Free Music from Tquan Moore

Do you like free music? Get it here. Select songs from TQ's debut album and new demo "Dreamer's Prayer"

Quote of the Day:

Getting reconnected with old friends is like finding money your pocket. They are always with you but you are reminded how valuable they are when you see them again.

New Music Video "Finally Headed Home'

Finally Headed Home from Tquan Moore on Vimeo.


Official Finally Headed Home Music Video
Performer - Tquan Moore tquanmoore.com
Song by Jonathan Barrick
Video production, Directing, filming and overall awesomeneses by
Doug Robinson and Jonathan Wilson of oceanwallsmedia.com

Silent Night Video.m4v

Give the Gift of Music! Tquan's digital music is on sale for 1/2 price now! Order and receive a download of Silent Night for free. More info here: http://www.tquanmoore.com/music

Receiving God's love like the ground receives rain.

Here is something that I have been learning lately. I have a hard time fully accepting grace. There are things that I have read and heard about how God loves me so much and how he looks at me with as his son who he very proud of. I just have a hard time fully accepting this at times. It is not that I don't accept God's love at all, because in my head "I know" he loves me. It is like this. I know that the Aurora Borealis is beautiful but I have really experience it? I have not seen it with my own eyes, heard the silence in the Arctic as the the colors dance in the sky or felt cold on my face as I was amazed by it. You see there is a difference between knowing the beauty of something like the Aurora Borealis and fully taking in  the varied aspects of its beauty.

Don't  misunderstand. I believe God loves me. He has shown me over and over again. So, that fact that he loves me is not really in question, but somewhere Satan has done a good job deceiving me, so that it has become hard to experience this in my heart.  It is crazy because I know his love to be true, I have taught his love to be true and have seen others receive the benefits of his love. But still, trying take it in to where I know that neither my good deeds or my bad deeds change his love for me has been difficult.  I am so used to being evaluated and/or 'loved' (by myself and others) based on my abilities or lack there of. 

So, this is my prayer to God today. God, I know that you love me. You have shown it over and over again through you what you have done for me. So, help to the feel and know your love more deeply and to take it in completely. I want to receive your love like the ground receives the rain. I want know how high, how wide and how deep is the love that you have for me. Let your love rain fall on this barren land.  In Jesus name, amen.

Praying for the impossible is a waste of time.

Praying for the impossible is a waste of time, because a prayer like that doesn't work. Now before you believers in prayer click to another blog in disgust and before prayer skeptics exclaim, 'Finally an end to this prayer nonsense,' I want you to understand where I am coming from.

Recently, I was asked, 'Should we pray for the impossible.' Normally, I would say yes, but this time my spirit said no. Here is the reason why I have changed my thinking. The definition of the word impossible is 'incapable of being done, undertaken, or experienced.' So if we pray for the impossible, then by definition we are praying for something that can't be accomplished. Or at least we believe that is it impossible to be accomplished.

Jesus' disciples prayed for what they believed to be impossible. Or at least their faith didn't not match with what they asked for. In Matthew 17:14-20. The disciples tried to cast out a demon from a boy but they could not. After Jesus cast the demon out of the boy, the disciples asked, why they couldn't cast the demon out. Jesus responded, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." The disciples didn't believe that it was possible or at least they didn't believe that it was likely, therefore it was impossible for them.

There are some things that I don't pray for because they are impossible. For example: I don't pray that God will lie to cover up my sin. I don't pray for God to lie because he won't. It is impossible. It says so in Hebrews 6:18. I would never pray for God to reverse what he did through Jesus. That would be an impossible prayer. It is impossible because it goes against God's unchangeable nature. Not only are these prayers fruitless but they would be a waste of time. Why bother asking for something that can't be done.

Here is what I would suggest. Believe in the infinite possibilities that come from praying to God. If we are going to pray, then we must believe that what we are asking for can be granted. Also, If we are sure that what we are asking for is God's will, then we should not only believe it to be possible, but we should expect it to be granted. With God the possibilities become endless. If we believe in a God who makes all things possible (Matthew 19:26), then we won't pray for the impossible. We will pray to a God who destroys the notion of impossibilities.

