inner monologue//coming out
"One love,One blood,One life
You got to do what you should
One life, With each other ...Sisters, Brothers
One life, But we're not the same
We get to ..Carry each other ,Carry each other "
-U2,ONE
Great Video on Worship that hits on cultural relevance and that could unite generations…. Some harsh but amazing truths!!
Quotes I took away…
“how do we pass on the biblical values of worship when we dont even sing in the same room with each other.”
“we have given musical styles more power to divide us than we have given the gospel power to unite us..”
-Bob Kauflin
Foundations II
Foundations II
So it’s been awhile since I last posted a blog. I have gotten so caught up in twitter and everything else that I have been side tracking, and frankly have not had much to say. But briefly I would like to expand upon the Foundations thought. In my original post on this subject I was thinking that the “cool factor” was to blame for some of the cracks in the foundation of the church but, now after coming back to this thought I am seeing that it is much more. It is our elitist attitude towards the world that is breaking the foundations up more than anything. We have a since of entitlement. By in indulging in this mind set we see that the foundations of our faith are not laid by God and His Word but how much we think that we know about God and His Word. As humans we have this greed to know more (knowledge is power) and to be right (and this could even cause misinterpretation of scripture). In doing this we taint God’s Word, and instead of it being “God speaking to us through His Word,” it becomes “this is what I think God is saying to me because this is what I know about Him and the rest of the world is missing out.” We like to hold onto our faith so tight that we never share it with the world, and the world notices this so they have stop asking questions and started making their own assumptions about our faith. Don’t belittle the power of scripture on your journey to know Him better or you may replace the actual living breathing God with what you have learned about Him.
Foundations
Foundations
If the building falls it not only affects the builder or the foundation, it not only affects every part of itself that has been working together to keep it running… It affects everything around it
The people
The ones who have been waiting for us to fail are always watching and they are watching a building that has started to crack and shift and poke holes in the very foundation it was built upon. We have tried to adapt so much to culture, to our own American ideals that we have even started to market and sell our churches, our religion, our faith. Were looking at who has the best advertisements, we have conferences on how to be a creative church, we try to flash eye candy to get the non Christians to come check us out. We show videos on Sunday morning trying to get people involved and never really seeing why being involved in this church or that church or this ministry or this mission trip really makes a difference
Or how it will change my life
Or their lives
Or anyone’s outlook on how to live
Or anyone’s out look on eternity
All the while never asking the question, why does it matter? I read a fortune cookie the other day that said,” a bee with honey in its mouth has a stinger on its tail.” The Bible has a similar analogy “ wolves in sheep’s clothing.” It seems the only thing we want to ask is if it’s cool. We want to throw all these flashy terms out but are we really backing them up with our actions? It is like we are trying to sell something that we cannot even ourselves deliver on. Are we trying to get people to come into a building? Is it all about numbers and checking out our latest facilities or are we trying to connect with them because we think we have the best news in the world the best way to live, a truth that surpasses all understanding. Sometimes I think as the American church reinvents itself we lose a little bit of what Christ was all about with it. It is almost like Christ won’t show up if we don’t do things a certain way or have the right lights or show the right video or have the coolest hair cuts I feel like we have gone off course and I feel as if I have been apart of it at times…
Last time I looked it seemed to me that God was done with buildings. His temple is now in us.
Our bodies
The Holy Temple is you
His Holy Spirit dwells in us and His temple is grounded on the foundations of His son Jesus and that foundation was built upon by His apostles, Martin Luther, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, You, Me. Do you realize we are the messengers’ carrying the hope of the world. Now is the time for us to build upon the foundations and be united as the temple of God, to have no holes, no cracks and no separation.
There is restoration for our cracked foundation for it to be united once again, it will work together again and the restoration is Jesus. Sometimes I think the church needs Jesus worse than non-believers. This is why. They don’t know what their missing, we know what were missing and we just don’t care. Which is worse?
Let’s say a foreman is building a large building, a skyscraper maybe. What is the first thing he does? Lays the foundation.
