1. Bingo for Nuns - Prizes included:Bedazzled habit, solo during morning mass, field trip to the world
2. Science Club - Water to wine, makin robot stuff, figurin out prototype for low cal communion bread
3. Chess Club - rules: only pieces allowed to be used are bishop and queen, no taking opponent's pieces, no saying word mate, only check
4. "Root"beer Pong Club - Only play in secretive places, must pass sobriety test after, if out of "root"beer can use communal wine
5. Twilight Book Club - Must relate every chapter to scripture, meetings only during full moons, must choose team edward or team jacob cannot be neutral or partial
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sex and The Cornfields
Relationships. My favorite topic...obviously.
This past week, I sat through the talks. I went to the sessions. I was involved. Yeah, that's right, I went to all of the freaking Sex and the Cornfields stuff. And just like always, they did not answer anything. They did not give any useful information to me. Actually, the only thing that I was truly informed of was: "Hey, you are still single." Sweet, thanks guys. However, this strange event that only Christian Schools would put on did provide many outside conversations. Therefore, did do its job...yes, I admitted it.
Two main conversations came out of this week:
The first one being the completeness in being single. All around us, we are tempted by this idea of dating. We are young and we should have a mate. That only makes sense because soon, very soon (it is spring after all), we should be getting married. This thought gets into our mind and we think about it more than it seems. It is talked about in every single conversation, so how can we not think about it. However, the truth is that it is okay to be counter cultural. We can be complete without someone else in our lives. It is perfectly normal to do so. We cannot be upset that we are not like "everyone" around us. Here's a hint, everyone is not truly everyone. It is okay to be complete without someone else. There may be a day where someone else "completes you," but if that day is not now, then it is okay. I know that seems a bit simplistic, but it is a simplistic thought that a single person does not always think when surrounded by relationships.
The second conversation that came up more than once this week is this thought of being married right out of college. We love love here at Taylor University. We love people getting engaged and getting married. The faster the marriage the better. It is super healthy for that to be the case. Maybe we are a bit confused in this thought. The truth is that we do not often emphasize how important it take a bit of time before getting married. We do not emphasize that marriages fail more often within Christian colleges. We do not emphasize that it really is not going to be as easy as it sounds. We do not emphasize how when two people are both in a time of transition, it may make marriage harder. Is it possible? Yes, but it fails more often than not. We lie to ourselves to often when it comes to marriage. We get married because we are scared. We do not want to live in this transitional moment by ourselves. We do not want to wait any longer and just want to be together. Marriage is forever, what's a few more months? Is it not more important to take time to truly grow and re-identify who you are before throwing someone else in the mix? If you and the other person are both trying to figure out yourselves, you'll get to a point where you realized that you never did that. Then what? Grow up...then get married.
Conclusion:
It's okay to be single...don't be dumb, just wait
This past week, I sat through the talks. I went to the sessions. I was involved. Yeah, that's right, I went to all of the freaking Sex and the Cornfields stuff. And just like always, they did not answer anything. They did not give any useful information to me. Actually, the only thing that I was truly informed of was: "Hey, you are still single." Sweet, thanks guys. However, this strange event that only Christian Schools would put on did provide many outside conversations. Therefore, did do its job...yes, I admitted it.
Two main conversations came out of this week:
The first one being the completeness in being single. All around us, we are tempted by this idea of dating. We are young and we should have a mate. That only makes sense because soon, very soon (it is spring after all), we should be getting married. This thought gets into our mind and we think about it more than it seems. It is talked about in every single conversation, so how can we not think about it. However, the truth is that it is okay to be counter cultural. We can be complete without someone else in our lives. It is perfectly normal to do so. We cannot be upset that we are not like "everyone" around us. Here's a hint, everyone is not truly everyone. It is okay to be complete without someone else. There may be a day where someone else "completes you," but if that day is not now, then it is okay. I know that seems a bit simplistic, but it is a simplistic thought that a single person does not always think when surrounded by relationships.
The second conversation that came up more than once this week is this thought of being married right out of college. We love love here at Taylor University. We love people getting engaged and getting married. The faster the marriage the better. It is super healthy for that to be the case. Maybe we are a bit confused in this thought. The truth is that we do not often emphasize how important it take a bit of time before getting married. We do not emphasize that marriages fail more often within Christian colleges. We do not emphasize that it really is not going to be as easy as it sounds. We do not emphasize how when two people are both in a time of transition, it may make marriage harder. Is it possible? Yes, but it fails more often than not. We lie to ourselves to often when it comes to marriage. We get married because we are scared. We do not want to live in this transitional moment by ourselves. We do not want to wait any longer and just want to be together. Marriage is forever, what's a few more months? Is it not more important to take time to truly grow and re-identify who you are before throwing someone else in the mix? If you and the other person are both trying to figure out yourselves, you'll get to a point where you realized that you never did that. Then what? Grow up...then get married.
