for family. for friends. for life. for laughs. for hospitality. and most of all...
for hilarity.
be BLESSED all...
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Dear Bloggers,
let me start by saying, i love what you're doing. everyone has such a different style of blogging. everyone has a different delivery. it's great, it really is. i can't get enough of it, and THEREIN lies the problem. you guys aren't posting at a rapid enough rate.
lets try something...
close your eyes and picture this. i log onto my computer, at work or at home, and i go to my google reader (which organizes all of the blogs that i subscribe to, and lists the new posts in chronological order so that i don't have to click on 22 some-odd different blog links to check for new material... it's awesome and i highly recommend it.) to check if there is any fun new adventures, deeply philosophical topics, or anything in between, that people have cared to share with me. imagine my devastation when i log on and find a big gigantic goose egg in the "unread items."
a goose egg.
seriously people?! that's the best you've got? it's been like 4 hours since your last post, are trying to say that you have nothing to share, because i think you do. otherwise, what the EFF am i supposed to do between posts... nothing.
you might be saying, 'drick, you're the worst offender of this infraction...' and let me stop you right there. this isn't about me. this is about you all being better bloggers. that's what i'm about.
so lets get to work on this, yeah? thanks in advance.
be blessed,
drick j. iglesia
lets try something...
close your eyes and picture this. i log onto my computer, at work or at home, and i go to my google reader (which organizes all of the blogs that i subscribe to, and lists the new posts in chronological order so that i don't have to click on 22 some-odd different blog links to check for new material... it's awesome and i highly recommend it.) to check if there is any fun new adventures, deeply philosophical topics, or anything in between, that people have cared to share with me. imagine my devastation when i log on and find a big gigantic goose egg in the "unread items."
a goose egg.
seriously people?! that's the best you've got? it's been like 4 hours since your last post, are trying to say that you have nothing to share, because i think you do. otherwise, what the EFF am i supposed to do between posts... nothing.
you might be saying, 'drick, you're the worst offender of this infraction...' and let me stop you right there. this isn't about me. this is about you all being better bloggers. that's what i'm about.
so lets get to work on this, yeah? thanks in advance.
be blessed,
drick j. iglesia
Sunday, November 9, 2008
because it bears repeating...
"I realize Christianity is not a faith for bench warmers and spectators, but for the biggest risk takers to say "All In" with their whole life."
--Jason Costales from his blog
post "A Fine Evening for a Rogue"
post "A Fine Evening for a Rogue"
Friday, November 7, 2008
The Warriors Halftime Extravaganza!!!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
reinventing the wheel...
i think a lot about my teenagers.
let me back it up... i've been involved with the youth group at my church for about 3 years now. i've gotten to know a lot of them through my time there and have grown quite fond of them. they've become my younger brothers and sisters. they're hyper like i was. they engage in shenanigans like i did. i see myself in them. and i see my youth group in theirs.
i see the teens who respond to the messages and get down with the worship. the ones who raise their hands in adoration, who are in love with the Christ that we try to share with them. this is the BEST part of ministry. bar none. to see the fruits of our labor flourishing... scratch that. it's the joy of witnessing their realization and revelation of who God is in their lives, and how good He is, this God that we try to share with them.
but i can't deny that there is another side to this coin...
i also see the teens who come because they want to be there to hang out with their friends. i see the teens who come because they're parents make them. i see the teens that come because they wanted to get out of the house. and i see the other teens who go for any other reason than to learn about who God is. and they sit through youth group vacant and uninvolved. some of these teens are the same as the ones i mentioned in the paragraph before.
y'know, when i was in youth group, i was always so enthralled with the messages that it made me go home and tear through my bible.
wait... what?
what i meant to say was that i was completely disconnected on an emotional and spiritual level. i'd gone to church my entire life; and this resulted in me believing what i believed by default and never feeling the need to go any deeper with my spiritual relationship. this is no secret. luckily, all those times sitting through sermons at church and youth group, some crazy ideas got stuck in my head; something about a living God and grace sufficient and a perfect love; and these ideas were so intriguing that i dwelled on them in the back of my mind. i'd already had God in my life by default, so to process everything i'd heard was, for the most part, a matter of taking the time to weigh everything i'd encountered up until that point. i was raised in a good christian household, so to see God's goodness was fairly easy; but i simply can't just bank on the assumption that all of my teenagers will eventually 'come to.' i'd be foolish to make the assumption that they too will easily see God's goodness in their lives.
i mean, do they even want to know God at all? do they even care about His goodness? maybe. but, for the most part, telling them point blank will have little to no effect. the challenge lies in, for lack of a better word, repackaging the gospel in ways that are relevant to people who, more or less, have little to no interest in finding a God they're not sure they need. i'm not talking about changing or bending or stretching the Word. i'm talking about sharing it in such a fashion that this younger generation would care to engage it. ALL of it.
it SOUNDS simple enough, yeah? the visionary work is seemingly done, but how do we execute? I HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE. i truly think about this a lot. i pray about it. i know that this isn't something that is going to happen by my own strength. God is in control and i can dig it. i just need to do my part in trusting Him, and He'll handle the rest.
a couple weeks back i was at youth group. we're currently watching a video series called "nooma" by this cat named rob bell. i wasn't the one intro/outro-ing the videos, so after the video i stepped outside to get some air. lo and behold are 3 of my 4 assigned students (all of the staff is assigned students to keep in touch with through out the week so as to not let them feel neglected. [on a side note, living 40+ minutes away from the youth group, i'm no longer as close as i'd like to be to the teens any more, and my 4 particular students i'm not very close with at all... so there was already an air of awkwardness between us...]) ditching youth group to play a game of skate on the front patio area.
