What's the point?

While I was working on Wednesday a thought occurred to me, that one can serve God, yet not know Him. This may be borrowing or repeating things I've written in the past, I can't distinctly remember at this moment.
This particular thought was built off of something I saw & heard. By way of introductions I hope & don't want this to be read as a rip job of a particular denomination.
A priest was looking to use an upgrade on his phone when a woman, apparently, rudely interrupted & commanded the attention of the person that was helping the priest. Bothersome to be sure but far from unheard of. Well while she was being assisted I came over & checked with the priest. His response was that he was too bothered by the interruption to receive any help. So he deferred to another couple who were waiting.
After I finished answering their questions I checked back with the priest. He was still too upset by the interruption to let me help him. Being young (ambitious) & having the education that I have I thought of saying something to him but refrained. But I still think something needs to be said about it.

...indeterminately titled...

Recently I was recommended to read a book called "Disappointment with God." I've read most of the way through it and have had many "oh yeah, that's true" moments. At this point I wish I had made note of them while I was reading it, but because it's from the library I wasn't able to do that so I'm going to go back through & reread the book, highlight the main things that stand out to me through it.

The discussion doesn't really fit the standard view of most Christians. "faith as small as a mustard seed" "fight the good fight" etc. but discusses a prominent issue for many if not all people.

As usual, I'll have the bulk of the post after the jump. Here. We. Go.

Life

While pondering those specific memories of my grandparents I found myself in a bit of a quandary. I was & have been trying to come up with a definition of what life is.
As I've thought through it over the last 2 weeks it seems like life is primarily a formation of events that make a lasting impact. Positive & negative memories that in a way seer into the memory. But that's life from a reflective view. On a day to day basis life consists of all the involvements that people have.

There has to be more then that though. At least, I really hope that there is more to life then those simplistic realities.
As I write this I'm going to look at & list a bunch of definitions of what life is from many religions, after the jump as usual.

Memories

It's been a few weeks since I posted & I figured it was time to get back to it. I would have done this one  much earlier, but I've been busy each of the past few weekends & my new job keeps me very occupied during the week. Anyway, here goes.
The idea for this post came about two weeks ago while I was in Minot for my Grandmother's burial. There are things that I remembered specifically of each of my grandparents after they had passed.
Obviously, funerals & burials are times to reflect on loved ones so there had been many stories shared by her children & grandchildren.

ALL GO

The refund just went through!

I was expecting about $850 and it was just a few cents short of $900. Combine that with my newly acquired position & things are all go & looking up!

"It's Time to Party" by Mike Yaconelli

On Monday I heard a portion of this on the radio & wanted to get the full thing. It was podcasted on Air1 but only as part of a much larger audio file. From what has been said on air I wasn't the only one who wanted to get access to it. IT being something written by Mike Yaconelli. I don't know if I would call it an article or a story. It's just a written thing...that I happen to like a lot so I'm posting it.

To make it clear - I didn't write it. I heard it on Air1 radio & credit goes to the author Mike Yaconelli. That should work as citation. Anyway, take the jump to read it. Then think about it.

Praises

So I had good news.

Crazy unexpected & good news!

If you're reading this you know that my trip didn't go this year. Well, one of the biggest kickers with it was that I had just purchased the airfare a few days prior to the decision being made to not go. The ticket ran me just under $1,050, which was most of what I had set aside for the trip.

After going through the process of filing a claim with the insurance company that was supposed to be covering my purchase I found out that the reasoning didn't fall under their specified coverage.

After reviewing what I could from them I didn't really see that in the agreement or any of their documentation. Frustrating!

This all happened a few weeks ago. I was feeling pretty helpless with the whole situation until I had an idea the other night, to see if I could get credit for future travel. I wasn't very optimistic but mild desperation limited my options.

