Interesting topics

Invincibility seems the worst superpower to have. In 70 years Justin Beiber dies. Then what? You dig up his body? That's necrophilia. Spend 40 years in prison. You're still alive. Then what?

Intermediary Stoplights. Have you heard of them before? They are the stoplights built every time a Walmart is planted. I feel like I get the shaft every time I am stopped by one of these. The next 3 cars in the next 12 hours will be aided by this light, while the next 1200 cars will have wasted 1 minute of their life waiting. I just think those 3 cars are becoming a dictatorship. Here are 1200 people's lives put at a halt all because 3 people want to shop at Walmart. Where is the president of this democracy? I need to talk with him. Unfair!

The transition to the new toothbrush. We all know what that means. Our old toothbrush either got poop on it or we think it got poop on it.

Group therapy and group interviews: both seem very competitive

Free tickets

Stand up comedy is not my real love. I really just love eating. After eating is pooping. And sleeping can be intertwined with pooping, just not together.

My fellow eaters, not all food is created equal. The food you are eating may look free, but there are stipulations. Some of you don't know you're even on a date, but you are. Ladies, if we are on a date, could you please tell me? I can then plan to call my friend up to call me when I'm done eating so I can "take a call."

I don't know what it is about guys sleeping with sluts. I mean you don't need to sleep with them to know that they got something down there. Ah, the bumps are at a positive correlation, crimson inflammation, and a 5 o clock shadow...yep, you got herpes." Now thanks to Barack Obama's HC reform, I'm on my parent's plan till I'm 25. I don't want them to know I've been sleeping with sluts. I go to a walk in clinic. This is the thing about walk ins, the receptionist is always a little nosy.
"Hi sir, welcome to Dr. DOodO" office, how I can I help you"
"I need to see a doctor..."
"And why is that sir?"
"I am feeling sick."
"What are the symptoms?"
"Mild irritation."
"Where sir? Where?
"In the median of my mean, you know..."
"Oh, you that problem. You know, when I was a kid, I married the person before I slept with them. It's just stupid to sleep with a slut before marrying her." You know you're going to catch it...don't need to sleep with them to figure that one out."

And they're overtly condescending like your mother,
"Maybe you should buckle up next time, click it or ticket!"

Americans give way too much power to pee. If a cop pulls you over and you pee your pants, he'll probably let you off the hook. If you pee on public property, you get arrested. So much power in what every person has in the form of yellow streams...why don't just threaten a pee strike in the middle east and provoke a peace treaty?

I don't know what it is about Americans and lines. We will wake up 3 hours ahead of time to wait in line, but either way you're still waiting in line for 3 hours.

Live by faith and not by sight

lwfnlajdnlakjfeiwlo-that's a quick summary of how much I know. I know it's part of me to want to see the future, but what is important is that I take everything 1 day at a time. I think it is overwhelming to get what you want without all of the work and faith. Pray expectantly, live expectantly.

Don't wait to be discovered

God doesn't want us to wait on our aspirations to come into fruition, he wants us to be working on them constantly so they can flourish. This is not just with vocational greatness, but with people most importantly. We cannot just aspire for something without just "doing it" first. A person with all the knowledge in the world is worthless without doing something with it. How bad it must be for someone to have all the aspirations in the world but not meticulously work at them as if God was not going to use them. God uses the willing, and surprisingly its not the people who think they are great, just the ones who know they are only great in Christ. I pray for the will to do, and the follow through of a life that brings God's talents into significant use and glory for his kingdom.

So with this being said I believe God blesses those who have faith in his work. When we put our hearts onto God in all that we do, everything becomes a glorious sacrifice for God.

Proverbs

Anger is almost a luxury in America. We live in such an individualistic culture, that anger almost becomes something that defines us and makes us stand out from the crowd. When I go to stand up comedy shows or watch rants, anger has become not necessarily a feeling but a trademark to someone's routine. However, this is bad when it comes to us as Christians. We can watch TV and see that enveloping this angry archetype makes us have a "voice", but we are called to be interdependent amongst one another and stick together. Collectivism is actually quite an important attribute to embrace that values fellowship, community, and is a segway into actually having a healthy relationship with people. I grew up with the luxury of being angry at times. This is especially hard on parents. We have a generation that is more prone to get angry  with "this have it your way mentality", and it is rarer to see kids to actually honor their mother and father by obeying them. 


