The Silver Cord from your ears to your soul

Had the pleasure of attending a free concert last night with local band turned popular "A Rotterdam November" and Fireflight. The sound for Fireflight was a little off but of course it was free and in a high school auditorium but all things considered it was a pretty good show. I hope Fireflight comes back to somewhere like the Knitting Factory because I would definitely pay to see them again.

Music is amazing! It is one of the biggest parts of my life and there is nothing like seeing a live show. Not only is it fun but it also defines the artist, taking them out of the studio without mixers, soundboards and all the technology to make them sound better. Its just them and you get to see if they are really as good as they sound on CD or if its all cover-up. For me the bands live performance is the most important part of their career. I could love a band tremendously, but if they suck live I will hardly listen to them anymore. This has only happened to me a few times, most of the bands that I have seen live have been amazing but their are a few that have just been terrible.

I saw these guys quite a few years ago while they were on tour with Sum 41. I almost left the concert house before Sum even got on stage because these guys were so bad. I mean this video doesn't do it justice. It was at the Knitting Factory too so bad sound was unacceptable. When you are at the best venue in the valley and you sound like poop, that might be a sign to quit embarrassing yourself and quit while your ahead. But then again the consumers don't help things either. I swear some of these people are in straight denial, cheering on the band, having a so called good time when clearly, the band is terrible. Quit encouraging them people! Maybe you should go to a concert sober every once in awhile. The music industry is bad enough these days without tons of crappy bands making it worse. But still for all the Unwritten Laws and Panic at the Disco's you still have your amazing bands that put on great performances every night but they are starting to become far and few between. The music industry is turning into a cookie cutter, all the new bands sound the same and standout bands are scarce. This is not only the secular industry either, the Christian scene is just as bad if not worse then the secular. Anyone listened to Air One lately? We are not suppose to conform to the world right? So why is it that when I turn on a Christian station I hear the same songs being played several times a day and they almost all sound the same? They use the same strategy as top 40 radio playing the same songs over and over and over again until I want to shoot the radio. Now don't get me wrong, there are some popular songs that I like so not all of them are bad but then everything in moderation is fine anyway, well except for drugs they are no bueno all the time. I mean I am a sucker for Taylor Swift's "Love Story" myself, I know thats weird and yes I know I am a guy but come on the girl writes all her own lyrics and the one's in that song just get me every time. Crap I need to stop talking about it otherwise I am gonna start bawling anyways, what I am trying to say is that we as consumers need to say enough is enough. All of us have different views and different tastes, I understand that but still when you have people like Justin Bieber making it in music something is wrong people. The kid doesn't have any talent whatsoever and he sounds like a little girl, where is the substance in that? (Sorry Ashley) We have let the secular mindset and strategy's sink into our lifestyles. We have let the Disney channel raise our kids and now the Jonas Brothers/Hannah Montana era has hit full swing and both secular and Christian markets are benefiting from it. Now I know the Jonas Brothers are Christians and I know that they write their own music but they need to wake up and realize that they are being used. Disney is using them to take advantage of our kids and we need to take a stand and say enough is enough. Thats all I have for now, until next time God bless.

Here is a recommended listening list of some bands/albums that I enjoy.

House of Heroes-"The End is Not the End"

The Classic Crime-"Albatross" "The Silver Cord"

Coheed and Cambria-"Year of the Black Rainbow" "Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3" "No World for Tomorrow"

Circa Survive-"Blue Sky Noise"

Pink Floyd-"Dark Side of the Moon"

A Perfect Circle-"Thirteenth Step"

Chevelle-"Sci-Fi Crimes"

City and Color-"All albums"

Burden of a Day-"Blessed be the Everafter"

Attack Attack!-"Someday came suddenly"

Project 86-"Drawing Black Lines" "Truthless Heroes"

Heavenly treasures Vs. Earthly Possessions! Round 2! FIGHT!