Considering my Royal Position

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

Esther 4:14 NIV

I don't generally think of myself as having royal position. I tend to think about my limited funds, limited influence and other limiting things to reinforce my thoughts about my position in life. But then I am reminded of my royal position when I drive pass the guy the with a sign that simply says, "Hungry, Need Help" after I am full from my lunch from the value menu or when I get that email about the former classmate who now has cancer after I have returned from playing hoops with the guys. If these kinds of things weren't enough, The Spirit reminds me that I have royal position by the simple fact that I am a son of God.

So, there are times when something stirs in me to act on someone's behalf or for the common good, but my limiting thoughts make room for fear and doubt to throw up "Caution" and "Do Not Enter" signs in my path. During these times may my God and Father remind me of my position, so that I may act. Not that I shouldl act out of guilt, because what God wants will be done with or with out me. No, may I act from the joy of joining God in accomplishing the improbable and the impossible. All the while kicking down "Caution" and "Do Not Enter" signs along the way.

A Prayer for Haiti

Father,

A broken people cry out for a broken people.

A people who have all and need All,

have our eyes on people who have none and need All.

Father,

I pray for the miraculous.

A miraculous move of your Spirit in the hearts of your people.

Use us to heal, restore, comfort, aid, show compassion

and revive a devastated people.

Move mountains of compassion and place them in Haiti

May they be towers that declare your glory, healing and love.

In the name of the one who was broken for us.

Amen

Raise the Roof

So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. - Mark 2:2-4

A few Sundays ago God really impressed this passage on my heart. I happened to end up teaching part of a bible class when the teacher had to suddenly leave. As we were discussing the story a few things came to my attention and convicted me to my core.

The scenario goes like this: Jesus is in town. People have heard him teach and seen him heal the sick therefore, Jesus is drawing a crowd where ever he goes. He stops at a home and begins to teach and a crowd gathers. A large crowd gathers. I assume that some get there first and get front row seats, while others rush to grab the best vantage point to take in the Rabbi's teaching and to watch his miracles. People are now pressed against each other, the room has grown warm due to body heat and now people are having to stand outside and peek through windows to see and hear Jesus. A few friends of a paralyzed man, determine that they are going to get there friend to Jesus for healing. They quickly realize that the crowd is not sympathetic to the fact that they are carrying a paralyzed man and trying to get him to see Jesus for healing. I can only imagine how difficult it was to carry their friend from wherever he was to the place where they had heard that Jesus was teaching and when they finally make it there, they can't get in. So, they get the idea to tear apart the roof and lower their friend through the roof in front of Jesus.bJesus sees them, forgives their sins and heals the man, so that he can walk.

This is an amazing story with several great points to take in. Such as

1. The men loved their paralyzed friend enough to bring him to Jesus.

2. Jesus not only heals him but forgives them of their sin. (Complete healing)

3. The crowd did not let the paralyzed man through for healing.

And more

The thing that grabbed my attention was a question. The question was "What was the difference between the people in the crowd standing at the window of the house and the friends climbing on the roof and getting there friend in front of Jesus?" There may be many answers to this question but the thing that stood out in my mind was that the men helping their friend would not be content with their position on the outer edge of the crowd. They had to get closer for healing. I believe that at some level each person in the crowd settled for the spot that had.

What convicted soul was the truth that I am a part of the crowd. It is like have settled with the idea that if I can see Jesus and hear him, then that is close enough. I don't think I should be comfortable watching Jesus from a distance, even though I can see and hear him. I want to strive to be right in front of Jesus to receive the healing that he has for me. I don't remember too many times that I (figuratively) raised the roof of a house to get to Jesus. Most of the time I am content to watch Jesus from the outside peeking in through a window. I want to be the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to be right in front of Jesus. I need Jesus just as much as the paralyzed man.

