Jacob's Blog

Favorite Books I Read This Year

2011-12-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

In no particular order, here are 10 of my favorite books I read this year:

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxes
- This biography is written like a novel, which makes it very easy to get through. I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in the mind of a man that stood up against Hitler's regime during WWII. So many great insights on culture, truth, community, political activism, and love.

Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography by Iain Murray
- An amazing introduction to the life and thought of America's greatest theologians. It created a deeper love for the sovereignty of God and a greater desire for genuine revival in the church and my life. Murray intertwines life events and theological ideas in a very readable way.

The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
- As you may know, I'm reading all of Lewis' works right now, and this has been my favorite so far. It addresses many topics, but I was most affected by his discussions on hope, love, heaven, the incarnation, and what he calls transposition. Everything is written in such a thoughtful way that I have gone back and read chapters of this book over and over. I've quoted this book several times on my blog as well.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
- I'm only on the sixth book, but I'm loving it. Rowling creates an incredibly complex world in these novels, and this is truly going to be THE classic novel of our era. They are extremely entertaining and thought-provoking. If you're tripping out about Harry Potter and Christianity, I wrote a post about it here.

Slave by John MacArthur
- Honestly, there wasn't anything that I hadn't heard before in this book, but I found it very refreshing. It even gets a little repetitive toward the end—however, I think I needed that. I won't forget my status in Christ for a long time because of this book, and it has made firm my resolve to follow Jesus.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Don't judge me. Thank you @Jaredcwilson for giving me the boldness to say this.

Sexual Detox by Tim Challies
- Being involved in high school ministry, the main problem that people have is sexual sin. This book is geared towards guys that struggle with porn, and it is written in a very plain, helpful way. Challies brings out the differences between lust and love—sexual sin and the way God designed sex to be. If you're struggling or looking for a book to give someone who is struggling, this is an excellent place to start.

Worldliness by C.J. Mahanney
- The High School ministry leadership at Harvest went through this book together. Many helpful discussions were spawned from the pages of it as we grappled with how to be godly in a fallen world. The major theme is, as my friend, KC McCauley insightfully stated, "it's not a list issue— it's a love issue".

Doctrine by Mark Driscoll
- I haven't read through this entire book, but it has been a useful resource. Driscoll summarizes the major views on almost every theological topic and explains his position on them. It's extremely thorough for such a small book—I'd recommend it as an intro for anybody to systematic theology.

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
- I may just be putting this in here because I wrote about 9 essays on it this past year, but I really did enjoy this book. It is a timeless satire about how fickle and ridiculous the modern idea of love is. As one of Shakespeare's easiest books to read, it's a great place to start if you want to start on the classics.

End of November Blog Fest

2011-11-30T14:49:00.001-08:00

Well, yesterday was the last day of November Blog Fest. I put most of this post together then, but I just forgot to post it.

I really loved doing November Blog Fest, and it's helped me to grow a lot as a writer. It's also inspired me to blog more often, even if it's not November. Writing down what is in your head really gives a lot of clarity to thought. A lot of things have been solidified more in my mind just by thinking through how to communicate them in a blog format.

These are my favorite posts from the month because they were the most meaningful to me (except maybe # 2). They're in order of importance:

1. More Than Seeing
2. Barbarically Black Friday
3. Remember Me, God?
4. I Can Hear You
5. Laziness and the Gospel
6. Happy Birthday, C.S. Lewis

One more thing: I went back and deleted the 3-4 posts that were really lame. Just in case you were checking if I wrote every day...

Happy Birthday, C.S. Lewis

2011-11-29T22:43:00.001-08:00

On this day in 1898, Clive Staples Lewis was born. This seemingly insignificant birth would go on to affect millions of people. C.S. Lewis spent most of his life as an atheist that loved stories, myths, and legends. He taught English and Philosophy at Oxford for 29 years before teaching at Cambridge.

Eventually, it was his love of story and his friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings) that brought him to Christ. Tolkien, Lewis and others, in their group called "The Inklings", would discuss literature and Christianity every week. In these discussions, Lewis found that all stories are a projection of a soul's desire to be a part of something greater than itself. We are all hard-wired to belong to something beautifully mythological, something fantastically fable and stories and myths help us to feel that we are.

But, what C.S. Lewis began to be convinced of was that Christianity was the only "true myth". The hard-wired desire within each of us is truly a longing to be apart of Christ, himself. That greater story, that sensational tale that we wish to be in is nothing short of the story of redemption. After many, many days of consideration, Lewis gave in and began to follow Jesus in a moment. He says,"When we set out [by motorcycle to the Whipsnade Zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did." From that point on, he began to write books that explained Christian thought and theology in such prolific clarity that he continues to be one of the most quoted Christians of all time. His books have helped so many people worldwide that his effect is quite incalculable.

A personal appreciation of C.S. Lewis

The thing that I most admire about C.S. Lewis is the way he bridged the gap between cold intellectualism and enthusiastic idealism. One of his biographers called him "The Romantic Rationalist". He thought in terms of cold logic, but also with warm emotion; his observations were not merely sterile statistics, but they reflected a heart impassioned for God. He spoke of joy and sorrow, but also of objective truth. His books prove, over and over, that nothing can be proven with mere empirical, hard evidence—there are some things that must be proved to the heart rather than the mind.

I can't express how much his description of the human condition has helped me. When he writes about the inconsolable longing—the desire for joy that is just beyond our reach—it resonates deeply with me, as I'm sure with so many others. Persistently, Lewis proclaims that this longing can only be filled in the presence of God. He is able to express better than anyone else I have ever read. It's affected me so much lately that I've written about it several times on my blog. It was this longing which pointed the way to Christ for C.S. Lewis, and it is this longing that finds itself entirely filled now in the fullness of Christ's presence.

If you haven't read anything by him, Mere Christianity or The Weight of Glory are great places to start.

Confessions: I Don't Think Harry Potter is Evil

2011-11-27T12:52:00.001-08:00

If you're my age and were raised in a Christian home, you probably remember how deeply Harry Potter was anathematized. Kids that read Harry Potter were evil; they got into witchcraft, and they eventually started worshipping Satan. It was better to be caught reading books about atheism than books about a wizard boy.

By the time I got over this hangup, there were already too many books and movies for me to catch up on, so I just didn't care.

Then, in my academically, intellectually, worldview-stretchingly challenging class of Children's Literature, I was forced to read the first Harry Potter book: The Sorcerer's Stone. To my great surprise, some kind of witchcraft must have kept me from being able to put the book down because I finished it all in about three days. J.K. Rowling writes beautifully complex stories with wonderful simplicity.

Harry's adventures draw readers in so effectually that each book has sold millions and millions of copies. I've even read statistics that it has raised literacy rates in the children of England since it's publication. You know your book is good when you raise literacy rates with it.

Well, I've just finished the fourth book, so obviously I really enjoy them. But, what has caused me to not reject them because of the "witchcraft" and all that?

The only thing that I see as a difference between Harry Potter and books like Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia is that there are good witches in Harry Potter. It seems like it's ok to have good wizards, as long as we don't have good witches. If they are a female that does magic, they better be an elf because witches are just evil.

Now, that's a pretty ridiculous and hypocritical argument, if you ask me.

There are so many great themes about good and evil, redemption, love, and sacrifice within Harry Potter that I think the books can be incredibly beneficial.

One example: Lord Voldemort, the story's antagonist, continued to grow in power and evil. He is clearly portrayed as a wicked, horrible character in the books. The main thing that he feeds his followers is that "there is no good or evil, there is only power". Those that buy into this become miserable and tormented human beings.

In his rise to power, Voldemort brutally murders people that oppose him. This meant that he came after the Potter family (maybe just Harry? I'm only on the 4th book... don't tell me!). When Voldemort was about to cast a spell to kill Harry, his mother jumped in front and sacrificed her life for his. But, as soon as he tried to kill Harry, the love of his mother protected him. Harry was unable to be killed because the act of love shown by his mother was so strong that it broke all the evil within Voldemort. Instead of Harry being killed, Voldemort cast his own spell on himself.

The story of love protecting against wrath sounds quite familiar, doesn't it?

So, maybe there are other reasons people are against Harry Potter, but I don't know them. And, if you still don't want to read it or let your kids read it, that's totally fine. I'm just saying, I don't understand why we make it out to be such a wicked thing.

If anyone has any thoughts on this, please comment.

P.S. I really don't like the Harry Potter movies so far, though... :(

Glory for the Christian

2011-11-26T10:48:00.001-08:00

Does it sound blasphemous to say that Christians will be glorified? Doesn't glory belong to God alone? Romans 8:30 says we will be.

There's a lot of directions I could go with this, but since I've been reading a lot of C.S. Lewis lately, let's talk about his definition of glory.

He says that glory (for the Christian) is "fame with God, approval or (I might say) 'appreciation' by God." That moment when Jesus says, "well done, my good and faithful servant" we will know that we have pleased Him. Think of it: we rejoice when someone of authority or someone we admire appreciates us— it is an enormously great feeling— but, think how much more rejoicing there will be when the Creator of the universe approves of us. As Lewis says:

"To please God. . . to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness. . . to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son— it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is."

This is, of course, not a place of prideful vanity. Our hearts will so rejoice to see our savior that we will not believe that this appreciation of God is our doing. Pleasing God will be our only desire, so that selfish ambition will entirely melt away. Our object of affection (God, Himself) will be so glorious that we will be swallowed up in Him.

To please God—to have Him fully love and approve of us—will be great glory that will last for eternity.

Barbarically Black Friday

2011-11-25T18:51:00.001-08:00

Last night I went with my family to Walmart for their Black Friday sales. Needless to say, it was crazy.

In order to cause the least amount of deaths, Walmart now lets people inside the store to stand by the item they want before the sale starts. Plastic wrap, security guards, and employees attempt to guard these objects from being taken before the set time.

My sister, mom, and I stood—ready to attack— by a bike for Elisha. Anticipation and tempers rose. The woman in front us, who was clearly able to hold her own in a fight, wailed threats to everyone around. Standing nervously to our right, the poor 17 year-old Walmart employee attempted to mentally prepare himself for the coming mayhem by shifting his weight from left to right on his light brown shoes. It felt as though we were standing at a gate in the Coliseum, waiting to meet our bitter end or glorious triumph.

"9:52... 8 minutes til it starts."

Suddenly a muffled voice from the overhead speakers cut through the tension:"Walmart employees will be handing out merchandise. Do not grab the merchandise. If you do, it will be taken from you, and you will be asked to leave. I repeat do not grab the merchandise."

Maybe ten feet away the speaker said the complete opposite. Maybe everyone over there was deaf. Or maybe they were bloodthirsty, barbarically materialistic Americans because immediately, hundreds of hands thrusted desperately toward the items in front of them. People pushed passionately through the moshpit of merchandise to seize five dollar DVDs and other deals.

Standing on a box, in the center of it all, a man with a megaphone shouted repeatedly, "Stop. All of you! Stop! Everyone calm down!" Security guards fought to gain control using only the loudness of their voices as well as threatening gestures. Had the sounds of nuclear war come into the ears of these people, I doubt it would have deterred them. Self-determination and inconsideration of others so filled the room that you would think toys were a matter of life or death.

