...not from around here...

a new leaf

2010-06-03T16:58:00.001-07:00

One year is enough time to have passed between blog posts, right?

Anyway, the time has come for new changes. Namely, I am getting married on August 1st to a wonderful lady whom I met in junior high. We re-connected in the fall of 2009 and the rest is history. Our relationship as well as wedding plans are progressing swimmingly. We aren't perfect people, just perfect for each other.

We will be renting a sweet little waterfront cottage to start (so we can have time to figure out where we want to be) and are absolutely stoked for it.

God is good. So, so good.

Fit to worship God in.

2009-05-28T23:08:00.001-07:00

"If my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do; will they not?"
.Thoreau.

Opposites.

2009-05-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

The Poulsbohemian Cafe provides a delightful view of this gorgeous day in Poulsbo, WA. It makes me think of where I was and where I am. Call it a reflection, call in a comparison, but both Arizona and Washington have brought much realization on how this world carries on.

Arizona

The desert is a very sterile place. Rocks and dirt line the highways, flat terrain stretches for miles. The only collision my car had was with a tumbleweed. People don't linger outside during the summer but rather run from air-conditioned building to air-conditioned building. Summer looks like winter which looks like fall which looks like spring.
Three years in Arizona found me learning and growing much on a daily basis. Tempe and the community there opened my eyes to the world outside of Christian bubbles of my past. Out of any place I have lived (VA, WA, NC, PA, AZ) my time in Tempe has changed me the most. The people I lived life with taught me to see people through the eyes of love. My heart still longs for friendships of old and spontaneous nighttime bike rides to Casey's.

Washington

The two colors to best describe western WA are blue and green. The water winds its way throughout the land masses making transit slow yet beautiful. We daily pray for no insurrections from the trees as they greatly outnumber the humans. Families wade through low tides as their sandals are trapped by the muddy sand. Birds find sea creatures and drop them on hard surfaces in hopes of cracking the shell. Animals and plants flourish as the rain abounds. Rain is so common that it has a nickname, "liquid sunshine".
Since moving to the Kitsap Peninsula in August 09, I have faced the worst depression of my life thus far and haven't found a deep community of people... yet. Being employed by the DoD working with Navy submarines has caused me to grow older and harsher. I have found a few great people, but some days my extroverted self longs for more people.

I feel out of place. No idea where to call home because I don't feel at home anywhere. Feeling distant from a community. It will take a while for things to start falling into place. Praying for peace and joy are crucial to get through each day. Despite the beauty that surrounds me, I feel empty without love. We were made to love and to be loved.

Contentedness

2009-01-24T15:59:00.003-08:00

I have been editing and changing the format of my blog for years. (I started blogging in 2004 and have gone on and off with writing in it. Right now is another "on" time.)
It seems as though I have not been content with how it looks. Sure I want to have everything look great, with matching colors and perhaps a cool picture, but regardless of how it looks, hasn't it always perfectly functioned as a blog?

Just today I added the quote you see at the top of this page. It is my prayer that the perspective shared in this quote will be true of my own life.

darkness

2008-11-06T22:26:00.001-08:00

It gets too dark in WA in winter.
I left work at 5:10 today and it felt like bedtime... thats not right.

The KP

2008-10-25T14:55:00.003-07:00

Well obviously I did not update the blog about Turkiye. Although much internal processing happened, not much conversation did. Moving to Washington directly after returning left me with many thoughts in my head but no outlet to discuss them.

But I am on the brink of awesomeness up here on the K.P. (Kitsap Peninsula)

I am making friends, finding cool placed (Vertical World), learning about mtn biking trails, and loving the surroundings.

I am about to start making good use of the beautiful Creation I am surrounded by.

Turkiye

2008-08-08T17:08:00.002-07:00

This post will be updated as a continue to process our trip and have time to post.
But for now, let me say:

Our time was incredibly refreshing. Our patience and humility was tested.

Much restoration took place for me personally during our time. Praise the Lord.

we need grace in accepting grace

2008-07-08T09:25:00.003-07:00

Much of what I do is directly opposed to the gospel of Grace.

"Whatever past achievements might bring us honor, whatever past disgraces might make us blush, all have been crucified with Christ" - Brennan Manning

As much as I fight the traditional "church speak", I cannot help but see the truth in this statement.
How do I rank myself? Must I continue to compare myself with other people?