Welcome back everyone! Today I am going to continue to go over the subject that we were going over last time. I posted late in the morning and had to take off to work so I really didn't have time to finish and say everything that I wanted. We were looking in Matthew about focusing on treasures of heaven instead of earthly things and also how when we do that the heavenly treasures themselves will end up manifesting here on earth. I never really went into detail about the second verse and I really wanted to mainly focus on that subject today. I want to start in Proverbs 8:17-18 and a verse that was shared at our prophetic weekend at church that has some relevance to this discussion. The verse says, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity." If you dissect this verse a little bit you will actually find out that the word wealth actually translates into substance, something you can actually touch and see with your human hands. It is our reward for seeking and focusing on him and putting him as the priority in our lives. Now I watch movies and play games as much as the next guy and I am a huge geek and I love comics, superheroes and all that good stuff. Just recently I have started learning to shift my focus a little bit not only because I have gotten married and have kids and a baby on the way but because of my spiritual walk as well. Does this mean that I have to stop doing these things completely? No it doesn't it just means that I need to put God and family first and foremost before the X-Box and TV. Now that we got that settled, I want to focus more on the rewards that come when we shift focus to heavenly things and the kingdom of God. Let's go back to Matthew in chapter 6:9 to a verse we all know. The Lord's prayer also contains a little hint if you want to call it that. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." The whole prayer is amazing but this is the part that I want to focus on. I believe that if we as Christians fully embrace our Creator and put our trust and focus on him that in turn the environment around us will become as it is in heaven. Think about heaven for a minute, their is no sadness, no sickness and best of all Jesus is there. If we walk around with a kingdom thought mentality then there is no reason that God will not reward us for our faithfulness. Miracles will follow and heavenly treasures will begin to manifest, possibly not outright in front of you with a neon sign pointing to it. But hidden left somewhere along the path for you to find it and when you need it most you will find it and the Lord will provide for you. I hope I am making sense in all of this because the last thing I want to do is confuse all of you. I for one am now trying to embrace this lifestyle whole heartedly the best that I can. It's not simple especially with all the distractions that life has to offer and my crazy wandering A.D.D. mind doesn't help things either. But it is a process that takes time, and as long as God looks at your heart and see's that there is progress then he will honor your faith. Taking little bites is highly recommended, because if you try to eat the whole cookie at once you will likely choke and throw up everything that you ate and then guess what? It's inedible, and you need to start over with a new cookie, and then the process starts all over again, yet there is still progress if this happens so don't get disappointed and give up. It happens to the best of us, I don't know how many cookies that I have been through, this one that I have started hopefully will be my last. But if not there is still a God who loves me and has his arms wide open ready to offer me grace. I leave you with this once again from Matthew 6 starting at verse 25, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Cast your care's aside every one. Times are tough and they are probably not going to get any better. The signs are everywhere it seems like there is an earthquake somewhere new every week and we got volcano's shutting down air traffic. Everything points to what Jesus said about the coming of the end of the age. What better time to prepare ourselves for putting our trust and faith in him? Kill the flesh, kill the worrier and God will provide. Until next time my friends, God bless.

Heavenly treasures Vs. Earthly Possessions! Round 1! FIGHT!

