Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Thirty-first

Tell me what you think about this band...I can't make up my mind

Twenty-Ninth

One of my all time favorite rap groups: Jurassic 5


I realized today as I was reading through my past blogs that there isn't a lot of humor or light hearted topics. This is unfortunate, because I joke around a lot, probably too much. So on that note let's lighten the mood a little.

I'm a city boy through and through. But I love to be outdoors and fish. So I'm a city boy with country boy tendencies. Two stories come to mind, when I was a freshman in high school (before the country boy tendencies) me and a few friends wanted to go camping, fortunately one of my aunts lives in some remote woods so we asked if we could have our camp there, of course she said yes. Actually she and a couple of my cousins slept in another tent, well half way through the night my friends and I hated this idea of camping, it was cold and hard to sleep (plus there were ants), so we walked inside and slept comfortably. (while my aunt and cousins were still out suffering).

I love to fish, it's one of my all time favorite things to do. But when the flies come out, I get PISSED! I feel like all I do is swat at these stupid things. My friends laugh at me, they wont necessarily be looking at me but they can hear me smack my head and yell at flies, of course they don't have a problem with it, because they are true men. I haven't told anyone this, but I have actually missed some fish becuase I am to busy getting rid of these flies.

Maybe you could say I'm a pampered country boy...either way, I will always claim to be city boy.

It's only fitting to show a clip from the movie City Slickers:


Be Conversational and all that jazz...but more importantly laugh and have fun, it does a body good

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Twenty-Eighth

Check it: new music by The Cool Kids- Delivery Man (sorry the video quality is poor)


So it's Christmas time, and everyone always says certain things around this time to make it sound like receiving gifts isn't what's important. Those things people say are "Jesus is the reason for the season," and "It's about giving not receiving." My question is do we mean those things, or are we just trying to make things sound better for ourselves, justifying the receiving of gifts? I'm not anti-gift giving, I think it's a cool idea, but if we say it's not about gifts, then why do we still give gifts to people?

My heart has been on a roller coaster the last few weeks, I am trying not to be a scrooge, but I'm just struggling with the giving of gifts to people who really don't need any more "things." If you going to give a gift, give it to someone who needs something, give something that means something, not something that will be broken or thrown away in a year. I'm sure my thoughts will be hashed out eventually, but I am just convicted with this whole idea of receiving gifts we don't really need.

If I can suggest anything (that is if you want to listen) instead of spending outrageous amounts of money for people, maybe try spending a little bit of money to bless those who really need it. And don't just spend money on someone, invest in someone who needs help.

I've changed the title of the blog a little, "Love takes balls"..be bold this season, love someone because they NEED it, love someone because Christ has called us to love God and love people, Martin Luther King once said, "How can you be worried about changing the soul when you don't care about the body that holds the soul." DO something no one else is bold enough to do in the name Jesus, but also do it in genuine love.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Twenty-Sixth

Well I had the most memorable nights of my entire life last night. Seriously it was incredible, and it can only be intro'd by this song and this picture:






So this will be short; I don't do this often but I thought everyone would like to know I have had a run in with the law. For those who don't know I am living with a family while I do my internship and these people have an alarm system hooked up to their house, I know the code so it's not a surprise when I walk in and hear beeping. So last night I was over a friends house watching the football game and got home a little late. As I walked in I turned the alarm off and locked up and headed to the basement where I stay.(On a side note please remember this house is surrounded by woods, like all around, it's so far hidden no one ever comes back there, why they have an alarm I don't know.) So I head down and watch the news and get ready for bed; of course my night of TV watching was capped off with the DVD release of the movie The Strangers (which looks absolutely horrifying). So I lay in bed trying to forget about the creepy people and about 5 minutes later I hear talking outside my window. I tense up and don't move a muscle and then I see flash lights swirling around and then one shines straight into my room. By this point I have wet myself about 5 times and was thinking I was going to have to either A. Run and scream or B. beat the crud out of someone (now I was leaning more towards A; which is why I was still frozen). All of a sudden I hear one of the men say the door is open, this is about the time I start thanking God for the life he has blessed me with and asking him to make my death go quick so I wont feel any pain. And then the shouting starts, "Sheriff's dept. is there any body in here!" Now in split second here are my thoughts, "(sigh of relief) I'm not going to die..oh crap what have I done?...should I answer them...of course..what if they shoot me when I answer..."