As C. S. Lewis observed, "All that is not eternal is eternally useless."


our faith increases through our obedience to Jesus.

Anger needs management. What is God's formula for dealing with anger? I did an anger “search” through the Bible and found Proverbs to be ripe with advice on wrath, rage and anger. Proverbs is a very practical book. It applies the feeling to everyday life and situations. I will go there first to see God’s view on anger.

The first reference is Proverbs 6:34, “A husband is never angrier than when he is jealous; his revenge knows no limits.” The context of this verse is “Warning against Adultery”. Verses 20 through 33 are admonitions to men against adultery and use of prostitutes. Verse thirty-four is a warning about the danger posed by the jealous anger of a wronged husband. There’s no telling what he’ll do!Proverbs 14

“People with a hot temper do foolish things; wiser people remain calm.” “If you stay calm, you are wise, but if you have a hot temper, you only show how stupid you are.” (17,29). The terms “stupid” and “fool” in Proverbs refer to sin and error, not mental ability.

Proverbs 15

“A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh one stirs it up.” “Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace.” (1,18) Proverbs deal with practical advice as opposed to the Psalms, which tackle deeper theological issues.

Proverbs 16

“A wise person will try to keep the king happy; if the king becomes angry, someone may die.” “It is better to be patient than powerful. It is better to win control over yourself than over whole cities.” (14,32) I find it interesting how different verses in the same chapter address similar issues. Proverbs as a whole doesn’t tell a story. It is a disjointed collection of “sayings”. The first verse talks about not letting the king get mad. The next verse that deals with anger says it’s better to have some self-control than to be a ruler.

Proverbs 19

“If you are sensible, you will control your temper. When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it.” “The king’s anger is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like welcome rain.” “If someone has a hot temper, let him take the consequences. If you get him out of trouble once, you will have to do it again.” (11,12,19) I love that last one. We need to learn from our mistakes and deal with the consequences of our actions.

Proverbs 22

This chapter has 30 numbered wise sayings and this is the second: “Don’t make friends with people who have hot, violent tempers. You might learn their habits and not be able to change.” (24,25)

Proverbs 25

“If you cannot control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, open to attack.” (28)

Proverbs 30

My favorite: “If you churn milk, you get butter. If you hit someone’s nose, it bleeds. If you stir up anger, you get into trouble.” (33)

Wisdom, peace, patience and sensibility are the fruit of controlling our anger and temper. When anger rises within us and we let it control ouractions, the results are helplessness, trouble, bad consequences, impatience and arguments. Anger is a natural emotion and the Bible often speaks of God’s “righteous” anger. Like all emotions, anger needs to be controlled and used, not the other way around.

Anger can be a barrier to our relationship with God. “So if you are about to offer your gift to God at the altar and there you remember that yourbrother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift to God.” (Matt. 5: 23,24)

“What human nature does is quite plain…People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry and ambitious…those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5: 19-21) The teaching here is that anger is part of our human nature. The author, Paul, is advising that we submit to the Spirit’s nature to control some of our less desirable human attributes, like anger.

There are other verses in the New Testament that repeat the admonitions mentioned above. Anger is a normal human emotion. With God’s help it can be controlled. Without God’s help, it may control us.

12/12/10

I have discovered that I do not want to be complacent in my ministry with people and my learning. I want to constantly be learning new things, not just artificially constructing the same argument again because I have stopped searching, but I want to constantly search for more wisdom. No more complacency!

Being the initiator of unconditional love is what transforms society. When we realize that it's not about us, because we have already been saved, the outpouring of unconditional love becomes liberating.

