Thoughts on things

Family and Work Relationships

2006-06-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

It is generally pretty obvious if someone is having a phone conversation with a co-worker or family member. With co-workers we tend to be polite and courteous. Only with loved ones are we quick to be annoyed and respond angrily. That's not the way it is supposed to be right?

If I have not love, pt. 2

2006-04-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

The reason you don't sleep with married people is that it's a dramabomb, not some loyalty to the patriarchy or wherever the [heck] that lame excuse for morality is coming from.

Taken from a message board post about adultery in marriage.

Is that why you shouldn't cheat on your wife? Because of the "dramabomb" that will unfold? If we are not created in the Father's image, and if all we have is some sort of relative morality, then yes, this is a valid answer.

Photos

2006-04-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

There may be some of you who do not read my techie blog. I've decided to keep a pseudo Photo Of The Day web site of pictures I've taken on my new camera.

It is kept on Flicker.

Weddin's

2006-03-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

I recently attended a wedding for a couple of friends. It was raining, so everything was inside. Here are some pictures.

Like newborn babes

2006-03-11T21:34:00.000-08:00

...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow...

To be brutally honest, sometimes reading the Bible can seem like a chore. For whatever reasons, things just don't click, or I am incessently distracted, or I woke up too late; I just can't get it into it.

But then there are times when I can't put it down. When it feels like I have discovered the words for the first time again. I was preparing a lesson and read a quick passage in 1 Corinthians recently. I found the verse I needed, but my eyes kept scanning down the page. And then some more, and then I read the preceding and following chapter around that verse.

This makes me wonder, how do you breed passion? Generally if someone is truly passionate about something it will rub off on his students. I learned the most in school not necessarily from the teachers that had the most knowledge, but those who obviously loved their craft. This can only go so far though. I had a Physics teacher in High School who loved Physics and loved teaching it. I generally looked forward to his class, however, I could only wrap my head so far around Dempster Mass Spectrometers before my eyes rolled back and drool formed on my lips.

Is it this way too with the Word? I do think that I can show my love for the scripture to my students, but I can't make them love it. I could even force them to read it either through guilt or by whining, but I can't make the light go on.

It's frustrating at times to let God remain in control. I want so badly for things to turn out in certain ways, but I've slowly been growing more content to let Him decide how the pieces fall.

Family

2006-03-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was a retreat up to Strawberry, AZ for the high school staff. As expected, the time was wonderful, and I didn't want to leave. We worshipped, prayed, ate, played games, and did everything together. The bonds you form while serving with others go deep.

One thing I thought about during the drive home is, do non-Christians have something like this? I can see maybe going camping with the buddies every now and then, but comparing something like that to this makes it seem empty. I look at some of my co-workers, those who's lives rarely extend out past the office, and I just don't get it.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy these kind of things, but ultimately it doesn't bring me real joy, only keeps me happy for a little while. When I look back on my past, what brings the biggest smiles to my face usually involves fellowship with the body of Christ.

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

The allure of sin

2006-02-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

"Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." James 1:15.

How true this is. How do you combat sin? We, as Christians, know that ultimately sin brings forth death, but during the heat of the moment, that thought is far from my head.

Anyone will tell you that sin is often pleasurable, it wouldn't be so enticing otherwise right? But what if there are no negative consequences to it? What if this sin is enjoyable and you never get in any sort of trouble for it? You have a double whammy of positive reinforcement for a negative thing. The sad thing is that if we only receive this positive reinforcement, we will be too blinded by it to start seeing the negative creep in. If you freely commit lust over and over again in your head, it will start to bleed out into the rest of your mind, and you probably won't even realize it.

This is why we are slaves to sin. And without Christ, we are lost to it.

These are my guys

2006-02-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I worry about the future of my core group.

Just the other day his friend, Sam (another one of my guys) and himself (Keaton) were trying to get out of the parking lot of their school. There was already a long line of cars, but Sam (the driver) was still trying to cut in front of the line and get out.

During the gridlock, Keaton gets out of the car and stands in front of one of the other cars in the line. The line eventually moves along, but Keaton is still playing Tian An Men square with the SUVs. Sam whips into the newly formed opening, Keaton hops back in the car, and they take off.

I told him that while that is hilarious, I was going to start a pool on how long it will take for him to cross the wrong person and get himself shot.

Why I am a Christian

2005-12-19T09:58:00.000-08:00

Reason number 471: Miracles.

Christmas Music

2005-12-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

One of the things I love about the Christmas season is the music. Some of the songs are not only beautiful compositions, but also have some theological merit, combining both worship and truth. Thus, it noticeably irks me if I don't get a healthy dose of "real" Christmas music during the proper season. A couple of years ago we tried doing some Christmas songs on our Wednesday house groups. The first song requested was Frosty the Snowman. A little part of me died inside that day.

Anyways, I've managed to scrape together a couple of albums that don't induce my gag reflex until I've managed to exercise all the yuletide joy out of my system:

Handel's Messiah - I absolutely love driving through town with my windows down while blasting this at full volume. I used to only like the choir arrangements, but the soloists have grown on me this year.

A Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas - Kind of sad when the freaking Mormons release one of the best Christmas compilations out there.

Jewel - Joy, a holiday collection - Even sadder when JEWEL manages to do the same. Some of music is a little cheesey, and there is one soul destroying medley, but she has such an angelic voice that more than makes up for the shortcomings. Boggles the mind, I mean seriously: Jewel!

Memorization

2005-12-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

I've taken to memorizing more scripture. I used to do that more back in the day, but have let it be lax more recently.

Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

2 Peter 1: 5-8
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance Godliness, to Godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Intelligent" Design part II

2005-11-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Could we please get back to what actually matters? Why does it matter how God created us?

If He simply spoke us into existance, or sculpted us through some sort of evolution, what difference does it make? How we were made does not change the fact that we are still created in God's image. We are still His workmanship, Christ still died for our sins.

Some people (and I am guilty of this too) get so swept up in some sort of us-and-them mindset that they are useless for the kingdom of God. I think that these sorts of things are one of the most effective tools in the enemy's camp. He can't snatch our salvation away, but he can sure make our ministry completely ineffective and stagnant.

Part I

Identity

2005-10-31T09:42:00.000-08:00

"There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't."

Humans have to identify with something. It's just a part of our lives. We find our identities in sports teams, automobiles, technology companies, schools, religion, music, and nearly everything else under the sun. This will even get to the point of violence (how many police have to be present during the big rivalry game for the local university?)

I wonder sometimes what Jesus would think about all this. From looking at the scriptures, it looks like He never really joined up with a group; His identity was always separate from the common ones of the day. In fact the only identity we are called to in the New Testament is that of Christ.

Sometimes I think the church takes on its own identity rather than the true one. It is such an easy trap to fall into. All of a sudden we are Presbyterians, or Catholics, or Lutherans, or Baptists, or Whoever, rather than followers of Christ. If we lose sight of what our identity should be, how are we different from those who come to fisticuffs over completely ridiculous claims?

I find myself especially guilty of this. It is so easy to just join up with a group and find your identity with them. In fact I find some identity in every one of the things I listed in the second paragraph. Sometimes it is just for fun or the cheap joke, but if I dig down deep enough, I will rarely find a legitimate reason to be on that particular bandwagon.

You say it's your birthday

2005-10-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

One of the things that annoys me about birthdays is that when people find out they say, "why didn't you tell me?" I don't know, I always feel like a tool and drawing all the attention to myself when I proclaim it. I might as well say, "Hey today is my birthday! Let us worship at my feet!"

So rather than focus on myself I want to take the time to thank some of the people in my life. Of course, I know I am going to forget some dear friends, so please forgive any snubs! I have been truly blessed in my life, and just can't get to everyone.

First of all to my parents for putting up with me until I figured out what life was about. In my few years of dealing with youth I've seen some pretty terrible parents. This makes me even more grateful of the love and patience that you have demonstrated.

Next, my wife. I still can't comprehend just how lucky I was to grab someone like you. I think of where my life would be without you, and I shudder.

Dave, I love just talking with you about this, that, and everything. Conversing with you never seems forced, nor fake and it makes me glad that our friendship is deep enough to be able to have that.

Jason, you are a gifted speaker and leader. I think that the high school ministry is so much better off with you around. I am so grateful to have been able to have lunches and accountability with you these last few years.

Goz, same as Jason; I think that high school ministry would not be as vibrant with someone else. Sundays and Wednesdays are typically the better parts of my week.

Brad, I think it's great that we managed to fall into a friendship so quickly and easily. The days when we can share lunch and talk about our ministry come too slowly and last too quickly.

Mark, when I was canned by the infamous Company X, I really appreciated the concern and care you showed after I received the news. I don't think I ever had the opportunity to tell you that.

I know that I've missed out on so many people, but I can't thing of anything else to say right now. Thank you to all my friends!

Encouraging encouragement

2005-10-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

By nature I tend to be a little on the sarcastic and cynical side. I can generally come up with a witty barb to throw on the spot if I want to.

Some time ago I made a conscious effort to be more encouraging to people. I've noticed a few things about this. First, is that people don't tend to offer "true" encouragement too often. We are quick to say "I like your hat" or "Good job doing that thing," but not to think deep down and offer something from the heart.¹

Second is that when you do dig down and offer something of worth, people appreciate even more. Just yesterday in church I thought, "hey, I wonder how [someone who used to be on staff] is doing? I'll say a short prayer for her." And lo, I saw her that night. I mentioned it to her and she just lit up in smiles.

Third, it makes me feel good to encourage people. Seeing people light up makes you both happy.

Lastly, it really cuts to the bone. My current group of high schoolers is what some would call "rowdy" and it was hard to get onto a serious topic at the beginning of the year. I brought this whole notion of encouragement up with them and they didn't really understand what "true" encouragement was. So I spent the next few minutes going around the circle and saying how I saw God working in their lives and such (I had to do a little bit more digging for some :-) ). It was the first time I had ever heard them be completely silent. That night I had some of the highest spirits I've had for this semester.