Root Issues

One thing I have heard a lot about is getting to an root issue. The heart of the problem. Well today during the service I had a thought.
We live in a corrupt & increasingly decaying culture. In the 6000 years of creation I'm sure there were worse ones but I live in this one so I look at it & think about it a lot.
I've heard it said & seen it with my own eyes that the generation I am apart of is searching for truth. Something to believe in. Something to help us get through life. To live for.
Jesus is the one who is that. Can provide that. Yet so many christian young people hit high school & college & disappear from the sanctuaries & bible studies. They turn to all the other options that are available to try to find meaning & fulfillment. So why does it happen? It's a question I've heard discussed for years & if I were to bet on it, it's a question that's been discussed for much longer.
I'll get into a few of the questions that have come to mind & to the thought that got me into this track of thought after the jump.

Ezekiel 1: 26 - 28

So those who don't know, I'm a big fan of the Old Testament. The main reason is because of how inaccurately maligned it's been in the modern culture. What I was reading today only lends more creedance to fact that those who think that it's all wrath & law haven't ever read it.
The whole chapter of Ezekiel 1 is mirrored in the account of Heaven given in Revelation, so for just that reason I would say it's worth reading!
Anyway, there was phrase that got me so good.

²⁶ And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.

²⁷ And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.

²⁸ Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

"Better Than Life" Remedy Drive

Through the senses

As I was driving to the library this morning for another long stretch in the wi-fi bubble looking at job openings, filling out applications, a little bit of follow up, among other things to fill the time, I was struck by a thought.
There is so much to be pleased & happy about in life. The sun was shining through my window. That's all that triggered the thought. Really though, it's got me thinking about all the positive things that I have going for me.
Because it's easiest for me to process thoughts into words while I'm writing, I decided to put em down in another post - below the jump as always.

"Keep Your Eyes Open" By Needtobreathe

Con-sense

I haven't been doing much writing on here the last few weeks but am planning on changing that, starting with this post.
One thing I have thought a lot about...for months I guess...is about behavior modification vs. genuine change. Without ever making the connection I became a big proponent of following ones conscience. Today, on the way home from service I made the connection that many people need behavior modification because they don't follow their conscience.
I'll digress after the break!

"Never Let You Go" By Manafest

Encouraging.

A New Direction

Things have changed. Take the jump to read up.

Off the List

Since my Sophomore year of high school I've steadily grown in my love for sports. Never liked them when I was young but now being a fan ranks among my highest interests. Growing up in ND there are no top level pro teams so when I started getting into sports I looked across the river & down the interstate to the Twin Cities teams.
At this point & for the last few years the Vikes have ranked at the top of the list. If I were to take a guess as to why Football in general is my favorite, the reason is simple - Fantasy. But as I've grown as a fan and been living down here I've really wanted to visit training camp. Well this time last summer the NFL was just trying to figure out if they were going to have a season. They did but it started late so that didn't work.
Obviously I know I will be leaving in a month so training camp is the only opportunity I have to get some live Vikings experience this year. So on Friday during work I realized that I didn't have to work on Saturday & that there was going to be a night practice on Saturday so I made the decision to drive to Mankato for the majority of Saturday.
The whole story plus pictures after the jump.

I decided to include my favorite picture up here too 

Salvation

So let me start by doing an intro to my intro. I have three posts stirring on my heart right now & will do my best to keep them separate but may intertwine 2 of them. If I do make some connections between them I hope that they make sense! Comments would be appreciated!
What I am going to address here is what I consider a flaw in thought that I've heard many times, sometimes from people I respect & agree with, more often with people that I don't, so I dismiss it. But I keep hearing people talk about people who believe in Jesus...claim to, only God knows the heart but actions do reveal much, but are still going to hell.
I will go into more detail after the jump

The new age, sort of

As with all my posts, I like to monitor reader counts so I always insert the jump. This is just a little blurb about a couple steps into the modern world that I've recently taken.

