This is a prayer that I came across while at an Arts and the Christian Faith seminar today:

Our Father, in You we live and move and have our being. For You are the source of all that is good. You are the beginning of every created thing. Therefore we praise You for every gift in our possession, because each gift presumes a giver, and each ability finds its origin in Your creativity. Without Your gift of joy, we would have no song worth singing. Without Your making it possible, we would not know the art of making music or the delight of using word and sound to Your glory. Lord, You are our theme; You and Your achievements. We can never exhaust so vast a subject. For by Your Spirit we find new meaning in old songs, and new songs are born out of the constant freshness of Your Word.

Thank You, Father, for the rich heritage of music: for the poets whose words sing twice over when they are set to great melodies; for the composers of today who are adding to the rich legacy we already possess; for variety, innovation, and the mix of taste and talent that keeps our church music from stagnation and familiarity; for those whose gift is to perform, who by the use of human voice of an instrument create the atmosphere of worship; for those who taught us our expertise; for those who urged us to study; for those who financed our training; for those who still encourage us to improve our skills.

Forgive us, Father, if we make music into a god to be worshiped for its own sake, for careless performance and for singing music unfit for Your praise, for drawing attention to ourselves instead of pointing to You, for musical snobbery, for sentimentality, for neglect of the meaning of a song, and for singing without personal commitment to You.

Help us, Father, form this moment on to so surrender our powers to You, as the One who granted them to us, that in cooperation with one another, we may be Your servants, leading Your people in the solemnity and exuberance of true worship.

To You be all the praise.

Bryan Jeffery Leech

I was just thinking how beautiful it is just to be in God's presence. Tell me if you've ever experienced this (seriously). You're laying on the beach, back to the towel, eyes to the sun. You've got your shades on, so you don't have to worry about the brightness completely obliterating your pupils through your eyelids. Anyway, you're feeling quite comfortable now, and you're starting to drift away. Moment by moment, you tip-toe into dreamville. Now, freeze.

Hold that moment in your memory for a bit. Warmth all over. At a perfect peace. Still conscious of your surroundings, but not bothered by them. Still remembering what your vacationing from, but not dwelling on it. Still completely in this world, but not completely in its mentality.

God calls us out of the darkness, out of the cold, and out of the empty. He beckons us toward the light, toward the warmth, and toward His company. We may look at the moon and comment on how bright it is, but remember: the moon's brightness is completely dependent on the sun's impact. Likewise, we have the choice of accepting and reflecting the light that God has to offer. In the midst of the world's night, we can shine like the moon.

So, for those of you that have been to one of my shows and think that I have it all together, this is for you. The past two days have been a wonderful experience of God drawing me back to Him. A question was posed during the sermon on Sunday, "Are you incorporating waiting for God's direction into your personal goals?", and another question was asked at a student ministries talk that night, "Are you completely moldable by the hands of God, or are you submitting to the pressures of your peers?" I couldn't answer yes to either.

On my way home from church that night, I had a nice chat with God. You see, I wasn't looking for God's direction and molding because for the past few days, I didn't believe in the reality of God-with-me. Here's a secret: if you're in a spiritual dry spell, avoiding prayer and dismissing God's Word is not a good method of getting out. Finally, I had vocally run out of reasons not to invite God into my everything, and fell into a short moment of silence - and that's when I heard God speak.

Passing through a wooded area, I was overwhelmed with the irrefutable reality of God's creation. How could anybody deny God's persistent purpose and pleasurable presence within all nature? There's no way that this was all just created by any coincidental collision of molecules way back when. From that spark of insight, I could rest confidently that yes, God has an active handle on my life as well. Just like the frogs and the trees, I am sustained only by my creator, not by myself.

So, when exactly is it that God shows up? Right now.

You know what? God is good. That's really all that I have to say right now - I shalt savor the power of simplicity here. Just remember that God is good. Check this out and find this out for yourselves:

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:13-14) "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him." (1 John 5:14-15) "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him." (Romans 8:28)

There you have it. No matter where we are in life, in situations both great and awful, lift up your prayers to Him. He'll not only hear us, but will answer our prayers in a way that leads to good for those who love Him. There's a lovely dose of Godly optimism for ya.

As I get so close to the end of my life as a college student, I can only praise God for all that He has given me over the past four years. I know that God has given me all that I have and all that I am and all that I will be from here on out, and I can only pray that I would be faithful enough to even recieve those gifts with humility. It's going to be difficult leaving the world of the comfortable into the world of the unknown, but I'm pretty sure that God saw me through the last time I did that on July 10 of 2000 and I'll be good this time too. Thank you all so much for being with me over the years - in helping me see God's purpose for my life and in giving me comfort in hearing that calling. I'm still not sure where I will be, but I know that wherever I do go you will all go with me - because that's just how seeds work.

I just had a benefits concert featuring myself, John Suisse and the Time Piece, and Joi to raise money for habitat - it was awesome! Because of everyone's support (especially Muhlenberg's Activities Council), we've brought together another $207 for the program! This means that since last February I've been able to raise a total of $2,066 for Habitat! What a privilege it is to see God work through the littlest of things...I can see God's will to bless this group on a very large scale. Thanks to all of you who contributed! Your contributions have not (by far) gone unnoticed.
Donate to Habitat for Humanity

So I just got back from this year's Alternative Spring Break Trip with Habitat for Humanity, and it was an absolute blast! Thanks to all of your generous donations, we were able to help one under-privileged Harrisburg resident incredibly happy. Our group (the 8 of us from Muhlenberg) painted the interior of her home a beautiful shade of light blue with sharp white trim - just thinking about the improvement we've been able to bring to her home makes me so excited! We were also able to replace the wax ring (icky) in her toilet, install some storm doors, and remove some dangerous tack strips on her stairwell and in her living room. So, to everybody who offered us your money and prayers, we thank you - you have changed the lives of 8 Muhlenberg Students and one happy Harrisburger!
Donate to Habitat for Humanity

Tonight, I had another concert at Trinity Lutheran Church in Reisterstown, MD and again, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans agreed to match all funds donated!! All donations received today are to be contributions to aid in relief overseas in response to the recent tsunami - and guess what - we raised $1,183!! Absolutely remarkable. I couldn't have even asked for a more successful night. God has truly blessed Trinity, and I'm ever-thankful to have them as a part of my life.
Donate to Habitat for Humanity

What an amazing night! The Trinidudes and I just had another performance at Trinity Lutheran Church in Reisterstown, MD and guess what. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans offered to match all funds donated!! All of tonight's proceeds will be going to Muhlenberg College's Alternative Spring Break program with Habitat for Humanity - and we received $673!!! That's $673 bucks that Habitat's program at Muhlenberg didn't have before. That's a ton of money that will surely help people to help people to help people. OK...you get the picture. So with all I am, thank you, Trinity and Thrivent, for your utmost generosity and care in furthering God's Kingdom one ministry at a time.
Donate to Habitat for Humanity

Ryan's first CD, "Recreated", is finally here! Recorded in Baltimore, MD, Ryan shares 13 of his songs for all to hear. Click here to find out more.