I yell out "yeah and I'm coming out of the first bedroom!" Note that the door they came in from is right next to my bedroom door. After yelling that, they yell back "Come out slowly with your hand where we can see them!" (my thinking again goes back to I might die; also note that I am in just my boxer-briefs- pleasant sight) I slowly walk out with my hands up and out in front of me (I see two officers with lights in my face and their hands on their gun holsters ready to draw; you would have liked if I said I was staring down the barrel of 9 Mil....I wish I could say that too) and they begin yelling "who are you!" I tell them I am an intern and living with the people who own the house. As they start a conversation I simply ask if I can go put some clothes on, they follow me into the room and watch me dress, just to make sure I wasn't doing anything dumb (awwwkward). They proceed to tell me that the alarm was set off and the door they entered from was left open, I then tell them to search the house. I know this isn't my house, but I WILL not sit back and let them question me when there might be someone in the house, I don't want one of those creepy characters from the movie to be standing above me at night!

Well long story short, no one was in the house but the alarm was triggered after I came in and the door was left open. Strange mystery but creates a great story. After the cops left I did my own search of the basement, which doesn't really make since, why I would go look for someone after two cops with guns did. The best part is I layed back down in bed and texted a few people of my story and fell right to sleep. Ironic, you would think I would have stayed up fearing for my life. But I was tired! Well that's all I got.

Cops are good people. (but very scary when they come into the house yelling at you)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Twenty-Fifth

Wow! Sorry it has been so long since the last post, if you haven't forgotten about me I promise this one will be somewhat long and I fully expect to get some questions, if I don't, great that means I have less to worry about.
Here is a song by Leeland(read that as if I am a radio DJ, preferably Casey Casum)


So at the risk of sounding morbid, I do not fear death. I know for those who know me know I have always said, "I don't want to die yet, there is so much in life that I still haven't experienced and want to." But honestly what is better than an eternity spent praising God? Of course I want to get married (sex) and I of course I want to experience the joys of having a child, and watching them grow up, and seeing what it's like to be 50, and all the other things that happen in life. But we are talking about an almighty sovereign God, who put me on this earth to serve him, why wouldn't I want to join him at his throne? Think of it this way, say you get a job that is absolutely incredible, a job where all the benefits are perfect and when you mess up, although something should happen, your boss says "it's OK, try it again," a job where you never get fired no matter the screw up. A place that you always want to go into work. Wouldn't you want to meet the boss of this incredible organization?

I have always, since high school, loved the verse Philippians 1.21 "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." I always liked the verse for the first part, to live is Christ. I understood that to live this life I should live as Jesus Christ did. Of course I'm doing that perfectly (ha! there's lie number 1). But as I go through life I am constantly asking the question (no I will not say what's on those awful bracelets) what is the next right thing to do? By living life by one event at a time I feel I can slow things down and find the next right thing to do.

But the second part of the verse, "to die is gain" has always been something that I looked over. (that's a big look over) There are two options in life, (as Christians) when we are blessed with another day to live we are to love/live/serve/ and be like our Saviour Jesus Christ did. And if we do all this then to die is a gain. It's crazy I know, but I don't fear death. Do I sin? (ha umm every single day) Of course we all do, whether you understand that as sin or not, we all screw up, but my joy and understanding comes from something called grace. I had a conversation with a lady in a coffee shop the other day about grace and she (as the cigarette dangled from her mouth, she was cute until she put that thing in) said something that even Christians get hung up on "so if you believe there is grace does that give you an excuse to sin?" My response was one that I think a lot of Christians need better understanding on, "absolutely not." See grace isn't so we can sin, grace is there in case we do sin. (which we will...oh how typed words are confusing) My words mean nothing, let the Bible clarify:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.

Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9)

The definition of grace is "receiving something good that you do not deserve" and the definition of mercy is "not receiving something bad that you do deserve."

I don't fear death because God, through Jesus Christ, has blessed me with grace and shown me mercy.

James 4.13-14 says "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

With an understanding that my life is a mist or a vapor then that means I should live my life as Christ, and if I do that then to die will be a gain. Guys our time here is short, why waist it on meaningless things? In a time when the economy is going the way we wouldn't like, why as Christians should we worry? Our rewards are not in the stock market or a stimulus plan (which wasn't a good idea, in my 22 year old with no money, opinion), our rewards are in Christ alone. Him glorified is the thing we should live for, money is a blessing that we should share with the poor. (I'm pretty sure Jesus said something about a rich man and a camel going through the eye of a needle..in case you forgot it's Matthew 19.24)

Please don't see this post as being a testament to me hating life. Ha! It's the opposite I praise God everyday for another day, and I mean that. I love the ministry God has called me to and I am excited to see where He is going to take me on this ride and how He is going to use me. I want to experience marriage, children, growth, the future and all kinds of things, but if I don't then awesome because my rewards are in heaven.

