The power of music

I will never cease to be amazed at how powerfully music can speak to us. From the choruses of Bach to the emotionally powered Dashboard Confessional to the praise songs that fill our Sunday mornings, music speaks to us.

This past week I got an email about the power of music that literally moved me to tears (which isn't an easy thing to do). Music speaks and music moves.

Speaking of music, today my copy of Gavin Mikhail's CD "Like Normal People Do" came in the mail. I've never been more excited to get a CD.

Ever since being referred to Gavin's myspace a few weeks ago, I have become a huge fan of his music. I purchased his first album "Personal Beauty Needs" from itunes and it's incredible. I come into contact with a lot of good artists through the radio show, but this guy is one of the best I've heard. The funny thing about it is Gavin is not a "Christian artist", yet his music has inspired me more than any other CD I've heard this year.

If you have even two extra moments, check out Gavin's website and listen to the songs there. You won't be disappointed.

All We Need

Rich or poor, God I want You more
Than anything that glitters in this world
Be my all, all consuming fire.
You can have all my hands can hold
My heart, mind, strength and soul,
Be my all, all consuming fire

Cause we have all we need in You
All we need is You
All we need is You

All We Need by Charlie Hall

The secret to a content life: Give as much as you can away. The more we hoard, the more we want and the more we want the less satisfied we are with what we have.

And the more we give away, the more the wealth is spread. Recently I went to the global rich list and entered in my last years income (that according to North American standards wasn't very much). According to their stats my income puts me in the top 41% of the richest people in the world! So where do you stand? Well...

-Someone who makes $30,000 CAN a year: top 8.9%
-Someone who makes $40,000 CAN a year: top 4.37%
-Someone who makes $50,000 CAN a year: top 1.78%

Those stats, along with scripture lead me to believe that spreading the wealth isn't only the responsibility of the 400 billionaires published on the recent Forbes list. We have all we need financially (living where we do) and spiritually (knowing who we know). We need to share the excess with those who don't. As another song from Charlie Hall says: "We could feed the whole world with the crumbs of our bread." And if the story of Jesus and the loaves of bread and the fish is any indication, when we give God everything we have, He will multiply it until every mouth and soul is fed.

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." (Philippians 4:11-12)

Cheery website

I've changed up the website that I will be using as the base for Walking Through A Fallen World and anything else related to the book or future projects.

I had launched it about two months ago, but I wasn't really happy with the appearance and had gotten a few comments on how it felt a little dark. That said, it didn't really match with the purpose behind the site or the book, so I've gone with a different more "cheery" design.

Check out the new site: www.kristenmcnulty.com or www.walkingthroughafallenworld.com and let me know your thoughts!

Copyright

Yesterday I registered for my very first copyright. So if you were planning on writing a book titled Walking Through A Fallen World anytime before I've been gone from this earth for fifty years, you're out of luck!

Crazy week, crazy weekend

It's been an insane week. Between College and Careers starting up again for the fall, my courseload and work I haven't had a whole lot of extra time. However that has taught me to be more efficient with the time I do find in between and I have made some progress on a few things I've been working on...

Website updates
The appearance of the MAD website was getting old, so I changed some stuff up. Added new photos. Fixed the station listings to ensure accuracy. Added links. Take a look at www.madradioshow.net

Room changes
A few months ago I changed up some stuff in my room, added an extra cupboard for storage, etc. Well this weekend I finished stage one of the decorating process. Nothing fancy though. Added a few framed photos to the walls. Put up more bumper-stickers in my ever growing collection (long story). And finally went through a stack of papers that has been building up for way too long. Good to see some progress.

Gym Membership
Before my surgery last October I was a 5 time a week gym goer, so I'd be lying if I said that hasn't be a routine that I've missed. I wanted to join up again in June when I was given the all clear, but couldn't afford it. Well, thankfully the Lord has provided me with the money (actually he has provided me with someone who wanted to pay for my membership- score!) so this week I started up again.

The gym is in a building close to my house that actually used to be a catholic church. Even though it's kind of sad that the church closed, the gym did an amazing job restoring it- they even left in the stained glassed windows. Beautiful.

College and Careers
Well C&C started up again this week for the new school year. It was great to see everyone again and to have a chance to re-connect after the summer. This week to kick things off, I lead a study on using the gifts that we have been given, whether that is time, money, our abilities, etc. It's funny because I had a completely different study prepared, but on Tuesday night I really felt that it wasn't the study I was supposed to be doing. So at the last minute I scrambled to put together something new that God had laid on my heart and it was amazing how God used the message to speak to me and the others there. He is so good!

