The Messenger

Sin

2009-11-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

Sin turns all God's grace into wantonness; it is the dare of his justice, the rape of his mercy, the jeer of his patience, the slight of his power, and the contempt of his love...

The Great Outdoors

2009-06-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

I got back from Joshua Tree today with my class. Here’s some things I learned...

1) There is something so greatly amazing about being away. I do not mean setting aside time in our safe zones at home, coffee shops, etc. Though this was a school trip dedicated to astronomy and star gazing, I took every advantage to read Mere Christianity, and listen to some podcasts. This kind of thing is tough, as we/I have become so used to mobile technology. Even as I lost reception every so often I caught myself reaching for my phone. I think that says a lot about how much I use my phone; even to hear how much people wished they had reception made me see how much technology has taken over in our lives. Makes me wonder how we ever existed without it? The time I spent was incredible. To truly set aside time to seek, think and reflect is something I feel we do not do enough, not because we do not want to necessarily, but because of how we have grown up in our social settings, the things we’ve become accustomed to, and the lack of places we have to retreat to play a part. Yet looking through Luke we see examples where Jesus retreats to places where He can be alone. There is something special about it, something I know I want to incorporate more in my personal and community life.

2) Colossians speaks of Jesus creating all things in the heavens and earth. Romans speaks of God’s invisible attributes being made clear for all to see so that no one has an excuse. Sure there are things here in the city that are visibly show such things; sunsets, beaches, views of the mountains. But being in Joshua tree is really something special; clear skies, big beautiful rock formations, desert life, both plants and animals. But really what did it for me was the night sky. There is something about space that is so fascinating to me. There are starts, planets, globular clusters, binary stars, moons, meteors, and constellations. I don’t know how the others felt about these things that we were observing, but I just put on my iPod, and went through my Explosions in the Sky catalogue and just pictured God speaking it all into motion. That was probably the highlight of my day and a half. To know that the light from some of the stars took 25,000 years to get here, to be able to see Saturn through a telescope and see the rings and the moon, to see M-13 a cluster of stars consisting of thousands upon thousands of stars, the rising of Jupiter, and seeing meteors (shooting stars) is something that is so incredible, to me anyways. To think He created it all for moments like these, so I can catch a glimpse of how big He really is.

3) I got the chance to really evaluate myself on a social standard while being in Joshua Tree. I like to think that I have gotten better interacting socially with others and not being the hermit crab I once was. I think when it comes to the things of the Kingdom, talking about God, and interacting with Christians, I do very well. I don’t know if that is a bad thing when thinking about what it means for my interaction with non-believers. Or is it just easier to interact when it comes to issues and conversations we are familiar and comfortable with. Do not get me wrong I made friends and talked, hung out at tables with others and went on a few hikes with others, but I was still pretty quiet. I’m not really sure what to say when everyone talks about partying, drinking, smoking weed, etc. I have no problem talking about how I do not agree with a lot of the things they do, but only if they ask me about it, which no one did. I do not want to separate myself from them, but I want to be among them in hopes that they notice Christ in my life, that there is something different in my actions, talk, kindness, my thoughts, and the way I carry myself. It was nice that even as they saw me reading Mere Christianity they never shied away from me. They even called me “the cool guy” on a few occasions, which I thought was funny.

I guess the whole point of this is quiet places... True quiet places where we catch a glimpse in new ways of how big God is... When I got home today, and even on the road I got on my phone when I got reception and as soon as I got home I turned on the TV and lied down for hours. It's those comfort zones, my bed, I am a sucker. Maybe I was just really tired, maybe I saw an opportunity to be lazy, but comparing how much I interacted in reading and reflecting comes no where near what it was yesterday.

Summer

2009-06-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

Summer is always an exciting time... This summer is no exception... There are many things I plan to do and have already been doing since my summer started the second week of May. I don’t want my summer to be full of nothing, especially because I have no job right now. I want to be very productive...

I have started writing. Charles Lee once said, “what if we gave time to our dreams, passions, or desires.” Really that’s what it takes. There is always much talk in our world about things we want to do or plans we have; yet that is all it is, just talk. Well one of my biggest dreams is to write music and sing around the world. I don’t know if that will ever happen but if that is what I want to do it needs time dedicated to it, writing, arranging, and listening. I pretty much spend about 4 hours a day at church 3 or 4 times a week reading and writing and submersing myself in writing music. As of now I have three solid songs that I am really proud of and hopefully more will be birthed as summer goes on.