each of them give me a lame excuse of why they're not upstairs. immediately it's my instinct to bring the pain and make them go back upstairs, but for some reason i didn't.
i'd recalled hearing along the way, perhaps at youth group, perhaps at a youth workers conference, that people "won't care about what i know, until they know that i care." it makes sense, right? they feel no desire to connect authority figures (ie, teachers, parents, etc...) because they don't have common ground to stand on. from their perspective, teachers are always cramming information no one cares about down their throat for an hour, and then they move on to the next class and get it all again. parents are coming down on them during times where they're just trying to figure things out, trying to figure out who they really are. i remember feeling all of that during my trouble laden teenage years.
and here i am, a youth worker, who has the most important message that they'll ever hear, and i'm surely classified somewhere on, that spectrum of authority, between teacher and parent. as someone who's on the other side of this proverbial fence now, who's trying to be a good role model for people whose entire world exists within the walls of their respective highschools, i try to think about what it is that would've piqued my attention back then. what would've made me listen? what would have made me think? what would have made me take down my impenetrable walls apathy?
i remember at that moment that it's about a relationship. not just being acquainted. not even to merely 'know' someone; but an actual living and breathing, loving and hating, giving and taking relationship. in that moment on the patio i knew that sending them upstairs would have gotten me no closer to those knuckleheads than i already was. instead i stayed out there with them and got to know them. i asked them questions about the game and let them be the authority for once. i challenged them to be better skaters (by making fun of them...). i'd even told them a hilarious account of me trying to learn how to ride a skateboard. at one point, a student from upstairs came down and told us we were being too loud. it was an oddly familiar feeling that i hadn't experienced in years.
typically at youth group, we end in prayer groups. so i gathered them up and sat them down. i explained to them that if they're going to come to youth group nights, they need to be a part of the youth group. they were pretty perceptive of that. and since i'd been fair enough to let their game continue, i told them that if they'd let me close the night up in a prayer, we could call it even. they were down with that. among their requests were 'to get better at skateboarding so that he'd win next time,' and 'to continue having a good month.' fair enough. i'd given them a schpiel about praying to God about anything, and that we had to do our parts to show Him that we were serious, and they sat and listened. i prayed and then they were off to finish their game.
i'm not saying that i have this ministry thing figured out. i'm not saying that i've converted those boys or even that i've gotten them to start thinking. i will say that building this relationship is going to be the difference between them hearing what i have to say, and them listening to what i have to share with them. and it could be the difference between hearing about their salvation, and knowing their salvation. no amount of revamping and retooling the gospel will ever be more effective than living the life that is saved by grace, boldly and unflinching, in the view of those we're trying to reach.
***disclaimer***
i just re-read this and i realized that i didn't give parents and teachers their propers for the role that they DO play in these teenagers' lives. i know it's not perfect in every situation, but it certainly isn't always broken either. if i wasn't drilled and hammered by my parents when i was younger, i probably wouldn't have the values that i hold today. and if teachers weren't doing their jobs, i wouldn't be sitting here writing dissertation sized blogs.
let me back it up... i've been involved with the youth group at my church for about 3 years now. i've gotten to know a lot of them through my time there and have grown quite fond of them. they've become my younger brothers and sisters. they're hyper like i was. they engage in shenanigans like i did. i see myself in them. and i see my youth group in theirs.
i see the teens who respond to the messages and get down with the worship. the ones who raise their hands in adoration, who are in love with the Christ that we try to share with them. this is the BEST part of ministry. bar none. to see the fruits of our labor flourishing... scratch that. it's the joy of witnessing their realization and revelation of who God is in their lives, and how good He is, this God that we try to share with them.
but i can't deny that there is another side to this coin...
i also see the teens who come because they want to be there to hang out with their friends. i see the teens who come because they're parents make them. i see the teens that come because they wanted to get out of the house. and i see the other teens who go for any other reason than to learn about who God is. and they sit through youth group vacant and uninvolved. some of these teens are the same as the ones i mentioned in the paragraph before.
y'know, when i was in youth group, i was always so enthralled with the messages that it made me go home and tear through my bible.
wait... what?
what i meant to say was that i was completely disconnected on an emotional and spiritual level. i'd gone to church my entire life; and this resulted in me believing what i believed by default and never feeling the need to go any deeper with my spiritual relationship. this is no secret. luckily, all those times sitting through sermons at church and youth group, some crazy ideas got stuck in my head; something about a living God and grace sufficient and a perfect love; and these ideas were so intriguing that i dwelled on them in the back of my mind. i'd already had God in my life by default, so to process everything i'd heard was, for the most part, a matter of taking the time to weigh everything i'd encountered up until that point. i was raised in a good christian household, so to see God's goodness was fairly easy; but i simply can't just bank on the assumption that all of my teenagers will eventually 'come to.' i'd be foolish to make the assumption that they too will easily see God's goodness in their lives.
i mean, do they even want to know God at all? do they even care about His goodness? maybe. but, for the most part, telling them point blank will have little to no effect. the challenge lies in, for lack of a better word, repackaging the gospel in ways that are relevant to people who, more or less, have little to no interest in finding a God they're not sure they need. i'm not talking about changing or bending or stretching the Word. i'm talking about sharing it in such a fashion that this younger generation would care to engage it. ALL of it.