Will you be my best friend? Pleeaassee!

My blog seems like it could be titled "What God teaches me through my daughters" because it seems that lately all I write about is what I learned through watching them. So staying true to form, here we go again.

According to my wife, The other day my four year old was out in the backyard sitting in a fresh patch of new grass, where she frequently chooses to play, she looked up toward the sky and says "God, will you be my best friend? Please, please, pleeaassee!" Now, my wife and I have seen this kind of best friend request from our little girl several times recently. She has asked for BFF status and used her BFF potential as a bargaining chip several times in the past month. Yet, we have never seen her ask God to be her best friend. And if this wasn't enough of a Kodak Moment, my four year old looks up at the sky and responds, "Ok." It was as if God smiled down at her and said, "You bet I will be your best friend and it will most definitely be forever."

When God says that he is your friend, he means it. He speaks with his friends face to face, he let's them in on his plans, when his friends are discouraged he whispers words of encouragement to them. Have you ever thought of asking God to be your friend? Don't send him a Facebook friend request. Make it a bit more personal. Look up and say, "God, will you be my best friend? Please, please, pleeaassee!" and find out what his response will be. I think you might be pleasantly surprised.

Lose something

Recently my eldest daughter, Cady, lost a tooth. I don't know if you remember losing a tooth but it is a really exciting thing for a child. You may be thinking, "Of course it is exciting, because of the whole tooth fairy thing." but around here we don't do the tooth fairy. Even though, there was no promise of a philanthropic mystical being to sneak in and share her wealth while my daughter was sleeping, she still had great excitement about losing her tooth. She was actually losing a bone in her body and she was excited. Aside from children being excited about losing a tooth, I assume that the only other person excited about losing a bone from his body was Adam. You know that when you turn in a "rib" and get an "Eve", that's not a bad deal. It seems that Cady is just excited to be on the dental journey that requires the gain and loss of teeth. There seems to be this wonder in the loosening of the tooth, curiosity of when it will being fully gone and then the anticipation of a new tooth to come. It is absolutely exhilarating to her.

Jesus invites/demands (Matt 10:37-39) that we lose our lives if we are to follow him. Yes, I realize that what I gain is far more valuable than what I lose, but sometimes my attitude about losing my life is not so rosy. What I would like is to have excitement about losing my life because it is part of the greater adventure of following Christ. I would like to have excitement about where following him will lead me next, curiosity of when I will fully lose this life and an anticipation of the life that I now have in him and the one that is coming. Hopefully, I will live in the the excitement of losing this life.

Have you looked behind your oven?

A raw macaroni elbow, cooked noodles from soup, a pill, a rubber band, Grumpy (from Snow White), several dust elephants (the small ones are bunnies and these were much bigger), all of these items were found behind our oven today as I went to clean up the soup that I had spilled. All of these item have piled up over time.

Also, I saw a friend today who said that he wasn't that tight with Jesus anymore. I asked him about it and I could tell right away, that he was ready to leave that conversation. What my friend was doing was dropping things behind his "oven" to be dealt with later. The problem is that those things that we hide behind our ovens grow. They grow from dust bunnies to elephants or worse.

God is ready to gently clean up things if we let him. The earlier that we let him at those things that are behind our oven the better.

I Can Pour My Own Cereal

The other day may eldest child, Cady, who is almost 6 years old made an interesting statement while we were at the dinner table. She stated rather confidently that when she turns six she will be able to take care of herself. My wife had a I gave a out a surprised, "Oh really!" and asked Cady to explain why she thought that she could take care of herself when she turned six. She replied to that question by saying "Well, I can pour my own cereal." and I will add that does not include pouring her own milk without spilling it.

It is amazing the confidence that we can have when we gain knowledge, talent, position, and/or resources. When we gain these, we can forget where these things came from, and we can forget our limitations. These past couple of years have reminded me that God gives me daily bread. That is he takes care of me every moment of every day. Sometimes he allows me to use my own strength to satisfy some daily needs, but I am reminded that if I have strength or resources it is only because God has give them to me.