Jesus is the foreman
Jesus is the Cornerstone
Jesus is the foundation
We are His Building
We are His symphony
We are His creation
Created to build on the foundation that was laid before the earth was made.
A new dawn is breaking and I am excited to see the unity that is peeking beyond the horizon.
P.S.
I have recently gotten into listening to classical music while I am writing. Mostly because I have ADD and I cannot listen to anything with words in it because it is to distracting. Here are a few of my favorites give them an honest listen for they laid the foundation for the music that you and I enjoy today:
Chopin-Nocturne in C# minor and Prelude in E minor
Beethoven- Moon Light Sonata
UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
Sorry it’s been awhile I have been journaling a lot as you can see by the picture above but I hope you read this and I hope it challenges you….
I know I go on rants about this stuff a lot but I have been coming back to this chapter in my quiet time so I thought I would share it with you. I am reading through Ephesians right now and I have to tell you chapter 4 jumped out and grabbed me because it is talking about unity in the body of Christ and the sad thing is I don’t really see this happening a whole lot. It was like I was reading a foreign text. It is like the church has forgotten that we are one unit and that God is the head. 
Verse 3 says:
Make every effort to keep yourselves united the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
It is pretty clear cut of what is expected of us as believers but this was not the picture that was painted when I was growing up in a small Texas town. Baptist, Methodist, Non-denominational, etc. Wanted to have nothing to do with one another it seemed, at least none of them really made an effort to work together to better the community or the kingdom. We seem to be working as individuals most of the time trying as hard as we can to make a change, to see God’s kingdom lived out here on earth as it is in Heaven, but yet we are fighting an up hill battle. We are struggling against the very way Jesus set the body up and intended it to be, we are divided not only into denominations even in our individual churches. Odd don’t you think?
Verse 5 continues to say:
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all…
This doesn’t sound like the kind of creator who wants division.
This doesn’t sound like a God of denominations.
The God I serve is one of United and Peace.
Paul ends the chapter of this letter by saying:
Get rid of all bitterness…. Instead, be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving to one another, just as Christ has forgiven you.
Remember that you are forgiven and made new in Christ. Let us show our Christian brothers and sisters the same grace. I pray that if an opportunity arises to work with some one in another denomination for the betterment of the kingdom that you would to it without hesitation, that you would lay you prejudices aside and be united and see the hope of the future in the actions you live out in your Christian walk.
Below is the chapter, read it challenge it and let it challenge you.
I will end this blog the same way Paul ends His letter to the Ephesians:
Peace be with you, dear brother and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness. May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4
“Unity in the Body of Christ”
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says:”When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” 9(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Living as Children of Light
17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26“In your anger do not sin”Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
WOW!!!
Hey Guys,
Just to give you and update I am writing an article that I will post soon on the foundations of the church, how we can build on it and restore what we have destroyed.. Also, go get the book , ” The Secret Message of Jesus.” It’s really challenging me in my beliefs.
OK , now onto the real reason for this post….
The title WOW… is because I was checking to see who has been reading this blog. I expected to see Cities like where my mom lives, close friends, some family, and maybe some people from my church and I figured that was already pushing it….
I was shocked to see that people were reading the blog in many states across the U.S. but I was really taken back to see that people are reading it in United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Mexico, India, Thailand, and Malaysia!!!
I am shocked
Flattered
Inspired
Excited
Humbled
I can’t really explain it…
Thanks internet…lol
I hope this blog inspires you and challenges you. My prayer is that your curiosity turns into desire , a burning desire in your soul for truth for unity. I pray that we can see past our differences and work hand in hand to change the world around us and to restore the church to make it a place of
hope for the hopeless.
Peace for the weary.
Love for the heart broken.
I am sorry if you are someone who has felt betrayed by the church, I am sorry if believers have turned their backs on you and judged you. Please forgive us..