it SOUNDS simple enough, yeah? the visionary work is seemingly done, but how do we execute? I HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE. i truly think about this a lot. i pray about it. i know that this isn't something that is going to happen by my own strength. God is in control and i can dig it. i just need to do my part in trusting Him, and He'll handle the rest.
a couple weeks back i was at youth group. we're currently watching a video series called "nooma" by this cat named rob bell. i wasn't the one intro/outro-ing the videos, so after the video i stepped outside to get some air. lo and behold are 3 of my 4 assigned students (all of the staff is assigned students to keep in touch with through out the week so as to not let them feel neglected. [on a side note, living 40+ minutes away from the youth group, i'm no longer as close as i'd like to be to the teens any more, and my 4 particular students i'm not very close with at all... so there was already an air of awkwardness between us...]) ditching youth group to play a game of skate on the front patio area.
each of them give me a lame excuse of why they're not upstairs. immediately it's my instinct to bring the pain and make them go back upstairs, but for some reason i didn't.
i'd recalled hearing along the way, perhaps at youth group, perhaps at a youth workers conference, that people "won't care about what i know, until they know that i care." it makes sense, right? they feel no desire to connect authority figures (ie, teachers, parents, etc...) because they don't have common ground to stand on. from their perspective, teachers are always cramming information no one cares about down their throat for an hour, and then they move on to the next class and get it all again. parents are coming down on them during times where they're just trying to figure things out, trying to figure out who they really are. i remember feeling all of that during my trouble laden teenage years.
and here i am, a youth worker, who has the most important message that they'll ever hear, and i'm surely classified somewhere on, that spectrum of authority, between teacher and parent. as someone who's on the other side of this proverbial fence now, who's trying to be a good role model for people whose entire world exists within the walls of their respective highschools, i try to think about what it is that would've piqued my attention back then. what would've made me listen? what would have made me think? what would have made me take down my impenetrable walls apathy?
i remember at that moment that it's about a relationship. not just being acquainted. not even to merely 'know' someone; but an actual living and breathing, loving and hating, giving and taking relationship. in that moment on the patio i knew that sending them upstairs would have gotten me no closer to those knuckleheads than i already was. instead i stayed out there with them and got to know them. i asked them questions about the game and let them be the authority for once. i challenged them to be better skaters (by making fun of them...). i'd even told them a hilarious account of me trying to learn how to ride a skateboard. at one point, a student from upstairs came down and told us we were being too loud. it was an oddly familiar feeling that i hadn't experienced in years.
typically at youth group, we end in prayer groups. so i gathered them up and sat them down. i explained to them that if they're going to come to youth group nights, they need to be a part of the youth group. they were pretty perceptive of that. and since i'd been fair enough to let their game continue, i told them that if they'd let me close the night up in a prayer, we could call it even. they were down with that. among their requests were 'to get better at skateboarding so that he'd win next time,' and 'to continue having a good month.' fair enough. i'd given them a schpiel about praying to God about anything, and that we had to do our parts to show Him that we were serious, and they sat and listened. i prayed and then they were off to finish their game.
i'm not saying that i have this ministry thing figured out. i'm not saying that i've converted those boys or even that i've gotten them to start thinking. i will say that building this relationship is going to be the difference between them hearing what i have to say, and them listening to what i have to share with them. and it could be the difference between hearing about their salvation, and knowing their salvation. no amount of revamping and retooling the gospel will ever be more effective than living the life that is saved by grace, boldly and unflinching, in the view of those we're trying to reach.
***disclaimer***
i just re-read this and i realized that i didn't give parents and teachers their propers for the role that they DO play in these teenagers' lives. i know it's not perfect in every situation, but it certainly isn't always broken either. if i wasn't drilled and hammered by my parents when i was younger, i probably wouldn't have the values that i hold today. and if teachers weren't doing their jobs, i wouldn't be sitting here writing dissertation sized blogs.
Monday, October 13, 2008
a change is gonna come...
a couple weeks back or so, i was on break with one of my bosses and we got to talking about one of his teenagers, and how he was having all kinds of problems at school. this naturally lead to me thinking about my days as a teenager and my problems at school and how different things are today, a mere 8 years out of high school, and that i seemed to be a seperate person all together back then...
things are SO DIFFERENT and yet i feel like it was last year that i was at the high, hanging out on the fenceline with my friends during the 6 minute intervals between classes.
i remember clothes shopping for the new school year. buying school supplies that ultimately rarely got used. goofing off in the back of the class and being cool with the teacher so i always did fine. i remember those friends who were "class specific," who were the people whom i sat near in whatever class we shared, and they became my support group through the "grueling" school year, although we rarely ever hung out together outside of class. i remember talking about how graduation was so far away. i remember talking about how just the weekend was so far away. i remember heading to friends' houses on weekend nights because their parents were gone so naturally everyone headed over there to kick it. shooooooot, i remember when MY parents would be out of town and i'd have a multitude of people come over to kick it. i remember the shenanigans and the inside jokes. the dreams and the drama. i remember hit songs and stylish fads (trucker hats anyone?). i remember getting shoes that matched t-shirts, t-shirts that no one else had.
i remember struggling to find indepedence. being asian/filipino, i naturally kicked it with those like myself; not exclusively, just preferrably i guess. i remember, during my sophomore year or so, i had reached a crossroads. there was a song that everyone loved called "make'em say uhhhhhhh" by a cat named master P. i thought this was the dumbest song i'd ever heard. up until this point i had been pretty compliant with everything my large group of friends were down with and had kind of been along for the ride. and when i didn't jive with that song, i think, for the very first time, i'd considered my autonomy.