I have spent the last 18 years in school. What do I have to show for it? A college degree and a sweet resume. Achievements are written onto pieces of paper and cap & gown pictures are in a frame.

Jesus spent most of his time with those who society looked down upon. How was that a resume builder? Jesus did not climb the ladder of social status. He ended his life with people yelling at him. Yet his story and life are a revolution of love. More people have been changed by this one man than by anybody else. Hang out with the outcasts and change the world forever. It is revolutionary.

I am still processing through this concept as it has invaded my mind again (thanks to Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel).

an alternate city

2007-11-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

"Jesus lost the city that was so that you and I can be citizens of the city that is to come, and that makes us salt and light in the city that is."
-Tim Keller

Flight of the Conchords

2007-11-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, if you are not yet familiar with Flight of the Conchords, welcome.
Check this out, it is fantastic:

listen

2007-06-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

love?

2007-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

"But what we called love down there was mostly the craving to be loved. In the main I loved you for my own sake: because I needed you."
The Great Divorce

is this reflective of our own lives?

Circle of Life

2007-05-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

I don't think I can preface this too much. These are my boys in the Beta Sigma fraternity at Grove City College. Had I not transferred, I would have been up there singing with them.

I love these guys.

abandoning the city

2007-04-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

For a number of reasons, the city has been on my mind very much recently. The city, as Webster puts it, is "a large or important town". Chris Gonzalez is currently posting blog entries about the city. I found the links below directly from his blog, they are sermons from Tim Keller. Tim Keller is a founding pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Because of this, he is an excellent resource in viewing the city through the lens of the gospel:

The Meaning of the City
Should I Not Love That Great City?
Love for the City
These are excellent sermons.

Also, here is more history about the abandoned church:

When I went to Gary, Indiana in the summer of 2003, I went inside the church above. It was previously a booming church, City Methodist Church. Here is its history:
City Methodist Church

The website says this, "Social change in the 1960s affected the church, and by 1973 the congregation had dwindled to 300 members."

What happened in the 1960s?
Richard G. Hatcher became mayor of Gary, Indiana in 1968. He was one of the nation's first African-American mayors. He served as mayor until 1987.

The guy who brought us to City Methodist Church told us about how after Mr. Hatcher became mayor, many white businesses and families started moving out of the city.
The story of this church is no different.

This is the wrong response of the church. Listen to those Tim Keller sermon. He will clearly lay out the call of the Christ follower to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city."

Go to this website and click on the link to see more pictures of the church, they are powerful.
http://www.forbidden-places.be/urban_exploration_gary_indiana_ghost_town
You can also find pictures of the School and Theatre that are connected to the church.

This is not how it is supposed to be.

old school

2007-04-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

I don't have a deep post right now.
But I do have some pictures of old school-ness.
I am young, and often think my own ways are right. But then I realize that wisdom comes with age, and I am quite inexperienced in life.
So here are some pictures of things which are older than me.

Also, I am moving out of my family's house. Exciting.
I'll be a short bike ride away from campus.

Anyway, the pictures:

This elevator wall has the most old-school buttons I have ever seen. This is in Hadyen Library, ASU. Taken with the cell phone.

This is a building in St. Louis, Missouri. It has a history, but I don't know it. Also taken with the cell phone camera.

Gary, Indiana - this abandoned church used to thrive... until the town got a black mayor (I believe the first in the U.S.) in the 60's and the white folks moved out of the city. This breaks my heart.

This unassuming building was built in 1568 (as it says above the door). Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.

This is a cathedral in Prague. I don't know its name, but Prague is legit.

the prosperity gospel part 2

2007-04-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Your Best Life Now.

Joel Osteen seems to believe that somehow you can find your best life now.
On the website for Lakewood Church, the page heading says "Discover the Champion in You"

For some reason, I have this idea in my head that my best life will be in heaven, praising my Lord. Also, for some reason I am pretty sure that I am not the Champion. Without sounding too cheesy, I believe Christ is the Champion. Paul, in I Cor. 2:2, says "For I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified." This is the Paul that many hold in high regard.
He held Christ in high regard. I Cor 1:14-17 says
"I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."