That is not the way of Christ…
But have hope…
Hope for the future that this generation will be one of change, of healing, of forgiveness, of love, of restoration and acceptance.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thanks for taking the time to join in my personally journey. I would love to join in yours email me at ellison.tyler@gmail.com.
Peace and Love,
Tyler
P.S. Go listen to the band Sigur Ros they are amazing….. Thats it…
The Teacher
Jesus doesn’t just tell you what to think … he teaches you how to think by engaging you in conversation, asking you questions, breaking down your preconceptions.
- Brian McLaren
This Book has really made me think, ” The Secret Message of Jesus.”
Whether you agree or disagree with Brian Mclaren his books are challenging and insightful and if nothing else outside of the normal realm of thinking.
I personally have gotten to a point were I love to read books by what some people might say to be controversial authors. Why you might ask?
They have gotten people talking..
People are stirring..
Unsettled?
Possibly, but that intrigues me….
There are hundreds maybe millions of people in the world and this guy has people talking, thinking, challenging themselves, challenging their beliefs…..
This is entitled “The Teacher,” for Jesus the greatest teacher of them all but I have never read a book that has been as insightful into the way Jesus was, the way He taught as this book has been…. (personally of course)
Childlike Faith ?
Jesus was so clever… If you have ever read any of the gospels you may have been confused I know I sure have been. What is Jesus talking about? Did that make sense?
Jesus taught in parables for the simple fact of getting us to ask questions.
Getting us to challenge ourselves, to question ourselves… to learn.
His hope is for us to ask Him questions… What did you mean by that? Why did that happen? To provoke a thought, a relationship with Him…
To be in constant wonder….
He teaches us how to think….
By engaging us , by challenging us, by believing and knowing that our human curiosity would take over and we would have to know more about this man, this God who challenges His people. Who speaks in strange parables to force us to ask question…
again, Childlike Faith….
How do children learn… they ask questions from people they trust will tell them the truth…
You possibly have answered a question that a child has asked and thought you were done, that you were clever enough to get them thinking, even proud of yourself. Then as the silence grows longer it is interupted with a resounding….WHY? They always ask the question why…
I think that Jesus craves for us to ask why.. I believe that He long for whys.
But, unfortunalty the silence in between the questions is becoming longer and longer…
Why are we afraid to ask questions?
Wouldn’t you rather seek truth , find it for yourself, let God reveal His truths to you and discover the answer behind the whys rather than grow older and more bitter and eventually forget that there is a God out there to even ask a question too? I would…..
Why not?
hit me back at myspace.com/tylerellison
Go get this book even if you don’t agree with it all it is super challenging and gets you thinking….
Peace and Love
WHAT DEFINES YOU? DIVIDES YOU?
The other night I was about to fall asleep. I was in between being awake and asleep. I have found that this is usually when song ideas happen and when kind of revelational thoughts come into play for myself at least. So, anyways….
I woke up, Jenn (my wife) is asking where I am going and I don’t answer because I am so ADD that I would loose my train of thought, gone to the abyss forever. Which would be a beating honestly. So I run to my journal honestly that run being more of a brisk walk 4 steps to my journal to write this thought down:
Why as Christians are we rooted in what makes us different more so than what makes us the same?
Why are we not grounded in what unifies us but rather in what divides us?
Can a house divided stand?
Can it?
Hope for the future is bleak. I think the church has forgotten that it isn’t a building we go to, rather we are the people that gather in it.
The Church isn’t Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Non- Denominational, Church of God, Assembly of God, Reformed, etc…
The Church is in fact
Believers
Unified
In their joy, their hope, their love for the one true God
But usually we just end up fighting over issues that have no weight on salvation and usually drive us further apart…
Odd considering that we are a Faith built upon love and unity but refuse to work with brothers in the faith to better a world that continually rejects the beliefs of a church that is divided against itself. Odd? Why would they want to join something like that? When the people in that faith cannot even walk in the truths and practices that their Savior died for.