Life is full of unexpectedness. Things that you do not plan on always end up popping up and surprising you when you least expect it, leaving you like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming semi about to be pancaked onto the concrete. We have all been here at one time or another whether it be a lay-off at your job or a loved one passing away. During these times it is important that we don't panic and freak out as the world would do in time of crisis. Psalm 23 says that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death that the Lord is with us and that he comforts us in our time of need. So why is it that when things start to get a little out of our control do we, even as Christians tend to let them get the best of us? The treasury of Heaven never runs out so why is it that we don't trust him with our finances? Is it so hard to believe that the maker of the universe can take care of a small trivial bill? Or help lower the stresses of the things that come with dealing with every day life? I believe that it is just the "America mentality" that we have that causes us to forget about the promises that we are entitled to through the kingdom of God. Matthew 6:19-21 says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also." And then later on in Matthew 13:44 Jesus is telling a parable about treasures in heaven as well, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his JOY went and sold all he had and bought that field." So both these scriptures deal with the same subject but at the same time they are totally different from one another. The first one is pretty much stating that it is not wise to focus and strive for earthly things because they are only temporary they can easily be destroyed, stolen or we can lose interest in them and move on to the next big thing. But instead to focus on heavenly things that are eternal and everlasting not fading away. When you shift your attention off the things of this earth and towards the kingdom of God, you are showing God that your attention is on him and he will reward you not just when you go to be with him in heaven but also while you are living here on earth, which leads into the second verse. I believe that the two scriptures are connected, the second one following the first one. When you focus on heavenly things and start to live out your life how God wants you too then in turn heavenly treasures will begin manifesting themselves on earth. The man found the treasure "hidden" and then sold all he had so that he could have the place that the treasure was located. In other words he gave up all his earthly needs and possessions and put his trust and faith in the treasure that he found in the field. Now I am not saying that you need to quit your job and sit around the house all day playing x-box saying "I am okay, the Lord will provide for me. I don't need to work." This is not the way to go especially if you have a family to provide for. That is not living by faith it is simply being lazy and that is not acceptable. Proverbs 6:6-8 says, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest." Oh Snap, a little tiny ant has more worth then a sluggard (lazy butt). Enough said. I don't have enough time at this moment to finish up everything I want to say. So next time will get into a little bit more detail about these heavenly treasures and what they could possibly be and how they can make our lives a lot simpler. God bless!

Home school adventures and the innocence of them.

I was home schooled for just about half of my growing up life. I spent kindergarten and part of first grade and part of second grade in a private school, spending the rest of my time up until seventh grade being taught by my mother. We lived in a kind of small northern California town where is wasn't really popular to home school your children. In fact, at that time their was a possibility of getting into trouble for homeschooling your children. But that is not what I am trying to focus on. During my time being home schooled I got to spend a lot of time with my younger brother and my mother. I always finished my school work early and the rest of the day was mine to do with as I see fit. Most of the time I just waited for my brother to finish his work and then the two of us would go outside and look for adventurous things to do. Or Mom would take us on one of her "all day" adventures driving to many different locations during the day finally getting home late in the afternoon just in time to turn on afternoon cartoons. It seemed like my brother and I always found something to disagree on, and by the looks of things it seemed like we fought a lot, which we did. I mean come on, anyone spending large amounts of time together are bound to get into it after awhile right? There were many incidents where him and I injured each other drastically. One time we were playing with this old toy that I had that was a wooden mallet with some different colored wooden pegs that were suppose to represent nails I think. (I know, doesn't sound like such a bright toy idea does it Mattel?) Anyways one day I was playing with it and my brother seemed to think that he was somehow entitled to the rights of my toy since every once in awhile out of my good graces I let him play with it. I refused him his rights and he in turned grabbed the hammer from me. As I tried to grab "My Precious" from his grasp feeling just as demoralized as poor Gollum, he decided to jab the handle of the hammer into my eyeball. Intense pain soon followed with me unable to open my eye. Lets just say my Mom flipped her lid, Jason felt the end of a wooden spoon, (Vengeance is mine sayest the Lord.) and I was in danger of forever being blinding by the end of the hammer. Mom laid hands on me and prayed for me immediately and I experienced my first miracle. Now my eye was jacked up man, the force of the blow had rolled my eye into the back of my head and I couldn't open it at all. Merely minutes after my Mom prayed for me I had one hundred percent full vision back and the pain was gone! That was awesome man, God heals, but that discussion is for another time. My brother, feeling horrible about his actions apologized and of course I forgave him right away because we were young and forgiving people is easy when you are a kid. Plus he was my brother and I wouldn't change any of our adventures for any reason because it has molded the relationship that we have with each other today. I would lay my life down for the man and I know that he would do the same for me, its that simple. Continuing with my story, in fall of 1993 our family left California and moved up to Idaho first to Nampa for a month and then to Kuna where my family still lives and have been there for the last 16 years. When we first got here my Mom of course tried to keep my brother and I home schooling as we had been doing but after while she had to start working so that we could get by. So, I was then introduced to the public school system at 7th grade, having no past experience and having no idea what to expect. In short, my innocence was lost, I had not yet gotten to the point in my Christian walk to where I could prepare myself for the things that surrounded me in my environment. Now I over exaggerate a little when I say my innocence was lost, I was still a good kid as far as I know and I didn't do a lot of things that I could have done at an early age. It was just some words that I learned and some things that I saw led to the corruption of my mind at a young age which still to this day I am trying to recover from. Am I blaming anyone for this? My parents did what they had to do it was not their fault. Also, I made many friends in school that I did not have and could have not had being home schooled, so no I am not blaming anyone for the decisions that I made. I just wish that I would have gotten into the bible at an earlier age and learned how to defend myself from the advances of the world. Because when it all comes down you are responsible for yourself. Your parents are only responsible for raising you how they think you should and how you go from there is completely up to you. Here I am twenty eight years old and finally beginning to take advantage of the gifts that God has given me I only wish I could have had them when I was twelve. So I guess what I am trying to say is don't wait until you are out of school to start building your relationship with God. Home schooled or not this is probably the most important part of your life. Kids today have no excuse resources are unlimited today and they have things that I did not. Internet, unlimited books and an assortment of religious channels on television cover all areas. But the most important tool is the book that hopefully sits very close to you every day of the week. The bible hold the secrets to the universe, so open it up every once in awhile and ask God to give you some insight. Trust me, he won't leave you disappointed.

