Welcome

This is my first post on my Christian message blog and hopefully I have many more wonderful posts for you all to read.

I saw the Casting Crowns concert the other night (8/8/05) and it was awesome. It is always a great experience being around so many praising God at one time. The thing that I hope that I take from that experience is a better appreciation for God and for all that He's done for me and that I work to make my worship of Him stronger.

One song that stuck out in my head from the concert was "American Dream". The song is about a father that is working very hard to get his family all the material things that he thinks are important to them and important in life. In working for all these material things he has to spend all the time he has on work and not his family. In the end he may have gained the material values that he wanted but he sacrificed his family and what really matters most to attain it.

This scenario happens more and more in today’s society. A father in his attempt to gain everything that he thinks is important works long hours and spends all of his time on his work. While doing this he loses sight of the most important things. He misses his children growing up; he sacrifices time he could be spending with his wife. The most important thing (most of the time) that this father sacrifices is his relationship with God. Money won't buy you happiness and all the money in the world can't get you a place in heaven. We need to get back to the important things and not put so much stress on how much money or things we have. Yes money is needed for survival in today’s society, but you don't have to give up your whole life to earn all the money you need to be happy.

Here are the lyrics to the song American Dream:

All work no play may have made Jack a dull boy
But all work no God has left Jack with a lost soul
But he's moving on full steam
He's chasing the American dream
And he's gonna give his family the finer things

Not this time son I've no time to waste
Maybe tomorrow we'll have time to play
And then he slips into his new BMW
And drives farther and farther and farther away

So He works all day and tries to sleep at night
He says things will get better;
Better in time

And he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands

His American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
"Daddy, can you come to my game?"
"Oh Baby, please don't work late."
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away

'Cause he works all day and lies awake at night
He tells them things will get better
It'll just take a little more time

He used to say, "Whoever dies with the most toys wins"
But if he loses his soul, what has he gained in the end
I'll take a shack on the rock
Over a castle in the sand

Now he works all day and cries alone at night
It's not getting any better
Looks like he's running out of time

'Cause he worked and he built with his own two hands
And he poured all he had in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are coming crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands

All they really wanted was You
All they really wanted was You
All they really wanted was You

If this song reminds you of yourself then maybe it's time to take a step back and focus on the imporant things in life!

God Bless!
Matt