Within ten minutes, broken red pieces of cardboard laid on the floor, almost destroyed, where the DVD shelves used to be.

All of that to say: there's more to life than this. Don't live for yourself—Jesus saves from the American dream.

We did get the bike, by the way.

Thanksgiving Blog

2011-11-24T11:12:00.001-08:00

Well, I finally missed a November Blog Fest post yesterday. Totally forget until like 2am when I was laying in bed. Oh well...

Thanksgiving. I love that we have a day to set aside everything and reflect on what we are thankful for. We tend to neglect doing this every other day of our lives, which is probably one reason many of us find ourselves discontent so often.

When you step back and look at everything in your life, how can you not rejoice in what you see? You're reading this on a computer, you can see, you're able to think, you probably will eat a lot today, you have shelter, and so many other things.

If we took more time in our lives to consider all the good things that God has given us, it would change our perspective a lot. Let us not neglect to "give thanks in all circumstances" as 1 Thessalonians 5:18 commands us to do. Stop focusing on the bad things and look to the good things.

P.S. I'm thankful that at least a few people read my blog. Ha

Growing From Good Things

2011-11-22T17:15:00.001-08:00

There is a tendency to think that sanctification only happens in bad circumstances. We become more sanctified by that irritating co-worker, that tragedy, that break-up—these hard situations help us to trust and love the Lord more. But, why do we restrict this thinking to hard things? Can't God sanctify us through good things too?

Peter learned that God can.

After hours and hours of splashing a worn fishnet into the dark Sea of Galilee, Peter and his co-fishermen came to believe that it was impossible to catch any fish that week. As expert fishermen, they were able to make that judgement. So it came as a surprise when Jesus told them to cast their nets out once more. In an apprehensive, half-hearted sort of way, they dropped their nets into the sea again. To their shock, so many fish were caught that it began to tear the worn fishnet.

Peter's response to this is unexpected: he says to Jesus, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!" That is sanctification. Through an overwhelmingly good thing, Peter saw his sinfulness and God's holiness. It was not through something difficult—although, that happened to him too—it was through tremendous blessing.

Even in blessings, see that God is growing you more into his image. Even in something that makes you happy, something that is so good, see it as something God is sanctifying you through. There will certainly be bad things that happen in your life as well, but don't forget to rejoice and grow in the good things.

Confessions: I Am Not Hyperspiritual...at all— Part 1

2011-11-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

"Hi, God told me that I'm going to marry you. So, I just thought I'd let you know what His will is for our lives."

We have all heard stories of people saying things like this. While it seems totally ridiculous, I know a couple people who have either said this or had this said to them (no it wasn't me).

I bring this up because people say these kinds of things all the time. "Well, the Lord told me that..." or "I just felt God saying..." or "Jesus spoke to my spirit and..." I'm sure every single one of us have said these kinds of things, but are they really true?

I believe in the Holy Spirit; I thoroughly believe that He leads us. But, He has given us a remarkable wealth of knowledge through the scriptures. I believe, as Psalm 119:105 says, that God's word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths—not subjective spiritual impressions or anything else— his word is. Therefore, we should make decisions in light of what the Bible tells us, not by what our feelings/ emotions/ voices in our heads tell us.

Now, am I utterly rejecting everything anybody ever says of this nature? No, not necessarily. If it lines up with scripture, I won't reject it; I just don't know that it came as a direct revelation to you. Could I be wrong in disbelieving all of these things? Maybe.

I'd love to talk about more specific reasons why I feel this way, but I have to go to class. Maybe another day. So, until then, I'll leave you with a book recommendation:

Kevin DeYoung wrote an amazingly helpful and simple book called, Just Do Something. The subtitle is amazing too: "How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc."

I have an extra copy of it too, if anyone wants it!

2011-11-20T23:40:00.001-08:00

This post is for Michelle McCauley, who informed me that my blog pops up on her google reader.

Well, tonight she said that it's dumb how people do November Blog Fest and just write that they have nothing to write about. Seeing as this is about my 4th post devoid of anything to say, I think I'd agree.

There are a couple things I have in my mind to write about, but I don't feel like putting the energy into writing them out right now.

So... I will let this post be the epitome of a lame November Blog Fest post.

Sorry, Michelle.

Assurance and Perseverance

2011-11-19T16:11:00.001-08:00

Do you ever wonder why you're still a Christian (if you are)? Why is it that so many people have seemed to be Christians, then turned entirely from the faith?

I've found myself wondering this question over and over throughout the past couple years. I know a lot of people that I truly believed to be following Jesus who are now walking away from Him. This isn't a new thing either; the apostle Paul talks about a man, named Demas, who forsook God, "having loved this present world". How do I know it won't be me?

There seems to be this great tension in scripture between assurance of salvation and a need for perseverance in salvation.

In one a sense, Jesus tells us that no one will ever snatch us out of His hand (John 10:27). We can know that because He has purchased us—freed us from being trapped in sin—we will continue in our salvation. God is holding us, and there is no one strong enough to grab us from Him.

But, in another sense, we are called to persevere. Famously, Jesus states, "Those who endure to the end shall be saved" in Matthew 24:13. Not to mention numerous admonitions to avoid falling away in Hebrews. It's clear that if you are living an unrepentant life, you don't know God (1 John 3:9). So, what do we make of all these people that have made a shipwreck of their faith? We cannot say they'll be saved. We just can't. Now, if they return to Jesus, we can. But, anyone living in open, unrepentant sin, cannot be deemed a Christian.

Consequently, it seems that we need to live in the tension of assurance and need for perseverance. Our ultimate assurance will come at the end of our perseverance. God will keep you, so stay in Him.

More Than Seeing

2011-11-17T16:15:00.001-08:00

We have all sat and taken in the breath-taking orange, yellow and blue of a picturesque sunset. There have been moments in your life that you have stopped and could not help staring into something beautiful.
But, tell me this isn't true:

"We do not want merely to see beauty, though... We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it." - C.S. Lewis

There is a slight moment of satisfaction, and we think we have it! Then, it flees away. Even in looking at something astoundingly, heart-skippingly, smile-inducingly beautiful, we long for more. We want to be in it— enveloped in majesty, lost in the loveliness—yet, we fall just short of it.

This longing will never be fulfilled on earth. It can't be. But, God has made us this way to point us to the greatest beauty of all: His Son.

Of course, I'm not talking about Pantheism or Deification, but the Bible describes us as being "in Christ", "accepted in the beloved", and "one with Him", if you are a Christian. Our desires all point to the truth of these statements. Only a soul that is brought into Jesus will ever be satisfied.

We will utterly lose ourselves in Jesus and find the greatest joy in making much of Him. It's the only thing that can ultimately satisfy us. He leaves hints of it for us on earth, but it won't be fully realized until we get to Heaven.

What do you want this to say?

2011-11-16T23:02:00.001-08:00

I'll be honest, I totally forgot about November Blog Fest today. So, this is totally spur of the moment.

There are thousands of people that believe the bible says Marijuana is good. I've talked to a lot of them. Their minds are thoroughly convinced that God wants people to get stoned for Him, but not in the apostle Paul way.

This post isn't about drugs, but the point is, they believe it because they want to. Any rational and literate human being knows that God does not condone marijuana, but that is utterly irrelevant to them. They want to do drugs, so they find ways to make it be ok.

This thought just causes me to wonder how many things I believe because I hope they are true. Our mind is tied to our will causing us to think and see things much as we want to see them. It takes a lot to change people's minds because of this.

Doesn't that mean that our view of scripture is tainted, then? Possibly
But, that's why community and history are so important in determining what a text means. We have 2000 years of church history to look to to see how people interpreted the bible. We also have great pastors and friends that are able to discuss things over with us. Therefore, we should read scripture and find its meaning.

Just beware that in every situation and in every way you view things, often your desires cause you to not see them in a true light. So, measure everything by God's word- not by how you feel or want it to say.

Tim Keller at Berkeley

2011-11-14T16:25:00.001-08:00

Maybe this is cheating, but my blog is a video by Tim Keller today. This is one of my favorite apologetic videos out there. Keller does an excellent job at philosophically explaining, in simple terms, how we can have belief in an age of skepticism.

One of the most helpful tools this video gave me for witnessing is the tactic of applying someone's principles to their own argument. For example, someone might say, "Life and the universe have no meaning", to which you could easily reply, "Is that a meaningful statement?".

Tim Keller goes way deeper than that in this video, and I think it's amazing! So, if you have an hour and a half to kill, watch this!

(P.S. If you want to skip the people at the beginning, Keller starts at 4:20)

Defeating Writer's Block

2011-11-13T20:09:00.001-08:00

Writer's block is... um... Writer's block often plagues me.... No, no, no... If you ever have a hard time.... No.... um....

That's how writing generally happens for me: lots of starting, deleting, and rewording. Being an English major, I have to write a lot of essays, and I get writer's block A LOT. Sometimes I'll be stuck on sentences for hours.

I thought I would share some things that generally help me overcome the brain clogging demon of writer's block. In no particular order:

1. Go to a new place to write
- Sometimes you just need a new atmosphere to clear your mind. The place that words flow most easily from my brain to my hands is Panera. I don't know why, that's just how it is.

2. Get fresh coffee
- If you're a writer and not a coffee drinker, I do not comprehend you.

3. Just write down the general idea
- Instead of trying to make the sentence perfect, just put down the idea that it's going to communicate. After that, move on to the next sentence, then come back and fix the first one.

4. Do something to clear your mind
- I'm not talking about yoga, but do something! Sometimes I'll walk outside, go play my drums, or just sit and listen to soft music. After a couple minutes, my brain feels less cluttered and more able to think.

5. Stop going on social networks
- Twitter and Facebook are the most evil establishments when you need to get something done.

6. Don't listen to music with words
- This might just be a personal thing, but I can't think at all when non-instrumental music is playing. My mind tends to focus on the words in the song rather than the words I should be writing. So, dubstep is ok (some of it).

7. Have a conversation about your topic
- Go talk to a friend, pet, or imaginary friend about what you're writing. Verbalizing things tends to give fresh insight into what you're trying to communicate.

I hope some of those help! Especially for people participating in #NovemberBlogFest with me!

Parent's Anniversary

2011-11-11T11:12:00.001-08:00

Today, my parents have been married for 32 years. This fact is completely incomprehensible to my 22 year old mind. To live with, fight with, and love the same person for so long is an amazing work of grace.

I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate the fact that my parents have stayed together for so long. In America, even the church, the divorce rate is astounding, and divorces always create issues for the kids of the formerly married couple. Marriage isn't as easy as it seems (so people say), and it takes a lot of forgiveness and patience to continue on with it.

I am so thankful for the great example my parents have set for me and the love they have. Both of them, in different ways, have sacrificed so much for me and each other. In a million ways they have worked hard to provide and love me without me even noticing most of the time. There is no way I could ever repay them for all they have done. I'm sure they'll be happy with grandkids, though.

So, Happy 32nd Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Some Thoughts on Thoughts

2011-11-10T16:44:00.001-08:00

There's a saying that goes, "As a man thinks, so is he". This is probably not an accurate translation of Proverbs 27:3, nevertheless it is true.

Thoughts lead to actions. When your mind is continually dwelling on doing a certain thing, you will eventually do it, to some degree. It does not matter whether it is something wicked or something righteous. The things your mind thinks are seeds that can grow into trees of good or evil.

