December 2011
1 post
Christmas Truth
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed His people and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David….Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” -Luke 1
November 2011
4 posts
Job's Perspective
Job has always been one of my main heroes in Scripture, even though he is such a picture of depression. Some friends and family might suggest this reflects my cynical personality…but I want to paint different picture.
Job endured more pain than I ever will, but he never took his face from God. Yes, he complained and questioned God…but always with an air of hope. He called for a...
Some more reading
“How happy would you be if your hearts were but persuaded to close with Jesus Christ! Then you would be out of all danger: whatever storms and tempests were without, you might rest securely within; you might hear the rushing of the wind, and the thunder roar abroad, while you are safe in this hiding-place. O be persuaded to hide yourself in Christ Jesus! He has undertaken to defend and...
Our Need
I have been considering how I can keep up my blog in a more frequent manner, and I think I have decided to at least share a quote or two per week from something I’ve read, some might be deep, and others could be shallow… I’m hoping this will encourage me to write something of my own more often, since I would very much like to do that someday.
Thomas Vincent shared these...
Mystery
There is definitely a mood of reflection in my reading and thinking tonight. I just looked at some past pictures of road trips, beach days, Indonesia, family trip the most eclectic and romantic metropolis in this young country…NYC of course. All these pictures confirm this reflective idea that I am blessed beyond measure. There is simply no doubt that I have seen and experienced more grace and...
September 2011
1 post
Thoughts from the sky
Do you ever feel as though you’re stepping to someone else’s drum? Constantly parading though the cattle rungs of life’s airport security, willfully and quietly submitting to these entrapping rules meant to make one feel safe…why do I have to take my shoes off, what difference does it make if my toothpast is 3.5ml instead of 3.3?
I suddenly have the urge to pick up my...
August 2011
1 post
March 2011
1 post
Rules
I was always the kid that had to know why a rule was in place before I followed it. This curiosity and desire to understand has really benefited me in some great ways in life, but at others I’m not so sure. Aren’t there those times that we wish we could just turn that off, and embrace the rules that we know will help us, and move past into the new reality where that rule is just...
February 2011
1 post
This verse is really good...
Ps. 34:5 ”those who look to Him(the Lord) are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
This verse has been good to me over the last few weeks. I have been going through Acts for a class I’m in at Church and the story Stephen really made an impact with this verse in mind. Stephen is facing those who are spreading rumors and lies that are meant to shame him away from...
January 2011
5 posts
Modern Family-best show on tv
Jay: “where was your dad during all this?”
Luke: ” He was right behind her…”
haha
Tomorrow...
Why in the world did I just run that far…I don’t even like running! I’ll pay for that tomorrow.
Life really isn’t a steady path towards the top is it….? So many ups and downs and only one absolute, God is. I am thankful He brings peace
December 2010
5 posts
Goodness
Our God is gracious and good. There is so much that explains this and we’ll never be able to blog about this in entirety. There is comfort and hope in pain, blessing, and in he mundane. I just want to thank the Lord for showing me that my confidence and hope are in Him alone. I am a member of His beautiful Bride and He will continue to refine me into a man after His own heart wherever...
Contradictions
It is an interesting fact that hard times do produce more good, contentment, and confidence than any other season I have been through. Shouldn’t pain and good be complete contradictions that cannot exist together? According to our human state we should hate these times, but Peter and John rejoice to be persecuted and Paul calls his struggles “light and momentary.” What an...
I'm glad no one reads my blog...I'm not emo I...
When we get stabbed, we immediately grab, choke, and fight to sustain enough pressure to stop the bleeding…but what if our Savior wants me to lie there quietly, bleeding out a river He will wash me in…?
November 2010
1 post
Curious things...
It has become clear to me in life that we all have those family members, friends, and even some acquaintances that just love and care for us in deeply obvious ways. As I reflect on my life, I see those people that just seem to love me no matter what, and also those who just don’t, or are simply indifferent. What is it that causes those who care so deep to posses that towards those they love,...
August 2010
1 post
Modern language sometimes seems to have lost a...
I have been reading a book by John Owen, a Puritan, and he describes how our minds should bend our hearts toward God’s love in language we just don’t use anymore…
“Continually act thoughts of faith on God, as love to you…let your mind know it, and assent that it is so; and your will embrace it, in its being so; and all your affections be filled with it. Set your...
April 2010
2 posts
I'm tired
So I keep hearing congressional officials blame goldman executives for this entire economic crisis. I do not claim to understand the complexities of their derivatives and if they actually broke the law. However, I am sick and tired of congress blaming everyone else. Wasn’t the mortgage crisis the foundation of the credit problem that led to this crisis? Shorting the market can only make...
Which one are you...
Education, n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding. Ambrose Bierce
I found this quote interesting. It is not quite clear to me which side I’m on at this point. Is another diploma evidence of wisdom or just another fake mustache? After all, look at some of the people they’re letting graduate…(I’ll let you all make...
March 2010
2 posts
True Beauty
When we arrive at eternity’s shore Where death is just a memory and tears are no more We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring Your bride will come together and we’ll sing You’re beautiful
Phil Wickham-Beautiful
I think God is going to work in Fullerton...