Vision check

As you may have guessed, over the last few weeks I've been pretty busy. With my schedule being what it is, my pipe dream of reading a book a week flopped quite a while ago. It's ok though, I've read a few books so far this summer and hope to get a couple more done before I fly out. The ones that I don't get to will just make the trek to Thailand with me.
The latest one that I completed was a reread of one of my favorites - "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." In my younger days I scoffed at it because well, I don't want to be single & I didn't know the premise behind it. When I read it last summer though I found that it lined up with my personal set of opinions & expanded them in certain areas.
With some things that have changed since then I thought it would be good to get a refresher on the ideas which I agreed with then but have been struggling to implement now.
Anyways, I'll get more into it after the jump.

A Busted Summer

Sounds like a negative title, but is a reference to the summer season being Blockbuster movie time. It's been a month since my last "review" and I've gotten through a few movies to mention on.
Before I get to that though, I just want to make a comment. I write these as one of the only proofs that I can give that I do something more then work & prep for Internship. I don't do a lot else, but I do have some other interests and am doing other activities while the weather is warm.

Now, onto the movies, the list of new releases rounds out at 5 so this will be a long one. Read it through, peruse the titles or skip it all together, no big deal.

What's God doing? & What God is doing!

So I mentioned in my last posting I was recently in Colorado for my brothers wedding. Also, as I have mentioned a few times here I work at Wal - Mart. Also, the most obvious of the three, I love God and am living to see people in relationship with Him.
How do those things tie together? Well, God knows the full story but I will share the small piece that I am aware of right now! Just take the jump and enjoy

ch, ch, ch, changes

It's been a few weeks since I posted my last time. A lot of stuff has been changing in my life these weeks. Some very significant stuff has gone on concerning my family, my internship and a few things related to my day to day life.

I don't want to put the jump after such a short intro so I'll add a little filler here :). The latest change is after 7 straight summers of making the mid - July journey to Willmar, MN for Sonshine Festival. Pretty much every day this week I have gone through a sort of with drawl because it just feels so unfamiliar right now. I get that I'm saving money and making more by working this week, that's the logical, "positive" spin on the change but really, I don't care too much about it. Instead, I use the reasoning that at the beginning of September I'm gonna go to Sioux Falls, SD for Lifelight Fest and after taking most of last week off to go to Colorado it was bad timing for Sonshine.
Take the jump to get a little bit more of the story!

10 Weeks...

Well the time is time is coming quickly for me to leave. It still feels very recently that I was just finding out that I was going to Kenya definitively and who I was going with. There's been a lot of work done to get to where I am. In addition to the $17,500+ that I've received in donations so far I have received a few very generous pledges which will bring my total to over $19,000.
That still leaves me a long way to go in the process though. I have to reach 95% ($24,225 pledged or donated) before I will be authorized to purchase my plane ticket. In addition to that, I have long list of immunizations that need to be taken care and all the requires of getting my visa. The costs of both the immunizations and the visa are covered by your donations.
To get an even better understanding of other preparatory actions that I am taking go below the jump!

A Dude Double Feature - the 50/50 split.

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is go to the drive in theater. There are two in twin cities metro area, both on the East side. I'd been to each one once and had been waiting to go back for another late night of movie watching.

One of the theaters shows 2 movies, the other shows 3. Both start after dusk, 9:45+ PM. Both are $8 for admission. So the decision comes down to whether one wants to be up til 2 or 4:30 AM and what they are showing. I don't mind staying up so it all comes down to the weekends showings.

That brings me to the point, last week I went to the drive in. It's in Lake Elmo and there was a group of around 12 who came from school.

The Heart of a Champion

So I am fudging a little bit on what I was intending to do. My idea was to only write about new movies that I see in the theater but am gonna open it up to other new movies that I see this summer that I think are worth writing about.
To that end, I gonna do a little write up on "Cinderella Man."

Revival Praying by Leonard Ravenhill

I did a more brief summary about this called "book 2" because I just couldn't seem to find the time to read and get on my computer to get a summary for each chapter.
In the future I will reread the book and finish this post, for now I've done what I can with it.