A quote to leave you with:

"Just do whatever Jesus calls you to do the moment it is clear to you. Do not procrastinate; do not hesitate; do not deviate from whatever course of action He calls you to." Erwin McManus

What God Has Done (And Continues To Do)

This November brings the fifth anniversary of the MAD Christian Radio Show and I can't believe that it has already been five years!

I can remember what my September looked like five years ago: all the planning that went into the show. The fear, the insecurity. When I started the show I had no idea what I was doing (and in a lot of ways still don't lol) but I had no idea that the show would go where it has. And when I say that I'm not trying to brag because I'm very much aware that the success has nothing to do with me, but everything to do with God. He could have chosen many more qualified individuals to do this, but for some insane reason He chose me and I am very thankful for this gift.

And it is a gift. Yes it's a heck of a lot of work at times, but as I've said many times over again: "I love what I get to do and I do what I get to love." I love discovering new bands and giving them a shot at real airtime. I love sitting down and making a playlist for a show, then looking back and seeing the theme that God has interwoven into it. I love interacting with radio stations around the world and getting their perspectives on ministry. I love writing the devotionals and I love it when God reminds me later of those words and uses them to teach and change me. I love producing the audio and figuring out what works and what doesn't. I love checking the radio show email account and reading stories of how God has used the show in people's lives. I love reading radio trade magazines and learning from some of the best in the business. I love meeting listeners and hearing their stories. I love producing the podcast and making use of the latest technology. I love what I get to do and I do what I get to love.

And somewhere in the middle of living this dream, I see God's hand working and it is amazing. He used an 18 year old who was a baby Christian at the time to start something that would still be going strong five years later. And today He uses this 23 year old, sitting in her house in Timmins, Ontario (a place most people have never even heard of) to broadcast the message of His love and grace to over 30 cities in five different countries, to the world on 20 online stations, to cyberspace through a website that receives thousands of visitors a month and to iTunes users through a podcast that receives over 1,000 listeners a month.

Scary? Yes. Humbling? For sure.

But I haven't brought this up to say "look at me, I've got it all together"- that couldn't be more not true. I bring this up, to first of all, give glory to who it belongs to: God and secondly, to testify that God is bigger than any roadblocks that may exist between you and your dream.

If you are a follower of Christ and you have a dream on your heart, it's no accident. In fact, it's a divine placement from a God who loves His children to dream big! Unfortunately too many times we scoff at these big dreams and think "God wouldn't ask me to do that". Well guess what- He would! My life is a testimony to that.

So what's standing between you and your dream? Is it a step of faith that you should be taking? Is it a choice that you should be making? Or are you, like the Israelites, still marching around the perimeter of what God has promised you, waiting in faith for the walls to come crashing down?

It doesn't matter where you are in your own journey after your dream, what matters is that you are on the journey and that you're not walking it alone. He created our hearts and knows our deepest desires. Sometimes all He requires us to do is take a small step of faith: whether that means walking on water or walking in circles around a city, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we do take that step of faith when it is required and trust Him and His plans for our lives in the meantime!

"May he grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your plans." (Psalm 20:4)

"Thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them." (A.W. Tozer)

Keeping our heads down

Well with yesterday being my last day of summer holidays, I decided to spend it at one of my favorite places: the golf course. I don't know what it is, but there's something about the game that just completely relaxes me. Maybe it's being in the middle of God's creation. Maybe it's spending quality time with my brother. Or maybe it's just because I get to throw all of my energy into making something an inch in size hurdle down a fairway 250 yards. Yeah I think that's it. ;)

Seriously though some of my best times with God have been while playing golf. Golf is also the sport where I've gotten a whole lot of illustrations from for devotionals and articles. And one of these illustrations came to me today.

You see with golf in order to swing properly you have to keep your head down while you're swinging. If you look up too quickly to try to follow where your ball is going, it's not going to end up where it should because you can't do a proper follow through by jerking your head up. No instead, you have to keep your eyes locked in place and trust that those around you are watching where the ball goes.

The same thing applies to us as Christians if we want to be effective in the ways we minister. To do it properly, we must keep our heads down, focused on the task at hand. The second we start looking up and around trying to count results before we're even finished, we mess up. We take a shortcut and as a result, lack in our follow through (and in the case of many Christians we lack in follow up).

This is the reason why churches don't grow when they count salvations instead spending that time training those new Christians to be disciples. This is the reason why some ministries grow in number, but collapse later under a shaky foundation. When we focus on numbers and results we lose sight of what's right in front of us. And when that happens, often what's right in front of us fails.

"The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever." Psalm 121:8

Knowing that, doesn't it just make sense to keep our eyes on what they should be watching and trust God to watch over the rest? After all, our eyes aren't capable of seeing the whole picture. While we can see the physical, only God can see the complete spiritual picture and when we're using our gifts for Him, that's the only perspective that really matters in the end anyways.