Of course, we have thoughts that run through our heads uninvited, but we have the power to cast them out. The more these thoughts are accepted, the deeper the seed goes and the quicker a tree grows.

This is just an exhortation to "take every thought captive in obedience to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). Plant good seeds of thought to bear acceptable, good fruit of action in your life.

Remember Me, God?

2011-11-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel like God has forgotten about you? You pray and nothing happens; you read your bible, but feel nothing;you struggle with specific sins over and over; you sit in worship services not wanting to worship, or a variety of different things.

This verse was so refreshing for me to read this morning:

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands"
-Isaiah 49:15-16

Tying something to a person's hand was a custom that was done in order to remember things. They didn't have iPhone reminders, so they used string. But, I think that on this side of the cross, it can be seen as a deeper meaning.

More than just tying a string, he says that he has engraved us on his hands. Undoubtably, it shows his complete commitment to remembering us. Jesus' nail-pierced hands demonstrate that God will never forsake or forget us. See, Jesus was forsaken for us, that we would not have to be. Our favor with God has been securely purchased by Jesus' death and resurrection. He went to great lengths to display his unwavering commitment to have us be with him.

In times that you feel forgotten or forsaken, hold on to this truth and it will keep you afloat in the strongest of storms.

The Inconsolable Soul and Absolute Truth

2011-11-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

In a couple months, I need to write a 30 page paper on any topic I want. In class tonight, I was refining the direction that I want to go with it. This is a rough idea sketch of what it'll be about. My mind is still sorting it all, so this is still sort of a mess. In its final form it will be way more thorough (obviously) and explain any loopholes you might find in this rough sketch. Anyways, here it is:

Within every person is a desire for happiness. This desire informs nearly every decision that a person makes. The interesting thing is, most people find themselves inches from being able to grasp the fulfillment of their desire. There is a deep longing within them that cannot be satisfied. C.S. Lewis calls this the inconsolable soul.

Lewis suggests that because there is a desire, there must be something that fulfills it. He writes, “A man’s physical hunger does not prove that man will get any bread; he may die of starvation on a raft in the Atlantic. But surely a man’s hunger does prove that he comes of a race which repairs its body by eating and inhabits a world where eatable substances exist.”

Not only does the soul desire happiness, but it longs for justice. Universally, every culture celebrates “good” virtues. Humans disdain being betrayed or wronged. There are laws that are accepted by all as the way that one wants to be treated. Where does this desire come from? Is it merely a universally subjective sentiment?

The inconsolable soul points to a greater reality outside of the human being. This Greater Reality, namely God, has left a mark on the person in order to draw them into Himself. Desire for moral law conveys the existence of a moral law-giver. He is the ultimate fulfillment of this desire for happiness and justice—nothing will fully complete it until He is fully known.

If this is true, God must be something separate from us. Therefore, He must be able to contradict our incorrect ways of thinking in order to point us to Himself. God is an absolute, knowable, and fixed truth that provides the only solution to the inconsolable soul. Consequently, if belief in objective truth is lost, we lose everything.

Congratulations on getting to the end of it.

Confession: I Like Mark Driscoll

2011-11-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

People either love or hate Mark Driscoll. Many hear what others say about him and immediately write him off as a cussing, liberal, culture saturated, sexually explicit so called pastor. It is not completely without warrant that people say such things. John MacArthur has famously written many articles about Driscoll's "Rape of Solomon's Song", and plenty of other people have been offended by one thing he's said or another.

Then there was John Piper. One day, Piper decided to invite Mark Driscoll to his conference. This upset a lot of people, and he got a lot of flack for it.

At a certain conference, a question was asked regarding Mark Driscoll, and I think that Piper does an excellent job at discussing why we should not write Driscoll off.

Here is the audio clip of what he said:
John Piper on Mark Driscoll by jdmeiser

I've been to Mars Hill Seattle once, and I went to Mars Hill OC today, so obviously I've come to really like Mark Driscoll.

Three things in particular cause me to really appreciate his ministry:

1. He is very Christ-centered in everything. Just today he was speaking about how at Mars Hill you will hear the name of Jesus said over and over. He does not want anyone to think that he is referring to any other God but the incarnate savior of the world. This is so important in our post-modern society. Jesus is our example in everything and should be constantly praised and loved.

Being Christ-centered also makes him very gospel-centered. Generally, a message will not go by without the listener hearing the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He has caused me to appreciate the gospel more through the way that he discusses it on several occasions.

2. Because of this gospel-centrality, tons of people are being saved through his ministry. He has a tremendous global impact: from 180,000 followers on twitter to being in iTunes top podcasts frequently, he has great influence, and he is using it for the Kingdom.

3. Driscoll is not afraid to yell at those he calls, "boys who can shave". Yesterday's blog post had a very Driscollesque feel to it. He has been one of the greatest influences in my life to grow up. I appreciate that he takes the time to talk about many things that are often neglected in churches like manhood and womanhood. Pastor Mark is also very hard on men to treat women rightly, which is majorly important for our time period.

With all that said, I greatly appreciate Mark Driscoll's ministry, though he is not perfect, the Lord is using him in amazing ways.

Laziness and the Gospel

2011-11-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

"Man up. Grow up. Work hard and stop prolonging adolescence into your 20s and 30s." -David Platt

Last night I went to the Secret Church, which is basically seven hours of teaching and prayer. That's right, seven hours. This year's theme was "Marriage, Family, Sex, and the Gospel". Every minute of the time was packed with incredible content.

The quote above hit me particularly personally. I need to grow up.

Prolonged adolescence is pandemic in 20 to 30 year old males. We have an incredible tendency to be lazy and not pursue careers or anything meaningful with our lives. We expect jobs, wives, money, and everything else to be handed to us without any hard work. This is a pathetic neglect of God's design for manhood.

Men were created to love, lead, provide and protect their wives and families. The tendency is to lust after women, fall behind them, and depend on parents to provide for us. Laziness is the defining attribute of our age group.

Proverbs 13:4 says, "Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper." We want so many things, but cannot find the will-power to strive after them. Again, this is utterly antithetical to the way God has intended us to be.

I think Platt's exhortation is worth repeating: if this blog post describes you (or me), "Man up. Grow up. Work hard."

The gospel shows us that Jesus worked hard to accomplish the purpose for which he was on earth; He laid down His life to provide for all the needs of his bride. Men must do the same. I'm thankful that the gospel also shows us that God meets us in our weaknesses and gives us strength to do what He has called us to.

A Stranger and Pilgrim

2011-11-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

For many people, there is nothing less appealing than one's present reality. It seems monotonous, flavorless, unexciting. Adventures await in a far away place—anywhere but here.

I recently tweeted (this was before my last blog post), "Sometimes, I just want to move really far away." Based on the response to this, I found that many people sympathize with this sentiment.

Much of it is just a desire for adventure and experiencing new places. I've traveled a lot, and I enjoy it immensely. And, I've found I tend to romanticize the places I've been in my mind. I make them out to be far more wonderful than they probably were. However, maybe more than just for adventure, it's my initial response to hardship—to escape it. I feel like if I lived somewhere away from everyone that it all would go away. There must be somewhere where everything is wonderful all the time. New York? Italy? Seattle?

I was feeling this way last night while reading C.S. Lewis. I felt like this page was written to me, it said:

"These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."

Every longing for something is but a shadow of the longing I feel for God, Himself. This longing is God-given to show us we were not made for this world. Heaven (where God dwells) is where we belong. No far away country or revived beautiful memory will ever be enough to satisfy this deep longing.

So, may we strive to direct our longings in the proper direction—not to far away places—but to Him who is very near to those who call on Him.

I Can Hear You

2011-11-03T11:19:00.001-07:00

I hate my life. I just wish you cared. My entire world is falling apart. I can't believe you would do that you [insert cuss words here].

Welcome to my Twitter feed.

Let me start out by saying, I completely understand the need to vent to the internet. Sometimes you just have to throw your thoughts at cyberspace in hopes that it will keep them out of your head. I get it; I've done it plenty of times, and it genuinely helps you feel better in a strange way.

There's also something about Twitter that causes people (myself included) to forget that others read what you write. It's exclusivity and layout almost makes you feel like it's a personal journal to log what comes into your mind for future reference. When someone replies to a tweet, it almost takes you by surprise. It is then that you have to come back to reality and realize what you're doing when you tweet. Remember people follow you; they can read it.

There have been a couple times where I've posted things directed at people on facebook or Twitter out of thoughtless malevolence. In that moment of stupor, I felt that speaking my mind through a social network would be the best way for them to understand how I felt. These couple times ended up hurting the person they were directed towards. After the insensibility wore off, I realized what foolishness it was.

"A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back"

- Proverbs 29:11

It's easy to be the fool that lets every negative feeling out, but it is so much more beneficial to be the wise man that holds it back. This verse must have been written with Twitter in view.

I'm still a work in progress at this (in life and on social networks), but all I'm saying is think before you speak... and tweet. Let's honor God in our conduct online, and allow His glory to shine through everything we do.

Cracking Open the Door

2011-11-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Right now it's 1pm, and I need to leave in approximately forty minutes. That means that I need to write a blog very quickly. So here it goes:

This is kind of another #NovemberBlogFest introductory post, I suppose.

The world is so full of blogs, books, and various other forms of literature that it's very difficult to say anything that stands out. "Nothing is new under the sun" as Solomon so perceptively asserts. Attempting to enter the over-crowded room of authorship is certainly a difficult task. Somehow sneaking into this room has always been a dream of mine, though.

Of course, to walk through its door, one needs certain abilities that I need to cultivate. One of those abilities is to be a able to communicate well and quickly. These are two of my biggest struggles. I am a much better listening than talker; a better music critic than musician; a better theologian than communicator; and unfortunately, a better reader than writer. In short, I enjoy taking in more than giving out.

Almost every blog I've ever written took me far too long to write. Getting what's in my head on paper is a strenuous task for some reason; I'll spend hours on paragraphs sometimes. Laziness is most likely the root of this or just plain slow-brainedness.

So, all of that to say, this month will be a huge challenge because I'll be struggling so much to write down what I want to say in a quick manner. It is a challenge that I'm embracing and excited to see how I grow, as a writer, from it.

November Blog Fest

2011-11-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

I love blogging. I'm also terrible at being consistent at it.

In August, I wrote four blog posts. Compare that to the number of posts in the last two months—zero— and you will understand what I mean.

Every time I do post something, my blog becomes, to me, like the new Millennium Falcon space ship I BEGGED my parents to buy me for Christmas. At any moment, you would see me holding the ship and making strange noises as it zoomed through the far reaches of the galaxy. However, my love for it didn't even last as long as Kim Kardashian's love for her husband. In the same way, I get excited about my blog in spurts, then forget my blog even exists.

My good friend, Tyler, suggested that I join in on the festivities of November Blog Fest (he posted a blog about why he joined it here). I see this as a great opportunity for me to force myself to be consistent at writing.

One blog post a day can't be that hard, right?

Apathy is not Poetic

2011-08-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

Can you quote yourself on your own blog? I'm about to. I guess I could just post it without quoting myself, but I don't even remember writing it.

I just finished a creative writing class that was very stretching and helpful to me. It's inspired me to write more poetry and fiction. I may eventually post some or make a whole new blog— who knows.

