Allow myself to introduce myself

2009-11-09T03:56:00.000-08:00

So I haven't blogged in ages. I can't remember exactly when I blogged last (though I could just check the date on the previous post) but I do remember that I really enjoyed blogging. The break has been nice, but I think that it is time for me to activate this blog again.

So this post is just to say hello.

Word.

...wrapping up his hands...

2009-08-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ever studied Amos? I hadn't. I'm working on it at the moment though and I can't tell you how amazing and convicting is. I'm only into the first five verses! Only five verses in and I'm shaken by the weight of my sin.

As a child of God, no longer subject to his wrath, I'm so easily lulled into something other than a hatred for sin.

I find myself sinning like it doesn't matter.

Hazael and Damascus apparently did too. Repeatedly. What did they do? Amos wrote that Hazael had threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. 2 Kings 8:12 describes it this way...set fire to their fortresses, killed their young men with swords, dashed their children to pieces, and ripped open their pregnant women. And Amos says that God won't revoke their punishment.

God takes sin much more seriously than I do. And while I read the account in 2 Kings I think "well...good thing I didn't rip open any pregnant women..." yet, sin is sin. God is as serious about my sin as he was Hazael's. God didn't take Hazael's sin lightly and I shouldn't expect him to take mine lightly either.

I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And I don't believe salvation is something that can be lost (namely because that isn't found anywhere in the Bible...). However, the presence of grace is not a freedom to go on sinning. My prayer for myself today is that I would rightly rest in my God and rightly hate my sin.

for the record, concerning Amos' pronouncement of judgment upon Damascus...

"And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin." - 2 Kings 16:9

It all unfolded just as Amos said.
Kir = Assyrians

...don't stop believin'...

2009-08-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

So in case you've missed the memo, the TV show called GLEE is quite fun. I know that it sounds strange to say that I like a show about a high school glee club, but I assure you it isn't bad. The only episode out right now is the pilot episode. The show actually starts in the fall so you've got some time to get your priorities straight. So check it out. It will leave you wanting to sing Journey songs.

I was just driving down Westport Rd and there is a section that is closed off. Westport, at this point, is only two lanes. Well the lane headed west (toward school) is closed off so that the city can do some work on it. However, they have provided a nice DETOUR sign that includes an arrow pointing to the road that you should take. Unfortunately for signs, the combination of an arrow and the word detour may not mean the same thing here in Louisville that it does everywhere else. Apparently, as evidenced by the drivers here, the arrow isn't pointing you to a safe road to take. Instead the arrow is like a dare to see if you can make it down the one open lane against the on coming traffic. I fear this city sometimes.

I can't post a link here because the guys in the video use foul language, but if you can find a clean version I would suggest watching the "buttered floor" prank. Apparently some guy got mad at his room mate and decided that the best thing for everyone would be to butter the tile floor and then set up a hidden camera. Classic.

This made me giggle as well...

I actually have no more time. I need to get to work. School work that is.

Word to your moms!

Quick hits

2009-08-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

The rest of the Seattle trip is coming soon. I've been slammed with school work recently and that has prevented me from being able to post anything of substance on here in some time. Here are some things that you should know...

1) Golf broke my foot. Thanks a lot golf. My foot isn't really broken, but there is a strain in there somewhere. Every now and then i'll take a step at the wrong angle (you know, on account of all the people juking that I do...) and the bottom of my foot tightens up as if something be fiddin' to pop. Thats not good.

2) Here's a list of who I think are the top five greatest baseball players of all time. There are just my personal picks. These aren't my favorite players, just the guys who I think are the best...

-Babe Ruth > You can't really blame me for this pick. He defined baseball. His records are falling, but that doesn't mean he isn't still the best. I do think that if Albert Pujols will finish as the best ever if he finishes without some sort of roids fiasco. And not many people realize how good of a pitcher Babe was as well.

-Ted Williams > Valiant in battle against Korea and against the Yankees.

-Lue Gehrig > The Karl Malone of old baseball. Overshadowed by the greatest to ever play the game. But he was one of the best, pure players the game has known.

-Willie Mays (Hayes) > Considered the best center fielder to ever play the game. What he lacked in hitting (which wasn't much) he made up for with his defense.

-Nolan Ryan - Dude just plain scared people.

Honorable mention:

Pete Rose - no one played the game harder.

Tris Speaker - the best player you've never heard of.

Shoeless Joe Jackson - fellow greenville native whose stats were cut short because of an unwarranted lifetime ban from the game.

Oil Can Boyd - one of the coolest names ever. Real name was Dennis Boyd.

Not on the list:

Ty Cobb - a mean man. cleated people when sliding. Once beat his wife for trying to help a black man up off the ground.

Barry Bonds - great player. one of the best. Also one of the best at using roids.

Yankees - all those other famous Yankees players that made baseball great and made Redsox fans frustrated. Mantle, DiMaggio, Berra, Maris, Munson, Reggie Jackson, Jeter, etc.

This is all that I have for you at the moment. When my brain gets over worked from school stuff it immediately turns to baseball.

Peace out.

Seattle Day 3

2009-08-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up early. 5:30-ish and of course the sun was already hard at work. The air wasn't as warm this morning as the day before. I made the coffee a bit weaker and it is delicious. I used this morning to again read through and meditate on Ephesians 2:1-10. I'm looking forward to writing out a sermon for this passage.