from that moment on i pondered what it meant to be me, an individual. i thought long and hard about the things i did and the reasoning behind them. i thought about the things i "believed" and whether or not i truly needed to keep believing them. i tried new things, stopped doing old things, and even re-started doing some things i had done before. who i was in high school became a remnant of the person i sought to be in years after high school, and likewise that person is now a faded image of who i am now. some things remained, other things changed, but through it all i began learning who i was, and more importantly, in my opinion, who i was not.
so here i am, 8+ years out of high school. i have a beautiful wife. a pretty sweet apartment in a pretty cool city. i have a grown up job and grown up bills. hilarious friends and family with nieces and a nephew in tow. a 401k. i have a wii and a ps2 and more games than i honestly have time to play. i'm still learning about who i am as a husband. a Christian. a son. a brother. a friend. i'm learning that i'm quite the grouch when i'm asleep... and /or just sleepy. i'm coming to the slow and sad realization that my inner-hardcore-gamer is not who he used to be, to my wife's delight i'm sure. i'm learning that the way i approached school, is not an option for the way i approach my job. that all those years of not having a plan in life are catching up to me. i'm learning that my disregard for consequence, for cause and effect are no longer viable options because now there is far more at stake. i'm learning what it means to be responsible and dependable. to be righteous and walk with integrity. i'm learning the differences of being an adult rather than an being merely an old child.
now don't get me wrong. by any means, i'm not saying that i have it all down. are you serious?! have you even met me? but like many things in life, it's a process. there are (many) days that i'd love nothing more than to cast responsibility aside and do something completely mindless. i just realize now that those days need to take a backseat to real life.
things are SO DIFFERENT and yet i feel like it was last year that i was at the high, hanging out on the fenceline with my friends during the 6 minute intervals between classes.
i remember clothes shopping for the new school year. buying school supplies that ultimately rarely got used. goofing off in the back of the class and being cool with the teacher so i always did fine. i remember those friends who were "class specific," who were the people whom i sat near in whatever class we shared, and they became my support group through the "grueling" school year, although we rarely ever hung out together outside of class. i remember talking about how graduation was so far away. i remember talking about how just the weekend was so far away. i remember heading to friends' houses on weekend nights because their parents were gone so naturally everyone headed over there to kick it. shooooooot, i remember when MY parents would be out of town and i'd have a multitude of people come over to kick it. i remember the shenanigans and the inside jokes. the dreams and the drama. i remember hit songs and stylish fads (trucker hats anyone?). i remember getting shoes that matched t-shirts, t-shirts that no one else had.
i remember struggling to find indepedence. being asian/filipino, i naturally kicked it with those like myself; not exclusively, just preferrably i guess. i remember, during my sophomore year or so, i had reached a crossroads. there was a song that everyone loved called "make'em say uhhhhhhh" by a cat named master P. i thought this was the dumbest song i'd ever heard. up until this point i had been pretty compliant with everything my large group of friends were down with and had kind of been along for the ride. and when i didn't jive with that song, i think, for the very first time, i'd considered my autonomy.
from that moment on i pondered what it meant to be me, an individual. i thought long and hard about the things i did and the reasoning behind them. i thought about the things i "believed" and whether or not i truly needed to keep believing them. i tried new things, stopped doing old things, and even re-started doing some things i had done before. who i was in high school became a remnant of the person i sought to be in years after high school, and likewise that person is now a faded image of who i am now. some things remained, other things changed, but through it all i began learning who i was, and more importantly, in my opinion, who i was not.
so here i am, 8+ years out of high school. i have a beautiful wife. a pretty sweet apartment in a pretty cool city. i have a grown up job and grown up bills. hilarious friends and family with nieces and a nephew in tow. a 401k. i have a wii and a ps2 and more games than i honestly have time to play. i'm still learning about who i am as a husband. a Christian. a son. a brother. a friend. i'm learning that i'm quite the grouch when i'm asleep... and /or just sleepy. i'm coming to the slow and sad realization that my inner-hardcore-gamer is not who he used to be, to my wife's delight i'm sure. i'm learning that the way i approached school, is not an option for the way i approach my job. that all those years of not having a plan in life are catching up to me. i'm learning that my disregard for consequence, for cause and effect are no longer viable options because now there is far more at stake. i'm learning what it means to be responsible and dependable. to be righteous and walk with integrity. i'm learning the differences of being an adult rather than an being merely an old child.
now don't get me wrong. by any means, i'm not saying that i have it all down. are you serious?! have you even met me? but like many things in life, it's a process. there are (many) days that i'd love nothing more than to cast responsibility aside and do something completely mindless. i just realize now that those days need to take a backseat to real life.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (New International Version)11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
merienda: a blog before a blog...
so it's been a couple of weeks since my last real blog.
i guess you could say that i've come across a bit of writers block. i've had a draft here sitting in my emails for several days already (i publish straight from my email.... it's easier that way...), but i can't exactly seem to wrap my head round what it is i'm trying to say. it has to do with change, both personal and societal, im thinking about splitting up the two. i won't bore you with the details just yet; you'll see it when it gets published i guess.
more or less, i just wanted to post something for the sake of posting something. i'm sitting here in a quiet house at the end of my day waiting for a load of laundry to finish, kind of just, running the proverbial clock out. i just got done reading a couple of really good blog posts and it made me want to write something. but the substantial stuff is coming on another blog, this is just a miniature nonsense blog before a real blog. a merienda, if you will.