My teacher sent me an email where she quoted something that I wrote in an assignment at the beginning of the class. I said,

"There isn't much good poetry that is apathetic about anything—it demands an answer or feels so strongly about something's worth or worthlessness that it has to scream it."

I think this can apply to any kind of writing: poetry, stories, non-fiction or songs. Apathy is uninteresting because if you don't care, why should they?

Hugs

2011-08-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've never really been into hugs. This has, apparently, been a problem since I was a little boy. It doesn't help that as an awkward teenager, my inability to show affection grew aggressively like adolescent acne. The closest thing to physically touching people was when I blindly ran into someone because my hair was in my eyes.

Since then, I think I've gotten a lot better. You will, in fact, see me giving hugs to guys that I have real friendships with. Guys. Then, there's that other species of human—the one that tends to be a little more touchy-feely and sensitive. Yeah, I'm talking about girls.

Before you get all crazy on me, let me explain my rationale in why I don't usually hug girls. When and if I had a girlfriend, it would bother me a lot to see her hugging other guys. I'm not talking about guys that are my friends or people we'd be close to, but I would hate to see that guy (you know... that guy) that is always around all the girls hugging her. So, in order to not be hypocritical, I decided to just abstain from embracing all girls (except said theoretical girlfriend).

In my hug-less journey through life these last couple years, I've realized a few things:

1. Not hugging girls is pretty awkward

2. I actually care about a lot of girls as friends and sisters in Christ

3. It's not as terrible as my awkward teenage self once thought

4. Sometimes a girl just goes in for a hug and you can't deflect it

5. Hugging is the most socially acceptable form of greeting outside of a handshake

6. I don't have a girlfriend, anyways

7. I need to grow up

I tend to over-analyze life, so most of you by now are thinking I'm a weirdo for putting so much thought into this, but that's just how I am. This is mainly for laughs.

Now, with all that said, how do I begin? Just start hugging people?

So... I guess you can hug me now. Sometimes. Only Side Hugs.

Jonathan Edwards' Conversion

2011-08-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a couple of chapters into Iain Murray's biography of Jonathan Edwards, and this portion was really cool to read. Edwards is describing the point in his life that he thinks his conversion took place. I really resonate with this because I had something sort of similar happen to me—namely, one day I started loving Jesus because of what I read in Scripture after years of not being affected by it. It's still really refreshing to read, even if this isn't exactly what happened to you.

"The first instance, that I remember, of that sort of inward, sweet delight in God and divine things, that I have lived much in since, was on reading those words, 1 Tim. 1:17: 'Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.' As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Dvine Being; a new sense, quite different from any thing I ever experienced before. Never any words of Scripture seemed to me as these words did. I thought with myself, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God, and be rapt up to him in heaven, and be as it were swallowed up in him for ever! I kept saying, and as it were singing, over these words of scripture to myself; and went to pray to God that I might enjoy him, and prayed in a manner quite different from what I used to do; with a new sort of affection.

From about that time, I began to have a new kind of apprehension and ideas of Christ, and the work of redemption, and the glorious way of salvation by him. An inward, sweet sense of these things, at times, came into my heart; and my soul was led away in pleasant views and contemplations of them..."

These kinds of experiences are fantastical to a lot of people. Don't freak out if you haven't been utterly shocked by the glory of God in ridiculously dramatic ways. But, you do have some cause for concern if it never happens at all. We have a magnificent God that should draw us to sit in awe and enjoyment of who he is. If you have no desire for him and never have, how can you say you know him?

I just thought this was interesting to read in light of the fact that Jonathan Edwards is often called "the greatest intellect America has ever produced". Even secular philosophers acknowledge his brilliance, even though his genius is impeded by his Christianity in their view. I love that he doesn't speak in academic terms or of any kind of cerebral experience, but in simple terms of genuinely having love and affection for God.

May we not be merely loving God with our minds, but with our hearts and souls too.

Life Sucks, Then You Die (Well, not really)

2011-08-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

At some point in time, you begin to realize that life is a set of continual disappointments. You can have a great day, but eventually, there will come a time when you'll sit on a couch contemplating what went wrong while being enveloped in the sound of your soft pick strumming over the strings of your guitar. Or maybe that's just me.

Life drags on at times, and we need to determine how we're going to deal with it. People turn to all kinds of things to cope with problems: drugs, sex, alcohol, or any number of entertainments. Those things may temporarily distract your mind from the problems, but ultimately, they'll just lead to more sorrow.

So, how do we deal with continual disappointments? There are a lot of ways, but this one thing I've been thinking about a lot lately.

Peter tells the church to "...set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the [revealing] of Jesus Christ" (1:13).

What does that mean? It means to look forward to the day that Jesus will return. We will see Him as He really is, and be changed into His likeness (1 John 3:2). This is the deepest desire of true Christians: to see Jesus clearly and to be eternally in His presence. Because we know that "In His presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11).

This is something that we tend to forget. We often live like this world is all we have. Like, all of our desires and deepest needs have to be satisfied while we're here on earth. They won't be; they can't be. Our deepest need is for God, Himself, and one day we will have a vibrant, unhindered relationship with Him. But, for now, we need to be patient and wait for it (Romans 8:22-25).

This super famous quote by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity sheds so much insight on it:

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage."

I think it would do us all good to realize that the greatest things in this life are merely shadows of Heaven. I'm not saying don't seek to have joy in this life, but just realize that that joy will never be completely full until we see Jesus face to face.

This world was not meant to satisfy us, so don't be shocked when it doesn't. Instead, "...set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the [revealing] of Jesus Christ".

tumblr (Without a Capital "T")

2011-07-30T21:32:00.001-07:00

Second post of the day! Woo!

I posted a blog on tumblr about whether or not I want to stick with blogger or switch over.

You can read it at jacobmeiser.tumblr.com

How to Seek Holiness

2011-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

"Nothing has a greater tendency to promote holiness of heart and life, than the absolute promises of God, respecting grace and glory, the assurance of adoption, the certainty of perseverance to the end, and the sure enjoyment of eternal life… How preposterous and irrational must it be in a man who think himself to be a child of God, and believe he shall persevere to the end, from this consideration to indulge himself in all manner of sin.”

- John Gill

Witnessing in New Zealand

2011-07-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

If you know me very well, you know that I have a passion for missions. I've often contemplated selling everything I have to go preach the gospel in some remote part of the world to people that have never heard it. In New Zealand, that dream was partially realized.

The diversity of those wandering the streets and malls of Auckland is amazing! In any crowd of people, you'll find at least ten countries represented. I talked to people from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, South Korea, South Africa, China, Japan, India, and many other places. It was so cool!

The astounding thing was that many of these people had never heard the gospel. Many had not even heard of Jesus or the bible. Coming from America, this is such a foreign idea to never have heard of Jesus. What was also interesting is that some of these people were even New Zealand natives: a westernized country.

Many that I talked to were so blessed to hear the good news of the gospel—excited to hear everything that Jesus had done for them. Others were totally apathetic about the relation of it to their lives.

But, the point is, I found it SO much harder to explain the gospel to people who had no foundation of it whatsoever. I found myself starting in the garden of Eden and quickly going over major passages to explain the message of redemption found throughout Scripture. In a lot of ways, it breathed life into stories, and The Story, I've heard thousands of times. To know that it was applicable to people that have never heard it.

All of that being said, I must admit that I greatly appreciate the biblical background, however small or incorrect, people in America have. I appreciate that the gospel is so accessible to anyone that would desire to hear about it.

This post is mainly for my own reflection. To say to myself, as with so many other things that have happened in my life lately, that I'm beginning to feel like I'll stay in America. It seems that my gifts are more geared toward the place around me as I write this.

People need the gospel. Whether they've heard it or not, we need to bring it to them.

Act Like Men

2011-05-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

One of the many reasons that I love the ESV bible is because of how it translates 1 Corinthians 14:13. It says, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” Other translations say “be brave” or other things instead of “act like men”, all of which seem to be accurate ways to translate the greek word.

I think this phrase, “act like men” brings out the heart of the issue most clearly. Our culture has abandoned any biblical notions of what a man is to be. Manhood has become something that happens to you, rather than something that you attain to. Boys are not expected to show responsibility or accomplish anything, but are allowed to waste away in lazy luxuries into their thirties.

As I’ve often observed, I know so many awesome godly girls, and a significantly smaller number of awesome godly men. Semi-godly cool guys that have nothing going for them are everywhere; godly men with their lives together are very rare.

In the ministry I’m involved in (Activate High School Ministry), we’ve been doing a series on dating and relationships. I’ve realized more and more that my generation’s bent toward boyhood is displayed most clearly in the way that we treat women. You can tell a lot about a person by how they view the opposite sex.

Increasingly, our culture sees women as nothing more than objects for their own gratification. Since the sexual revolution, promiscuity has been accepted as normal and fitting. Commercials like those of Victoria’s Secret would never be allowed on any television station 60 years ago—so, it’s incredible to think of how wicked the world has become, yet we are so used to it. Pornography is one of the biggest industries in the world, and America and other countries are gluttonously consuming it, demonstrating our dramatic devaluing of women. And, this isn’t just in “the world” either.

This goes further than just in a sexual sense. Guys will date tons of girls just for an emotional hook-up. They’re treated like a shirt that is tried on, then disregarded. Or a toy to hold on to in order to help with the guy’s own insecurities. The root of all of these issues is selfishness. Girls aren’t off the hook in these areas either, but I believe if boys would man up, those problems would be less severe.

Men treat woman with honor. They are to be treated as the valuable vessel that they are as 1 Peter 3:7 tells us. Woman are to be held in high regard and be viewed as sisters in all purity (1 Timothy 5:2) and as daughters of the king.

The ultimate man, Jesus Christ, lived and died unselfishly for His bride: the church. He laid down his life in order to meet the needs of those that He loved. Men are to emulate this action in the way that they live toward their wives (Ephesians 5) and are to live in an unselfish way as our example did (Philippians 2).

Guys, act like men! Grow up. Don’t treat women as objects and accessories to be gained, but as treasures to be honored.

Girls, as my friend Tyler Bianco said in a message, “don’t settle for a guy that’s going to treat you as anything less than what you are: a princess”. A godly woman is worth so much more than to be seen as anything less than a treasure.

This isn’t to say that I’m perfect in all of this and have manhood all figured out. But, I pray that God would give all of us the grace to grow in these areas.

Bonhoeffer on the Bible

2011-03-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a faithful pastor that held firm to biblical Christianity during Hitler's reign in Germany. He refused to sacrifice truth though his beliefs would eventually cost him his life. Bonhoeffer was a bright light beneath the tyranny of the Nazis that shone thoroughly for the glory of Christ. This kind of life stems from an intense love for God's Word. In Eric Metaxas's biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (which is really good so far), he quotes a letter that Dietrich wrote to his brother in law who was a liberal theologian. The letter, written before Hitler's rise to power, shows where this faithful pastor received the strength to stand up against one of the most wicked dictators of all time.