We were supposed to be on the road at a certain time to make the ferry boat that we were wanting to use. We left a little later than we wanted and then had to stop for gas. We definitely didn't make the ferry. This wouldn't have been a big deal if it was just us, but we had family who were meeting us to cross over as well... making other people wait isn't my idea of a good time. We did manage to get to the ferry boat for the very next departure. This was my first ferry boat/car ride. I was eager to get out of the car and head to the top of the ferry and just sit and watch. So thats what we did. The water is beautiful in Washington. It is a deep, rich blue and more often than not it is framed by a mountain range...which is always awesome. We did learn that Ferry Boats never actually dock. They do what is called a "controlled crash"... they basically ram the dock and keep the motors going. The engines constant push the ferry against the dock. When all cars are off, they simple switch engines and drive away. They never have to turn around. Ferry Boats are sort of ambidextrous.

On the other side of the channel, we drove a little ways and stopped at this place called the Cup and Muffin. This is where our family was waiting for us. I ordered coffee and I wasn't let down. It was from a local roaster called Caffe Vita. Their logo looks not unlike a troll climbing atop a lamp stand...and their coffee is wonderful. At the cup and muffin, ALL SIZES are just $1.00!!! I got a medium and wished I had gotten a large. The people here in Seattle don't seem to be as uptight about their pricing as Louisville. So we left the Cup and Muffin and headed toward Port Townsend.
Port Townsend reminds me a lot of Annapolis. Really cool store fronts on their main street and surrounded by water. We didn't spend too much time here because we all got hungry and had a specific place in mind for lunch. Matt and I did journey into this thing called Coffee Underground. It looked like an entrance to a subway but it just lead to a long concrete hallway. At the end of the hallway there was a coffee shop...underground. We didn't go in to this one because Alexis thought it would be better if I didn't drink MORE coffee. But the shop looked great! And there were people in there using their Macs...so you know it had to be ok.
We left Port Townsend and didn't stop again until we found a little diner called 3 CRABS. It was in a place called Dungenesse Spit (I'm not sure how to spell it). It was a great little place. Right on beach surrounded by one of those bird sanctuaries. Across the water we could see a big lighthouse and that was about it. I had clam chowda and a crab cake and I must say...the crab cakes were fantastic! Better than the ones we had in Baltimore, but that may be because we went to the wrong place in Baltimore. Either way, 3 CRABS was a nice little stop on the way to Port Angeles.

Port Angeles is a cool little city as well. in fact the only problem I have with Port Angeles is that everything closes at 5. So there wasn't much to do. We got there, unpacked, and immediately left for Hurricane Ridge. Hurricane Ridge was great! These are the places I wish we could go and spend all day hiking. Since our time was short we only hiked a few miles, but it was beautiful. the kind of scenery that does nothing but reinforce our Creator and leave you in awe. There was a giant glacier off in the distance. There were deer grazing all over the place. There was a hippie sprawled out, reading a book inside his volkswagon, extended top bus. It was also much warmer here than back at the hotel in port angeles. This frustrated me as I changed into my jeans because I figured the top of a mountain would be even cooler...it wasn't. Despite my efforts, I never found a Marmot or a Grouse. These are animals. I think. There were a lot of foreigners though. Asian and some kind of European. I couldn't tell what language they were speaking.

After hiking for a bit we headed back into town. It was cold again and I was thankful for my jeans decision. We walked around the city, but like I said most everything was closed. One place that definitely wasn't closed was a coffee/dessert shop called Itsy Bitsy Buzz and, to my delight, they sold Caffe Vita coffee! So of course I got a cup of it. This was a cool little shop. The kind of shop that probably makes their own muffins and stuff. i think that I did hear that even their ice cream was from a local maker. This is such a good idea. I wouldn't mind if Starbucks began doing this across the nation. USE LOCAL! The only problem is that generally this means the price goes up. We continued our walk and found a Dazzled by Twilight store. I find this frightening. But, not to worry, it was after five. so the place was closed. We walked back toward the hotel and stopped for something small to eat. our hotel, according to my brother, smelled like adam sandler. I don't know what this means. it was an old hotel. The kind in which not every room has a bathroom...so there are individual bathrooms on the hall. This was different, but not bad by any means. The rooms here are cheap. $50 for a room for two people. Not bad.

Seattle days 1 & 2

2009-08-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

We got in somewhat late, so our chances of getting out and seeing the Seattle-ian cites were non-existent. It was dark, but it had just gotten dark...and it was well after 9:00. The light hangs around longer here in the summer and will, according to my mother in law, arrive much sooner in the mornings as well. Seattle and I might just become great friends.

On the way to Camano Island from the Airport, I did get to see some things from the highway. Starbucks HQ, stadiums, and space needles.

Our house is really nice. We won't be roughing it much at all. It is somewhat warm here. Not at all what you would expect. Heat isn't that bad...and unless you're in a city that has no air conditioning...like Seattle. We settled in and went to sleep.

I got up early the next morning. 5-ish. The sun was already doing its thing. So I made some coffee that was purchased at the local roasters, took a shower, and found my seat on the porch. the air was still warm. The coffee was delicious. I spent the morning in Ephesians. The only really noticeable, unnatural sound was the woman's voice calling from across the lake. She was calling the golf parties as it was their turn to begin. Golf. Such a frustrating game for such a peaceful place. Everyone else began getting up. We loaded into the car and headed down to Cama Beach. This was my first rock beach...and I loved it! Matt, my father-in-law, and I skipped many a stones. Alexis tried too! She's possibly the cutest stone skipper that I've ever seen.