Jesus did not have a hummer. As far as I know, Jesus didn't really own anything. He just walked around with some dudes and talked to a bunch of people. Yet today we have people proclaiming a Jesus that brings wealth. In John 10:10b, Jesus says "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Abundance? Does he mean wealth? Coming from a guy that had nothing, I doubt it.

Joel Osteen has sold over 4 million copies of his book.
You need to check out this article in Time Magazine:

Does God Want You To Be Rich?

I found a good response to this article, here is an excerpt:
"The basic movement of the gospel is clear: self-denial and self-sacrifice rather than self-fulfillment. We follow one who had no place to lay his head, who warned us that life does not consist in the abundance of things, who told a wealthy man to sell all and give to the poor, who insisted that we cannot have two masters (God and $$). Followers of Christ in other cultures have often lost all as a result of their faithfulness to him." - Preacher Mike

the prosperity gospel part 1

2007-03-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

I will now begin a series of posts on prosperity and the gospel. This is a frustrating topic for me, when thinking about America.

First, here are some quotes...

Job, in his final appeal, says this:
"If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above." Job 31. 24-28

Cotton Mather said this,
"Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother"

2006-09-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

God's judgement is righteous.
He abolished the lies about our identity the world flashes into our faces every day and whispers "I love you, you belong to me."

The Psalmist in Psalm 96 tells us this. Its sweet.

Even the trees praise Him for it.

just try

2006-06-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

it is both a comedy and a tragedy how insufficient we are.

Devise your plan. It will be thwarted. -God

Although I so easily dwell on my own problems and my own screw-ups, it cannot stop there. Yes, I am sinful, proud, and utterly problematic. And I do need to understand that.
But just the same, I need to understand there is One to which I can go to, all the time. For every time I mess things up, He is there with open arms waiting for me to return.

Dang it thats sweet.

2006-06-13T00:36:00.000-07:00

I used to wonder why God even decided to create the earth and man.

Well, you see, God is Omniscient. That means He is all-knowing.
God is Omnipotent. That means He is all powerful.

So if God is all powerful, and he KNOWS that he is all powerful, then why does he need a bunch of people to live on the earth and tell him what he already knows? Christians want to bring glory to God, but if he knows he is all powerful, does he really need the extra glory?

For one, the fact that God created the earth and gave man the choice to believe in Him supplements the truth of his power.

This isn't a question I think we can ever totally answer, because nobody will ever truly grasp God and his plans. But God uses this earth and His people to show a beautiful array of His attributes. Not only is God an all-powerful God, but he is perfect, he is loving, he is patient, he is righteous. If God were to just chill with himself and decide to not create other beings, it would not have been sufficient to show all those attributes of God. Without the faltering Israelites God's intense patience would not have been so perfectly displayed, nor would his righteousness ever have been shown.

Our God, if we were to explain him in totality, is indescribable. He is bigger than we can imagine and more amazing than all of our words could ever suffice.

Thoughts? My mind is feeble, the probability of being incorrect is high.

June 1st, 2006

2006-06-05T01:13:00.000-07:00

This post is titled June 1st, 2oo6. The reason for this is because that is the day which I decided to start writing in my blog again. Unfortunately my brother and his nuclear family occupied my room this past week, thus limiting my computer usage. I got back in today, and am actually posting. I like to think of it as my half year's resolution (even though July 1st marks the half of the year).

I have many thoughts running through my mind at the moment, but thats normal.

There are 6,912 known living languages in the world right now. Yeah, so what? I can't get past the fact that humans are so drastically different than any other living species on this earth. I don't think oranguntans have 6,000 languages, I think they only get orangunese. Humans also have an internal moral code built into them naturally. Relativism, taken to its end, never holds up. Punch a relativist in the nose and I bet they'll be angry, even if you say violence is ok by your standards. The mere fact that I am trying to figure out how different the human race from anything else is proof that our minds are far superior than any other creatures.

You know what? I love thinking, I really do. But I'm a habitual rambler. I think the Blog Collective would be frowning upon this, I'd better leave. I'll fix this later, but keep my ramblingness on the dl please.

2005-11-22T00:27:00.000-08:00

Friday morning, decided to go around Tempe (namely to the train bridge over Tempe Town Lake and the apartments on University). It was great. I'll type more later... maybe.