SAS Itinerary Spring 2011

Destination	Arrive Depart	Day	Date	Time
Nassau, Bahamas	Depart	Wednesday	January 12	1700
Roseau, Dominica	Arrive Depart	Sunday Monday	January 16 January 17	0800 2000
Macapa, Brazil (Amazon Entrance)	Arrive Depart	Thursday Thursday	January 20 January 20	1830 2300
Manaus, Brazil	Arrive Depart	Sunday Thursday	January 23 January 27	0800 2000
Macapa, Brazil (Amazon Exit)	Arrive Depart	Saturday Saturday	January 29 January 29	1400 1530
Takoradi, Ghana	Arrive Depart	Sunday Thursday	February 6 February 10	0800 2000
Cape Town, South Africa	Arrive Depart	Thursday Tuesday	February 17 February 22	0800 2000
Port Louis, Mauritius	Arrive Depart	Sunday Sunday	February 27 February 27	0800 2000
Chennai, India	Arrive Depart	Sunday Friday	March 6 March 11	0800 2000
Singapore	Arrive Depart	Wednesday Wednesday	March 16 March 16	0800 2300
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam	Arrive Depart	Saturday Thursday	March 19 March 24	0800 0600
Hong Kong / Shanghai, China	Arrive Depart	Saturday Friday	March 26 April 1	0800 2000
Kobe / Yokohama, Japan	Arrive Depart	Monday Friday	April 4 April 8	0800 2000
Hilo, Hawaii, USA	Arrive Depart	Sunday Monday	April 17 April 18	0800 2000
San Diego, California, USA	Arrive	Sunday	April 24	0800

Finals Week

I just got my free Sprinkle's cupcake and I'm sitting down in the Comm lab ready to finish some much anticipated work. There is a point in the semester where I have to just mix things up a bit...esp. during finals week. There is just so much to be done, that I can forget to eat, sleep, exercise, and even enjoy my life. I think the motto "work hard play hard" is valid, but I think work hard and play harder is the need motto to my outlook this week. I can't let school get me down, there is just so much about life that supercedes the small intricacies of my school life. I encourage all who read this to not get bogged down in your work, but make it a point to enjoy the life God has given you. Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has it's own worries, but just work on today, and praise God!

The Day After YC

So I woke up today! I know there is a point in coming back home from trips like youth convention where you have to ride that feel good wave so to reiterate what was taught, I will elaborate as best as possible.

1. God loves you and cares more for your character more than what you do.
2. Putting our purpose in God allows for the unsought discovery of self in Christ as a renewed person
3. To make a movement, it does not take a lot of money, just a little bit of faith at every step. Do not be overwhelmed by what it may take to create a movement, imagine what Noah had to go through when God told him to build the ark.

Youth Convention

What is on my mind after Youth Convention is the people I now cherish dearly, the memories that bring laughter to my soul, and the maturing process of becoming more Christ-like.

1. Our benevolence has become sexy in culture. Buying Tom's shoes for African children is becoming the end of benevolence. Direct interaction with immediate homelessness has become obsolete. When we begin to follow a cultural norm that sexualizes convoluted benevolence (buying altruistic paraphernalia that helps the impoverished via donation) , we marginalize the immediate society that we live in, causing a societal disconnect that ignores homelessness on our streets. We make benevolence an either or 1) buy Tom's shoes, dismissing what true benevolence is or 2) help our immediate society come out of poverty. Of course the first is being chosen because it is sexy in culture and more visually appealing when we wear a pair of shoes that shows off our benevolent spirit (the opposite of humility, the beginning of conceit).

My world is sexualized

Yup, whenever I watch an episode of Glee, a commercial, a person in general, I am starting to notice how media sexualization has affected people. We are no longer sympathetic, but motivated sexually to do things. Bold statement? Not quite; I believe the more and more the media sexualizes people the more people sexualize people. This is bad. We lose our ontological identities and replace them with sexual roles that should not even be discovered outside of marriage. This creates promiscuity and a lifetime of struggle with lust, porn. and a trail of poor relationships tied to sexualization. Even sex itself will no longer be sex, but rather an act out of the need to stick to the status quo. That's bad. AKA: Sex becomes our identity and we lose ourselves.