May you, as Christ followers, live a life that is honoring and glorifying to the Sovereign Lord and live a life that Paul talks about in Philippians (the verse I talked about earlier, have you forgotten already?) And if you think I am a complete idiot I would love to talk about it, seriously I love to talk, can you tell?

Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Twenty-Fourth

John Mayer: (enough said)


I shed a tear today.(that's right, I said it, a man and I cried) Now in my defense I am exhausted from driving yesterday and not used to the lack of sleep from the weekend, on top of that I got pulled over, on Labor day (which can be translated into Indianapolis 500 for the average man) but I wasn't speeding, my man pulled me over for expired tags! Pulled across 3 lanes of traffic for expired tags! (needless to say I was fired up. mom I wasn't mad at you I just knew you could take it. Love you) But back to the crying thing, so I am tired,aggravated, and praying for family stuff (if you could too that would be great) and just realizing that the friends I have really do mean the world to me. (yes that does sound very feminine) I spent the entire weekend with my closest friends and I can't imagine not being friends with them. Seriously without Ben and Kyle I know things wouldn't be nearly as funny but I also know I wouldn't be as encouraged as I am when I am with them. I can't imagine living far from them, mainly because one of them will own a boat before me and I don't want to be far from that! So I think all of those emotions running and colliding into one day caused me to shed a tear, I am blessed beyond all measures and I don't deserve it at all. No matter how bad things may get in my life I know 3 things: 1.) I have a Father watching out for me, guiding me, and reminding me that this life is not mine. 2.) I have the most incredible family, that no matter the tragedy we always come away stronger than before. and 3.) I am blessed with friends that would drop whatever it is they are doing to drive hours to be there when I need them. For that I couldn't be more thankful.(Thanks Ben and Kyle)

OK that's enough with the sappy friendship talk.

I got hooked on a new sport this past weekend, beach volleyball. I love it, in fact if you live in Indy and want to play I need people to play with! Johnson fixed the volleyball court and we seriously played for hours almost everyday I was down there. If you have never played I encourage you to, I hope to qualify for the Olympics next time around. (that's a joke, mainly because my best attribute is holding my hand up saying "my bad"..but I still love it!)

Praise God! (I have so many thoughts running through my head but for some reason this is the one thing that seems to be the only right thing to say)

Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Twenty-Thrird

Here is an incredible artist: Phil Wickham


So I don't have much going on, well outside of the internship that is. (Well, that is probably the biggest lie I have told in sometime.) But it's all great stuff, I am leaving the family that I have stayed with for three months tomorrow and moving in with another family. Meeting the Baker's and staying with them was the greatest experience for me, many nights we would just sit and talk about so many different things and how different the views are that we hold, but it's a generational difference, and it's cool to get to hear a different side of things. I am truly going to miss these people, well miss living with them. Thanks guys!

I am really learning new ideas and learning so many things about leadership that will benefit me so much in the future. I was at lunch with Aaron and through conversation I realized that I have things I MUST get over if I want to be effective in leadership. The largest one of those obstacles is my fear to speak up when I see something wrong and the reason is because I see myself as too young to add insight to people older than I and people will dis-credit anything I say because of that.(some of you are shocked right now that I do know how to hold my tongue, but it's true, I process everything in my head before I say it) I am never scared to stand up for what I know is right, the times I am speaking of is when someone is only talking with a narrow minded or very objective view. Some one close to me was talking the other day about wanting to start and build a community of believers and "do life" with those people around him, and if you have read any of my blogs I love this idea, I desire it. But I also understand that if you want to lead a church you must have a system in place so that things will grow and so things stay organized and the most important thing is that people are growing spiritually. In this community I never want to get away from prayer or scripture studying, I think when you get away from that you are not a Christ centered community you are just a strong community. Understand that there is nothing wrong with that, it's awesome, but if you desire to be a church and your missing out on prayer and scripture then I have to wonder if your a church or just another loving group of people. I desire a Christ Centered Community, which translates into a close spiritually growing community. Without structure people forget what they are living for, in the book of Acts(Bible) we see people sharing and selling their things to help people and it all sounds great but just a couple chapters later we see Ananias and Sapphira taking advantage of people and stealing. Without structure things wont hold up. Community is what I desire but I understand that without structure in that, i.e prayer and scripture and teaching/preaching, the community will eventually fall apart.

I am still learning to speak up when I have insight and I understand that I will never be an effective leader until I stop being fearful and speak what I believe to be true. I need to stop thinking I am too young. I am working on that and many other things.(I'm sure I'll tell you those things eventually.)

Love Loudly..Live Graciously..Be Conversational..