Hope: Strength in Weakness

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

This verse has been instrumental in my life lately. As I ponder on what all this 'strength in weakness' means to me, I feel as if it is God calling me to come to the point of admitting my weakness, and focusing on leading a humble life and getting reconnected with Him. As I near the end of my freshman year here at Mississippi College, a lot has changed. I've gone through some rough times, times that I can now delight in because they have only made me stronger. I believe that it is these times that Christ gives us to only benefit us in the long run. It may not seem that way while we are being plagued by a certain hardship, or even months after an awful event or stressful time has passed. But this verse truly displays what I think is some of the most powerful and encouraging statements in Paul's epistles.

When we think about how anything good could possibly come out of a certain circumstance or event in our lives where we are at the brink of exhaustion and despair, we need not forget the very essence of this verse and what it means to us personally. Only God's children - those who have turned from their sin and embraced Christ by faith, those who are increasingly learning how to love God more and more - understand the great promise of this verse. Only those who have tested the promises of God and proven once again His faithful love can know this. That is why we must hold on to this precious truth, that God's grace is sufficient for us. What an awesome truth!

Over the last week Ryan and I have had the chance to get on the same page concerning all the new music I've come up with, and really focus on how we want to go about recording and hopefully releasing our first album. I really have been blessed with God's wisdom and the gift He has given me to display what He has been teaching me through the music I've composed. One of the songs that is probably one of our favorites that I wrote is called "In Christ I Stand On Stormy Banks". It truly reveals the very essence of what our band is about - bringing hope to all who will simply believe.....accept their weakness.....and be strengthened through their adversity. That is essentially why we have entitled our album as "Hope for All". To remind those in distress, those who are right there on the stormy shores of depression and anger, to give those a light, and helping hand to see the glorious grace of God, the everlasting love, and the strength that is made perfect in our weakness.

Here are the lyrics to our newest song called "Brightside". We hope that it will embody the essence of our album, along with all other 10 songs we have selected. Thanks for visiting our blog and feel free to listen to songs from our EP on our myspace page, become a fan on facebook, and visit our twitter page. Take care, and dive deep in Christ's unending love, and His amazing grace.

"Brightside"

You know the times that we all have,

Those times of despair;

Those times that we won’t admit,

We say we’re too tough to cry, too tough to care.

But soon after that we break,

We don’t know what to do;

Well I offer this one truth

God is still there and He cares about you.

[Chorus]

And when all hope seems lost

Remember God turns bad to good and He paid the cost

Even when you’ve been struck blind;

Just look on the Brightside

Look on the Brightside,

And you’ll see

Just the other day I was talkin to,

A friend who was feeling blue.

He kept askin me why why why?

Why did Lord take her, Why did she die?

I told him I didn’t know why,
But I told Him this simple truth:

If you keep your eyes on Jesus,

He’ll turn the bad around for you.

[Chorus]

When life takes our sun-shine away,

And all we have has gone astray.

When you feel alone and betrayed,

When your walls fall down, and you feel so ashamed;

You think you can’t make it on through

You say “it’s too hard” you make an excuse.

Remember this one saying:

The night is dark before the dawn of day.

Red Letters

After looking back through my old collection of Christian CD’s, I found a song by DC Talk that jumped out at me instantly. It’s a powerful song called “The Red Letters,” which talks about the words of Jesus in the Bible. The chorus especially speaks to me. It says “There is love in the red letters. There is truth in the red letters. There is hope for the hopeless, peace and forgiveness. There is life in the red letters.” In John 15:13, Jesus said “Greater LOVE has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus showed this magnificent LOVE for us as he died on the cross to save us from our sins. In John 8:32, Jesus said “Then you will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free.” Throughout the 4 Gospels (esp. the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus repeatedly said “I tell you the TRUTH.” before he would speak.

To me, the best example of this is found in Luke 23:43 when Jesus says to the repentant thief on the cross “I tell you the TRUTH, today you will be with me in paradise.” Also, Jesus brings the only true HOPE that exists to all people. In Matthew 12:21, a passage in Isaiah is referenced which says “In HIS name the nations will put their HOPE.” People who do not know Jesus do not know the joyous hope that He brings. Isaiah also prophesies about the coming of Jesus and says “And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE.” Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He says in John 14:27, “PEACE I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” There are numerous times in the New Testament where Jesus forgave people of their sins. In Matthew 9, Jesus healed the paralytic and said “Your sins are forgiven.” In Luke 7, the woman who was sinful washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and he said “her many sins have been FORGIVEN-for she loved much.”

Finally, Jesus repeatedly reminds us in the New Testament that He is the giver of life. In John 6:35, Jesus says “I am the bread of LIFE.” In John 11:25, Jesus said to Martha “I am the resurrection and the LIFE.” The most well-known verse where Jesus reminds us that he brings life is John 14:6. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is my prayer that this Easter season will remind us how amazing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is and that we will draw ever closer to him each day.

God Bless,

Ryan

[on stormy banks]

Ryan Lonis

Tony Craig

It's Been Awhile - An Update

Hey guys -

It's Tony and I apologize for going so long without a post. I've been super busy lately, plus I'm waiting on Ryan to put the finishing touches on his blog entry that should be posted within the next week or so. As far as the music goes, we have our next album pretty much planned out, including around 5 or 6 "original" songs I've written, and about 5 other songs we've selected to play. More information will be coming soon, as we finish up the semester and head into the many opportunities the summer holds. We've been offered a recording opportunity with a local individual so we hope we will be able to utilize every tool we have to bring you the best sound and music quality we can possibly get since we are mere amateurs. haha.

As far as our latest developments, fortunately we were able to get together over spring break to introduce the new music I wrote, and while we were doing so we fooled around and ended up recording an improv track which shortly there after became what we call "Ghetto Street Beats". With a little sound effects and improvements to the overall sound, we were able to release it on March 25th and it's avaliable on our Myspace page (www.myspace.com/onstormybanks). Speaking of our Myspace page, - there has been a new update to that as well, just a new look and poster pic. Hopefully we'll have some new pictures up come the summer. We appreciate any support you may be willing to offer and please help spread the word!!

IMPORTANT OFFER: If you would like a copy of our "Redeemed" promo EP, simply leave a comment/send a message to us here or on myspace, (or my email is: tctiger911@yahoo.com) with your name, mailing address, and phone number (optional) and we'll send you a free CD!!! (Donations are always appreciated)

Thanks for visiting our blog and please check out our Myspace page by clicking the banner at the bottom of the page, any of the pictures to the left, and check back for the next blog entry coming within a the next week. If you like what you hear on our Myspace page, please let us know if you would like a CD. Thanks,


A Brother IN Christ

Tony

[on stormy banks]
Ryan Lonis
Tony Craig