Food for thought
Feel free to comment on these thoughts or any other blog post at my myspace…
myspace.com/tylerellison
hey guys out this video i edited …… this what our youth group looks like come and hang out with us!!!
One Afternoon I had just gotten home from work. I was exhausted and wanted to enjoy the peace that this rare autumn day in Dallas had to offer. So I decided to land in my grandma’s blue chair, that had been past down to me and my wife, with a cup of coffee. Side note I have an addiction to coffee it’s out of control I crave it when I wake up in the morning and pretty much all throughout the day I really don’t think there is a better beverage . Many of you may disagree but, your reading my blog so I guess you will just have to listen. Anyways back on to the story. So I start into Romans, one of the letters Paul wrote in the Bible, Romans chapter 10 to be exact. As I am sipping and reading then re-reading because I forgot what I read between the sip and the text I work my way to the end of the chapter and it’s got me hooked in. It’s says not everyone welcomes the good news of God. Alarmed? No, sadly why should we be, because throughout the chapter it is talking about faith in God comes from hearing the Good News and if you haven’t heard then you can’t have faith and if no one was sent then no one came to tell anyone. So, maybe people were there to hear but no one was there to talk. Interesting? Who is supposed to be doing the talking I wonder? Who is supposed to spread the Good News? Who is supposed to talk about the faith and hope that Jesus came and died for then rose again for? Who? Christians? This chapter ends with God saying, “ All day long i opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious. Rebellious?
I was sitting in a Starbucks not to long ago , I told you I was addicted. Once I got my coffee I decided to chill out for a bit because I was meeting some friends to work on some music for a short film we were doing. So, I waited. As I was waiting I noticed a man sitting alone, in a chair in the corner. Thats right I was people watching , it’s one of those things your can’t help but do but when you see someone watching you , you get freaked out. I know I do at least but none the less I was being a hypocritical people watcher. As I was watching this man he noticed me watching him. But he didn’t react in the same way I would have with the whole I am freaked out. There was something in his eyes , something saying come over let’s chat. I was sure he had quiet a few stories his face looked like he had weathered a few storms. But, I quickly shoved my face deep into the book I was pretending to read I was there for a bit longer and watched him get up look outside , come back sit down and then get up and leave. He was waiting on someone and they never came. i started to feel guilty like maybe I should have gone to talk to him. I found myself wondering why that person had stood him up. What had he done to deserve this? Could I have done anything to maybe help the situation? He seemed lonely and maybe he just needed someone to talk to and I didn’t go because I didn’t feel like socializing. What’s sad is I am a Christian. We are supposed to go talk to people and be there for them and tell them the Good News right? That there is hope and a future. So why is it that as a Christian I have become so disengaged with communication , with forming relationships, with society? I think it is because as Christians we have become really comfortable about talking about God with people who already believe in Him. But that isn’t at all what Paul was telling us to do in Romans and it wasn’t what Jesus told us to do before he ascended to heaven. As Christians we should be careful. Isaiah warns us by saying,” I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.” God has showed Himself to you but if we don’t respond where will He go what will He do? Will He wait on you? Does God suddenly work in our sense of time? No would be my guess. News flash people don’t like Christians. Why would they we tend to just close the doors of our churches in their face and talk about God like He is a history lesson rather than a living spirit working in and through our lives. Why would people want to even try to be apart of something that is so sectioned off from society that it doesn’t even know the meaning of culture? They can’t hear the Good News because no one is talking and even if they were the doors have been shut for so long that no one wants to listen. So should we just give up? Throw in the towel? No, because if you read on in the next chapter of Romans you see God’s mercy on Israel and if He can have mercy on them maybe this world can have mercy on us, and if they can have mercy on us then maybe
there hearts will be softened to hear the Goodness that still
lies in the message we keep.