Bonhoeffer writes:

"First of all I will confess quite simply—I believe that the Bible alone is the answer to all our questions, and that we need only to ask repeatedly and a little humbly, in order to receive this answer. One cannot simply read the Bible, like other books. One must be prepared really to enquire of it. Only thus will it reveal itself. Only if we expect from it the ultimate answer, shall we receive it. That is because in the Bible God speaks to us. And one cannot simply think about God in one's own strength, one has to enquire of him.Only if we seek him, will he answer us. Of course it is also possible to read the Bible like any other book, that is to say from the point of view of textual criticism, etc.; there is nothing to be said against that. Only that that is not the method which will reveal to us the heart of the Bible, but only the surface, just as we do not grasp the words of someone we love by taking them to bits, but by simply receiving them, so that for days they go on lingering in our minds, simply because they are the words of a person we love; and just as these words reveal more and more of the person who said them as we go on, like Mary, 'pondering them in our heart', so it will be with the words of the Bible. Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us along with our questions, only so shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible...

If it is I who determine where God is found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature. But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me. This place is the Cross of Christ. And whoever would find him must go to the foot of the Cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands. This is not according to our nature at all, it is entirely contrary to it. But this is the message of the Bible, not only in the New but also in the Old Testament...

And I would like to tell you now quite personally: since I have learnt the Bible this way—and this has not been for so very long—it becomes every day more wonderful to me. I read it in the morning and the evening, often during the day as well, and every day I consider a text which I have chosen for the whole week, and try to sink deeply into it, so as really to hear what it is saying. I know that without this I could not live properly any longer."

May we read the bible this same way and receive strength to stand through whatever circumstances.

Though the Earth Gives Way

2011-03-12T22:05:00.000-08:00

This has been so heavy on me these last couple days.

In one moment, the very ground beneath your feet could be taken from you. All that you value, all that you've worked for, and all that you have ever known could exist no longer. Would you last?

The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan is a screaming reminder to us of how unstable this world is. Even the ground we build on can't be trusted. It seems that the Lord would have us to examine our hearts and see what kind of foundation our lives are built upon. If an 8.9 earthquake hit us, would the structure of our lives stand?

Is God the greatest love, security, and satisfaction of your soul? Or would your love, security, and satisfaction be destroyed in such tumultuous circumstances?

Our culture is so bent on finding meaning in materialism, sex, relationships, children, power or a million other things. But, what they don't realize is, the ultimate meaning of existence is found in the person of Jesus Christ. He, being God in human form, brought His people back to the strongest ground that can be stood on—God, Himself. He did this by absorbing the wrath that was stored up against them. Then, He arose in victory, conquering death itself. If this great God is for us, what could possibly threaten us? If Jesus is entirely your foundation, how could you ever lose your footing?

Now, I understand we'll never do this perfectly in this life, but may we be people that can say with the Psalmist, through the hardest of circumstances:

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though it's waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." //Psalm 46:1-3

Continue to pray for Japan and the people there. Pray that God would sustain and help them, and that He would become their refuge.

Radically Unremarkable

2011-01-26T14:46:00.000-08:00

Every guy wants to be a hero. We all want to ride in, slay the dragon, and save the princess. We want to be exceptional in some way because of our valiant deeds. Often, though, these adventurous notions haunt our very average lives.

I've always said that my biggest fear in life is to get a good job, get married, and go to church on Sundays. To have no historical, but especially, eternal significance terrifies me. Listening to guys like John Piper and Francis Chan (especially his book Crazy Love), I have such a deep longing to pour my life out for Christ. I have tons of "Don't Waste Your Life" stickers and even have one right on my desk to remind me. I desperately want to live a life that matters.

Today, I read this article (click it!) on John MacArthur's blog that kind of shook up my world. He talks about a hypothetical person that lives a simple, normal life that glorifies God. There is nothing particularly radical about it, nothing spectacular or crazy—just a love for the Lord and a faithful life. He shares the gospel with co-workers, supports and loves his family, is active in his local church, and is pleasing to the Lord.

Sometimes our quixotic dreams of a remarkable life can be symptoms of our pride. There are people that need to go be martyrs for the cause of Christ. But, there are people that need to go be school teachers for the cause of Christ too. You can be radical in an average life and glorify God in it.

Does this mean we should stop dreaming huge things for the kingdom?

-Absolutely not.

Does this mean you or I shouldn't do something crazy with our lives?

-Not necessarily.

Do we need to check our motives and be faithful with where we are?

-Definitely.

I still may move far away, start a church, or be a missionary. I love Jesus and want to do all I can for Him, but I just need to be careful. And, I'm still looking for that dragon to slay.

Time

2010-12-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been so long since my last post.

So... Here's to keeping my blog alive with a completely meaningless post.

Blam! There you go.

SONG!

2010-08-26T21:06:00.000-07:00

I recorded my favorite worship song, Holy and Anointed One. Tyler has an awesome mic in his office now and wanted to record some stuff. So, we recorded the vocals and the guitar there. Also, he sang background vocals, which sound really good. Everything is pretty much just one take. Then, I came home and recorded drums with my ghetto microphone.

It's not at all perfect (especially the drums) and that drives me crazy, but I'm over it. And, for you music genius/critics: I know, I know... I didn't use a metronome! Lol

You can listen to it HERE! Tell me what you think...

Dimness to Glory

2010-08-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is a poem I wrote a couple weeks ago when I was feeling really lost in life and unsure of where the Lord was leading me with school/career/everything else. It still resonates deeply because the future is kind of cloudy right now. But, the general idea is that I have no idea where I'm going, but God is going to lead me through my journey here on earth. And, no matter what the pain, confusion or despair, Jesus endured more and it will be worth it one day when I see Him face to face. Right now there's a lot of dimness and lack of clarity, but it won't always be that way.

Hopefully it'll make sense to you. Also, I realize that the line, "His plan decided where I am going to" sounds really fatalistic, but that's not what I meant by it. I mean that in trusting Him and following Him, He'll lead me where I should go. One more preface: this has nothing to do with a girl... (mostly) lol. Ok, here it is:

Dimness and shadows all prevail
Death or maybe gallows on this trail
Eyes faintly seeing just one step ahead
Not always agreeing with where I'm lead

Yet there is light just over me
Ever so bright, helping me to see
My path taken here is not alone
Though hard and shaken—this is home

Under the piercing light of His glory
Tenderly, His fierce might holds me
Every step guarded and helped through
His plan decided where I am going to

Looking to the man on Calvary
With His hands nailed down in misery
My Example, my King, my Beloved One
My soul looks and sings for He's already won

I need not fear any future dismay
In time I'll hear my great shepherd say
Well done my son and faithful servant
You're done and you'll see it was worth it

It's Not As Bad As It Sounds

2010-07-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

First off, a collapsed lung is not that bad at all. There are so many worse things in life than that. Second, don't see this post as me complaining—because I'm not. I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on the last couple days.

Yesterday, I was at work when I started having really bad chest pains and trouble breathing. I just ignored it for a little bit, thinking it would get better, but it didn't. So, I went to the doctor and they said everything was fine. But, my chest was still hurting, and I had no idea why.

Today, around 12pm, a nurse left a message telling me to call her right back. Well, I really hate phone conversations, and I didn't think it would be important—So, I didn't call her back. About 2 hours later, I decided that I probably should... This was the conversation:

-"Hi, this is Jacob, you told me to call in."

- "(Talking to somebody else) Oh, it's Jacob, should I tell him or do you want to?... Ok, Jacob, you need to come in as soon as you can."

- "What?!"

- "We need to see you as soon as you can come in."

- "...Like, today?"

- "Like, right now."

- "Oh... um... why? Is it serious?"

- "Yes, the doctor said it's serious."

- "... Well... what is it?"

- " The doctor says you have a collapsed lung."

I decided not to google it at the time, since the day before I googled "heart attack symptoms" and was convinced that I was having a heart attack. (Life hint: Never ever google symptoms right when they are happening, they'll only get worse)

So, they told me that they were probably going to have to stick a tube in my chest to let air from my lungs out (aren't lungs supposed to let air in...?) because 15% of my left lung had collapsed. Now, it's probably not as bad as it sounds. I'm not dying, and you can't die from 15% of your lung collapsing unless it gets worse.

At the moment, we're going to see if it gets better by tomorrow. If it does, it will probably heal on it's own— So, it can't really be that serious, if that's possible. But, if it doesn't then I'll have a nifty tube that will go from my lungs to the outside world through the doorway of my chest. The doctor told me that we could just go ahead and do that today or wait to see if it gets better. Since that sounds awful, I decided to wait.

Anyways, there's been 4 things going through my head all day because of all this.

1. Look to eternity always

There were a couple moments that I thought, "this could really be the last day of my life". Totally an exaggeration, but at the time I had no idea what was wrong with me. It really makes you survey how you've lived your life. There were certain people I would've like to say some things to, but I was so ready to meet Jesus! Of course, there's tons of stuff I regret, and wish I would've done differently, but overall I feel that I'm doing what the Lord wants me to. That's really reassuring to me. I had confidence and was not ashamed to stand before Him (1 John 2:28) and knew that he would "...present [me] faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24b). I hope this doesn't sound like boasting, but it is a boasting in His grace that's found in Christ.

Also, it really made me think about one of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions that says, "Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life." How often do we really think like this? I know that I don't think this way a lot of the time. We need to live with our eyes on eternity.

2. Jesus is King

I came home from the hospital and read Revelation 1. Something that hit me really hard was vs 5 that says Jesus is "the ruler of the kings of the earth." He is King above all, "the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End... who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty." And, I just felt so comforted by the Sovereign reign of my Lord and Savior. He's in control of all things and holds the universe together by the word of His mouth. This is seriously the most comforting thing in the world when you are going through anything difficult— I wrote a lot about it in my last blog.

3. The Effect of Prayers

There's only been a couple times that I can really say that I "felt" prayers. I'm not the most mystical person, but, strangely, I could feel people praying for me. I don't even know how to describe that, but the best way is to say that I felt very lifted up by them. And, I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful family in Christ that is willing to go before the Lord for me. Thank you so much!

4. Paul had a lot of physical problems throughout his life

Obviously, Jesus endured much more suffering, but this is what I have been thinking about the last week or so. Whenever I have some kind of ailment I'm tempted to complain and be lazy, but then I think of Paul.

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul talks about all of the physical suffering he endured— beatings, being stoned, shipwrecks, etc. How many health problems do you think resulted from all of this? I'd imagine he had crazy amounts of pain flowing through his body without end. There were no doctors or Advil to help! Yet, he endured through it all and went preaching the gospel to every creature. He also said, "do all things without grumbling or complaining." in Philippians 2:14.

So, those are all of my thoughts today. I hope you read at least some of it; I realize it's really long... But, again thank you to all who are praying for me! :D

The Trustworthiness of Christ

2010-06-15T10:03:00.001-07:00

This is something that has been so dear to me these last couple days, and this is what I talked about at the prayer meeting last night.

I often use this analogy when I'm street witnessing: An example of faith is when you are rappelling from a cliff with nothing but a rope and a harness between you and death. All of your trust and confidence are found in this rope. At that moment, you have nothing else. In the same way, we must hold on to Christ for our salvation.

However, I'm finding this doesn't only relate to salvation, but to all of the Christian life.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus "upholds the universe by the word of His power". That greek word means EVERYTHING. Every person, situation, continent, and atom is upheld by the word of Christ. He has full control over ALL things.