Conclusion:
It's okay to be single...don't be dumb, just wait
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Who's the strongman?
"Demons will watch your every move and they will take that and utilize it. They love to oppress you and hurt you. They love that you are in pain. If you are struggling with something, they will love to use that against you...They get us to the point where they do not have to do anything anymore. We do it on our own. They are applauding...Question is: Who is applauding louder?"
We do not give the spiritual world the credit that it deserves. We play it down so much that the reality of it does not have affect on us. We forget that there is a battle out there and that it is fighting against us. The truth of the matter is that this is a real fight. The enemy plays hard. He knows exactly what our weaknesses are. We make a mockery of him so often, but the truth of the matter is that he does know what he is doing. He knows what will make us stumble. He knows what will make us cringe. He knows exactly what will make us fall over. The only way to counter act it is to beat him to the play before he gets there. We have to prepare ourselves. We know exactly what makes us stumble. We know exactly what makes us fall flat on our face. It's time to fight back.
We do not give the spiritual world the credit that it deserves. We play it down so much that the reality of it does not have affect on us. We forget that there is a battle out there and that it is fighting against us. The truth of the matter is that this is a real fight. The enemy plays hard. He knows exactly what our weaknesses are. We make a mockery of him so often, but the truth of the matter is that he does know what he is doing. He knows what will make us stumble. He knows what will make us cringe. He knows exactly what will make us fall over. The only way to counter act it is to beat him to the play before he gets there. We have to prepare ourselves. We know exactly what makes us stumble. We know exactly what makes us fall flat on our face. It's time to fight back.
Monday, February 21, 2011
"Wherever genuine community emerges in the midst of our fallen world God is present and working.”
Community...a word that Taylor throws around like it is nothing. And well, it becomes nothing to us.
Here I am, sitting at a table in the top of the dining commons. Just asking people to simply sign up for YC. Give back to people, be servants, not a big deal. However, here is what I see from the "community" of Taylor University: scowls, rude comments, and just straight up ignorance. Why does this annoy me so much? Well let me tell you why...It is what we proclaim above all things. We proclaim to be "intentional community," but the way that I have been treated is not so intentional. Why do we hold this above all things when I see it the least most of the time. I know that we do have some intentional community within our campus and within different groups, but what about the bigger community? We join every week to come together to worship our creator, but where's that worship in the way that we live? Where is that worship in the community that we should be showing to others?
I know that I sound like a cry baby and that I am even preaching to the choir when I talk about these things, but the truth of the matter is that I am upset about this. I am getting so sick and tired of watching us be so selfish and only caring about ourselves. As I see people mock YC and "not have time" to even house a student, all I can think is selfishness. We do not have time to help students see who God really is. We do not have time to bring community outside of our walls and into the bigger community of God. We do not have time to show others that we truly love God above all things. We are so busy with life. We are already involved in something. We are already giving enough of our time. God does not deserve any more of our time. And even if we really do not have time then we should be jerks to those who ask for our time. Real Christ-like.
Community...a word that Taylor throws around like it is nothing. And well, it becomes nothing to us.
Here I am, sitting at a table in the top of the dining commons. Just asking people to simply sign up for YC. Give back to people, be servants, not a big deal. However, here is what I see from the "community" of Taylor University: scowls, rude comments, and just straight up ignorance. Why does this annoy me so much? Well let me tell you why...It is what we proclaim above all things. We proclaim to be "intentional community," but the way that I have been treated is not so intentional. Why do we hold this above all things when I see it the least most of the time. I know that we do have some intentional community within our campus and within different groups, but what about the bigger community? We join every week to come together to worship our creator, but where's that worship in the way that we live? Where is that worship in the community that we should be showing to others?
I know that I sound like a cry baby and that I am even preaching to the choir when I talk about these things, but the truth of the matter is that I am upset about this. I am getting so sick and tired of watching us be so selfish and only caring about ourselves. As I see people mock YC and "not have time" to even house a student, all I can think is selfishness. We do not have time to help students see who God really is. We do not have time to bring community outside of our walls and into the bigger community of God. We do not have time to show others that we truly love God above all things. We are so busy with life. We are already involved in something. We are already giving enough of our time. God does not deserve any more of our time. And even if we really do not have time then we should be jerks to those who ask for our time. Real Christ-like.