[a merienda is an afternoon snack and is big in filipino and spanish cultures. it's kind of like the "brunch" of lunch and dinner.]
i guess you could say that i've come across a bit of writers block. i've had a draft here sitting in my emails for several days already (i publish straight from my email.... it's easier that way...), but i can't exactly seem to wrap my head round what it is i'm trying to say. it has to do with change, both personal and societal, im thinking about splitting up the two. i won't bore you with the details just yet; you'll see it when it gets published i guess.
more or less, i just wanted to post something for the sake of posting something. i'm sitting here in a quiet house at the end of my day waiting for a load of laundry to finish, kind of just, running the proverbial clock out. i just got done reading a couple of really good blog posts and it made me want to write something. but the substantial stuff is coming on another blog, this is just a miniature nonsense blog before a real blog. a merienda, if you will.
[a merienda is an afternoon snack and is big in filipino and spanish cultures. it's kind of like the "brunch" of lunch and dinner.]
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
the bigger picture
for a while now, maybe the last two or three months, there has been a new couple attending the church. their names are sparky and deloris and you often couldn't miss them because they were very frequently in front of the church hanging out before service, scrounging up a couple of bucks to get something to eat. one could often find them attending, at random, any of the evening activities, hanging out with the youth group, or sitting in to watch the worship team practice; and i've actually heard that they were at the church on many more occasions than that.
there was one thing that stuck out about sparky and deloris that was very distinct. to put it as indirectly as i can, they appeared to be under very difficult financial times.
but to just come right out and say it, they looked... homeless.
sunday morning i'd received word that they were both very badly injured in a car accident on marina blvd this weekend. possibly leaving the church. possibly on their way to the church. they were airlifted to the trauma center at john muir medical center in walnut creek. fortunately, they've been assigned a social worker to look after them on a regular basis. deloris has road rash all over her face and a very badly broken leg. she will probably need to undergo lots of physical therapy for an extended amount of time. sparky wasn't so lucky. he was slipping in and out of consciousness. he's lost one of his legs, and the overall outlook on his condition is very bleak.
i've prayed for them. we've prayed for them as a church. i really do hope that they turn out fine. i wonder if i'll ever get to see them again. i wonder if they'll ever be able to make it back to the church. i wonder... i wonder... i wonder...
i wonder why this had to happen to them. i mean, they had clearly already undergone some extremely difficult living conditions, and i'm not even talking about shelter, i'm talking about living from day to day. they didn't appear to have money to feed themselves on a regular basis. they walked everywhere and appeared to be beaten down by the hot sun on most days. and really? they both had to get blasted in a car accident? is that even fair?!
to go all "church" on everyone for a second, God sees the bigger picture. He really does. What we see from day to day is an extremely cropped snapshot of what is really going on. i get that. He works for the good of those who love Him. i get that too. He's always in control and knows exactly what He's doing. i get that part too, i really do. i think i understand that in my brain and in my heart as much as i humanly can. [as i'm writing this, i'm thinking that i might sound sarcastic in this last part, but i'm not trying to, and i'm not being that way.] but there's a human side to all of this "trusting God" where i couldn't help but ask "what are you doing, God?" not in a defiant way, but in an utterly curious way. "You planned this God? How in...Your own... name, are you going extract Your glory from this? How?!" I don't get it. and i understand i'm not supposed to get it, which, i think, just makes me think about it a little bit more...
a while back i saw a video on Godtube.com, called 99 balloons. (I challenge anyone to watch this video and not well up in tears.) It's about a young couple and their new born baby, named Elliot, who was born with a genetic disorder called "Trisomy 18", or Edward's Syndrome. It chronicles their days with baby elliot, and one of the most poignant things said in the video is how God could not be stopped from revealing Himself through a child with a genetic disorder who never uttered a word. He didn't use a pulpit, or a website, or a powerpoint presentation. He used a very unlikely newborn to proclaim His own glory. and i look at sparky and deloris and i wonder what it is exactly God had planned.
i know that Jesus spent a great portion of His time with the poor and the homeless and was actually homeless Himself. without any degree of arrogance or self-righteousness i can say that i didn't mistreat sparky or deloris, i looked them in the eye when i greeted them and have also been able to bless them with food and a ride home on seperate occasions, but i'd be lying if i didn't view them callously at times. why do we do that? how many times have we not acknowledged a person with a sign or a cup for change? how many times have we suddenly checked our phones for a missed call as we walk by, avoiding eye contact? are we just trying to not get involved? i had to consciously pull into my mind that if Christ spent His earthly time with them, then so could i...
maybe it was a kind of pop quiz from God. maybe He was thinking, "here is a couple who will bring you out of your comfort zone... do for them what my Son did for them... there is a time limit, and when your time is up they will no longer be within your reach." maybe they were at this church to teach us compassion? maybe none of this is true at all and i'm just making wild allegations... i guess i'll find out when i go home to glory.
but if His purpose for them was to teach me compassion, then He gets the glory. And even if His purpose was something completely different than that... He still gets the glory.
matthew 25:34-40
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
there was one thing that stuck out about sparky and deloris that was very distinct. to put it as indirectly as i can, they appeared to be under very difficult financial times.
but to just come right out and say it, they looked... homeless.
sunday morning i'd received word that they were both very badly injured in a car accident on marina blvd this weekend. possibly leaving the church. possibly on their way to the church. they were airlifted to the trauma center at john muir medical center in walnut creek. fortunately, they've been assigned a social worker to look after them on a regular basis. deloris has road rash all over her face and a very badly broken leg. she will probably need to undergo lots of physical therapy for an extended amount of time. sparky wasn't so lucky. he was slipping in and out of consciousness. he's lost one of his legs, and the overall outlook on his condition is very bleak.