Now, this is the one who says that He will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) and compels us to trust in Him for He will work everything out to our good. This isn't just a fallible human that says, "trust me"— It is the very Creator of the universe, the One who, at this very moment, holds it all up by His word. He is trustworthy.

So, whatever situation you face, He is sovereign over it and has allowed it. We must stop holding on to our own ability to fix things, but rather put our faith and confidence in the only One who is absolutely able to do so—For He is trustworthy.

The Transforming View of Jesus

2010-03-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Psalm 17:15- "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness, when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness."

2 Corinthians 3:18- "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another."

If I have given you any counsel lately, I have, no doubt, quoted 2 Corinthians 3:18 (above) to you. Chapters 2-5 of 2 Corinthians are quickly becoming my favorite chapters.

This idea of being changed and sanctified by seeing "the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6) has been so refreshing to me. All of our needs are met by gazing into the perfectly loving face of our Savior. We are able to "run the race that is set before us" by "looking unto Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1b-2a). Setting aside weight and sin is only possible by looking to Him.

In the end, glorification is being conformed completely to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). But, what is the major way that this comes about? 1 John 3:2 says, "...we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is." It is by beholding His glory that we are transformed.

Look to Him, sit in awe at His feet—daily consider Jesus. A right and glorious view of Him will change everything. We will find sin losing grip, the world losing appeal, and our hearts desiring Christ more, the more His glory is revealed to us.

Interesting

2010-02-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

On feedjit.com you can see how your blog ranks. Well, their system shows (If I understand it right) how interesting your blog seems to be to a certain city. But, I found it interesting that I've never been to any of these 3 cities, so how could I be so interesting to them? This is what I know about these places:

San Luis Obispo- Well, I know they have a college and a really awesome name that you can't say 3 times fast.

Santa Maria- Most likely got their name from the ship that Columbus sailed in, yet they probably have awesome mexican food. But, I have no idea where this city even is.

Rivadh, Saudi Arabia- Um... Random. I'm not sure why my blog would be particular interesting to the people of the capital of Saudi Arabia. But, if you're from there- I'm glad to have you! Leave me comment :D.

It's just crazy to see that my blog can be read so far from my circle of friends... I think all of you should do this and see what it says.

Witnessing

2010-01-30T15:46:00.000-08:00

The last couple weeks I've been thinking about witnessing a lot. We go out and talk to people for, on average, 20-25 minutes proclaiming "the gospel of the glory of Christ". In essence, our message is this: Sin has separated you from God, the wages of sin is [eternal] death, but God demonstrates His love for you by sending Christ— He died for sin, rose again, and those that repent and believe will receive His righteousness and are saved. Obviously, it's clarified to them much more than it is in the previous sentence.

My problem is that you can share all of this great truth with the person, but they are often so unaffected and do not see the glory of it! People do not see the weight and gravity of sin against a holy, righteous and just God. Generally, I will use the law (so don't start yelling at me Way of the Master people), but even that doesn't seem to convey the fact that sin is a "falling short of the glory of God". Sin isn't only the breaking of God's law, but it is also our condition because of the depravity of man. We are, from birth, completely separated from God and have no hope apart from Christ. Sin is not giving God the glory that is due to Him; it is putting yourself in His place and believing that your judgements are better. It's not an easy task to get people to see this. The law seems to (many times, not always) only make people feel as though they were speeding in the parking lot and were caught. In our demoralized culture, laws are not respected much.

Then, theres the wonderful truth of grace and reconciliation with God! That "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19). That salvation is resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ! Such grace He has shown to us! But, again, it's SO difficult to adequately explain this to someone in 20-25 minutes.

Yes, I'm completely aware that this is the work of the Holy Spirit and that His job is to "convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement", as it says in John 16:8. And, I'm sure that the answer lies in trusting Him. But, I still feel as if the average American finds it extremely difficult to take in and understand all these massive eternal truths in one session. I'm not suggesting that we are doing anything wrong, I thoroughly believe in street witnessing— I'm just acknowledging the difficulties, and my own problems (maybe failures).

Again, I'm sure the answer is to trust that Lord does the work.

Also, when I'm talking to people about Christ, I don't make it sound as complicated as it seems that I do from this post... haha

Does anyone else feel like this?

My Thoughts on Being Single

2010-01-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

*I never thought I would write a blog like this lol

Maybe you're like me- single. Maybe you're not, but this is still applicable to you (at least the second half).

Walking around the Mission Inn today (by myself), I noticed there were an overwhelming amount of couples. Generally, I watch people: try to figure them out, who they are, what they are. I watch couples interact: see if they really love each other or just put up with one another. I know that sounds creepy, but they never notice. I'll think, "I never want a relationship like that..." or "wow, they're so awesome..." Again, in a non-creepy way. Then, I always have the thought of, "Dangit, I'm 20... my sister was married at 19!"

So, I sat down near coffee bean and was reading my bible (surrounded by couples). And, I couldn't help but look at the situation, and the picture above, and think, "something's missing here". Of course, it would have been better if I didn't read a chapter about marriage because someone asked me a question about it... Then, I walked around watching people and imagining what it'd be like to explore the area with a girl that loves Jesus and me, just to stroll slowly with no set direction or goal. Just to be together. Sit and drink coffee and talk, with no set topic. Just to talk. To listen to her talk about the Lord and care what I thought about it.

I got a little bummed out. And, as I was driving home, the words of Jesus hit me so clearly, "...whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again" (John 4:14). This idea that Jesus is satisfying. He is. Not what He gives, but Him.

To seek joy, peace, confidence, security or happiness in a relationship is senseless. It, in itself, will not satisfy. That girl will fail me, and I will certainly fail that girl. I was not made to find happiness in a girl; I was made to find happiness in Christ. There is no girl that can "complete me", I wasn't made for her, I was made for God. "For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9). Only Christ completely satisfies, not a girl, not a relationship, not marriage. Only Jesus. Not that those are bad things, scripture calls them very good things. And, I'm sure, they are satisfying to a great degree, but not entirely satisfying. At this point, the Lord totally lifted my spirit.

I think the whole "date Jesus" thing is kind of awkward, but if that's how you have to think of it, then cool. But, what I'm saying is: find joy in Him, in nothing else. Don't try to be content in Him to get something, for that isn't contentment: seek Him to know Him. God is not a means to anything, He is the end for which we were created to glorify and enjoy.

So, whenever you get bummed out about being single (...or not being single), realize that it's not a human relationship you need, but a deeper relationship with our Lord.

Well, those are my major thoughts for today. I hope they help some.

Don't Worry, I'm Alive, and This is Super Random

2009-12-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a couple months since my last post. I have a couple drafts of things that I'm working on (mostly things that are too long for anybody to read anyways), but here is a new blog, just for the sake of a new blog!

I think the biggest problem in my life is that I over-think everything in it. I always have a good reason for things that I do, and I put a lot of thought into things that I write. Whether it's a facebook comment or a tweet, it probably took me a lot longer to settle on my words than you would think. This blog post isn't really evidence of this, though. Lol. But, this is a problem because when something happens in my life, I always try to solve it in my head, rather than just trusting the Lord to work it out. Every plausible situation plays itself out in great detail like an RPG (role playing game) inside my mind. Am I the only one that has this problem?

What's funny though, is that this is not at all true of when I'm actually in the moment. I only over-think things if they are passed or future.

As a result of this, God's been teaching me to trust and rest in Him. Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28 are so full of meaning: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." A yoke is used to direct or to drive the cattle. The Lord has been showing me that He is directing and driving my life. Another verse that has meant much to me is Psalm 116:7- "Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you."

So, as with many things, I wrote a poem about it. And, keep in mind, David wrote poems, and He was pretty manly (he killed a giant...). But, I only really like the last stanza, so here it is:

Return to your rest, oh my weary soul

Come heavy laden, give Christ control

With you the Lord has dealt bountifully

Jesus has done it all, trust Him only

And, I've found that quoting this to myself has been a help in re-focusing my mind on Christ.

Just Love Jesus

2009-09-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

So, I wanted to write a blog, I started writing and this is what came out... (Not the video... the words after the video...)

"We just want to love you, we just want to love you..."

That's a line from my favorite song of the day called Skeleton Bones by John Mark McMillan (Yes, I realize this song is a little country, not really my style. But, it's good). It really got me thinking about life and things. What else in life is there but loving Jesus? Do we ever get past that?

It's clear that the end of everything is to worship and love Jesus. Praise is a means to nothing, it is the end of all things. The whole first part of Ephesians 1 talks about the fact that we were saved so that we would praise Him, or "to the praise of His glory". Most specifically related to us,

Ephesians 1:6- to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

If you hang around me enough, you hear me quote this a lot. We were saved so that we would praise Him for the glory of His grace! That's why we were saved!

Worship is the very reason for our existence. Let's start worshiping Him now! Psalm 115:18 says, "But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!" Such a cool thought, that we will begin now and never cease to praise Him, from now through eternity.

Our heart's desire should be just to love Jesus. Just love Him, that's all. In loving Him, we will overflow with praise. Let's never get passed that, just love Jesus.

I know this is simple, maybe redundant, but it's really on my heart lately.

Glory, splendor, love surrounded

2009-07-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

I might post a couple poems/songs I wrote over the next couple weeks....

In glory, splendor, love surrounded

Freedom in joy, happiness, sounded

Singing, rejoicing all the day

Only this I want always

It's there, I'm in it, don't pull out

Looking longingly at the draught

The sickness, death and despair

Why would I long to be there?

The glory's light seems to fade

Only because I've moved to shade

Not thinking of the emptiness

Only of pleasure do I reminisce

Awakened by the gloomy skies

Darkness taking me by surprise

Wondering how I got to this place

I step back and my path I trace

Unsatisfied by compelling light

Yet more distraught about the night

My problem now I clearly see

Seeking more joy, I must always be

Standing still turns me around

Then senseless thinking will abound

Love and peace watch me leave

To be more happy, I absurdly believe

So, I ask the place of light's Guard

To keep me there in joy's yard

Happy, Light filled, free forever

Moving forward, and to Him, a debtor

Why Girls Should Like Beards (sorry if this is redundant)

2009-07-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you've noticed, but lately, I've gotten way manlier. No, it's not bulging muscles, or a deeper voice (if possible), it is the gloriously growing facial hair that frames my otherwise dull appearance. Well, I've received some encouragement

(mostly from guys) and some unreasonable opposition (mostly from non-guys). Maybe you remember my first beard blog, if not, you could read it to more thoroughly understand my position. To recap that blog: beards are amazing and everyone should love them. So, with that in mind, I'm going to attempt to persuade my female readers of the importance and greatness of beards.

7 Reasons Why Girls SHOULD Love Beards

1. All girls like leaders (so I hear). The greatest leaders of all time have all had beards. Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Abraham Lincoln... Aragorn... So, if girls like leaders, and leaders have beards, girls like beards, right?

2. It's biblical. Avoiding the verses quoted last time, I just read in my Bible today in 2 Samuel 10:4 that it is shameful for a man to not have a beard! What about that?

3. Girls like a man that is able to protect them. You can ask any man with a beard, and you will find that there is a respect for the beard community amongst every man on earth. Nobody will mess with you because the man with you has a beard. Safety issue solved!