It’ll be nice to dedicate some time to Converge. Next week Aaron finishes teaching and Adam has the summer off. It’ll be nice to be able to plan some stuff out and maybe work on some ideas, who knows, but since we have the time why not.

Soon Emily will be back as well and we can pick up where we left off... Summer is looking good...

More thoughtful posts to come, as I read the bible more and engage with passages and people things will surely come out, I just have to organize all that is in my head...

Books I’m reading:

Knowledge of the Holy – A.W. Tozer

Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis

The Final Battle – C.S. Lewis

Red Letters – Tom Davis

Music I’m Listening to the Most

Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine

Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

Jenny Lewis – Rabbit Fur Coat

Adele – 19

As Cities Burn – Hell or High Water

Podcasts I’m Listening To

Rockharbor – Definatly my favorite, Mike Erre speaking on Corinthians blows me away

Generation Church – Listening to the new leadership that has taken over, really good

The City Church – It is great to hear Judah Smith outside of the youth setting

Mars Hill – Giving Mark Discoll another shot, I’ll start these soon since I just finished all the Rockharbor podcasts

If you were here

2009-05-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

She is in Spain, so far away...

Dear Amos and Hosea...

2009-04-08T00:40:00.000-07:00

In class we had a question: If Amos or Hosea were your spiritual mentor, what would you tell them about your life?

My three answers:

1) I feel like I'm carrying a heavy load on my back. I'm trying to live in obedience in the ways I feel God wanting me to live. I'm changing the things He wants me to change and pressing in to the call He has for me. I am trying to set an example and bear fruit, in obedience to God, but also for others around me that I want so badly to get it, and I feel a heavy load on me. Should I be carrying this heavy load, probably not, but I know my friends see my actions and I want them to see that enough is enough it's time to step it up and I feel like a play a part in this with Jesus. But what if I mess up? What if I fail? I cannot compromise...

2) I struggle with the work load that I have right now, 23 units is really taking its toll entering into the last month of school. I have a desire to read the word but sometimes I look at the word and I want nothing to do with having to read it or pick it up cause I feel like I'm overloaded with reading the word. I can't bear to read another passage. Is it wrong to feel this way? Probably, probably not but I hate feeling that I can't read the word because I've read to much already...

3) I love what I do and the position God has put me in at my church and in regards to leadership. The other day I was just thinking about being mindful of things that are taking place and observing the importance of why we participate in certain things. I don't want to do church in a routine fashion. I want to be mindful of the words I'm singing, the scripture I read, and the cup and the bread I eat and drink of. I don't want to take the Last Supper and not even think twice of why I'm doing it. I want to remember the blood that was shed for me, the body that was beaten of a king, and the repentance that brings forgiveness and peace with God as I recognize my need for the Savior. Especially even now with Easter coming I want to be mindful, I want to really think about what happened in these last days and though I may never fully comprehend all that happened I want to remember... Connect.

I don't think I can ever fully comprehend all Christ has done for me until I see heaven for myself and see the all glory that He left so that He could come to earth and be rejected in every worse way possible...

The Need...

2009-03-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

Within the past couple of weeks it seems like I have come across some conversations about the church. What is obvious is that something has to change to reach the new generation of the lost and dying. Someone said that his church would not due to save the majority of people that need to be saved. I will say that there is validity in that statement. In my mind there is no way if I took a classroom of highschoolers or went to a major college and took a handful of students to the traditional church that has been stuck in the same routine for 10 or 15 years it would be something one would want to be a part of. This is understandable as times are changing and the old ways of doing things will not work in our generation for the most part.

What seems to be the most troubling to me is the idea of getting rid of the church. Now I am not saying that all feel this way or anyone has blatantly flat out said we don’t need the church, but what I fear is the thought of the church eventually being abandoned by a “radical” generation of thinkers. Here are some of my thoughts...

