San Francisco....

Was awesome.
For those of you that don't know, I went on a mission trip down there with the junior highers from my church. It was great. We went with the organization CSM (Center for student missions.) They did an awesome job. It was probably the busiest mission trip I have been on, and one of the coolest. We worked with the homeless, poor, kids, AIDS victims, tons of people. It was awesome to be able to give food to people, to show them love, to play with kids. Just great stuff. I wish I was back there.

it's been a really long time.

It has been forever since I have blogged...
So much has happened since my last blog.

1) I finished my junior year of college
It wasn't my favorite year of my life. This school year I kind of just pulled away. For those of you that don't know (which I don't really know why you would be reading this if you don't), I am a missionary kid. As a missionary kid I am also seen as a third culture kid. This means that I have a home culture which is my parents, another place that I call home, and I have lived in a place which is neither of those two. Because of both of the previous criteria, this means that I am different to your average American kid, or your average kid anywhere really. It also means that I have experiences that most of my peers have not had. It also means that I don't really consider America home. Being a TCK also means that I really miss being around others who know who I feel. Because of all of the previously stated facts, I just don't really get all that close to my average peer at NNU. I get close by their standards. This is because I can generally act like them and even talk like them. But I am still missing out, and longing for that connection I made with friends in boarding school and with other MKs. Anyways, with all of that said, I sort of was tired of life, and tired of faking being close to people. So I withdrew, and I basically hung out by myself for most of the year. It was a good time for me. It was a good time to sort of think through my life.

2) I went to Mexico with a team from NNU going with Amor Ministries.
This trip was awesome. I had been longing for some third culture experiences basically since I got back from my last experience last summer. And I had also been planning this trip with a professor and three other students. The team that we had was awesome. It was great to be with some neat people, and above all to really just do the work that God calls us each to do. He calls us to love one another, and what better way than to build a house for fellow human beings. It was just great. I loved being on bumby roads again, and I actually liked being back in horrible traffic. Mexico is a great place. I hope that I can remember some of the lessons I learned on that trip.

3) I started a summer internship
This summer I am the Pastoral Intern at my church, Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene. It has been a great experience so far. I share an office with the youth pastor, who is pretty neat. The rest of the staff are great too. So far I really have learned a lot about church dynamics, and how the pastoral staff work together. It has been a busy job, and everday I learn something new.


So those are really the highlights.

It seems to me like I am really just stuck right now. I have kind of reached a point where I am fed up with some things. Life is good. But at the same time it is meaningless. And I find that all around me there are just more and more things that can hinder our relationship with Christ.

I am tired of politics. I am tired of egos. I am tired of the media. I am tired of...

it goes on

Strawberries and Rugby

Two things I am indulging in right now... both fresh, both juicy... go lions

Servanthood

Hey people, guess what? There is much more to life than you, your girlfriend, your TV, your computer, etc. Being a follower of Jesus is all about being a servant and giving up your comfort for other people. It isn't about spending 24/7 with your girlfriend and forgetting about your friends. It isn't about watching your TV or being so addicted to a show (like the office) that you forget about helping someone out with a need.
Life is about sacrificing your time, your grades, your needs, your emotions to further those of others... Forget yourself and remember those around you.

American Media is so BIAS

So, flip on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, or most other channels of the like, and when they talk about politics, most of what you see is Barack Obama. I don't really know who I am voting for yet, but based on those channels you would think that Obama has a clear lead over everyone. But, the truth is, John McCain has the lead... Isn't it funny how you never hear about such things? I just think it's ridiculous how the media tries to decide for you who should win the elections all because of their owners and those pumping their money in are democrats. Wow, let's grow up America!

Also, when was the last time you heard something good about the war?! Never! I am not trying to express my views on the war here, and whether or not the USA should be over there at all, but seriously, the US is doing a decent job over there. All you see on CNN is "The war is so bad, the latest poll thinks the US should get out." Who the hell are they polling? Lawmakers in Washington DC? Check any US government website and you will find out the true results of what is happening in the war.

