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

Week feels like a bomb

So...the homework comes as follows:

1. CW paper due tomorrow
2.Poster assignment due Wed
3. Comm Theory paper due thursday
4. CW Prophetic challeng next tuesday

That is a lot of papers...Lord help me find peace in you while knocking out these minor principalities we call homework....amen

Why I should care...

Andre invited me to play for the AG conference in December, and what a privilege it is to use my gifts to glorify the Lord. However, he told me I would have to be a lot better than how I played last time, as it seemed like I did not practice lately. Idon't think it's even the fact that I didn't practice, but I stopped truly caring for why I started playing music for God's glory.

The question comes up, "Why should I care?" I think the question is valid, but is selfish. I should care because God cared to get me a saxophone, give me this gift and has given me privilege to use it for his glory. I am humbling myself from this "self" attitude that has brought my caring level to the equivalent of waiting tables and expecting a few dollars. I need to start caring for what I do a lot more that I have, because God cares for me infinitely more. And I need to start dreaming a lot bigger, because God has dreams beyond what I can dream.

It is time to stop dreaming selfish dreams that involve, you, and only you, and dream dreams that involve God's will and others to glorify him.

Should I write down my material?

I should at least write a roadmap of how I want to go in my performance thursday. Here it goes:

1.holding babies/baby jokes...getting past garage into kitchen into fridge
2. outsourcing mormon bikers to china, Mormons bad. Something about 2 men coming to your house and making you feel dirty for something you regret doing in the morning...post on craigslist?
3. Best days to come out of the closet
4. Jesus game/rapture
5. Moving to Britain
6. Everything in the world can be solved with a game of rock paper scissors. It's a clear cut game, if unsure of the hand shape? That's awesome, because you can do it over? Don't like the first outcome? Then there is best out of 3!
7.Man what a week, I took a facebook quiz and found out I'm 89% gay. I'm so confused. I like pink, I like going to parades, I like to hang out with men...but does that make me gay?

 Studying Abroad/drinking...I'm mormon...i don't drink-consider revising...I think the intro should be about babies

I have some homework, but not to worry, the best jokes are stories.

"I can understand the validity of showing people the ugliness of the world, but I also think there is a place for movies to leave people with a sense of hope. If your film isn't going to do that, I just don't think it's worth making."
-Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone


I think Chris brings home a necessity that is ever so relevant to society's needs today. We need to construct our reality's toward others in a hopeful way. Even though the truth is up for the viewer's interpretation, we should not be the ones helping the pessimism of truth. The truth should be upheld optimistically, and that is the hardest thing to do daily.

Give me the strength

Lord, give me the strength to do something far greater than by myself. I was thinking about my life and my dreams, and I want them to be something beyond what I can do alone. Help me see the light that is in front of me so I can follow it. I see lots of things that are so beautiful and rewarding when I do it with you. Give me the radicalness to take a jump of faith, then a leap of faith, then a walk of faith to your great will for me.

Amen

11/10/10

It's crazy how soon Semester At Sea is, I have so much to plan. Thank you God for bringing me to people I can talk to about planning this, I am now considering taking SCUBA classes for the trip. 

1.SCUBA certification-$125

2.Sky Diving-$2-300

3.Buying a $500 camera-I need to find a camera expert to help me out on this.

4.Acoustic guitar-$300

5.Flip HD-$140

With that out of the way, I need to talk to more people about what I should do to plan ahead. I now see the value in talking to people who have done this and know how to make a travel trip amazing.

Talking to people seems like the main way of getting great ideas...I will continue on this journey!

And Starbuck's steamed eggnog with gingergbread is a succulent treat after writing a paper.

What I ate today:

Breakfast

-Grilled Cheese, eggs, orange juice

-Sprinkle's lemon ginger cupcake, coconut guava

Lunch

-Crunch roll, teriyaki chicken, miso, salad

Dinner

-Chashu Pork Salt Ramen

Lord, Thank you for this day. Thank you for the people that I got to talk to today. Keep me in your presence, guide me in your way, bring me to the right place to enjoy your blessings and prepare for eternity. 

Amen

11/6/10

There is so much going on in people's minds. The subconscious of teenagers tell them to just do as fish, but the terminal implications of this ends in utter destruction of human dignity, and the Godly love for life, people, creation, uniqueness, and purpose. I am praying deeply for this to be addressed in my communities; Lord give me the strength and audacity to confront the people who cause strife in your church. Give me discerning words and time to put an end to this celestial injustice to your creation.