After Cama Beach, we headed into town. I just love the smell of cities! Except Charleston...Charleston has that nice pungent horse smell. Anyway, there are a ton of people out. There are also a ton of homeless people out. And the coffee shops are everywhere. I could spend our whole time here just visiting downtown and checking out these coffee shops!

We parked and headed up to the Pike Place Market. This is easily the coolest market that I've ever seen. TONS of vendors! Many of them selling local produce, flowers, fish, or something else of seattle. The produce is quite impressive. This is where I would shop for fruit if I lived here. It smells though. Not unlike a fishy funeral home. The fresh fish flying through the air lends a strong stench to the potent bouquets of fresh flowers. Just think of it this way... think of going to a funeral home and carrying around an open can of tuna in one hand and salmon in the other. There are musicians all over the place. Even the poor, homeless looking musicians have their own CDs that they are selling. I didn't manage to find the pike place starbucks.

So we headed back down to the water front to find some food. We ate at a place called Steamers right on the water. it was good. Fish and chips, of course. Alexis ventured out and tried the fish taco. She liked it a lot. After lunch we stayed by the water as we were scheduled for a boat cruise through the harbor. We visited a store called "Ye Ol' Curiosity Shop" or something like that. It looked like a normal tourist shop...but in the back they had a bunch of real shrunken heads, two mummified people in glass boxes, and some stuffed two headed dogs. Also, i walked into another starbucks and asked how to get to the pike place store. I apologized for my question but they insisted that they get that all the time.

We boarded the harbor cruise. it was great! the guide explained a lot about the city while showing us all the cites including the pier used for season 7 of the real world. One unsettling moment happened when our guide said "ok, this isn't the normal part of the tour. So I'm going to go find out whats going on and we'll start up again in a moment." Apparently the city is gearing up for a water show and so we had to take a strange route in order to oblige the Canadian Military ships that were coming in for the show. I didn't even know the Canadians had military ships.

So we made it back up to Pike Place and found the starbucks. It is REALLY small. half my store's size, maybe. The baristas throw marked cups from one section of the store to the next. They were efficient, but they weren't very nice. Hippies were playing on the street just outside the store. I can see why this place took off. It has a great feel. Not the typical feel you get now for a starbucks.

Next we made our way to see Uncle Joe and Aunt Cathy's house. It was hot. We found out later that this was actually the hottest day EVER recorded for Seattle. 103. Uncle Joe was laying in the floor with a giant fan over him. I don't blame him. Before leaving I joked that on Saturday uncle Joe and I would play golf and go to a Mariners game. I think he took me seriously.

We ate dinner at this really small, non-air conditioned, perfect atmosphere Italian place called Swingside Cafe. it was expensive, but it was good. I had some sort of bean salad with seared tuna on top of it. Alexis had something called Aglie Olio or something like that. It was good. Very good.

Our next venture isn't to the city, but to Port Angeles. Should be pretty awesome!

END DAY ONE/TWO

Peace out.

...the video...

2009-07-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Now my favorite coldplay song has a video.

...Seattle has two T's...

2009-07-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

So we're preparing to head out to Seattle for a week for Vacation. I'm pretty pumped about this journey to the upper west corner of the country. We will definitely be taking a ton of pictures. If you remember a few Christmas' ago I did a picture series with Manta (my mini santa) and some of you seemed to enjoy it so I figured I'd give my artist ability a nice little workout. This time I'm not taking Manta. It isn't Christmas. This time I'm taking someone unusual. I'm not sure who yet. Maybe Janet Reno. Maybe Creflo Dollar. Maybe Billy Graham. I just do not know yet. However, if I were to decide on taking the Snapple Lady wearing her Snapple hat, she might look something like this...

More on this tomorrow as I narrow my list.

peace out.

...never close enough to say...

2009-07-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks of weigh loss have taught me several things about myself. one of the main things is that even the times when I don't "over eat" I still "over eat." I've learned a lot about how much my body actually needs verses how much my mind thinks that I need. I'm still at 212. I haven't done anything differently and I so I guess maybe I've hit "the plateau" and so my goal over the next few weeks is to further refine what I eat (now that I know HOW MUCH to eat) and work out more often. I have recently fallen in love with the Elyptical (sp?) machine and fully appreciate its ability to make me hate life for several minutes and then feel really great.

During my time at the gym I've started using my ipod to listen to things other than music. I think that my mind is often so jammed with music that I struggle to quite myself. So I've switched to sermons and NPR. NPR has some great, free stuff on itunes. This American Life and Driveway Moments currently attend my workouts with me.

Just in case you were wondering...YES, the coconut M&M's are delicious! Big thanks to Ryan and Liz for introducing me to them. They don't help with losing weight, but they definitely help fulfill my desire for tastiness.

Chuck Lawless, Dean of BGS here at Southern, posted a great article on prayer on his blog. Check it out by going to SBTS.EDU and clicking on blogs at the top. I haven't had Dr. Lawless in a year and a half and I still love that guy.

I've got one more day left of my preaching class and I can't rave about it enough. What a great class and what a great professor. Another example of a summer class that I wish I hadn't taken in the summer. It is bittersweet not to get to preach for York. It is a great relief knowing I don't have to worry about it, but I would have loved the chance to have him correct/challenge me. He's great stuff.

We leave for Seattle next Tuesday afternoon. I'm so pumped about Seattle! from what i hear, the houses we'll be visiting are quite amazing...and who can deny that the landscape of that area is great? It should be a great vacation. Plus i love flying and love airports so that part gets me giddy as well.

