exciting!

The past 2 weeks we have witnessed at malls, and we had some good conversations. A number of people thanked us for giving them gospel tracts, apparently they just appreciated that someone would take the time to talk to them about eternity. Death is scary to those who don't know where they are headed, unless they are so distracted by their sin right now too much to think about it. In those cases, we try to remind them in one way or another - how many breaths do they have left?

By the way, 'One Heartbeat Away' tracts are very popular with most people! It talks about the one main thing on un-saved people's brains, even if they never talk about it. : )

(Steven's update)
One story that stands out to me was when I saw this group of youth (8 or so) and at the mall. I went over to them and asked them if they got one of these ('101 Funniest One-liners'). They hadn't gotten one and were curious what it was. I told them it was a gospel tract and then I quickly followed up by asking if they knew what was on the other side of death - when we 'check out'. They didn't really know, but they sort of did (probably hadn't thought much about it). After I shared the gospel with them, several of them were still hungry to know more. They were thinking that you just add Jesus to your life and then you can go on doing whatever you want to. I had the opportunity to point out that Jesus went through excruciating pain and suffering, taking God's wrath that we deserve - He gave everything to offer us salvation, and He requires everything in return. We talked some more about it. They seemed to really appreciate the conversation. I ended it by challenging them to study the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for themselves, to see what Jesus really said. I also mentioned that my favorite book is Matthew because it shows how Jesus is so to-the-point on who He is, where we are, and how to change directions to become His followers. One of those guys' names was Matthew - so he really appreciated the challenge/encouragement. : ) I plan pray for them as often as I remember them. It is interesting to see how the more you talk with people about God and His Word, the more people God brings back to mind to pray for. And I know we appreciate people praying for us that we will continue to grow in our hunger/passion for Jesus and His Living Word, so that's how I pray for them too.

This past week, the spiritual warfare was pretty interesting. We had a couple mall security stop us from sharing the gospel at the mall, so we went to other areas. In our brain-storming session afterward, we came to the conclusion that some places are better for just one-2-one conversations. Conversations are fine, but apparently some people don't want us to hand out gospel tracts. But if they ask for one - that is completely different ~ : )

I've been studying Galatians 6:7-9, and working my way through Exodus - 2 exciting studies! And, I've been getting a better understanding of what sin really is, and how offensive it is to God, and even better: how to explain it clearly. I hope this little explanation will help you to be able to explain it more clearly to others.

Sin is obviously more than a list of 'do nots'. Sin is, at the core, a willful rebellion. Even though we know, in some form, what is right, we, humans, all too often willfully choose to do it our own way - rebelling against God. That's the simple of it. We know that the 10 Commandments are more than a guideline for living. They are God's standard: if we are perfect, we can get into Heaven; if we aren't, then we are in big trouble. Obviously we have all lied, stolen things, coveted (wanting something that doesn't belong to us), dis-honored and dis-obeyed our dad and mom, etc. The 10 Commandments are very useful, like that, to show their sin and to help them see how they need to repent, learn to run from their rebellion and embrace ";;;the love of the truth";;;. After we are saved, we won't just be wanting to keep the 10 Commandments. No, what God is asking of those who choose to follow Him, is that we learn a whole new perspective. To not just 'not want the ";;;bad";;; ', but also, for us to be learning to love and embrace the truth, righteousness and obedience. Here are a couple verses that I've been mentally 'chewing on'. "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9) "Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." (1st Thessalonians 5:21-22) "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:17) "... who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:25) "... because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2nd Thessalonians 2:10) "... and did not choose the fear of the LORD." (Proverbs 1:29)

I have found sharing this simple truth challenges those I talk with to make sure they become a genuine follower of Christ. ";;;But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!";;; (Matthew 13:8-9) Also, I have found that pointing out how we naturally choose to do the rebellion, and that we don't go out of our way to do what's right - emphasizes how, until we become followers of Christ, we are walking in willful rebellion, and therefore it is clear how we need to take a complete u-turn and learn to embrace the ";;;love of the truth";;;. Or as the apostle John puts it: ";;;... we walk in the light, as He is in the light.";;; (1st John 1:7)

Thank you again to each of you who prays for us. God continues to open His Word to us, teaching us more and more how to serve and follow Him with all of our hearts!

your fellow laborers in His harvest,
and fellow prayer partners,
David, Barbara, Steven, and Paul