1. Not to say that that type of encouragement is entirely without merit, but let's face it, it is rather shallow.

Sometimes I feel torn

2005-10-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

It's strange. I've been reading and thinking quite a bit today about various theological things, and thought to myself, man, there is nothing better than finally understanding some spiritual issue. And then minutes later I'll figure out some really cool bit of programming and think man, there is nothing better than finally understanding that bit of code that's been bothering you.

Sometimes it's hard for me to pull myself out of one end back into the other. If I've been really into the Word or worship or fellowship, I find it hard to focus on programming. But if I've been concentrating on some software design, I find it difficult to dive back into church or relationships. Often enough I'll be at work and listening to a sermon through my headphones. I'll listen so intently that I won't be productive at all. But sometimes, I'll have the sermon playing, but won't hear a single word because I'm so enthralled with what I'm programming.

I wonder if there is some sort of happy medium to all this. I'm certain that plenty of other people feel the same way.

Keeping refreshed and humble

2005-10-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

I firmly believe in reading things by people smarter than yourself. For one it keeps me humble, especially since dealing with high school students makes it easy to inflate my ego. Secondly, it helps me explore more areas of thought that I hadn't previously considered.

A great example is this train of thought over here. I can't help but feel my mind be stimulated by things like this.

Random Passage

2005-10-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

Jude 24,25 NASB

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

I first read that passage some years ago in college and really liked it. Like most things, it got lost in the ocean of my mind shortly after. Yesterday the thought to look it back up jumped into my head. I'm glad it did because I find it hard to eloquently put in words the power that the passage emotes.

The "intelligent" debate of Intelligent Design and Evolution

2005-10-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=635

That about sums up my thoughts on the issue. Science and Christianity both seek similar things: explaining our existance. Science does via experiment and method, while Christianity via faith and seeking after God. I often think that the answers are further towards the middle of these two ideologies than either side will admit.

More on this "fun" subject later.

Fearfulness

2005-10-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Why is it that we become so fearful when it comes to sharing our faith? It really is quite silly when you boil it down. If your belief is such that it is the core of who you are, then what is the problem? People don't have any problems these days talking about their spirituality, their agnosticism, their homosexuality, their atheism, etc etc etc. Nobody is getting fed to lions these days. And if you have been living your life properly, you shouldn't have to defend any attacks of personal hypocrisy.

High schoolers of course have the stupid idea that people will think that they are the "weird religious guy" and will therefore be ostricated. But for those of us who have (fortunately) left that behind, what (poor) excuse do we have? Is it some leftover fear of being labelled and outcast? The question becomes, how do we overcome this? I have found that if I can just get the first couple of words out, the rest follows, whether you want it to or not. My sense of not publicly embarassing myself (stopping midway through a sentence and clamming up) overwhelms my fear of sharing something personal.

Fortunately, we have it easy today. In every single instance I have shared what I have believed, the response at its worst has been a feigned interest and change of the subject. In fact, those who have actually opposed Chrisitianity have fostered some interesting discussions after my beliefs were revealed.

Superficiality

2005-10-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

I think that superficiality is a problem in most youth groups. I see it especially apparent in ours. It is hard to quantify, and it may be just that I am still a little new at this house, but I can't help but feel there is a certain lack of depth. Kids are very quick to share how a friend needs prayer, or how a family member is sick, or how they have a big test tomorrow, but few will get down to where they are hurting, where they need help. Last week a student shared about how his parents are divorcing and the coming custody battle was really getting him down. You could tell that it was hard for him to share, and to be frank, it is one of the few that I can really remember.

Like most things, the right way is the hard way. It is difficult to move beyond sarcastic jokes with each other, it is dangerous to open up to other people and talk about your struggles. But once you do, the quality of that relationship is hard to match. It makes sense, your relationship with Christ is nothing if you are not honest with Him, and not open. Same with a spouse; if you cannot move beyond superficial things, you will have a superficial marriage. So, why not with fellow friends and believers?

I challenged my small group of high schoolers to make a concerted effort to fight the easiness of superficiality in our group. I think they will be more effective if they try this with underclassmen, since they tend to look up to my juniors. Obviously there is a time and place to relax and goof off and talk about this, that and whatever, but I've seen the benefit of having deep relationships in my own life and with my old group of kids who are now seniors.

I am optimistic, I've seen God work in powerful ways, even through high schoolers, I pray He will move in this group.

What is this mess?

2005-10-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a collection of my thoughts on various topics. I have another blog that consists of mostly techie things, humorous things, and stuff like that. This is more for my personal thoughts on God, Christianity, faith, belief, all that jazz you don't typically talk about in the same breath as the wicked cool new programming paradigm. I'm not too sure what will come of this or how often it will be updated, but I hope it will turn into something worthwhile. So, here goes.