Book 2

It took longer than I wanted to read my second book of the summer, "Revival Praying". Partly because I have been so busy, but also because I tried to do summaries for every chapter and that didn't work to well in the time crunch. I found the book at a local Christian bookstore that is going out to business so I got it for a couple bucks. I plan to read it again and mark it up, but won't try to do a summery type thing in such a short period of time.

Tom's Tale

So in wanting to get some more detail and a different perspective on the marathon I asked Tom to do a short write up of how it went and just some first hand details of the run. I also got a copy of the race course and his stat sheet so those are below the fold too.

On a Mission

So let me just begin by saying another thank you to my older brother Tom for spending so much time in training just help me get to fully funded for Kenya. I really appreciate it brother!
I also need to thank my dad and mom for putting so much effort into spreading the word about the marathon but also about my internship as a whole.
Last, but certainly not least I want to thank everyone who so generously has given toward this mission. Estimates right now leave the amount raised from the marathon at more then $5,500. Considering the goal was $2,600, this is super humbling. Thank you all.
Before I get to the photos and a synopsis of race day I wanted to drop a semi - fitting song into post. It's a rap so if that's not your type of music just skip over and hit the link!

One great shift

It's taken me longer then I would have liked to get this post up, but with my work schedule and the marathon over the weekend I really haven't had much time to keep you all up to speed.
Last Sunday, the 13th, was possibly the most rewarding shift of work I have ever had. If you want to know the details, hit the link!

Sidewalk Prophets: Live Like That

The Summer Movie Review

By no means do I want this to say that I'm gonna go movie crazy this summer, but it is a time for many of the biggest and best movies to get released during the year so I figure I would give some space on here for the new ones that I do see.

The greatest news of the year

So my title is a little bit exaggerated but today is certainly a special day for me and for many others.

Wanna know? Take the jump.

Book worm? Maybe.

In trying to come up with some ideas for things to do this summer and also being in the process of transporting my possessions I had a thought. It may not be feasible but it's possible. With all the books that I have acquired lately I figured it's about time to starting reading them.
I've read some but most haven't even been opened so they are definitely a waste of space to me right now. Well, to resolve that I think I'm going to try to read a book a week.
I won't have a lot of time this summer to do nothing, but in my down times it would be much more valuable then watching movies or just wandering around doing nothing and wasting gas/time.

It's a wrap

Two years. Two years more of training that have come and gone. Two years of building relationships and learning about my Savior. Two years of the highest highs (yet) and the lowest lows (yet). Two years come and gone that are now complete.
It's a wonder, time goes by so quickly, seems to be speeding up week by week and month by month, maybe we're getting closer to the end. For now, I am at the end of one season and entering the page turn into a new one. From formal classroom time to the mission field. I'm hoping it is the most exciting page turn time yet.

Family

I had to think a lot about this one. The world that we live in is earnestly attempting to reshape the definition of this word. It is and has been the initial group of relationships between people connected through their genetics.
But the Western World is really trying to change that. People can have children together and not have any level of commitment to each other.
Even when people feel enough affection for each other when the relationship becomes to much sacrifice they or just one decides to end it.
More than that, "family" can be used to label things that are termed as abominable in the Scriptures.
It's really irritating to me because God established the family. His father heart breaks to see so many things that masquerade as family. It goes beyond that though, Love has been undermined. Sin is like the ultimate taboo word. You can't actually tell others that they are wrong for what they do. But we're supposed to, in God's timing and with His words.
I'll keep writing after the jump.

Internship Q&A

I was contacted with an idea to put together a form to answer questions that people may have and give more information about the internship. To that end I've attached a form to this that answers all the questions I was asked. If any of you has questions that you would like answered feel free to contact me. I may not know the answer right now, but I will do my best to get the answers. I've included this in a mass email but will post it up here for more diverse communication.