i've prayed for them. we've prayed for them as a church. i really do hope that they turn out fine. i wonder if i'll ever get to see them again. i wonder if they'll ever be able to make it back to the church. i wonder... i wonder... i wonder...
i wonder why this had to happen to them. i mean, they had clearly already undergone some extremely difficult living conditions, and i'm not even talking about shelter, i'm talking about living from day to day. they didn't appear to have money to feed themselves on a regular basis. they walked everywhere and appeared to be beaten down by the hot sun on most days. and really? they both had to get blasted in a car accident? is that even fair?!
to go all "church" on everyone for a second, God sees the bigger picture. He really does. What we see from day to day is an extremely cropped snapshot of what is really going on. i get that. He works for the good of those who love Him. i get that too. He's always in control and knows exactly what He's doing. i get that part too, i really do. i think i understand that in my brain and in my heart as much as i humanly can. [as i'm writing this, i'm thinking that i might sound sarcastic in this last part, but i'm not trying to, and i'm not being that way.] but there's a human side to all of this "trusting God" where i couldn't help but ask "what are you doing, God?" not in a defiant way, but in an utterly curious way. "You planned this God? How in...Your own... name, are you going extract Your glory from this? How?!" I don't get it. and i understand i'm not supposed to get it, which, i think, just makes me think about it a little bit more...
a while back i saw a video on Godtube.com, called 99 balloons. (I challenge anyone to watch this video and not well up in tears.) It's about a young couple and their new born baby, named Elliot, who was born with a genetic disorder called "Trisomy 18", or Edward's Syndrome. It chronicles their days with baby elliot, and one of the most poignant things said in the video is how God could not be stopped from revealing Himself through a child with a genetic disorder who never uttered a word. He didn't use a pulpit, or a website, or a powerpoint presentation. He used a very unlikely newborn to proclaim His own glory. and i look at sparky and deloris and i wonder what it is exactly God had planned.
i know that Jesus spent a great portion of His time with the poor and the homeless and was actually homeless Himself. without any degree of arrogance or self-righteousness i can say that i didn't mistreat sparky or deloris, i looked them in the eye when i greeted them and have also been able to bless them with food and a ride home on seperate occasions, but i'd be lying if i didn't view them callously at times. why do we do that? how many times have we not acknowledged a person with a sign or a cup for change? how many times have we suddenly checked our phones for a missed call as we walk by, avoiding eye contact? are we just trying to not get involved? i had to consciously pull into my mind that if Christ spent His earthly time with them, then so could i...
maybe it was a kind of pop quiz from God. maybe He was thinking, "here is a couple who will bring you out of your comfort zone... do for them what my Son did for them... there is a time limit, and when your time is up they will no longer be within your reach." maybe they were at this church to teach us compassion? maybe none of this is true at all and i'm just making wild allegations... i guess i'll find out when i go home to glory.
but if His purpose for them was to teach me compassion, then He gets the glory. And even if His purpose was something completely different than that... He still gets the glory.
matthew 25:34-40
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Friday, September 12, 2008
a formal greeting.
so now that people have started actually reading my blog i feel the need to warn them. i'm going to go on record and say that i will probably be one of the more inconsistent bloggers out there. i was never good at being very stringent about my rate of blogging. sometimes i'd have a string of days or weeks where i'd kick'em out at a fairly rapid rate. but as my warning implies, i might go for weeks and/or months without another post, so don't act so surprised when it happens. i've seen how unruly you people can be when a new blog hasn't arrived, you're like animals!
so there you have it. you've been warned.
so there you have it. you've been warned.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
phone blogging
I just set up to blog from my phone, tho I doubt i'll ever use it... this is actually from my phone
Monday, September 8, 2008
a catalyst
one of the catalysts to starting this blog was a very special visit from a couple of unassuming aussies by the names of bronwen and caitlyn. i couldn't begin to tell you the effect that they've had on myself and the people around me.
it's the strangest thing, really, the ways that these two have deeply affected all of the people who had the pleasure of encountering them. did i mention that we'd only known them for about a week? not to mention that they only came because of a chance encounter on a crowded curb at disneyland? it's funny what can happen when the right ingredients are mixed together. sometimes the result is minimal and unimpressive, like mixing dirt and water to make mud, there's largely no huge result. but then again there are those other times when the mixing of ingredients creates a result that you'dve never dreamed, like when you put a cd in the microwave for 2-3 seconds... the result is FANTASTIC. [warning: do not use cd's that you plan on listening to/using...] the difference between the two is the affect of the catalyst. it's the trigger. the switch. the ignition.
i think typically when we "mix in" with new people, and we hit it off it's largely due to the fact that we have a number of things in common. the reason i kicked it with my group of friends after high school is because we all had the same taste in the things that we cared about: movies. video games. music. girls. entertainment. style. humor... if you'd ever been around any group of us, you'd realize that that list goes on and on and on as it would seem that we are largely the same person in several different bodies. we're still all friends today because of those things and i think we can all bring to mind the people we choose to surround ourselves with, and list the plethora, the veritable cornucopia of things that we have in common with them.
so being the 26 year old videogaming underground hip-hop loving former-pothead that i am, isn't it peculiar then, that i should hit it off immensely well with a former drug addicted prostitute, and/or a banker from australia? or a 40-something pastor with adopted children and his stay at home wife who can tell the future? or a purchaser for a plumbing company who also has an album out and his under-paid photographer of a wife? or a 3rd year berkeley legal studies student from florida 6 years my junior ?