Last year there was a special speaker in my Human Resource Management class who spoke on the above topic. And he let us know what is really going on over there, instead of the crap that Ted Turner is trying to make the world believe. It saddens me that people will actually believe what they see on TV without a grain of salt. Please think about what you are believing, and actually try to back it up before you believe it. Change you can believe in huh? That is the same change that the last 6 presidents have promised as well...

http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/mccain-erases-obamas-lead-in-new-poll/20080410150809990001

Christianity = Love

So… For the first ¾’s of my life, I struggled with what Christianity truly was. Maybe not so much of a struggle, but more of something that I wasn’t sure of. I knew how to become a Christian, and how to generally live a good life. But, as of late, I have discovered more of what it means. Around December of 2003, I was listening to the song “In Christ Alone”. As I listened to it, I started to realize some things. One of these was as the words ‘up from the grave he rose again’ spoke to me. Here is Jesus Christ, the man whom we follow, and the entire reason why he came was first of all to die on the cross, but secondly to raise from the dead. Ask most people why Christ came to the earth, especially little kids in Sunday school, and they will tell you he came to die on the cross for our sins. But, how amazing is it to realize that he actually came back from that death? ‘Up from the grave he rose again.’ The next part of that lyric is also awesome. ‘Now as he stands in victory, sins curse has lost its grip on me. For every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I stand.’ We are free because of his death. Yes, this is pretty commonly taught in the church. But, how much do we here about his life? Obviously we hear about it a lot during this Easter season. I hope we can think about it for the rest of our lives.

Then we as ‘little Christ’s’ are called to live like him. What did he live like? He loved. What does it mean to love? It means to give your all to God, and to treat others as you would yourself. How many of us do this (I am talking to myself too)? I would say a pretty small fraction of us. What if we fed the poor as much as we would like to eat? What if we gave them the warmth of a bed or a house that they would like at night? These are part of the reasons I want to go back to Africa. I am not saying that people here in the USA don’t need this type of attention either. But God is leading me to Africa. I am not going there to implement a culture on their lives. In fact, I want to become part of theirs. I just want to treat the people of Africa the way I want to be treated. The only way to do this is through love. I am definitely trying to take the plank out of my own eye, because I know I don’t love others the way Christ did. I am also sorry for people who turn away from Christianity because of people like me who don’t love like we should. The way of Christ is a challenge, but one that I am willing to partake in.

One last thought. Imagine if we didn’t judge each other… Christ didn’t judge people. ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone’ Yes, we all make mistakes, but should we let that get in the way of how we think of people? n o

Judging others and prayer two things in my mind lately

Judging one another is something that we all do. If you are someone who doesn't please stand up and be counted. But, think about a non-judgmental world.... What would that look like? Just think about it. No misconceptions about anyone... No prior ideas about anyone or anything. In my eyes this would be the perfect world. Just this week I heard a story of someone who looked at me and thought I was a horrible person for how I treated someone, when I know they didn't know my side of it at all. But.... I do the same exact thing. I am so judgmental about everything that has come my way in life. I stand on the other side and look down upon the people I have made relations with and if they have failed, I judge that person and those around them. This is what I am talking about. What if we didn't judge them, and they not judge us. I think that would bring us to a point of recognition of others where we can view them for who they are, not who we think they are. I think it would honestly open the doors of intercommunication with hundreds more people who we are not in communication with right now. I want to personally apologize to each of you who I have judged in my life... Old friends, ex girlfriends, everyone...

The unfortunate thing about this Utopian society is that there has to be judgment in life, unless we all are non-judgmental. For one person who is judgmental will cause a ripple effect like we see today.

Next, Prayer...

Recently I preached a sermon on prayer. I came to some conclusions. Prayer isn't something to be afraid of. Often times we think that prayer is something that has to involve huge words which we know nothing about. God has called us not to 'babble on like the pagans', but rather to pray simply like we see in the Lord's prayer. The Message paraphrases the Lord's prayer and the surrounding scripture amazingly. It says:

Matthew 6:5-15 (The Message)

Pray with Simplicity

5"And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

6"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what's best— as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

14-15"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.

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I just love that whole passage. People shouldn't be afraid to pray... It's an easy step we can take to further our relationship with God. Prayer isn't having the ability to sound righteous. It isn't about making people like you. It is between you and God, and you can praise him, ask him, talk to him, do anything you like to in prayer.