back to blogging.

writing is helpful.

for me.

to express. 

to think externally instead of not thinking internally. my mind shuts off easily. my fingers and hands and feet and eyes get lazy and turn toward things that don't matter. 

eternal things matter. 

my prayer is the prayer of the hymn:

"turn your eyes upon Jesus/look full in His wonderful face/and the things of earth will grow strangely dim/in the light of His glory and grace."

a prayer to Jesus, but speaking to your soul. sometimes, shouting to your soul. like David did in Psalm 42: "Why are you cast down, O my soul. Hope in God."

shouting to my soul, or singing to my soul: 

TURN

SEEK

and thing that don't matter will grow dim.

broken hallelujah 2

wow. sunday night was awesome. the only way i can summarize it is: the sound tech had to turn the band louder because the congregation was singing so loudly. 

the night just seemed to incorporate alot of what Christians should be doing: praising God loudly because they love Him, laying hands on a missionary and praying for Him, confessing sin, taking communion, bringing pants and socks for people who need them in the community, fellowshipping with each other, and singing some more.

i left the night just being grateful that God just seems to do stuff. i mean, we as a band picked some songs and prayed for what should happen and made an announcement, but unless God does something with the hearts and hands of those who come. none of what we do matters. i was just so grateful that God actually moves among His people and changes lives and changes hearts and motivates hands and feet for his work and guides and directs His church.

the night was broken into 3 parts: lifting our hands, opening our hands, and using our hands

here was the setlist:

holy holy holy

let God arise

happy day

mighty to save

here is our King

Jesus paid it all

from the inside out

majesty

You never let go

on our side

i saw the light

how long (pants and socks offering)

(prayer for Costya)

God of this city

hosanna

love is alive

the stand

praise God.

weekly.song project

so. most of my internet/blogging/expressions of stuffs have been rerouted to our family website: www.toneyfam.com because of this little guy.

but i have started a weekly song blog that takes a look at a song we do at GVC. its a fun little project, so you can check it out if you want: www.gvcpodcast.com

Christmas CD 07

the red and green piano’s have united. at last, it is christmas. and that means, a quick recording project that herald our favourite christmas songs. this year, we recorded “o come let us”, complete with trumpet, triangle, guiro, glockenspiel, and holiday bells. followed by, “hark the herald”, back-porch style. the song begins as if you were playing a record and fades into a modern recording. then, there are two originals: a simple acoustic, harmony driven song, and then a lullaby for Isaiah, from Isaiah 9.

check out

www.davidtoneymusic.com

to hear the songs

feet to love

right now, my baby is crying. he has one desire: milk. and soon he'll stop crying, cause he'll get some. he has no idea that the communities around him are crying for much different reasons. this has hit close to home for so many of us. so much destruction. so much displacement. so much uncertainty. so much unbelief. and we are crying with those who have lost homes, pets, and irreplaceable memories.

and through this all we know that God is sovereign over all things. He is ruling as we speak. His vision is bigger than ours. His power conquered sin and death and His grace flows moment by moment. He is active in restoring souls for eternity, and lifting heads for the present. He is beautiful when smoke fills our eyes, or when we can see islands on a clear day. He is the hope-giving, light at the end of every disaster. He never lets his people go, and He is the only giver of infinite gladness, an eternity of joy.

i pray that God would give me and courtney and isaiah and all of us, a heart for those suffering. and hands to lift rubble. and eyes to see need. and arms to hug people. and lips to encourage. and feet to love.

check out gvcfamily.blogspot.com for fire info and ways to help.

hospital days

most isaiah info will be posted on our website, but i'll put a few more posts up.



unreal.
he is beautiful.
God didn't need to make him healthy, but He chose to. our baby did not deserve to be healthy and beautiful. he is already sinful. but God's grace is amazing. already, he is a picture of the grace of God.
i pray that Isaiah would know the saving grace of God intimately at an early age. that he would learn to seek after the face of God and desire to worship Him in everything he does, at an early age

thanks doug and cindy for coming up to see him.


the coming weeks are going to be exciting.
i can't wait

baby outside of stomach

check out our new family website, with photos, blogs, letters to isaiah and more.
web.mac.com/thetoneyfamily