My car is ok for the moment. I hadn't driven it around for several days other than just around campus (its what I do). And so I guess that contributed to its struggles the other day. Still, it shouldn't be drained after two days of light driving. So I'm sure I've got some figuring out to do in terms of how to handle this. Selling the car is an option in the far corners of my mind. What I wouldn't give to freed from this cash depleting, global warming contributing automobile. i would seriously ride the buses if I knew how they connected so that I could get to work and other places when I need to. Unfortunately I'm not street smart with transportation so I'd end up hopping onto a bus that would drop me off in ohio when all I needed was a ride to Prospect, Ky.

The Redsox stink.

i stink. i changed flavors of deoderant and I don't like it. I smell like a hungarian airline stewardess. this is true as I've dealt with hungarian airline stewardesses on many occasions.

Anyway, I'm off for some time of productivity.

Peace out.

...and bringing you to life...

2009-07-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here are today's top five songs in video form.

JayMay - Gray or Blue

Coldplay - Fix you

Kings of Leon - Manhattan

Copeland - No One Really Wins

Iron and Wine - Boy with a Coin

Peace out.

...time came creeping...

2009-07-20T08:51:00.001-07:00

So my blog has changed. The frequency. The tone. The ramblings. All of it has changed. And that was on purpose. For one, I enjoyed blogging my life and I know that some of you weren't comfortable with it. I never wanted blogging to become something that generated the thought "oh, he'll just blog about that..." That isn't a thought that I'm fond of. The second, more important, reason for shutting it down/changing it up a bit is that I realized that I cared way too much about it. A large part of my day was spent updating and thinking and improving my blog. My blog became a god. Stripping away my time. Actually stripping isn't the right word. My blog just accepted the time an energy that I freely chose to give it.

If you had asked me several minutes ago what I thought about expanded gaming in KY I would have answered something like this..."while I'm against gambling, I don't see another way for the state to save its horse racing industry and the many jobs connected to it." Now, my answer would be different. I just had a conversation with David. David does a lot here in KY. One of the things he does is is lobby. He's a lobbyist and he's responsible for kentuckyfamily.org. I had a great conversation with him a few minutes ago. My answer to expanded gambling is no longer the same. Big thanks go to David for answering my many questions.

I'm down to 212. My pants sag. I've moved down a belt notch. In fact now my pants bunch up because of my belt. This is kind of embarrassing, but it is a better problem to have than the opposite...which I guess would be my pants not covering my whole waist...and me having to connect two belts together to equal one giant belt.

Had dinner with the Northrup's. Had a great time. Their house is really cool. And Dave reminds me of my brother in law over in Baltimore. I think maybe it is his hair. I don't know. They talked with us through some of our adoption questions which was a great blessing. I'm sure there are more conversations to come.

Must go now though. I think that Lexi be fiddin' to call me.

Peace out.

...YORK...

2009-07-20T06:16:00.000-07:00

Dr. York just got us all pumped up about preaching.

And then informed us that we won't get to preach this week.

I can say that I already love this class. I think that I'm going to try and meet up with Dr. York sometime soon. He's a trustee for the IMB and I would love to talk with him about missions.

I can't say enough how truly blessed I am to be at Southern. These professors are just amazing. I pray that I never get to the point where I feel comfortable complaining about professors or something that Southern does. I love this place.

...everybody was for fighting...

2009-07-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

"Will you count them worthy of your service whether they are or not?"

Pretty much just had my face rocked off by Philippians 2. Just thought I would share that.

Also, just thought I'd share that Alexis and I have our initial interview with our candidate consultant on Tuesday, July 28th. This is great news!

Also also, I had a great breakfast. Chilean apple. Kind bar. Venti misto.

I've been plagued/blessed/haunted by the thought of what I most desire. As I've mentioned before I believe that Dr. Ware is correct. We do what we most want to do. Decisions. Attitudes. Thoughts. Actions. Words. I'm forced into wondering what is it in those moments that I most want? Maybe this sounds cheesy to some. thats fine. I've never claimed to be an anti-fan of some good cheese. I can say though that this thought has served to keep God's glory before me. What is it that I want to do most? I find that it is easier for me to respond poorly when God isn't on my mind and thus my desperate need to memorize and meditate on scripture. literally thinking through the thought of "in this, what is it that I want to do most" I'm taken to Exodus 15:11. Do i believe it, or not?

"Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?"

My prayer is that more and more and more the thing that I most want to do in life is glorify a God unlike any other. The GOD among gods. Majestic in holiness. Awesome in glorious deeds. Doing wonders.

For the record I did some bible code stuff earlier this morning and discovered that Paul actually would drink venti mistos if Starbucks had been around back in the day.

For the record, for those who are tempted to misunderstand the previous comment about bible code stuff, rest assured...I wasn't serious.

But i do love me some mistos.

and mentos.

but not at the same time. mint and coffee tends to taste not unlike a big bowl of green beans.

or ham.

Peace out.

...would have held you...

2009-07-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

First things first. The National League sucks at winning all-star games. Sure, home field advantage in the World Series is actually a myth (home field advantage teams have only won 50% of the time since the All-star game "mattered"...). That fact aside, the American League is pretty amazing. Just ask Brad Hawpe.

