I'm grooving to Radiohead's "In Rainbows"

it's beautiful


nothing brings me joy like seeing a public safety truck with the "L" scraped off, seriously it makes my day

Growth

Another school year has begun and thus, we have another opportunity to pinpoint areas of growth in our lives. In the past year I have embraced responsibility, felt heartache, been a hypocrite, learned more about what it means to minister to people (especially young ones), learned more about myself and my passions, and focused on developing confidence. Right now I need to learn how to love people better, especially the ones I don't like, and I also need to pray more. One issue I have struggled with lately is holiness. I believe one of our greatest responsibilities is to build and form relationships with others and meet them where they are at and not lord ourselves over them. I also firmly believe that holiness is the best lifestyle one can live. My question is, at what point are you sacrificing your own holiness in order to meet others where they are at? I really don't know the answer to that question...

I get the privilege of being a student mentor to about 25 freshmen this semester and this has turned into one of the areas of my life I most look forward to. We have a great group and I really want to concentrate on how best to minister to these freshmen that I have come to love.

May God continue to bless us through molding us and pruning out our unfavorable characteristics until all that is left of us can be labeled as "Holy." Amen.

Currently listening to: Over the Rhine "The Trumpet Child"

What a surprise I received today when I check the mail and see my pre-ordered copy of "The Trumpet Child" around a week before release!! It's an AWESOME album, but what else have you expected from Karin and Linford? PS, I also received something else in that package and it currently resides on the rear end (insert butt joke here) of my car

Quick notes:

-Home now, kinda sucks, but only because my internship was so great. Trying to unpack it now into a paper and experiencing difficulties. How can you take so much and put it into a nice neat collection of words? This is harder than I thought it would be...

-Entourage is great

-Coming from experience and from outside observation, there is very little in this world stronger than the desire of a man to save someone. Sometimes that's great... and sometimes it turns into a disaster of epic proportions

-Home is no longer home, and its been that way for awhile.

Currently listening to: The Rocket Summer - "Do You Feel"

*whew*

NYC 2007 is O-V-E-R

what an experience. i'm still trying to digest how transformative this experience has been for me personally, let alone thousands of teenagers across north america. now it all begins. the groundwork has been laid, the vision has been communicated, God has shown up, now its time for the revolution to begin. i truly believe that revolution is possible. it can only happen when God's people unite and give their very best for the Kingdom. i met so many incredible men and women in these past two weeks. i've worked beside some of the best in the church today and i'm feeling more and more ready to do something great of my own. it's time for us all to think Kingdom!

this revolution transcends the "church of the nazarene." one aspect i have tried to communicate over and over again in this blog is the communal aspect of revolution. i cannot stress it harder... one man can do nothing, this is only possible when we work together.

from this moment forward, i am dedicating myself to forming partnerships between Kingdom-minded people with the end goal being complete revolution.

will you join me on this journey?

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

what happened to common sense?

what if, for a moment, instead of debating what the book of revelation means and when Jesus will come back and trying to decide who's right between the Calvinists and the Arminians and the Catholics...

what if we just built Kingdom relationships?

what if?

if every Christian got as upset about social injustice as they do about "bad words" in movies or homosexuals, there would be no such thing as poverty.

you see, sometimes i am disgusted

"Change the World"

Everyone wants to change the world. How often do we actually have a chance to do that? When God opens doors for you and gives you the tools to actually do that, you cannot be passive. When given this opportunity, you must persevere with excellence. Excellence is something we are all called to. Why do anything half-heartedly? If you see benefits to what you are doing, then you have no reason to not do it with excellence. I will not take this for granted. Rather, I will focus on excellence and do everything to the very best of my ability so that we may have a chance to actually change the world. How exciting is that?

God provokes an attitude of awe. It is amazing to actually be able to see the tangible effects of God's working in this world. How can anyone be pessimistic? Pessimism is a tool of satan. Too often we, as the people of God, look at this world, our world, His world, and declare it to be in ruins. We decry society and run with our tails down into our safe and secure bubbles, afraid to interact with this world. Nothing is more destructive to the Kingdom of Heaven than this. Rather, we can help usher in that very same Kingdom of Heaven, but only if we do so actively and with excellence. Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, but only if we do not give up.


His Kingdom come, His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. It is possible to see glimpses of heaven on this earth, let's work together so that those glimpses can be seen with increasing frequency.