4. They're are plenty of "neat Christian guys", but how many godly Christian men are there? Ok, the godly part is another issue but, what is one major distinguishing factor of a man? Yeah, a beard (for clarification read my last blog).

5. Girls like confidence. In a recent survey, 1/1 man feels 100% more confident with a beard. In fact, if you look up beard in the thesaurus, you'll find it lists, "brave, face, oppose, stand up to" as synonyms.

6. Chuck Norris has a beard

7. Girls like a gentleman (I think...). So, it could be argued that gentlemen shave. Well, I beg to differ. A gentleman is someone that thinks of others before himself. If a man that shaves was truly a gentleman, he would not care so much about what he looks like. He would put others first, which would be to acquire the characteristics of a man in order to protect and lead in an adequate way.

I think that about abolishes any ridiculous girly apprehensions to beards. Counterpoints will now be accepted.

A Post... sorta

2009-05-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

So, I really want to spend some time writing about South Dakota, but my circumstances prevent such a luxury. I'm really behind in homework from the South Dakota trip, and I'm going to New York next week! So, that means I'm really really behind. But, when I get back and school is over, there will be an update.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools

2009-05-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

In a time when man's intelligence is the greatest it has ever been, science and reason is the foundation of many cultures, and education is open to all, why is Christianity looked on as such a primitive, superstitious, nonsensical, blind faith? This is something that has been on my mind so much lately. Why is the greatest Truth in the entire universe seen as something for fools? The answer is plain: sin. John 3:19 says,

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God"

Lately, I've been reading all kinds of atheist/evolutionist websites and looking at their arguments for their worldviews. To look at the complexity of a cell and it's processes and say that this arose without any direction or design is completely ludicrous. It's so frustrating to me that so many belittle Christianity with such irreverence and misconception of fundamental Christian beliefs. They call Christian intelligence an oxymoron and mock everything that we cling to. What is it really that keeps them from seeing the truth? Sin. Always sin. Not science, not philosophy, not social/ environmental ethics, not Christian hypocrisy— it's sin.

As Christians, we have the truth! One day, all will realize it (Phillipians 2:10-11). But, until then let's dispel the mindset that we have something that is completely blind faith. There are answers to any objection, you just need to look/ think/ pray for them. Go with boldness and proclaim the Truth because only Truth will set anyone free.

Following the Trend

2009-04-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in a while because school has overtaken my life, like a giant tornado of cow carrying proportions! But, someday there will be a new post. Probably after next week...

Good Friday

2009-04-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

This is a day late, but here you go. This is a song that I started writing, that kind of turned into a poem, although a short one. There's more to it, but I don't like the rest of it.

The eternal wrath of God

Came down upon one man

Who lived on earth unspotted

The fullness of the Godhead

And now my sin forgotten

Fulfilled the righteous demand

So, I cling onto that promise

That as He did, I'll rise again

The picture is of the place where they think Golgotha is. They presented a lot of really convincing evidence for it too. Praise God for what He did on the cross for us!

Yard Sales

2009-03-21T10:21:00.001-07:00

At this moment, I am sitting in front of my house next to a plethora of possessions that my mom and I are hoping to place into the hands of complete strangers in exchange for a very minuscule amount of money. To my surprise, there has been a pretty consistent stream of yard sailors. So far we have made about $100, which is actually pretty good, I think. Well, I have observed, after much analysis, 5 things about the character and tendencies of mankind.

1. People actually pay money for worthless garbage. Things that I never thought that we could give away, people handed us their hard earned (hopefully) money for. For example, a hair dryer that has been in use since the '60s (my dad owned a hair shop for a while). I didn't think we would be able to give it away!

2. People are VERY cheap. I was selling a pretty decent bike (besides the fact that it had been sitting outside for around 7 years, but still decent) for $10. You have to admit, that's a pretty good deal. I hardly go to Chipotle without spending $10. Some giddy child could make a lifetime of memories on that $10 bike. Well, this guy offered me $5. That's not even one trip to Chipotle! He ended up buying it for $8, which is still super cheap. I just wanted to get rid of it.

3. Surprisingly, I haven't written a blog about the city road/ sewer line workers outside of my house (I probably will soon). Well, I learned that they are even more irritating than I previously thought. As we came out to begin the clearance of our least favorite belongings, we noticed this in front of our house.

This took up, like, 3 parking spots. And, down the street there was a tractor parked, along with two trucks. This normally wouldn't be a very big deal, except now there was nowhere for anybody that wants to give us money to park! They ended up moving after a little bit, but they were working on the road next to my house the entire time.

4. A lot of people have no concept of what awkward is. They would walk up look at my pants that were sitting at the end of the driveway, then walk away. In any normal life situation that would be socially unacceptable. I don't know, yard sales are just really awkward in general.

5. Despite shopper's mystifying desire to buy utterly invaluable items, nobody wanted to buy my mom's dolls! I couldn't believe it! (That was sarcasm)

Well, those were my 5 observations. I'm sure I could have observed more, but I was too busy feeling awkward.

The Year of Jubilee

2009-03-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

I was reading Leviticus 25 this morning where it talks about the Year of Jubilee. Basically, the Year of Jubilee started every 50th year on the Day of Atonement, where the Israelites would cancel debt, free slaves, set captives and prisoners free, and return lost possessions.

This is such an amazing picture of the work of Christ. On the "real" Day of Atonement, when our sins were placed on Christ, and through His resurrection, He accomplished all of these things. The verses I was reflecting on this morning were Colossians 2:13-15. It says,

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

We were slaves to sin, in debt to God, and captive to Satan. But, Christ set us free from sin, "...wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us" (which is to say a certificate of debt), and disarmed the principalities and powers that are against us! It's so cool to see Old Testament types fulfilled in Christ.

Select Thoughts and Happenings

2009-03-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything in a little while, and I can't think of anything witty or satirical to write, so instead, here's a list of random thoughts and happenings in my life because random lists are way more fun than paragraphs. (That was a run-on sentence with commas)

- 7am is far too early for any type of class that requires thinking. But, it is especially early for a Biology class that is talking about little things that share electrons and all that.

- Daylight Savings Time is completely illogical and vexatious

- August Burns Red did a cover of "Baby One More Time", and it's pretty much the best cover song since the inception of cover songs. There's something about a brutal breakdown and a Britney Spears song together, I can't explain it. You need to listen to it.

- I've been listening to John Piper's series through The Gospel of John, and It's reeeaaallllyyy good.

- Procrastination is one of my greatest skills, I have learned this week.

- Evolution is ridiculous (more on that later)

-I'm really excited about the new series through Paul's letters that we are going to be doing on Wednesday nights!

- I got pulled over a couple Wednesday night's ago, and the cop walked up to my car and saw me, laughed, and walked away... it was so weird.

That about covers it for the time being, I think.

Pastor Ralph

2009-02-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

Pastor Ralph was probably the most loving person I've ever met. A lot of people don't really know, but he was the head of all the ministries that nobody really wanted. Like, Cancer ministry, disabilities ministry, convalescent ministry, and a couple others. All the ministries that he would never receive much outward appreciation for. Also, he was basically the only pastor besides Pastor Steve involved in Day 7, although he did not need to be.

He would always ask, "How are you doing, partner?" And, he was one of the few people that genuinely would mean it when he asked. He certainly was an great example of what a Christ-like man is like.

I just talked to him yesterday and he completely exhibited his servant's heart in the last conversation I had with him. I went and asked if he had everything they needed for Mr. Johnson's memorial, that he was performing. Well, Mrs. Johnson (Bethany's mom) was standing there too, and she said they might need a table in the resource center for something. So, instead of just having me go check, Ralph went to go check for me and was totally ready to get the table too. No other pastor ever does anything like that! That's just one of many examples, but that is just the last memory I will have of him.

And, I can't tell you how many times my mom, who works in the front office at church (in case you didn't know), has come home talking about how Pastor Ralph was leaving to go home, but somebody needed counseling and he stayed just to counsel them, all with the biggest smile on his face. I am going to miss him so much and I wish I would have spent more time talking to him, to just glean from his wisdom and love for Christ. But, now he is in Heaven worshiping Jesus face to face.

What's on my mind at the moment

2009-02-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking about this verse today and other related verses:

"... while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:18

I'm so often focused on the temporal, fleeting moments that make up my life and have little consideration of what is eternal. This life truly is a vapor as James 4:14 says.

The other thing that strikes me about the above verses is that the spiritual world is actually MORE REAL than this physical world that we so often are enthralled with. Abraham "... waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). Heaven is far more real than the life we now live in the flesh, if that makes sense. Oh that God would "put eternity on our eyeballs", as Jonathan Edwards once prayed.

Thoughts on Valentine's Day

2009-02-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

Last year, I had the best Valentine's Day ever. I barbecued some steak and watched a very violent movie. Two things that will never happen on Valentine's Day after (or in the event) I am no longer single. It was amazing. I thought maybe by this year I might be doing other things, but I'm not. I would be doing the same thing, but I actually have to work, which is exorbitantly lame. So, in the spirit of romantic resentment, I'm just going to make fun of Valentine's Day.

Why Valentine's Day is dumb

1. February 14th is the day that tradition says St. Valentine was martyred. That's real romantic.

2. It is also the day that Medieval England thought that the bird's mating season began. Um... yeah.

3. Alexander Graham Bell applied for a patent for his invention of the telephone on Valentine's Day, 1876... Probably the worst invention ever.

4. You shouldn't need one "romantic" day to make up for the lack of "romantic" days throughout the year. And, if you do, then maybe dating/courting/marriage is not for you.

5. Chocolate is unhealthy.

6. I can't go hang out with anybody because that's awkward.

7. There is an infinitely steady stream of taunting reminders to us relationshiply challenged people.

Well, those are just a couple reasons.

And, being single isn't really that bad. But, why don't they have a single person day, where I can buy all my single friends chocolate, and we can go hang out and celebrate singleness and the absence of love! And, all you couples can wish you were single again! Sounds like a good idea to me... I really don't hate being single as much as this sounds, really. Lol

Here's a migraine

2009-02-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

Something that trips me out, that I've thought about before, but was just thinking about (I hope I didn't just lose you) is the relation of God to Scripture. Keep in mind God is only the title of the eternal, self existent, immutable, omnipotent (the list could go on forever) creator.

Christ is called the Word of God in John 1:1. The Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6:17. In John 17:8, Jesus says that He gave His disciples the words that God the Father gave Him. Trinity anyone? So, Jesus (the Word of God) gave His disciples the words of God The Father, which is also the Sword of the Spirit. So, is Jesus the words? Is He the Sword? My brain just exploded. I understand that the Trinity is 3 distinct persons, but they are one and the same. Yeah, I don't understand it at all.

Campy thoughts

2009-02-02T22:24:00.001-08:00

Camp was amazing, as usual. It was my first time being a counselor, so it was a tremendous blessing to be able to share with some guys what the Lord has shown/ is showing me. All of my guys were pretty much all my friends, which was kind of funny, but it was really really good.

The most memorable moment was during the service Saturday night, as it is usually. I just remember being in such awe of Christ's sacrifice. It is certainly something that can never be talked about, thought about, preached about, or sung about too much. It was so great to reflect on God's love toward me, while I was yet a sinner.