Last night was an awesome night. It was Sunday evening at 6:30pm when people started trickling in to the first night of Rock Harbor’s new campus in Fullerton. It took about five minutes to realize we were going to have a big crowd, and that we did! The leaders had to abandon the plan of one service and add another at 9:00pm to fit the people. Even still there were about two hundred people...
February 2010
1 post
Against sin
So I was reading for class and came across this great quote that I want to be my attitude towards sin:
“I’m against sin. I’ll kick it as long as I have a foot. I’ll fight it as long as I have a fist. I’ll butt it as long as I have a head. I’ll bite it as long as I’ve got a tooth. And when I’m old and fistless and footless and toothless,...
January 2010
3 posts
I wish there was an appropriate picture or this
I was sitting in my apartment today and could not help but realize how far God is from me. Learning to live in this reality has proven difficult, though deeply necessary. I’m not saying that God is not here or He has forsaken us, but I believe it is accurate to say that I do not always know His presence and love like I the greatest times in my life, or even enough to bring joy. But as I...
He kept them quiet
One question often comes to mind when reading the gospels. Why does Jesus not allow those who know Him to declare who He is. It is a consistent issue that our Lord commands the demons not to say who He is, and also asks people not to share with anyone after healing them. Why? Did Jesus not want people to understand that He was the Christ? Is it because His time had not come? Did withholding...
December 2009
3 posts
Christmas-sorry its a long one.
A holiday celebrating Santa Claus, gifts, family, shopping, and snow, Christmas began with a little baby, in some little village, in some little country occupied by Rome. What was so important about that night, place, or that baby?
In Genesis Abraham encountered the Lord, who promised him an heir through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Isaac, the only son according to...
Life...
Sometimes life is just confusing. Most people know me as a pretty consistent person, but I just don’t know what I want. I’m graduating college. I want to do something significant with my life. I want to get married sometime. But beyond these broad statements, I just don’t know. I feel like I know what I want in some areas, but I know I have to patiently wait for greater...
November 2009
2 posts
Thankfulness
Thankfulness gathers so many meanings from different situations. There are those things that bring thankfulness like: gigantic turkeys, mashed potatoes, apple pie, and much less than competitive football games…but I have been trying to think what I am truly thankful for today. I have amazing family and friends who brought encouragement simply through time spent together today. Knowing this...
September 2009
3 posts
continued...
So, during the time of eating amazing fish and crab, snorkeling, scuba diving, and finally surfing in Bali it became evident that there are difficult matters in our faith, but Christ is the central all encompassing point that we have to hold our identity in. And it shouldn’t take a literal rice harvest miles in each direction for the rest of you to realize that the world is dangling by a...
Well i guess its time to reflect...
A true faith in Jesus Christ will not suffer us to be idle. No, it is an active, lively, restless principle; it fills the heart, so that it cannot be easy till it is doing something for Jesus Christ.
—George Whitefield
To those of you that have been telling me I should really blog in reflection over the summer, it was a long summer, I had to process. Anyway, I came across this quote as I...
June 2009
5 posts
Half Way Point
I have been reflecting on this trip the last few days and all that has happened so far. We came out of the villages over the weekend and have been taking our break here in Malang.(Which started with a trip to McDonald’s; amazing how a place that is very low on my list at home climbs so far up in other countries) The first two week trip out to the villages brought a lot of thought,...
Indonesian soccer
So tonight we went to a soccer game here in the city. I guess the Jakarta team has to play here because there stadium is being used for the presidential election. Regretably, the fans weren’t quite as wild as expected since it wasn’t the city team. But, that does not mean it was not a wonderful international experience.
As we arrived the riot police were just finding there...
We made it back to Malang
I have been viewing emails and blogs of all our friends this summer and it is quite a blessing to see what we are all doing. Curtis is in Japan, Ryan, Sarah, and there team in India, zach and me in Indo, the isp trips with Steve Searer teaching English in Korea, and even Kyle found his way to Europe. One of those people is simply touring, but that is cool too. I think this is one of the many...
May 2009
6 posts
Watu Karung
We spent the last week in a village called watu Karung. The beauty was amazing, but we were out of touch so sorry. The pure beauty of His creation is awestriking, but there is a sad feeling when we hear the call to prayer in the backround. We are in a small internet cafe in Paciton so I can’t upload pictures until we return to Malang next week.
Being here in Indonesia in a little fishing...
One leg over
We made it to HK, and I think I like this city. We just spent about four hours in it and had breakfast at a pretty authentic place. The land scape is quite green and the business is full so maybe I’ll work here some day.
The first flight was long, but we got to sleep more than I expected. Continue to pray we will need it this whole trip. It is not a light work we are going to do. I have...
The slowest time in the world
Have any of you ever realized when time seems to crawl by slower than any other situation in the world. Last night we boarded the plane and it was almost time to close the doors. I found three open seats together and sat in one and put my stuff on another to se if anyone was coming for them. Our scheduled departure was 11:50 and its reached 1140, my hope started to grow. but those next seven...
I'm now on the internet
So I have purposefully avoided the social revolution of the internet community long enough. I am going on a trip this summer to a far away land and everyone has told me I should get a blog. Here it is, I guess I can’t talk about weirder things than Curtis or Kyle. I will be posting something later when I have come to grips that I’m now on the internet.