1) A need for the church

Someone told me “the bible doesn’t say that I have to go to church.” I began to think that can not be true. In Mathew Jesus says He will build the CHURCH. What is the church? In the Greek the church means a group of people or a gathering with a common interest or goal. So the church by this definition is not individual but community oriented. Paul rarely ever addresses individually but addresses the church as a whole community. We see this all over Paul’s writing, the need for community, to be as one, and to be together. In Acts we see the church as one devoting themselves to each other, eating, praying, and taking care of each other. It seems by this one could argue that there is no need for the church corporately worshipping in a building. But as time goes on we know of churches that did exist as places of corporate worship, Paul writes to them and in Revelation John speaks to the 7 churches in the beginning of the letter. As a church we are told to teach, edify, build up, bear God’s name together. I am not sure that without the church we could do this on a regular basis. Yes it is possible to be in community with friends, but where is accountability, where is authority over one’s life, how can we pour into those who need it, who are we teaching, are we building, are we edifying, who will we help send out with us, there must be more that just discussions. I am not saying this can only be done in a church building, but sometimes I think it is where is begins and we are able to take it out of the walls...

What seems to be the key problem from what I am hearing is the church is the lack of action in our world, the lack of relational connections, and the spreading the gospel message. People are tired and can not bear to think that going to a service hearing a message and going along on our merry way can really be Christianity lived out. We will find true satisfaction when we are living out the Gospel together. Lets grow together, love together, learn together, reach together, inside the church but outside of it as well, 10 times more... We are the church, let us not be to quick to dismiss the church because Jesus wants to build this church in a new (creative) way like never before...

Soon I’ll post number 2...

Obsessions...

2009-03-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

As I watch TV or pass through check out lines at markets and stores, one thing I don’t understand is America’s obsession with celebrities. No matter what line you walk through magazines are talking about break ups, who’s losing weight or gaining it, and who’s dating who among other things. Then there is good ol TMZ a bunch of people paid to follow people with cameras and camcorders. Do I need to know what workout David Beckham is doing, what places Brittney Spears is shopping, how to get toned arms like Michelle Obama, or what club Paris Hilton is at, what happened with Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Anniston met face to face, or someone’s beach body?

Personally I want to live my life, not follow the lives of people’s through magazines or chasing celebrities all my life with a camera. I guess the defense is the money but what good is money at the price of invading privacy. I just want to be happy and happiness is not that for me.

The I Heart...

2008-12-30T15:38:00.000-08:00

Throwing fits...

2008-12-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

I don’t understand why when something does not go our way we feel like we need to throw a fit. As I sit in terminal 4 in Dallas Love I have been waiting for a flight that was supposed to take off at 850 p.m., instead it is now taking off at 2 a.m. because of weather. Obviously nothing that can be controlled. Sometimes these things just happen and you learn to be patient and go with the flow. There is nothing to be upset about, though it is tough waiting and whatnot. There is a great group of people (sarcastic) across from me that are flipping out and writing letters to be typed demanding refunds. I just don’t understand why? How can someone come off like that? Sure we all have somewhere to be and it has been a long day but still what is there to be done about it. Be Patient. Keep cool.

50,000 in 50 days

2008-11-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

Everyone has $5 (or more!). and everyone has 2 minutes. from start to finish, donating is literally three clicks. No fluff. No hassle. Anyone can donate. It is so, so easy! Soles4souls is great charity located in Nashville, Tennessee that has one mission: get shoes to people who need shoes. Over 300 million people around the world don’t have shoes and are forced to walk around unsafe and in potentially life-threatening conditions. Not only is it unsafe physically, but having to look down all the time causes these people to also live without dignity and confidence I did my part now do yours... Spread the word

This is life...

2008-10-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Another new season is on the horizon. Since coming to Life little over two years ago I was introduced to this idea of an accountability partner. Even this summer in Washington Eddy approached me in the beginning of it and asked me if I wanted to be an accountability partner with him. I’ve been saved for about 10 years now but this is a new thing for me, even with Eddy I really had no idea what I was supposed to do. I am currently in a class at Life called Disciplines of Leadership, it is about what it means to be a leader, what is called of us and so forth. Though that class has really nothing to do with accountability with another person, we have touched on it a little bit on persons in leadership and their actions in their lives involving other people...