Number 3 or Chains being broken

Continuing in the end of year wrap theme that I've had going on lately I had another post worthy happening.
This one is pretty personal. I had a major revelation of it about two months ago and had a reminder on Friday. The specific topic is how fortunate I was to grow up in the family that I did. To have the parents that I have, brothers that I've had and now sisters that I do too. Grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins too.
It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to me considering how the fundraising process has gone for me. But just with maturing I have seen much more clearly how fortunate I am for everything.

Live & Learn & Then Keep Living

To continue what I imagine may be a theme of semi-nostalgic posts during my last few weeks of the year I'm going to try to process and verbalize what I have learned this year.
I kind of wanted to find a quote that would relate to my view point on it.
There were a bunch that stuck out, but I can't really put my finger on one, so I'm just going include them all.
"No regrets just, lessons learned..."
"Life is full of lessons, sadly ive learned a lot the hard way."
"From lessons learned comes better life."
There were more, but really that would be over kill so I'm just going to move on into the main point of my post.

Revision and revenge?

So apparently yesterday was St. Patricks day. I knew it was coming soon but had no idea when, then I saw bunches of people wearing green. I had to work pretty much all the day long so didn't enjoy it...not that I would have anyway but yeah.
While I was at work I was reflecting on the way that major holidays - days of reflection, have been made ridiculous. Christmas is more about a jolly fat man then about the birth of the Lord. Easter is more about bunnies then a suffering Savior. St. Patrick's day is another excuse for people to get drunk and live in sin instead of about a man of God who devoted his life to seeing Ireland changed.
There are more examples but it makes me wonder what will come of all of it. I'll give my theories after the break.

The turning of the page

It's March 13 and it definitely feeling like this is a changing period for me.
At this moment is 50 degrees and the forecast says high 60's today and mid 70's tomorrow. That's just the natural example.
I have 6 weeks and 3 days left til summer. Nearness of the change of pace combined with the beautiful weather creates spring fever within me.
At least I have March Madness starting in a couple days. My schedule is pretty full but as much as I can I'm gonna be enjoying the competition.
Is there anything else, well I got a promotion at my job. It's nothing too major but it's a pay increase and gets me off the cash registers. I'm slightly freaked out about working with customers all the time though. At least I know a fair amount about Electronics already so that will help.
I am wondering what will come on the next page of my life. I can estimate some things but much is out of sight right now.

The clock stops for no man

Well it's been another month since I last posted. It definitely doesn't feel like it's been that long but I've been busy so time goes quickly. It's been more of the same; working, studying and getting internship stuff organized. I just came off mid-semester break so I'm well fed and well rested right now.
Work has been plodding along. I cut my hours back for the last couple weeks so that I could get everything else done with school and still have time to sleep. I'm going to start ramping it back up and am looking toward Summer to really start bringing in the cash.

Suggestion or command?

I had a thought this morning. It's an application of some of what was discussed in my Romans class yesterday. The topic in question was regarding things in the New Testament, Romans specifically in this instance, that are commanded to be done but can and are regarded as suggestions to moral living or rejected/ignored because they don't fit a personal paradigm of life.

Vision check

So yesterday at lunch something clicked in me, that I have been walking such an astounding lack of faith. It's something I had identified to a certain degree at an earlier time, but it meant much more this time. The circumstances leading to this revelation was that we had been talking about the great faith of some of the Biblical fathers. This particularly was related to trusting that what God says are the most sound promises that can ever be.

Outreaches 2011/2012

It's been a while since I updated this one, but updates won't be too common going forward.

A job thats more than a job

So I've been working at Walmart for the last few months have made one very realization over that time, that it's the best ministry that I can do right now. The opportunities I get even just being a cashier really startle me sometimes.

Being the clay

So one of those really over used church verses is Romans 9:20 - 21. It's not the only reference to God as the potter of our lives, but is one of the most clear about it. I just got a new insight into some thing that is related to that analogy.

Real men of God

Ok, maybe not the most original title - I borrowed it from the real men of genius radio commercials that I used to hear during Vikings games. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and really just need to vent some stuff out about it.