Monday, February 14, 2011
"I'm so in love with you, whatever you want to do is alright with me, cause you make me feel so brand new, and I want to spend my life with you. Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. When a heart finds another, what's a cloud more or less in the sky? How delicious is the winning of a kiss at love's beginning. Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. I get no kick out of champagne, mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all so tell me why it should be true that I get a kick out of you? I love love, I love being in love, I don't care what it does to me. You had me at hello. One, your my dream come true, two, just want to be with you, three, it's plain to see that you are in love with me. I'll make love to you, like you want me to. I'm going crazy, crazy, crazy, thinking about you lately. Come away with me and we'll kiss pn a mountaintop come away with me
and I'll never stop loving you. Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low that's going to keep me from getting to you babe."
Happy Valentine's Day
and I'll never stop loving you. Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low that's going to keep me from getting to you babe."
Happy Valentine's Day
Thursday, January 13, 2011
What the Cuss.
01/12/11
Matthew 21
So Jesus sends his disciples to this town and tells them to untie a colt and donkey and bring it back to him. He tells them to tell anyone who questions them about it that it is for the Lord. And so they do it. They go and get him a donkey and a colt. Wow. They walk up in there and are like “this is for God” and everything is all good. It’s not their donkey, but they walk out with it.
This has always been so fascinating to me because I am amazed at the fact that they walked straight in there and took it. No one chased after them, no one put them in jail, but they got away with a donkey and a colt. I think that if I would have been that guy, I would have been like...”I’m sorry what? Not happenin.” And this is where I am reminded of how great the Lord really is. I am in awe of how powerful and incredible the Lord is and then how we don’t always make it out to be that way.
All they had to do was say that it was for the Lord’s work. They did not have to show proof of anything, they just had to say. This shows how powerful things are in the Lord’s name. Whenever we need help or anything, we just need to say it in the Lord’s name. It is with the Lord that great power comes. With him, we truly can do anything and it is small stories like this that prove that to be true.
Real life LA: Day 7
We met with the Kaleo staff today to talk about what is going on in that ministry. It was a good time to get an insight into the ministry and what they are doing. Not only that, but it was good to talk to the staff to see into their heart and to see what they are all about. I mean, I know a few...most of them, but it was still good to hear what they are about and talk to them about it. It is good to see where they come from and what lead them out here. It is good to see what they love about being here and what keeps them here.
We went out to lunch with them after that. Gina, Casey, Danny, and I had lunch together. It was good to talk about things further in depth. Danny and Gina had a good conversation about the OAKS and if he would be interested in it. I think we might have won him over. Casey and I talked a lot about his life and why he is here. And it ended with Gina still trying to convince me to come out here (she doesn’t need to convince me).
Gina and Casey asked Danny and I to speak in their D groups at LACS. Basically it was because they did not know what they were going to talk about, just kidding, but seriously. I shared my testimony and kind of gave the girls an insight about my journey with Christ. They remembered me from The OAKS this past summer. So, that was good to talk to them about. We ended the conversation with them asking me questions about boys. It was a really interesting time..ha. It was good though because it is good to give them an insight on what they should be looking for in boys at their age.
We then headed back to Skid Row to do S.A.Y Yes! And I might say that when we got out of the car, I was pretty upset. We carried the food bin all the way from the car to Central City. It comes back to that thing where we already have more than the people we see on the street. We know that. We go to a $36,000 school and even if we don’t have the money to pay for it, we still have more than most people on Skid Row. To carry food down the block and really not think about it, kills me. It is just another thing of not thinking things through. Watching people as we walked by with it and listening to their comments, kills me. It was very upsetting for me and I think that we should have thought it through more. We should have dropped someone off with it at the door and then parked. We should have starved for the night. We should have been smarter than we were. However, we weren’t. It’s over. We looked like jerks.
Levi ran to get something and all I could hear outside was screaming when he opened up the door. “Give me my money! Give me my money!” It was obvious that someone was extremely upset. And it all starts to become more of a reality as we are inside of those doors that the safety ends at the doors. It is so safe inside of the building, but once you step foot on that street, you are in a completely different world. When you step foot onto that street, you are exposed to more than you could ever imagine. Lisa had to call the cops on the argument. It ended up being a domestic violence dispute. So, that is another reality...cops. Other than the argument in the street, most of the time was pretty uneventful. Lorah and Meagan tried to dance, but they failed miserably. Levi took a video of it and called it, “White Girls Trying to Dance.” It was entertaining and an epic fail.