I don’t really like the term accountability partner, I don’t like the idea of having a person who you just tell all these terrible things you have done within the past week. I believe accountability flows naturally out of true friendship and relationship. I desire friendship, true fellowship with another. I was thinking about me and my friends, my closets friends. If we all got together, even though we are super tight and love each other, most of us wouldn’t know what was happening with the person next to us. We wouldn’t know certain struggles or joys, things they need prayer for and stuff like that. One of my friends even told me a while ago that he wishes he had the type of friend that he could call anytime he wanted just to talk to. All it takes is opening up to one another...

In light of that last week I talked to my friend Sweet Al and it is with all that in mind, that we discussed and talked about being that person for each other. This is something I am excited for as well as Al. It is all about relationship, community, and love...

The Season To Come...

2008-10-04T00:43:00.000-07:00

By summer 09 I will write 5 songs, wait, 5 quality songs that are real and from the heart that worship God. I don't want to write anything that is not meaningful. I don't do this to make a deadline or anything, but in class we've been talking about taking initiative and actually doing something about dream or ideas. What good is a vision without action. If this is something I want to do with my life then here we go...

This is something I started on tonight..

I am free and not held down by sin

The greatest love has welcome me in

In Your grace I stand

With Jesus all that I am

Victorious

The Time...

2008-09-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

Their is so much I wanted to say and write about... My summer in WA, the challenges with coming back home, adjusting to having a relationship, starting school again, jumping back into ministry and the expectations and the hopes I have for our youth group...

The list can go on, but the truth is, there really is no time to just sit and really write and reflect on any of those topics... I started this hoping to make this a regularly updated blog... But as of right now there's really no time...

Healer...

2008-08-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Turns out Pastor Mike G was lying... Pretty crazy... Whats even more crazy is how Christians are reacting on message boards to this as if they've been devastated for life... Mike is a man we all fall but he should not be condemned, let us be the hospital not a police station...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24216087-5006787,00.html

The Chosen Ones...

2008-08-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of nights its been work, watch the olympics and sleep, then repeat. While I do love watching them and watching all nations compete and do the best they can, I have learned of something new. You hear of kids forced into labor and born into family situations which require the need for them to work and do other tasks as well. What is new to me is hearing about how China picks their Olympians at an early age. I was listening to the commentators talk about certain individuals on the diving team and gymnastics team that where chosen at the age of three and taken to begin the process of becoming a "champion." They only see their families maybe once out of the year. I've been wrestling with this subject for the last couple of days and I'll probably keep wrestling with it for a while. If forcing a child into labor is wrong and children in China, maybe other countries to that I am unaware of, are being forced into labor (being a gold medalist) then something must be wrong here to...

"in a nation with only 60 swimming pools, there are 10 elite diving schools. Students are supervised virtually nonstop, cut off from families unless relatives happen to live nearby, forbidden to date until their 20s and expected to train so hard that most wind up unfit for work outside athletics. Some are left virtually illiterate in a land where, by Confucian tradition, intellectual pursuits are prized over physical ones. "

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,976078-1,00.html

THe Olympics...

2008-08-08T18:14:00.001-07:00

They are here... What an exciting time where the world comes together to watch the best of their nation compete against the others... Besides the Chinese Gov and olympic teams Kobe Bryant got the loudest cheers... so I read... Gotta love number 8...

I saw this video on TV right now it was pretty interesting I figured I'd post it

Off to go watch the opening ceremonies and hang out with all the interns

cause the time has come for us to start leaving one by one...

Discoveries...

2008-07-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today at VBS the theme was thankfulness and how Jesus gives us the ability to be thankful. I am a team leader in charge of 10 kids (4, 5, and 6 graders) and it is alot of fun being able to interact with them in games and crafts and bible stories. I want this to be something they remember as they get older, that VBS was fun and they had a good leader that payed attention to their every word and was truly invested in what they are doing. All I hope is that this is something that will shape their future steps into walking with God the rest of their lives and knowing that He is real and loves them and desires to be with them...

At the end of the day we had like a little debriefing where we just talked about the day and what we learned as we prepared to go and end in the main sanctuary for service. So one of the questions I had asked them was what are they thankful for. If I remember correctly 5 of the kids first response was they were thankful for their cell phones... Cell Phones... seriously! I dont remember exactly what I woulda been thankful for in that age, but it sure wasn't cell phones. Something is a little disturbing about that answer... But with times changing and technology such a huge part of our culture should I really be that surprised...