so far as i can tell, none of them are excited about the future use of infrared head tracking technology and the possibilities it can open up in the 3D worlds that exist in videogames. or what the next killer app coming out for the wii is going to be? or who's going to be the winner of the current console generation? if i'm being honest, not too many of them, if any, seem like they'd be very enthusiastic about finding some graff on the side of a train or a building. or watching a good bboy rock to a funky beat. or hearing a quality lyricist freestyle in a cypher or a battle. or watching a group of turntablists rock a show with a group routine. These are things that I care about, so isn't it a bit odd that i'd be able to join with these people as family?
but it's EXACTLY what has transpired here, and it has done so in an amazing fashion.
so what then, is the catalyst?
simply put. we have the same Dad. we have a father who loves us despite our flaws and wants nothing more than for us to merely love Him in return. we have a father that takes joy in us, and in our wanting to be near Him. however, i think that the catalyst between us is not the Father himself, but rather; it is the relationships that He's so graciously allowed us to have with Him. He's the Father of all life, for all things, and all time. He's the Father of the ones who have no idea He's there, as well as the one's who question His existence. He's never kicking down our proverbial doors, though he may knock quite loudly at times... but i digress.
when we are covered underneath the massive umbrella that is His presence, when we acknowledge His supremacy in our lives, we are then admitting ourselves into His family, into His body. no longer are we X amount of seperate lives who happen to convene in one place by chance. we have become brothers and sisters who've gathered for a reunion. to have the Father in common with one person is far greater than having everything else in common with the rest of humanity because He's simply that vast. He's infinitely larger than liking the same sports team, or the same band. He's larger than any gap between a love for video games and a love for the best microphone, or a $1300 camera lens and a good will ferrell sketch. or a sinner and a saint. so we don't need a-million-and-thirteen-and-a-half things in common to get along. as it turns out, all we need is One.
it's the strangest thing, really, the ways that these two have deeply affected all of the people who had the pleasure of encountering them. did i mention that we'd only known them for about a week? not to mention that they only came because of a chance encounter on a crowded curb at disneyland? it's funny what can happen when the right ingredients are mixed together. sometimes the result is minimal and unimpressive, like mixing dirt and water to make mud, there's largely no huge result. but then again there are those other times when the mixing of ingredients creates a result that you'dve never dreamed, like when you put a cd in the microwave for 2-3 seconds... the result is FANTASTIC. [warning: do not use cd's that you plan on listening to/using...] the difference between the two is the affect of the catalyst. it's the trigger. the switch. the ignition.
i think typically when we "mix in" with new people, and we hit it off it's largely due to the fact that we have a number of things in common. the reason i kicked it with my group of friends after high school is because we all had the same taste in the things that we cared about: movies. video games. music. girls. entertainment. style. humor... if you'd ever been around any group of us, you'd realize that that list goes on and on and on as it would seem that we are largely the same person in several different bodies. we're still all friends today because of those things and i think we can all bring to mind the people we choose to surround ourselves with, and list the plethora, the veritable cornucopia of things that we have in common with them.
so being the 26 year old videogaming underground hip-hop loving former-pothead that i am, isn't it peculiar then, that i should hit it off immensely well with a former drug addicted prostitute, and/or a banker from australia? or a 40-something pastor with adopted children and his stay at home wife who can tell the future? or a purchaser for a plumbing company who also has an album out and his under-paid photographer of a wife? or a 3rd year berkeley legal studies student from florida 6 years my junior ?
so far as i can tell, none of them are excited about the future use of infrared head tracking technology and the possibilities it can open up in the 3D worlds that exist in videogames. or what the next killer app coming out for the wii is going to be? or who's going to be the winner of the current console generation? if i'm being honest, not too many of them, if any, seem like they'd be very enthusiastic about finding some graff on the side of a train or a building. or watching a good bboy rock to a funky beat. or hearing a quality lyricist freestyle in a cypher or a battle. or watching a group of turntablists rock a show with a group routine. These are things that I care about, so isn't it a bit odd that i'd be able to join with these people as family?
but it's EXACTLY what has transpired here, and it has done so in an amazing fashion.
so what then, is the catalyst?
simply put. we have the same Dad. we have a father who loves us despite our flaws and wants nothing more than for us to merely love Him in return. we have a father that takes joy in us, and in our wanting to be near Him. however, i think that the catalyst between us is not the Father himself, but rather; it is the relationships that He's so graciously allowed us to have with Him. He's the Father of all life, for all things, and all time. He's the Father of the ones who have no idea He's there, as well as the one's who question His existence. He's never kicking down our proverbial doors, though he may knock quite loudly at times... but i digress.
when we are covered underneath the massive umbrella that is His presence, when we acknowledge His supremacy in our lives, we are then admitting ourselves into His family, into His body. no longer are we X amount of seperate lives who happen to convene in one place by chance. we have become brothers and sisters who've gathered for a reunion. to have the Father in common with one person is far greater than having everything else in common with the rest of humanity because He's simply that vast. He's infinitely larger than liking the same sports team, or the same band. He's larger than any gap between a love for video games and a love for the best microphone, or a $1300 camera lens and a good will ferrell sketch. or a sinner and a saint. so we don't need a-million-and-thirteen-and-a-half things in common to get along. as it turns out, all we need is One.