We did the Karaoke ministry last night. It was a good break from everything and a really good time. As I sat there and talked to people, it was so good to see them get off the streets from the pain and the hurt that they were used to. It was good to see them be able to relax for a little bit. It was good to hear a bit of who they were off the streets and see them really come through. It was good to see people be able to be themselves and have a good time. At the same time, it is hard though. It is hard to know that as soon as they leave, they are going to go back out on the street. As soon as they leave, they are going to be back in the reality of things. As soon as they are done, they are going to be in pain and in heartache. And all this good time that they just had will be a memory. That’s a hard thought to put our minds around as we are going back to a place where we can sleep comfortably (for the most part) and that is warm (for the most part). And we will just go back to our everyday lives. And that was the night.
Matthew 21
So Jesus sends his disciples to this town and tells them to untie a colt and donkey and bring it back to him. He tells them to tell anyone who questions them about it that it is for the Lord. And so they do it. They go and get him a donkey and a colt. Wow. They walk up in there and are like “this is for God” and everything is all good. It’s not their donkey, but they walk out with it.
This has always been so fascinating to me because I am amazed at the fact that they walked straight in there and took it. No one chased after them, no one put them in jail, but they got away with a donkey and a colt. I think that if I would have been that guy, I would have been like...”I’m sorry what? Not happenin.” And this is where I am reminded of how great the Lord really is. I am in awe of how powerful and incredible the Lord is and then how we don’t always make it out to be that way.
All they had to do was say that it was for the Lord’s work. They did not have to show proof of anything, they just had to say. This shows how powerful things are in the Lord’s name. Whenever we need help or anything, we just need to say it in the Lord’s name. It is with the Lord that great power comes. With him, we truly can do anything and it is small stories like this that prove that to be true.
Real life LA: Day 7
We met with the Kaleo staff today to talk about what is going on in that ministry. It was a good time to get an insight into the ministry and what they are doing. Not only that, but it was good to talk to the staff to see into their heart and to see what they are all about. I mean, I know a few...most of them, but it was still good to hear what they are about and talk to them about it. It is good to see where they come from and what lead them out here. It is good to see what they love about being here and what keeps them here.
We went out to lunch with them after that. Gina, Casey, Danny, and I had lunch together. It was good to talk about things further in depth. Danny and Gina had a good conversation about the OAKS and if he would be interested in it. I think we might have won him over. Casey and I talked a lot about his life and why he is here. And it ended with Gina still trying to convince me to come out here (she doesn’t need to convince me).
Gina and Casey asked Danny and I to speak in their D groups at LACS. Basically it was because they did not know what they were going to talk about, just kidding, but seriously. I shared my testimony and kind of gave the girls an insight about my journey with Christ. They remembered me from The OAKS this past summer. So, that was good to talk to them about. We ended the conversation with them asking me questions about boys. It was a really interesting time..ha. It was good though because it is good to give them an insight on what they should be looking for in boys at their age.
We then headed back to Skid Row to do S.A.Y Yes! And I might say that when we got out of the car, I was pretty upset. We carried the food bin all the way from the car to Central City. It comes back to that thing where we already have more than the people we see on the street. We know that. We go to a $36,000 school and even if we don’t have the money to pay for it, we still have more than most people on Skid Row. To carry food down the block and really not think about it, kills me. It is just another thing of not thinking things through. Watching people as we walked by with it and listening to their comments, kills me. It was very upsetting for me and I think that we should have thought it through more. We should have dropped someone off with it at the door and then parked. We should have starved for the night. We should have been smarter than we were. However, we weren’t. It’s over. We looked like jerks.
Levi ran to get something and all I could hear outside was screaming when he opened up the door. “Give me my money! Give me my money!” It was obvious that someone was extremely upset. And it all starts to become more of a reality as we are inside of those doors that the safety ends at the doors. It is so safe inside of the building, but once you step foot on that street, you are in a completely different world. When you step foot onto that street, you are exposed to more than you could ever imagine. Lisa had to call the cops on the argument. It ended up being a domestic violence dispute. So, that is another reality...cops. Other than the argument in the street, most of the time was pretty uneventful. Lorah and Meagan tried to dance, but they failed miserably. Levi took a video of it and called it, “White Girls Trying to Dance.” It was entertaining and an epic fail.
We did the Karaoke ministry last night. It was a good break from everything and a really good time. As I sat there and talked to people, it was so good to see them get off the streets from the pain and the hurt that they were used to. It was good to see them be able to relax for a little bit. It was good to hear a bit of who they were off the streets and see them really come through. It was good to see people be able to be themselves and have a good time. At the same time, it is hard though. It is hard to know that as soon as they leave, they are going to go back out on the street. As soon as they leave, they are going to be back in the reality of things. As soon as they are done, they are going to be in pain and in heartache. And all this good time that they just had will be a memory. That’s a hard thought to put our minds around as we are going back to a place where we can sleep comfortably (for the most part) and that is warm (for the most part). And we will just go back to our everyday lives. And that was the night.
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