Eastside Church

2008-07-13T00:39:00.000-07:00

So being up in Bothell WA has been nothing short of amazing... I feel like I'm growing and learning alot and getting alot of hands on experience, leading worship and playing and building relationships that could take to back here in the future... God is continually revealing things to me and people are just pouring into us like crazy... So to keep it pretty short every year the interns make a video so heres our video and its three announcements and you can see me dancing in a few and serving someone a burger in the second advertisement... I'm off to bed cause I gotta be at the church early cause I'm playing electric...

Worship + Justice pt.1

2008-07-04T16:07:00.001-07:00

Worship and the pursuit Justice go hand in hand. I believe that Worship is not fully happening unless one is pursuing Justice. It is possible for one to pursue Justice but not Worship at all. There are many examples of that with groups that desire peace and fight for what they feel is right. In class I once heard a teacher say that he gets questioned, “what does Justice have to do with being a Christian?”

The basics of being a Christian is to love God with everything, to live a life totally in surrender to His will, to say that Christ is Lord and Savior and to be imitators of Christ and follow the example that He has set for us. Jesus loved people He really loved people and I love to read about His encounters with people who were not Jews. How he came to serve and not be served. Jesus came to 'bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, new sight to the blind and to set the downtrodden free (Lk 4:18). He called us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the sick and afflicted, and to comfort the victims of injustice (Mt 25). The Church doesn’t exist to go places and make more and more churches just to fill up. The Church is to see what God is already doing, to build relationships with people, to love and care for people, to see what the needs are for the people, and be available for people, how ever that may look like... I think if I were someone in a place where I was in poverty the last thing I want to hear about is a church that someone has just planted, I’m more concerned about trying to feed my family, getting water, getting medicine, getting some new clothes and so forth... That is how I believe you can show people your intentions and heart and it is in those times when God is able to move and reveal Christ through us, the Church, who genuinely care about people...

I had the opportunity last week to work in the missions dept. of Eastside and meet the missionaries they have sent and support in the Philippines. I thought to myself these people really care about the people there and the way they are helping others find faith by being people who genuinely care is amazing. You can’t help but be moved by genuine people. I want to be a genuine person that wants to talk to people without an agenda for what I need to fulfill, but because I love what God loves and that is people...

I’m not looking for a reward when we go to skid row to give a meal to a person who’s hungry. I don’t feel burdened to take off my shoes and give them to a man that has no shoes. It’s a joy to me to stand on the corner and shake a hand of a man or a woman and ask them how they are doing as I give them a bag of soap and shampoo. I feel it’s the only natural thing to do, if I am connecting with my Creator and my Creator loves people, I have no choice but to be drawn to people and love them as well...

This was kinda scattered but there’s so much to say. I don’t even know how or what to write but it helps just to get some of this out... more to come...

I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That's what I want. That's all I want (Ams 5:21-24 MSG)

Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what's wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins! They're busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people - law-abiding, God-honoring. They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' and love having me on their side. But they also complain, 'Why do we fast and you don't look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?' "Well, here's why: "The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit. You drive your employees much too hard. You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist. The kind of fasting you do won't get your prayers off the ground. Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after: a day to show off humility? To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black? Do you call that fasting,  a fast day that I, God, would like? "This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.' "If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people's sins, if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places. (Isa 58 MSG)

With Everything...

2008-06-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

I will never be perfect... That’s a tough thought... Lately I’ve been looking at it from the perspective of I am a work in progress. We will never be perfect, no one. What I do know is this; we are a work in progress. Everyday I strive to be better than I was the day before, to learn from my mistakes, experiences, and situations. I think that is what God desires for us. If we are not progressing into the person God has for us then one day we will wake up and look in the mirror and ask ourselves “what did we do with all the time we had.” It’s never too late to change but as time goes on there is less of it to live the life that we are meant to have. The thought of that scares me in my life. I hope I never get to that point in my life when I wake up and wish I could do it all over again. I am in the process of getting into good daily habits that I want to carry with me for the rest of my life. I don’t want to realize one day that I am 60 and my habits got the best of me, my thoughts got the best of me, decisions I’ve continually made shaped me into the person I wish I never was. I hope that I have many opportunities to work with people that I could help prevent that day when a person asks, “What did I do with all my time.” Cause if I don’t want that for myself, then I don’t desire it for anyone else...