I also was really blessed by Tenth Avenue North. I didn't think that I would like them, and I really didn't want to because I hate liking popular bands, but especially popular bands that are on Air 1 (there probably needs to be more or less punctuation in this sentence, but I really don't care right now). But, nevertheless, they were amazing. I talked to Mike, the lead singer, for a while after Day7, and he was the coolest and most humble guy too.

So, yeah, a lot of other stuff happened at camp, but I just feel like going to sleep now.

This would make life much easier for me... I think

2009-01-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time playing drums very loudly and listening to my iPod at a very high volume. As a result of this frequent assault of sound upon my inculpable eardrums, I really suck at hearing. My ears ring a lot and pop and make weird noises (especially my right ear), but that's beside the point. The point is, I can never understand anything that anybody says. My brain hears random sounds proceeding from a person's mouth, and interprets them into words that hardly ever make sense. I've thought people were proposing to me on several occasions and heard, if possible, even more absurd things. Maybe my mind just hears what it wants, I don't know.

The answer to my problem lies in the ability to SEE what people are saying, rather than HEARING it. I have decided to invent a device that enables word bubbles to appear above a person's head when they are speaking, just like in cartoons. This would probably be the greatest invention since coffee, if it is done correctly.

This is how I see it working: everybody could have some sort of necklace type thing, that would pick up the words they say. It would then, out of the back of the necklace, shoot up a bubble containing the words that were just spoken. Maybe a projection would work, but they are still working on projections into the air, so I like the literal bubble-with-words-in-it idea. It could work...

Yeah, I would probably still have problems, as demonstrated by this real life test. But, maybe it could help sometimes.

My favorite alternative to school

2009-01-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

I just registered for my Spring classes. Every single semester, I always find myself thinking the same thing: "I need to just drop out of school and start a band..." But, of course, being a semi-logically and rationally thinking person, I tell myself what everyone else does, "It'll pay off in the end..."

Being in a band is one of those things that I've always wanted to do, since I was little. I really can't understand how you could not want to be. It's basically the coolest thing ever.

Underoath is one of my favorite bands, and they put on the BEST SHOW EVER! Seriously. It was incredible when I saw them live. They really represent Christ at shows too. But, watch this and then tell me that you don't want to do it.

But, if you hate harder music, which most of ya'll probably do, watch

MuteMath. I remember when they weren't even popular. Now they're

starting to get pretty big. They were going to be at the Harvest

Crusade, but ended up not being :(.

If you don't watch the whole thing, at least watch the end.

That would be the most fun thing ever to do. And, you can really impact

people.And, it would be WAY better than school. Am I the only one

that thinks about that?

Random things I love that you might not have known

2009-01-12T17:41:00.000-08:00

These are not in any order at all and don't include obvious things

Random Loves:

- Hearing something new about the Word that I have never heard/ thought of

- Writing in my journal and seeing God's hand in my life

- Listening to my iPod and ignoring everyone

- Acting like I don't see people, when I totally do (I'm really not that anti-social)

- Friends that I can talk about Christ with, say anything to, and do stupid stuff with (see)

- Music that makes me want to run 12 miles and punch somebody

- Emo music

- Playing air drums/ guitar

- Headbanging really hard in the car

- Laughing at situations that suck a lot

- Hyperboles (I love these with all of my being and every ounce of soul)

- Random facts

- Completely random and nonsensical sentences, such as: "Dried reindeer tails work better than your average Q-Tip!"

- Writing sarcastic remarks (I'm way better at writing than talking)

- Doing things that nobody understands, making them think I'm out of my mind

- Hitting my drums so hard that my ears ring for days

- Beards (wait, I guess you knew that one)

- Winning arguments when I know that I'm wrong (that's probably pretty bad)

- Stating the obvious

- Apple rumor sites

- Having conversations with myself

- Writing about general things, but referring to something very specific (like most of my MySpace bulletins lol)

- When people that don't normally talk to me actually do

- Laughing at how ridiculous girls are sometimes (am I allowed to say that?)

- Those moments in prayer that you just sit in silence

- Saying "ya'll"

- Big words

- My German heritage (you probably knew that, actually)

- Writing music

- Hearing a song that I feel like I wrote

- Discovering bands that nobody has heard of

- Apathy about appropriate things

- Seeing a genuine conversion (maybe this one is obvious, but I still love it)

- The fact that nobody is going to read all of this blog post

I don't think I'm as conceited as this makes me sound haha. So, I think ya'll should do one of these. It's fun.

This is how you know I'm bored

2009-01-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

So, if you have been around me much lately, you have probably noticed that my hands get super dry and bleed (sweet). Well, I know you're thinking, "wow, you need to put on lotion!", to which I respond, "NO!"

In this blog I will set out to justify my position of lotion abstinence.

1st point: Lotion is highly addictive. If you look at the back of the bottle of Jergens, you will notice that two of the ingredients are "DiMETHicone" and "METHylparaben". Sound familiar?

2nd point: It'll probably get better in time anyways. If you've hung around me enough, and you use chapstick, I've probably rebuked your subservience to the wiles of chapstick companies. They know that if you don't use chapstick, you will not need it. They probably put meth in it too.

3rd and most important point: I'm a man. Lotion is for girls.

I bet there is nobody that agrees with me that is following my blog haha.

If you love Him, the rest will follow

2009-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

John 14:21- He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

This verse is something that I've been thinking a whole lot about lately. A couple friends and I were talking about how hard this verse can be if you do not understand it correctly.

It is not TO PROVE your love of Christ that you keep His commandments, it is BECAUSE you love Christ. If you love Him, it will automatically follow that you keep His commandments.

1 John 5:3- For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

They are not burdensome because you love Him and desire to please Him. Struggling with sin? It is due to a lack of love for Christ. Love Christ more and you will hate sin more. God makes it so simple.

The Person of Christ

2008-12-29T16:38:00.001-08:00

The other day, while I was brushing my teeth, I was thinking about things. I was actually thinking about marriage (oh gosh), but don't worry this isn't about marriage. One phrase kept going through my head, that I wanted to marry somebody "enamored with the person of Christ". I don't know if I have heard that phrase before, or if I just came up with it or what, but it spawned a whole train of thoughts.

The word "enamored" means "in love with, infatuated with, smitten with, captivated by, fascinated by". Maybe proper English would be "enamored by the person of Christ", but I don't know. Whatever the case, it was the idea of somebody being completely obsessed and in love with the PERSON of Christ. That is the part that was really interesting to me.

I think often times, we can think about or even obsess about the IDEA of Christ. It's so easy to put emphasis on the story, but especially easy to put emphasis on theology related to Him, or "Christology" as it is sometimes called, that we forget the PERSON that it is actually all about. That Christ really did come down from heaven and save us, but not only that but he really is "even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:34). Paul said, "that I may know Him and the power of His ressurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death..." in Phillipians 3:10. To "know Him", not to know about Him. We can actually know Christ! Crazy, huh? It's such an elementary thought on the surface, but it has taken me a while to actually grasp it.

I've been in a place where I knew so much about Christ, but didn't really know Him so much. It's so easy to get caught up in knowing about Him. Learning doctine, theology, eschatology, soteriology and all the other ologies can be a really great thing, as long as it is entirely centered on Christ and the aim of learning is to know Him more. Because if it is not, you're life will be nothing more than trying to please God under the law, which is impossible. It is only possible through Christ (Romans 8:2-4).

I put that picture, from our Israel trip, because they believe that on the other side of this wall was where the Holy of Holies was located. And it is only by Christ that we can enter in! Yeah, I know that this whole post is a crazy tangent from marriage and clean teeth, but it's what I was thinking about nonetheless. Let me know what ya'll think (if you read it).

Change you can believe in

2008-12-26T21:23:00.000-08:00

American culture has tragically lost something that has been of utmost importance to mankind in centuries past. That is the signifying element of a man: the beard. Beard- comes from the latin word bearde, which originally meant "freaking amazing and manly". It all started in the creation of man. God created man with the ability to grow facial hair and commanded him not shave in Leviticus 19:27. Then came Roman culture (the source of many evils in our modern society), where they sacrificed manhood for combat advantage. The Roman soldier began to shave in order to avoid being grabbed by his beard. And thus degenerating mankind as whole. If we are going to save our society as we know it, we MUST reinstate this all important manly feature. Look what happened to Rome. Careless leaders, excessive spending, and mass migration? I think not!

These are a couple good examples of beards with explanations below.

1. Ok, so this is me only after a week without shaving, but it's a start.

2. The prime example of manliness in barbarian warrior form. This guy could take those stinking Romans (Gladiator isn't completely historically accurate, ok!)

3. Besides barbarians, who is manlier than a pirate?

4. "I can't hear you because my beard's in the way" - Adrian Cisneros

5. Santa? Ok, bad example.

6. And David, who is obviously really manly because of his manly beard.

Of course, many have objections to beards, as previously stated in the case of Roman soldiers. Most of these objections to men growing beards comes from those of the gender that is less able to grow facial hair, though. I don't really understand why. Dangit, I'm shaving....

The Good News

2008-12-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, the Lord gave me the opportunity to lead witnessing. What I did the devo (or whatever you call a pre-witnessing message) on has been on my heart for a while and is extremely important, I think. So, I thought, "Hey! I should write a blog about it!" So, I am!

The Gospel is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and often it is misused and amended to suit specific purposes. Paul says in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." What this verse says is that salvation comes from the Gospel of Christ. More specifically, believing the Gospel of Christ because "it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes" it.

So, in order to believe (cling to, trust in, rely on) the Gospel, you have to know what it is. I often ask those that I am witnessing to what the Gospel is because it is a pretty good indicator of where they are at spiritually. If you don't know the Gospel, or are not able to describe it without know proper terms, it is pretty clear that you do not have salvation, according to Romans 1:16. That sounds harsh, but it is a reality.

What is the Gospel then? Paul lays it out very plainly in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."

There is a lot to pull from this, but one thing to point out, that echoes Romans 1:16, is where he says that he declares "the gospel...by which you are saved..." So, it involves Christ death, our sin, and His resurrection, all according to Scripture. It is also interesting that the emphasis in this chapter is on the Ressurection, but that's for another blog.

That is the Gospel. Paul says in Galatians 1:8, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." That word accursed is the Greek word anathema which speaks of complete destruction or hell (thanks Johnny Mac). So, preaching the Gospel correctly is VERY important.

You can win an argument about evolution, mormonism, false "Christian" doctrines, etc, etc, but if the person does not understand the Gospel it is all meaningless. Everything comes down to it. If the foundation is not solid, the entire house will crumble. The Gospel is God's plan of redemption to sinful humanity. Let us not forget that is centered on Christ. Everything is about Him. He says, "... the volume of the book it is written of Me" in Hebrews 10:7. All of Scripture points to Christ. And He redeemed us by dying on the cross for our sins and rising again from the dead! What love and grace He has shown to us!

Not anything extremely profound or revolutionary, I just felt like writing that down and maybe it will encourage someone. Even though this is really long so nobody is going to read it anyways haha.

Mark 13:29

2008-12-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

After immense pressure and violence (pictured left) from my sister and others, I have decided to give in and actually document my life, and the thoughts that go with it, on this here blog. I know the world has anticipated this monumental event since the inception of my blogger account (about 2 weeks ago), and now no longer needs to wait in earnest anticipation. So, here it is: my first blog. Happy Sissy?