Waking up 11/19/10

Waking up never felt so amazing. God, you're amazing. Thank you for being so amazing. I am waking up to a life filled with wonder and mystery, all under God's sovereignty and blessing. Thank you for such a day! I am significant because I am loved, living is just one of those perks!

James 4-5

Intro- Celine Dion,-That's the way it is

Mark 5:21-34, The woman who touched Jesus' garment

James 4-5

Can you trust God with our desires?

This is why you must be urgent about knowing your destiny and completing your mission. Jesus said, "All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end." (John 9:4 NLT)


When it comes to planning, many Christians act like atheists. They realized Jesus saved them, but they don't really trust him. They think they can plan their life any way they want to. But the reality is everyone is created by God, and he made each person for a unique purpose. He has a specific destiny for everyone. 

-he won’t give what you want of your heart until your heart is built to receive these desires

-life is meant to be lived by receiving, not giving

-Don’t we all know how everyone ought to live? I mean, we are not good at managing our own lives but managing others.

-you bring Jesus in, live your whole life as a living sacrifice. Don’t live in the arrogance of your own speaking.

-When we just say our dreams, we are not relying on God but opening an escape hatch for our own will

-because they weren’t expecting problems, they were unprepared for them- married people who God put together to marry

-the significance of our life is not that we are alive but because we are loved

-the gift is not the response to the gift, but in doing…it’s not our gift, it’s god’s business

-the recession has caused the arrogance in our financial resource has been ripped  away. The thing is…what happens when everything turns around, will our hearts be aligned with heaven?

=we try to push belief onto people who have no capacity to believe. Jesus’ strategy is to push softly, little by little.

-sometimes all you can do is endure

-God is looking for feisty people, who are going to fight on, the world is not going to win.

James 5

Wealth has created an attitude of superiority, and they became wealthy by defrauding the poor

Money doesn’t get you what you think it gets

Don’t let your difficult circumstances turn you into a complainer

5:12-above all, don’t swear but yet your yes be yes and let your no be no so you won’t face judgment (integrity)

1. “Don’t make oaths” –(swear)

2. Supernatural roulette wheel- what are we trying to do? We are being superstitious, trying to control outcomes by various kinds of things that don’t necessarily flow from the patience that carry us through the day and the night.

1. This is the meaningless repetition that Jesus is criticizing

2. You are related to the father as the father is to son

3. Don’t try to manipulate God through superstition, it’s not magic, it’s faith.

God doesn’t work from a mechanistic world, but from a relational world.

-if you are person living from the inside out, living with integrity that you can take to the bank, then GOOD.

If we can’t complain or manipulate outcomes, what can we do?

1.     pray

Don’t try to put God on the back end, put God on the front end

Bring God into the good times and the bad times, but whatever you do, don’t do it alone

When we are not suffering, what are we going to do?

1.     When things are going well, give thanks

2.     Know that God exists in the good and bad, so address him on both sides

Sometimes, sickness is related to sin

1.     If your sick, don’t do it alone

2.     The prayer offered in faith standing in the reality that God can heal, will raise him up

a.     What happens when the healing doesn’t happen?

                                               i.     When standing in front of God and it doesn’t happen, something else must be going on here.

                                             ii.     If we pray for the sick in this way, it’s not the way that we do it, but it’s the Lord that restores it.

                                            iii.     There are people that haven’t respected the blood of the lord, and the sickness acts as punishment, not consequence

                                            iv.     Not every sickness is related to sin

                                             v.     God is not looking for ways to punish you, but for ways to forgive you

3.     We think the only way think sins can be forgiven if we ask

a.     Jesus asked on the cross for our sins to be forgiven

                                               i.     We enter the sin that has already been forgiven by Jesus

4.     If the skeleton stays in the closet, it has power over you, if you get the skeleton out, it has no power in the present

-James ends his book in prayer (important)

-if anyone strays from the truth and you turn them back to the course of truthfulness, the one who turns the person away will turn their own soul from death and will cover a multitude of sin