Yeah, I know that this is NOT a sign of how much a church cares about missions. And yes, I know that there are probably a lot of factors involved that I just don't know. I get all that. Nevertheless, 400 SBC churches in South Carolina gave $0.00 toward Lottie Moon in the last fiscal year. $0.00. This The number would be much more bizarre if I had included churches that gave under $50. like I said, this is not necessarily a sign of how passionate and missions-minded a church is. But it is a crazy number. 400. Give or take two or three as my eyes sort of went cross-eyed while I was counting. SBCers get a paper each month I think. And this past one listed every SBC church in South Carolina and the amount they gave to Lottie Moon. If those 400 churches had given just $1000, that would be something like 88 billion dollars (public school system in south carolina...). Maybe not 88 billion, but enough to send something like 10 more families overseas.

Just in case you missed it, Michael Jackson, apparent king of the world, died sometime ago. What a waste of news coverage. He was a great talent for sure. But he was also really scary. Greater men have died with much less fanfare.

We'll be meeting with our candidate consultant for the first time on July 28th if all works according to plan.

We'll be leaving for Seattle just after meeting with our candidate consultant for the first time if all works according to plan.

So Michael and I are reading through Philippians and it is pretty much blowing my mind. I'm trying to get Michael to slow down though and actually soak in what he's reading. He's on chapter 3. I'm still in chapter 1. He was reading yesterday down the water front and some random lady stopped and asked him what he was reading. He got to share with her what he had just read from Philippians! God is definitely blessing Michael with great conversations about the gospel.

I did have a friend a few days ago who said "if you were to ask me why I follow Jesus, I think that my number one reason would be because of the life he lead... how good of a man he was." Interesting.

I think that I am secretly obsessed with RUN DMC. Go figure.

I can't even get away from Michael Jackson when trying to watch Coldplay...

Well I'm going to go now and do some reading and sermon watching or class.

Peace out.

...[insert classical music here]...

2009-07-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

So I've been waiting for my friend at starbucks to come back. The man with cancer. Ben. I've been looking forward to our conversations. He came in yesterday. I had just cleaned the bathrooms. It was cool though. however, he went in the bathroom came out, got his drink, and immediately left. He never immediately leaves. I went to the bathroom to scope out the damage.

I guess if I had managed to poop ON the toilet and ON the floor, I would have left immediately too.

...you cut me down to size...

2009-07-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in a while. I blame this on several things.

1) Global Warming. It is a safe bet that somehow or another global warming has contributed to my absence. Need an excuse? Global Warming.

2) I've been on learning/growing overload and I have really struggled to cleanly put it together and explain it all. I think that I've tried on here, maybe not. I've certainly tried to verbalize it, and I feel as though my words failed to capture what I'm learning. My faith is changing. I believe that God is pulling me out of the Christianity that I've lived in for a long time. a christianity that I think I created to pacify myself. An easy christianity. He's pulling me out of it and it is awesome. It hurts sometimes but it is awesome. Sort of like pulling apart a really messed up piece of velcro.

Again, I'm lost trying to explain it. So I'll give up trying again for now. Perhaps God will give me words to express this. Perhaps not.

Class starts again in a week. preaching. I'm looking forward to it. I've been reading Dr. York's book on preaching with bold assurance. I'm not sure how you can read this book and (as I'll find out) take this class and step away from Southern Seminary and still manage to preach crap. But it happens. Crap. Everywhere.

I felt the need to spark a conversation with another customer a few days ago. I think she mentioned the heat. She's old. Drinks decaf coffee. She doesn't like the humidity. So I jumped on the chance to talk about the heat in Cambodia and our conversation took off. Here are the results of our conversation...

1) First thing she does when she walks in is smile and wave at me and say "HEY GEORGE!"

2) She told me that she really liked me and wants to make sure to get our address overseas so that she can mail us encouraging notes.

3) Found out her husband is really ill. Weak. He fell last May while standing in the living room and broke his neck. Her retirement is spent taking care of him 24/7. He isn't paralyzed though which is good. Even better, she is bitter about having to take care of him. She loves him.

People all around me have such interesting stories and such great needs. I'm so blessed to be a place like Starbucks that promotes me talking with people beyond just the typical "hello" and "thank you"...

My cat is so dang lazy. I will give him props as he chanced a lightning bug around the apartment last night. But he just sleeps. All the time. And he only eats when I go into the kitchen. I think he has some sort of separation anxiety. Strange.

My friend Michael shared a conversation with me the other day that went something like this...

**********

Michael: GEORGE! I have something to tell you.

me: ok, whats up?

Michael; I got to share Christ with a friend of mine the other day!

me: thats great! what happened!? Tell me about it!?

Michael: he just called me up randomly one day and asked if I'd like to go out and talk. I said sure. So we went out and he just started telling me about how frustrating life is. He was really down. Really sort of depressed and confused about life and his direction. And I just started telling him about Jesus!

**********

How awesome is it that!? God planned it this way! He's so good. If that conversation happens 6 months ago, Michael wouldn't have had anything to share with him. But Michael did. Michael shared his faith! Shared the hope he has in Christ!

God so knows what He's doing!

i miss my friend nick. He came to visit me again for the 4th. He's been up here to see us more than just about anyone else we know. He's awesome. I heart Nick.

My weigh is down to 213. Just 3 more pounds and I'm no longer considered overweight by the IMB. This is good news. I think that I might actually want to keep going though. I wonder what I'll look like if I dip into the 100's? I hope I will look nothing like Screech from saved by the bell.

Health = same. Experience pain and discomfort but am told I'm healthy as a...something really healthy. So thats good.

Thought about starting to run. Running, I hear, is good for you. Then I remembered that I hate running. My desire to do it faded quickly. The only time that I've ever seriously wanted to run was back in middle school. I bought some gatorade gum and I don't know what they had in it, but it made my legs tingle. Made me feel like I needed to run.