Start your day off right = Positive attitude

Do you ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go right? We have all been there at one time or another. Whether it be starting off your morning by arguing with your spouse, or the genius that cuts you off on the freeway on the way to work. The devil dresses up annoyance's and irritations in many forms as ways to try to ruin your day most of the time before you even walk out the door. So how do we stop ourselves from stepping or sometimes running directly in the trap that the enemy has set for us? Well first of all its all about our attitude and how we handle the things that come our way. Its very easy to be a jerk when your wife asks you to do something for her in the morning but if you handle any and all comments or requests that come your way with a positive attitude then you will start realizing the change more and more everyday. I am not saying that you will not have your disagreements and arguments, because not all disagreements and arguments are bad, especially for newlyweds. Some disagreements and arguments can help build your marriage. For example when I leave clothes on the floor around the laundry basket and not inside of it and my wife voices her concerns telling me that when I am living out my Kobe Bryant fantasy with my boxers or a pair of socks that I need to make sure they still end up in the basket. Now of course there is going to be some slight arguing and "discussing" if you will but in the end since I have such a good attitude about it I will be one step closer to making sure my dirty clothes will end up where they are suppose to be. My wife will appreciate my efforts and I will have made her happy so therefore I am happy. It's all about the attitude. And the number one way to control your attitude is to start your morning off right. I used to not be a morning person at all. Every chance I got I would sleep in until long hours of the afternoon lazily making my way out of bed sometimes not until way after noon. But I found my day was not as fruitful and that my attitude sucked big time and eventually I learned that I could not do it anymore. Lately, especially over the last few days I have found myself getting up earlier and earlier, first brewing a pot of coffee and sitting at the kitchen table with my bible open. It's amazing how quiet it is early in the morning especially in between the hours of 3-5 A.M. Our pastor says that this is the best time to hear the Lords voice because the rest of the world is quiet. The bars are closed, the kids are asleep and almost everyone has not even got up to get ready for work. Sunday morning for me was amazing I got up at about 4:15 and dove into Romans 6 and fed myself for about 2 hours digesting the living words and even writing up a possible sermon for a later date. The rest of my day was amazing, now my wife was not the happiest because I kind of work her up early and she's pregnant so when she doesn't get her sleep well she isn't happy. So of course that day I went out of my way to make sure that she was as happy as she could be during the day. I did things like clean the kitchen, rubbed her shoulders and various other things to help her feel better and also because I was the reason that she felt the way she did. Men, we cannot be afraid to man up to things that are our fault. The easiest way to avoid confrontations and arguments is to IMMEDIATELY apologize for something when you do it. Now don't give me this, "Well if she wouldn't have said this then I wouldn't have said that." No, there is no excuse for things like that. She is your wife and God gave her to you as a partner in life so there is no reason for you to say hurtful and disrespectful things to her. Treat her with respect and you will get it back not only from her but from God as well. Ephesians 5:25-27 says "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." Verse 28 goes even further saying "In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." So what it comes down to is loving your wife with the same sacrificing, giving, caring and grace as Christ has for us. Whoa that is heavy, because Jesus loved us so much that he died for us on the cross and that is the same way we are suppose to love our wives with such passion and intensity that we are willing to give up everything for her. It comes down to sacrifice my friends. Sacrifice everything that might be bringing your attitude down and watch as your life and marriage blossoms. Well it wasn't my attention to focus on marriage so much but I don't have an outline for this thing I am just getting on and letting the Holy Spirit work through my hands on the keyboard. I hope this has helped you guys. Wives, its not just the husbands responsibility either remember Ephesians also says "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior." Thats Ephesians 5:22-24. It is both the wives and husbands responsibility to maintain a positive attitude and to handle everything according to the word. If you do this your life will become amazingly more simple and any obstacles and arguments that come your way will easily be settled and you can focus on other things that are more important. Like zombies......