Friday, August 29, 2008
TOZER devotional
i read a devotional written by a gentleman by the name of A. W. Tozer. this was todays:
Our most pressing obligation today is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church. It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them. Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce a degenerate harvest not a little better than but a little worse than the seed from which it sprang. Thus the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed.And how can we improve the church? Simply and only by improving ourselves: and there is where the difficulty lies. The church in any locality is what its individual members are, no better and no worse. We as members must begin by seeking moral amendment that will result in a positive spiritual renaissance. And that is why improvement is hard to achieve. As long as we can keep the whole thing at arm's length and deal with it academically we may preach and write about it at little or no real cost to ourselves and, it must be admitted, with no real advance in godliness.
Our most pressing obligation today is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church. It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them. Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce a degenerate harvest not a little better than but a little worse than the seed from which it sprang. Thus the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed.And how can we improve the church? Simply and only by improving ourselves: and there is where the difficulty lies. The church in any locality is what its individual members are, no better and no worse. We as members must begin by seeking moral amendment that will result in a positive spiritual renaissance. And that is why improvement is hard to achieve. As long as we can keep the whole thing at arm's length and deal with it academically we may preach and write about it at little or no real cost to ourselves and, it must be admitted, with no real advance in godliness.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
here's to the first of many...
y'know... i've tried to fight it. i'd given this whole "blogosphere" a handful of tries a few years ago, and i just had never been satisfied with the outcome. i'd always loved the idea of peoples' honesty written out in words. i've never been so much into the "today i did this..." kind of blogs. don't get me wrong, i'm not knocking those blogs. maybe i'd never felt that my daily life was worth updating, i don't know, because i do love reading up on what other people have been doing. i think i was always more interested in venting out my own thoughts in observations.
as i write this, i'm not even sure if i'll tell anyone about this blog. i'm sure i'll show sierra when i get home. i'm sure sharon and jeramy and michelle and steve and the rest of those in need of a blog support group will get around to finding it if with a lucky click, but i can't bring myself to announce it. i guess it makes me nervous to know what people think of the things inside my head. that's always been an insecurity of mine, the lack of self worth. i'm always afraid that people will see me as pretentious or self righteous, so in the end i don't think i share that much.
and i think that's why i kept my blog at a fairly surface level before. this insecurity.
to be fair, 4-5 years ago when i was blogging i was at a COMPLETELY different stage in my life. i was struggling with what i believed and what i wanted to be and i think this resulted in not knowing what it is that i really wanted. i had doubted the faith that was instilled in me since i was a wee lad, and i had thought long and hard on whether or not i needed to keep believing those things that i wasn't sure i believed any longer. it's a GOOD thing that i have a God that is bigger than any struggle i have, or else i may have never snapped out of it. it's a good thing that i have a God that has opened my eyes to a truth that has blown my world apart.
i no longer need the things that would tie me over before. i don't need weed. i don't need to chase girls. i don't need new gear. i don't need status. i don't need any of that any more because i am sufficed in a God that loves me, that came to take the fall for me, and thought of me even before my ancestors were in existence. all i need is the God who takes nothing but joy in doing through me more than i could ever do on my own. everything after that is a bonus. my beautiful wife whom i don't deserve. my UBER supportive family and friends whom i'm constantly in awe of. i don't deserve any of it. but it's because of God that i am joined with these amazing people.
so now things like insecurties and lack of self worth go out the window; because how could i ever say or think that i'm worth nothing when i'm under the care of a God that has given me absolutely everything. i suppose it'd be foolish to do so in light of such a thing.
so i think that this time around the good old blogosphere, i'm more readily equipped to write down the things that matter to me because i think i'm finally beginning to understand what matters.
as i write this, i'm not even sure if i'll tell anyone about this blog. i'm sure i'll show sierra when i get home. i'm sure sharon and jeramy and michelle and steve and the rest of those in need of a blog support group will get around to finding it if with a lucky click, but i can't bring myself to announce it. i guess it makes me nervous to know what people think of the things inside my head. that's always been an insecurity of mine, the lack of self worth. i'm always afraid that people will see me as pretentious or self righteous, so in the end i don't think i share that much.
and i think that's why i kept my blog at a fairly surface level before. this insecurity.
to be fair, 4-5 years ago when i was blogging i was at a COMPLETELY different stage in my life. i was struggling with what i believed and what i wanted to be and i think this resulted in not knowing what it is that i really wanted. i had doubted the faith that was instilled in me since i was a wee lad, and i had thought long and hard on whether or not i needed to keep believing those things that i wasn't sure i believed any longer. it's a GOOD thing that i have a God that is bigger than any struggle i have, or else i may have never snapped out of it. it's a good thing that i have a God that has opened my eyes to a truth that has blown my world apart.
i no longer need the things that would tie me over before. i don't need weed. i don't need to chase girls. i don't need new gear. i don't need status. i don't need any of that any more because i am sufficed in a God that loves me, that came to take the fall for me, and thought of me even before my ancestors were in existence. all i need is the God who takes nothing but joy in doing through me more than i could ever do on my own. everything after that is a bonus. my beautiful wife whom i don't deserve. my UBER supportive family and friends whom i'm constantly in awe of. i don't deserve any of it. but it's because of God that i am joined with these amazing people.
so now things like insecurties and lack of self worth go out the window; because how could i ever say or think that i'm worth nothing when i'm under the care of a God that has given me absolutely everything. i suppose it'd be foolish to do so in light of such a thing.
so i think that this time around the good old blogosphere, i'm more readily equipped to write down the things that matter to me because i think i'm finally beginning to understand what matters.
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