Ok, this is all for now. More later.

oh! PS. I am really afraid of Brock Lesner. that guy is one scary dude.

...who needs avenues...

2009-07-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

I love the fact that my perception of life is drastically changing. It is a change that is necessary for a believer. it is a change that is necessary for someone willing to die for something greater than himself.

I can't help but be completely shocked by Lottie Moon's statement. "I am immortal until my work here is done." What a great understanding of life and work and God. I've been so blessed by the lives of William (don't call me jim) Carey, Adoniram and Ann Judson, Bill (don't confuse me with William) Wallace, Lottie (even better than Warren) Moon, and Jim Elliot. What a strange and wonderful thing God is doing to me.

In other news, if you are a customer at starbucks and the barista asks you nicely to keep your dog outside (because we can actually be shut down by the health department should they find out we had a dog in the store) please do not feel the need to call our district manager and tell them that the barista refused you service. ESPECIALLY if you then buy a drink. Buying a drink and drinking it is not the same as refusal of service. Just something to think about. Consider.

4th of July is upon us. I dont recall what we did last year. Maybe we went out with the Falls' or something. Not sure. this year? We're headed to a cookout with a master chef! Should be really quite awesome. My best friend Nick is coming! He's bringing BEANS!

Current favorite Starbucks drink: Grande Misto. Nothing special or exciting. but tasty and great.

Congratulations to the LA LAKERS for winning the 09-10 NBA Championship! Sure, they haven't played it yet. But adding Ron Artest to an already tough team pretty much ensures it. So congrats.

Michael Jack died. Don't know if you heard. The media coverage has been a little soft. They must not care about him much. Actually he's made so much news that none of us have heard much about North Korea firing more missles.

Not sure if you believed me or not, but GLOBALPOST.COM is the greatest news site out right now. love it.

Just ate one of the new KIND Bars at Starbucks. Mango Macadamia. i really like these bars. Not as much as globalpost, but I like them. Besides, eating globalpost is much tougher. you know.

More later.

Alexis just called.

...then I realized...

2009-07-02T06:14:00.000-07:00

I'll start this post by saying that I greatly appreciate my wife. More than typing letters into a blogger-box will ever be able to fully convey. She's so great. I'm not sure if she realizes that she does this. Maybe she does. Maybe not. But she has pushed me to scripture in a great way over the passed few weeks. I can't explain this next statement right now because I don't really understand it all yet. My faith is changing. Maturing. Growing up in ways that I've not known. And in my attempt to work it out and explain it, she's pushed me to the Word of God and for that I'm more than grateful. She is wonderful!

If I had to try and squeeze what I'm learning into some brief sentences they would look something like this...
1) I've been a man of very little faith.
2) My life is not my own.
3) God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.

I can tell you that I've come under great conviction for my lack of sharing the gospel. This is why I hate "relationship evangelism"...I don't actually hate it, but I do hate the apathy it can create. I begin to think that I'll talk with them about Jesus later. And then I feel ok about this because I'm "building a relationship." I wonder if I walk this world as one eager to share Christ with those around me. I'm not sure I look at people and see what God sees. To a degree i think that all of American Christianity has this problem...otherwise we'd actually share the gospel with people. If I truly believe in what the Bible says is true of sin, death, hell, Jesus, salvation, etc...how in the world can I so flippantly live this life? I either don't believe it (which I do) or I'm living in sin (I am). I would venture as far as to say that my heart is truly breaking for people. All people. Not just those I'll serve a few years from now...but those I should be serving who live and work right beside me right now.

You see I thought after Michael became a believer, my mission and purpose at Starbucks was all but done. I did what I was there to do. Michael was the reason I was first taken to Starbucks. And he has an incredible, growing faith in the saving work of Christ. And so I assumed I was done. I'm not. I'll never be.

If I try and explain what I'm learning and how I'm changing it will, right now, sound more like a giant pile of verbal vomit. Unorganized and messy. Unlike real vomit, this pile is pretty much awesome. Also unlike real vomit, this pile isn't pink like that time that girl threw up outside of the library at Summit Drive Elementary School when I was in the 3rd grade. Perhaps one day I will work toward explaining it all. Perhaps not.

I had a conversation the other day with an old friend. Kinjal Poonatar is his name. I knew him back in middle school. I don't remember much from him, just that we were friends and then not friends and then he became a boy scout and checked trash cans at Fall for Greenville. He's smart though. Philosophical. He wasn't fond of my anti-global warming comment on facebook. So we chatted about it a little bit. The conversation shifted quickly into a discussion of religion. He made a statement like "all religion is altered by man and driven by man" and asked which Christianity was he supposed to look at because the Catholics had done a number on Jesus. I agreed with him that man can do some serious damage to religion. Then I agreed with him about religion. All religion is man centered. All but one. Every other religion in the world centers around man. Live better to experience liberation. Do good to build up karma for the next life. Do do do do do do do. Man man man man man. Christianity, as seen in the Bible, is not this way. Rather than being built upon what man can do, Christianity rests in what Christ has done. We talked through this for a while. He doesn't believe my statements. he began listing religions that aren't man-centered. His list, however, was nothing but man-driven religions. I look forward to chatting with Kinjal again. I'm not sure if he is anymore, but he was Jain back in the day. Jainism is an offshoot of hinduism. If followed properly it is a religion of extreme legalism. So much so that those who following closely refuse to farm for fear of killing some sort of life (insects, etc.). I'm not sure Kinjal is Jain now.

in random news, how come when I pet Dudley he quickly cleans the spot I just petted? I wash my hands. He's a cat. He poops in an igloo...he's the dirty one. Whatever.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore, I will hope in Him."