Hi! My name is....

Hi! My name is Eric Clover. I live in Idaho, no not Iowa, Idaho. And yes we do have potatoes but that is not the only thing that we are known for. We also have, um, we have, um....Oh yeah we have an amazing college football team that plays on blue turf. And we have, oh I can't think of anything right now but I am sure that something will come to my mind sooner or later. I love to write, it is one of my great joys in life. I also love my wife and two stepchildren that God has seen to bless me with even though I do not deserve it. But then again do any of us deserve anything? That is the beauty of grace that God offers us. Grace is defined as undeserved favor, something that you are blessed with even though you have done nothing to earn it. Life is like that isn't it? We spend most of it wandering around, trying to find our place in this world oblivious to the plan that God has on our life. It has taken me almost all of my twenty eight years to finally realize what He has planned for me, yet I am still a work in progress just like all of us. In the bible in the book of Romans it says "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." What I have learned over the years is the all really does mean all. No one escapes from the definition of the word it includes everyone on this planet. It doesn't matter if you go to church every Sunday or if you feed homeless people at the shelter on the weekends. We have all sinned and we are nothing without the grace that God offers us through his Son Jesus Christ. You might say, "Great, all this blog is going to be is this guy shoving religion down my throat I don't need that." Take it easy, it won't always be so "God heavy" if you will. I just want to start this blog off right and let you know where I am coming from and what my beliefs are. And its not religion. If there is one thing I hate more than anything it is a legalistic, religious and shallow person. It goes beyond religion or words written in a book even though the words that are written in the bible are alive and stamped by the very breath of God. No its more about a relationship with the one that created you. The one that with a word formed the very dust of the earth into a living breathing human being. No ooze, no monkey, dust. It's about knowing someone that loves you so much, even when you spit in his face by the life that you live he still offers love and grace to you. And their is only one way my friends. It is by the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on a cross over two thousand years ago that you can be saved. And the their is only one way. In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There it is folks plain and simple in black and white. There is no other way to find salvation except through the Lord Jesus Christ. Not Muhammad, Buddha, or Krishna for they are still dead laying in the same grave they were buried in. But Jesus Christ rose from the dead after being crucified showing that death no longer had a hold on him and that we could have the same power if we only believe in him and give him our lives fully. I just wanted to start this thing off right, coming all the way out with my beliefs and give you an opportunity to take life to a whole new level. If you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. All you need to do is ask. Pray and say "Jesus, I am a sinner. Please forgive me, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and that you rose again. Please come into my life and show me how to live" If you say this prayer, you are now part of the kingdom. Feel free to email me: ericclover82@gmail.com and tell me your testimony. I would love to hear about it. Well until next time friends this is Eric Clover saying so long and God bless.