This is something I am starting to write maybe a manifesto in favor of unity called 4 Corners… Below is the typed copy of a possible introduction above is the handwritten, of course backwards…lol… I believe it will be covering some issues that are burning on the hearts of Christians young and old alike… My hope is that it stirs us to act…
4 Corners is more than a book it is a movement. One that unites culture and religion, one that ties Christianity and the World together. A movement that breaks down the walls of the legalistic church and allows the voice of the Living God to shine through, to pierce the hearts of believers, to have hope in our world as God has hope in our world. It seems like the world outside the church and the church are always in a constant battle and eventually something is going to give. Have we ever thought that it might be the church that needs to give? Not in a sense of forgetting the morals and ethics that Christ taught us but remembering the Love and Grace the He gave us and His command to share that Love and Grace with the world that we so often turn our backs on. Not to shelter that Love and Grace in a church where the doors are always closed or worse yet our hearts, but to give. As a Christian you and I have been given a gift one of hope, peace, grace, faith, and love. Were meant to hold onto it or release it? 4 Corners is about existence, it is about rediscovering Christ even in the church, even in a movement He created.
I think this is one of the best worship songs written ….
Acts
I am reading Acts right now and it’s opening my eyes up…. try it… btw I am on the computer most of the day everything I do is on here for the most part so I found a great way to read my bible via the internet check it http://bibleresources.bible.com/bible_nlt.php it’s amazing. Hope all is well!!! Read Acts!! A litttle eye candy I found this Rad painting of Saul/Paul’s conversion!!! Enjoy!!
Why are we fighting??
This is what sparked this topic for me… I am always frustrated with the division in the religion of Christianity but it has some how just become the norm, kinda weird because I thought it was a religion based on unity and love and hope no matter where you are or were in life… i dont know… denominations? weird concept to me….Anyways what got me thinking about it again was reading all of these blogs about a book called The Shack by William P. Young. There has been so much controvery over this book it makes me sick. This book is helping so many people and yet we as chrisitians still find something to fight about just because doctrinally it may not line up with exactly what you believe or how you imagine God to be but let me remind you that it is a fictional story….fictional…. Christians spend more time fighting than any other religion I know. Maybe not killing each other physically but definately spiritually. We beat each other down with rants on pre-destination vs. freewill, or gifts of the spirit are they for today or have they passed away, should we dunk people when they are getting baptized or sprinkle them with water, how should we take communion. I think we spend so much time arguing about God that we forget Him all together. I have wanted to walk away from going to church on several occasions because of these petty arugments. But the would only be hurting me because if you really want change you have to do it , you can’t wait for someone else. Sometimes I think God is looking down on us and is dissapointed, no we aren’t making golden calfs to worship but have we made the religion of whos right and whos wrong our idol. I sometimes think that we forget that Christianity is a relational ministry. Think about that for a second. Not just relational with each other as humans but relational with God the creator of the world. Do you spend more time talking to God or about Him?? I think I am guilty of the later. I think about God like he is George Washington or Thomas Jefferson rather than my spiritual Father and recite facts about Him like I am reading from a text book. It is weird what american Chrisitiany has become. You have to ask your self if we took a wrong turn, or is there a better way? There has to be more than just fighting with other Christians and reciting facts from the Good Book. We are supposed to show people love and liberation from the weight of sin that is carrying this world to it’s knees. I don’t know I could go on and on and this is probably the first blog of many about this subject. What are your thoughts??
-Tyler
Revolution!!!!!!
I think change is coming … the question is can we change? Or are we stuck in our ways? In everything , every portion of our life?
I wrote a song about 7 months ago with this theme of revolution:
On the rooftops screaming out for our King
Rise a Banner High for the world to see
Light a Fire Burning all through these streets
Revolution, Revolution
Marching onward closer to victory
Sound the trumphets for the returning King
You are God you will not be moved
We’re Your church we will not be moved
Revolution, Revolution
Come all Ye faithful and Join in the Chorus
Sing Hallelujah , Sing Hallelujah
It has been an anthem echoing in my heart and it has just been growing politically and spiritually, I think God is calling us as Christians to a revolution one of the heart and spirit to change our ways of viewing the world, the church and our walk with Him:
rev·o·lu·tion 