...something of a niche market...

2009-07-02T06:05:00.001-07:00

I've been raving about GLOBALPOST.COM. I LOVE IT! GREAT SITE! It is sort of like worldwide news with greater detail to the many different cultures out there.

CLICK HERE to watch a video I watched this morning about Slum Tours.

...my heart may fail...

2009-06-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

You know those times in life when you someone goes into your bathroom and pees all over the place and makes a giant mess including some kind of ointment packet trash and everytime they leave your bathroom your heart rate sky-rockets because you know they've just made a mess and you get to clean it up? Thats been going on for a while at my store. I used to get angry. But something happened. We are to share the gospel with all who don't know. But sometimes I feel a deeply specific burden to share with someone...and thats what happened. I stopped getting angry and bathroom-destroyer and started praying for him. I decided to sit down with him yesterday. We talked for a long time. Turns out he had prostate cancer and surgery to take it out. The doctors failed to do so and failed to tell him. He got another doctor to go in to check it and found that not only had they left the cancerous prostate in, but the cancer has started to spread throughout his body. As far as doctors in Louisville know, he is the only person to have that same prostate cancer surgery TWICE. He has five to ten years to live. And then he explained his bathroom messiness. **WARNING...THIS ISN'T PRETTY** The second surgery eliminated his ability to pee properly. So what he does is he has a permanent hole in his stomach. He carries a tube around everywhere he goes. He uses the ointment stuff to cleanse the tube and then sticks the tube into his stomach. He pees through a stomach tube. I learned a great deal about this guy and I'm so thankful for it. I'm thankful his honesty and for the doors that God is opening.

In other news, GLOBALPOST.COM (linked on the side) is now my new favorite website. It is a company in Boston that has people all over the world. The people either write in or make videos of news stories. They then send them to globalpost. Good stuff. Quality stories. The reporting, to this point, has been solid and honest and, in some cases, fun.

Will write more soon about spiritual learnings. God is teaching me SO MUCH! Will share soon.

Also, got word from the scholarship. You know, nothing huge...JUST GOD PROVIDING EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED! God is way too good to us.

More later.

...cling. to the mast...

2009-06-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Of the books that I've read over the past few months, nothing has moved me or challenged me like the simple, small book from Dr. Akin called FIVE WHO CHANGED THE WORLD. The book contains accounts of men and women who faithfully gave themselves wholly to the work of Christ around the world.

Bill Wallace, a missionary I had not heard of before yesterday, is now a personal hero of mine.

"It doesn't make any difference what happens to us. The only important thing is that when it does happen, we be found doing the will of God." - Wallace (not the scottish william wallace...)

...nothing could be better...

2009-06-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

I heard a stat today that has really bothered me ever since. The average seminary graduate spends roughly 6 minutes in prayer a day. 6 minutes. "Prayer is our greatest responsibility and our most neglected opportunity."

I can't say that my average time in prayer helps this average. In fact, I'll admit that to this point I've done some damage to that average. It is funny to me (in a very sad sense) how mighty we expect God to move and how great God is...and how little time we actually spend with him. 6 minutes. We spend more time each day in the bathroom than we do in communication with our God. God has greatly convicted me of this today. This and a host of other things that I don't have time to fully explain right now.

"Prayer is the key to EVERY great spiritual awakening in history." just as the Moravians.

"Satan fears nothing from a prayerless religion... Satan trembles when we pray."

6 Minutes.

...come out upon my seas...

2009-06-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

PART One -

I haven’t blogged in a while again. Part of it is that I feel as though I’ve lost some of my bloggin’ mojo. Part of it is that I’ve yet to find a way to properly describe/explain the stuff that God has been teaching me. Before I get to the meaty stuff allow me to catch you up on some things...

CLASS - New Testament I. Probably one of the best classes that I’ve ever taken. The gospels have so much more depth than I give them credit for. Mind blowing stuff. I’m insanely thankful that Dr. Cook was my professor and that he felt so compelled to literally walk us through the gospels.

My preaching class is next. probably the one class I don’t really care to take. I know that I will probably like my professor so thats good. It isn’t that I’m afraid to teach in front of people. I used to do it two and three times a week. I think it is the audience that I’m not looking forward too. Seminary students. 55 of them.

LIFE - I went to the SBC pastors’ conference on Sunday night. Good stuff. Heard from JD Greear and Chuck Colson. There was a third guy, but we were out buying mini donuts and water. one of the things that I REALLY appreciated from Greear is that he said that everyone who joins his church knows that unless they experience a specific call NOT TO, they are fully expected to serve two years over seas. I love this! I’m sure that there are some out there who think “he can’t really do that” but yes, yes he can. Why? The Great Commission. Boom goes the dynamite.

Chan and Platt spoke yesterday and, of course, they were awesome. Platt’s talk was so powerful! Each year a host church is responsible for funding the pastors’ conference. This year they are short something like 30K. The host church got up after Platt to take an offering and said that there was NO WAY that they could, after hearing Platt, take up an offering for the Pastors’ Conference. Instead he urged the people there to give to the Missions Boards! This was unheard of and powerful and awesome!