I really am finding that people in my communities aren't educated in Godly love. They truly do not know what it is, only by song or tradition do they recite the word. Lord, guide me and give me discerning words to articulate this love with my words and actions, intentions, motives, and let my life song sing for you.

Give me words and ideas to articulate to people in a very personal, relatable manner that breaks across boundaries. Let me break down principalities and powers in your name, and put an end to the destructive framework of comedy.

Thank you for such a blessed day hiking with people. I enjoy your revelation in my life and the joy your wisdom brings me. Thank you for being a God of love and of eternal relation,

Amen

11/4/10

It is something that has sorta hit me now, but in order for my character or anything else for that matter to positively resolve into Godliness, I need to start praying for Godly things. Like respectfulness, humility, laughter, and transparency.

I drank a lot of rootbeer today. Thank you GOD for revealing to me some amazing jokes about mormons, and for the friendships you have brought to my life.

11/3/10

Why do I? I want knowledge, I want God's wisdom and sarcasm. I cannot conform to the world's system of candor, but I can touch it to destroy it. Fly to Jesus.

11/2/10

Great show tonight. Learned how much I love interacting with the audience, the 3rd dimension of the show. I really do not appreciate sick cop out jokes, but I enjoy the questioning of the audience, as they are part of the conversation.

Lord, humble me to understand. I don't want the glory, I want the truth. The truth is what is so joyously fluid to me and my livelihood. Thank you for my friends and my enemies. I pray dearly for the ones who despise me, as well as the ones who love me and encourage me. Bring me strong mentors to guide, build me, and encourage me. Most importantly, bring me people that love me, not selfish love, but love that builds.

Amen.

11/1/10

My dream was crazy. I was driving through a massive thunderstorm with tornadoes spinning through the freeway right next to me, all while drinking very poor tasting vitamin water. Andrew Tiritilli was driving, and he exited off of Brookhurst and Goldenrod. I told him to turn left, so he did. Andrew then wanted to discover where we were, so I looked around and told him we were at Metro Pointe based upon our surroundings, but he insisted that he still looked. We ended up stopping, and I met up with the 3rd floor girls who told me that they wanted to change their facebook names. Marisa wanted to change her name to "Marisa Marie" while Caitlin explained that it would be confusing to find herself on facebook if she just went by "Caitlin", therefore having her last name still present as her screen name.

Okay, That definitely was a compilation of my last few days. I had very poor tasting generic vitamin water from costco and threw it away, I trick or treated with the 3rd floor girls, and I always have made fun of facebook for obscure name changes. Still, what was with the thunder storms and tornadoes? God only knows...

Here is some thoughts from James 3

James 3

The gifted trying to rise to power without the character

-The pressure will make what is inside comes out

-Eventually you will use your gifts to poison

            -Cleverness will turn into poison, singeing the hearts of the ones who listen

-Among you, who is wise? Let that person show by his good behavior and his deeds and gentleness of wisdom

-Don’t be arrogant against the truth

-It is demonic where jealously and self ambition exist

            1. If these motives exist (language of comparison), it has primarily to do about insecurity

2 types of wisdom (how one can be tested)

            a. Watch ones actions, how they treat someone when no one is watching. The person should demonstrate gentleness lived out (strength under control)

                        1. Can only be gentle if you are strong

                        2. In order to be gentle, you have to know your power.

                                    1a. If you don’t know your strength, then you don’t know when you can do it.

            b.

-If you don’t want to go to that pool, don’t go in that tube

-If someone wants something, you better ask if they are ready for it.

-If you’re going to lead out of selfishness and ambition, where do you think you are going to lead your followers?

            1. We are not after this.

            2. This is the kind of wisdom that got the devil where it is now

-Leading with selfish ambition and jealousy brutalizes ones followers

-Peaceable is a proactive engagement. It tries to bring people together. Peace isn’t negotiated based on the denial of self, it is peace by caring for the other.

-when there is conflict, come with humility, understand the person and find some middle ground

-wisdom strives for peace

-don’t be arrogant, own your stuff and don’t pretend its not there.

            1. deal with it

-We try to deal with our arrogance arrogantly

-the opposite of hypocrisy is sincerity

-in a relational community, you act out of love and respect