Take note of the passage below, where the the nation of Israel is warned to remember God when the have prosperity.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Pouring our own cereal is fine, but let's remember who gave us the cereal, the strength to pour it and who will even give us help to pour our milk when we need that.

A New Way of Accounting.

Dependence on the God is such a beautiful thing, because within dependence our spiritual vision is sharpened and we are able to appreciate, with the vividness of HD, the great love of God for his children. But it seems that in times of prosperity, independence sets in and we forget that we must rely on the Father. So, while enjoying the luxurious life we tend to slip further away from the "Giver of Life".

So what is the remedy of the our human tendency to slip away from our Father's provision in times of prosperity? I propose a new way of accounting. Instead of counting how deep our pockets go, lets count how deep our relationship with the Father is. If we, his children, live luxuriously in his love then the first temptation to turn to independence will feel like throwing away the very air we breathe. Go ahead, try not to breathing for a while. If you try it, then you will find that you will always come back gasping for the very air you tried to live with out. Let's try a new way of accounting and learn where the true luxurious life comes from, because anything else will leave us gasping for our Father.

Glory be to ... Who?

"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you." -  John 17:1

Often, when people find out that I am a musician several have asked, "Are you famous?" to which I answer with a smile, "If you have to ask then that means the answer is no." It seems that one of things things that people want to know or wish for me is fame. And I suppose that is cool and I believe it comes from a heart to bless me. The issue I have with fame is that most often it seems to be used in such a self serving way. An entertainer, athlete, public official or whoever, can use that notoriety to glorify themselves, make money, get that next job, etc When this happens it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Jesus, as usual, turns things upside down. He uses his fame, power and position for the purpose of putting the spotlight back on his Father. For every entertainer some amount of fame is part of the package. For me I pray for the ability and desire to use any fame I receive the highlight my Father in heaven.

It this important?

Conversation between my wife (W) and eldest child (EC)

EC - Momma, What is this? (Looking at a brown smudge on her finger)

W - I don't know. Where did you get it?

EC - From my ear. 

W - Oh, That's ear wax.

EC - (with a slight it of uneasiness in her voice) Is it important?

My wife and I laughed about that conversation for a while. What a good question? Is it important? I wonder how many things that I just let go or hold on to without asking God the question, "Is it important?" How many passing thoughts about someone have I missed because I haven't asked, "Is it important?" How many times have I held on to a wrong done to me without asking, "Is it important?" Life on this earth is only so long. I really want to make the most of what I experience here. My God, please give me the humility to ask you, "Is it important"

Vote for Don't Stop Praising on www.indieheaven.com (Click the latest songs added tab)

Living on a prayer

Last Tuesday, I was in Austin and found this sign on the side of the road. Which certainly looked like the handy work of a homeless person. "Living on a prayer. Please Help" I was taken back by the sign enough that I took it home. I read the sign and I thought, "Now isn't that true of all of us." Take these events from the last week.  A couple that I know well continue to struggle with a painful illness that is said to have no cure, a friend just found out he has some form of lymphatic cancer, my daughter was sick with a 105 fever today and was taken to the emergency room, the finances are tighter than "under armour", the car is acting funny, and I have a friend who is working through suicidal thoughts. We are all living on a prayer and we need help in every aspect of our lives. To my unknown sign making friend, Thank- you for reminding me that my life is lived on a prayer.