Went with the Falls’ to Sari Sari and it was delicious. I know of no other couple who are so willing to go to hole-in-the-wall food crazy food places. Filipino food this time. I think that we’re going to head over to the Vietnamese Kitchen sometime again soon too. So if you’re interested and would like to try the best tasting iced coffee that I’ve ever had...join us.

My car exploded. not really. But sort of. I noticed one day that the battery sounded like it was having some issues. Struggling to start. That night I asked Alexis not to go inside our apartment but to listen and tell me if it sounded like the battery was dying. She agreed. I jumped in and started the car. Sounded good. Started to slow. Then started clicking. I poked my head out of the car door at Alexis and she said “yeah, that doesn’t sound good.” $500 later we have a new alternator. I praise God for clearly leading me NOT to take Hebrew. if I had taken the class, that $500 wouldn’t have been available. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. And I couldn’t be more thankful for the friends who went out of their way to jump my car, follow me to the car place, buy me lunch, pick me up after class, and drive me back out to get my car.
I’m still not healthy. Doc said if I’m not completely better by the end of this week that I have to go to a specialist. This won’t be fun.

Work is good.

Alexis is awesome!

SPORTS - John Smoltz pitches this Thursday for the Redsox. jodie Meeks will hopefully be drafted in the first round on thursday.

GOVERNMENT - What can you say? On a local level, whats up with Sanford disappearing? I did watch an insanely disturbing video on the news of a young girl in Iran. She was shot by the police there and someone recorded it as the people around her tried to save her. They couldn’t. Really disturbing. Neda Sultan. The situation there is HUGE! Many people are saying that its similar in scope to our Boston Tea Party. And now I’m hearing all over the place that people want the US to somehow show support for the people there. Which makes me wonder why we elected the one man who wouldn’t. But whatever.

I don’t have as much time as I wanted to write out the long part about what I’ve been learning and about how my faith has been changing and growing. So I’ll have to do that tomorrow. I have to go now and begin getting ready for the B21 Panel at Sojourn. Hearing that we’ll get some books from the guys on the panel. this makes me happy.

...cold cold water bring me 'round...

2009-06-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

My car broke again today. $500.00 later its better. It was one of those things that just needed to be fixed. No ways around it. Alternator was busted. Went to a quality shop though. May be my new favorite place to go if ever in car fixin' need.

So this morning my New Testament class was discussing Demon Exorcism. As class started, it began getting cloudy. The storm outside grew stronger as the class went on. Then just as my professor said "now lets look at some lessons we can learn from Jesus the Exorcist" lightning struck and thunder sounded and the lights went out. Several people chuckled at the irony of the situation. And it was, indeed, quite ironic. Class went on after lunch without power. We sweated (literally) through some other stuff in the New Testament.

This class is one of those that I wish my wife could be with me. The professor is SO GOOD! The material is AMAZING! The class is an intro class...and usually prof's just skim books and don't spend too much time in them. Not this class. We did the books in the first day and have spent the last few days being taught the Bible. Easily one of my favorite classes. I hate the test. Very hard, but I love the class!

This is all for now. Too much work to do. Perhaps reinstating this blog on a week of class was a bad decision. Look for improvements and posts next week.

B21! Should be excellent!

...inside a glass a water...

2009-06-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in a while. The break was nice and necessary. I did manage to send out an email or two during that time to keep some people updated with life here in Louisville. Things are definitely interesting...thus the blog returns. I enjoying blogging. And so I blog.

I can update you on some Cambodia news. There is a more than good chance that Cambodia, as of right now, won't be our future destination. This has been tough to swallow as Alexis and I love that country and those people. I'm not sure that we'll ever be able to confidently say that our hearts ever completely left that country. I pray that one day God will allow us to serve and love those people. We heard about some of the restructuring a few weeks ago. Rumbles and speculation. While nothing was certain this did give us time to consider life in another part of the world and God used this time to open our hearts to His work in other countries. So while we are both saddened by these turn of events, we cannot see this as a negative. Our job is to go where He leads even if that doesn't look the way we want it to.

This doesn't mean that Cambodia is never going to happen. It does mean that our path there may not be as straight as we imagined.

All in all, God is sovereign and our lives are not our own.

I'm sitting in my New Testament class. Dr. Cook is teaching. He is the pastor of 9th and O here in Louisville. I've only been in the class for a few hours and I can tell that I'm going to regret taking this class in such a fast paced, information over-load fashion. I'm loving this stuff and can only hope that I don't miss stuff. He's a good professor.

I've not yet recovered from my health issue. It seems to be the most stubborn health issue ever invented. I've been on antibiotics for almost a month now and the pain isn't gone. I'm not sure what the next step is beyond antibiotics. I'll be calling my doc soon enough.

If you've not yet heard, you can download a free live album from Coldplay at their site. Coldplay.com. The link to the album is in the top right corner. Look for the butterfly.

Work is good. Sherry fell and quite literally broke her face. It is a long story. Suffice it to say that she fell in a parking lot and smacked her face on a curb. She came back to work and kept telling people that she "had a fight with a black top" and just to make it interesting, as the customers made their way to me to receive their drinks, I would inform them that "the term BLACK TOP is actually Sherry-slang for gang member." This spiced things up a little. Also, Ginny's apartment was the victim of a poorly discarded cigarette. Her apartment caught fire thanks to the smoking man below them. Ginny and her husband lost everything. I didn't need to spice this one up.

Well thats life at the moment. I probably won't be blogging as much as I did. Nor will I blog constantly about random political issues. the new and improved blog will not be more of the same...I don't think.

{{ POSTCARDS FROM FAR AWAY }}