Trading up

Today was a early morning. I have a friend that I meet, so that we can talk and pray. So I got up and took a shower and after the shower I find that my youngest daughter has left the coziness of her bed traded it for the comfort of sleeping with mom. My children tend to do this often. Therefore, the sight of my daughter in our bed was not a surprise but this morning I noticed something different. (Probably, because I was a bit more coherent than usual at that time of morning.) What I noticed was that she is making a trade. My youngest likes her bed just fine. It is just her size, it is the top bunk, it has all of her favorite stuffed animals and even her name is one the wall in her room. You would think that would be more than enough to cause her to hunker down and only come out for food, but there there is just something about resting with mom and dad. Eventhough, with mom and dad, there is no top bunk, no stuffed animals, no name on the wall and there is no room, I believe my daughters see this as trading up. As if there is no comfort like the comfort of resting with mom and dad. Here is a realization. I don't trade up enough. Sometimes, I am so comfortable with 'my bed' (literally and figuratively) that I don't trade up to be with my father. My daughters especially the youngest seem to rest the most soundly when they sleep with us. Maybe I will rest better as well when I go to my Father. "Come to me all who are tired and I will give you rest." - Jesus

“Wake up, I will show you how to die better”

“Wake-up, I will show you how to die better” – Cady Moore

 

I am driving and I hear my two girls playing in the back seat. Cady, my oldest child, is always the architect of the games that she and her sister, Cianna, play together. So hearing Cady tell Cianna how she should play a game is very common. But this time the  phrase above rang out in my mind for days. “Wake up, I will show you how to die better.” Out of her young mouth came this phrase so deep rich meaning and meaning on multiple levels depending on your perspective.

 

What stood out to me was that Cady knew that Cianna had to wake up (out of her pretend death) to learn Cady’s better way to die. When someone dies there life is what is looked at to determine if they died well. Surely, you have those who in a moment give themselves in a heroic/sacrificial death at times but I would suggest that even in those cases it was living in a life that was awake with purpose, meaning, and value that would was the seed that flowered into their heroic/sacrificial death. A good death is determined by the life that preceded it. When we are sleeping through life that is a death in itself. So friends, if you find me sleeping life away, please wake me up so that I can die better.

Leaving the Church?

An interesting thought came to me after finishing my taxes the other night. I began to think about that phrase "He/She/They left the church". No, doing my taxes did not make me lose my religion and I don't think the phrase and my taxes have any correlation. (Though I know there are all kinds of jokes forming right now but that is okay too:) Anyway, that phrase "He is leaving the church" is one of those phrases generally used to say someone stopped meeting with a body of believers at a certain church location. Then after the phrase has been spoken, there are generally looks of disapproval, worry and sadness and maybe rightly so given each particular circumstance. But one phrase I don't often hearing anyone saying is, "He/She/They left Christ." This seems to be the weightier of the two phrases. Now, I am not saying that these two phrases mean the same because they don't. What I am wondering is, if I always think in terms of someone leaving the church, have I missed a crucial paradigm that Christ is the center of focus. He is the center even above our gatherings together on Sunday mornings. I wonder if the commonality of the '...leaving the church" phrase  and the lack of the "...leaving Christ" phrase exposes some off-centeredness in our thinking.  Understand me, I am not saying anything about attendance to the gathering of the body of Christ. I am wondering if our statements are exposing our focus. I want to be clear on the most important things. And whether someone is following Christ or not is on the top of my list. I want to peer through the clutter and see where Christ is and then continually point others to him. If that means reconsidering when I use certain phrases then so be it.

Death to life. The spiritual order of things.

"Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal." - Jesus The Message 

Today is Easter and the topic I most often I hear about at easter is Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection. This is always a powerful message, but today I am intrigued by Jesus' invitation to join him in his death, so that life can be attained. Death tends to bring out fear in most of us but Jesus says without dying we miss life. I suppose that the pain of sacrifice and the unknown of death is the reason it strikes so much fear in us. Death seems so final. Yet according to Jesus the death or sacrifice of the life that we live now is the door that opens us to real living. I don't begin to claim to understand all of this but I what I do know is the thing that pushes me to hold on to this life is my fear of losing it. So, I wonder if I live a life dominated by the fear of losing it, is that really living anyway. It seems that a true life of freedom can only be found in the ability to freely give up the life we have now, then our fear of losing this life won't keep us from the one promised by God.