Christmas time...

...is busy! Hopefully I'll start this back up with the new year.

Quotes!

So I got to thinking about other quotes I like after ending my previous entry with one of my favorites but I realized that I had forgotten how to say them verbatim for the most part. So I looked them up and found some other goodies as well.

William Shakespeare - “As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words.”

Unknown - “Don't refuse to go on an occasional wild goose chase. That's what wild geese are for.” ( I know this one ends in a preposition, my apologies.)

Unknown - “Memory is a crazy woman who hoards colored rags and throws away food.”

Unknown - “It is possible for your mind to be so open that your brain falls out.”

Henry David Thoreau - “The language of friendship is not words but meanings.”

Henry David Thoreau - “It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.”

Sir Winston Churchill - “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Sir Winston Churchill - “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour'.”

Charles Wesley - “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain-- for me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? 'Tis mystery all! Th' Immortal dies: Who can ex”

Mahatma Gandhi - “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.”

Thoughts

My mind is full right now. Full of thoughts about everything from what I'm going to eat tonight to... well, we won't go there. But to contrast my full mind, I have a fairly empty evening planned with only going out to dinner with my father and brother on the schedule later.

Therefore, I thought I should blog. But what should it be about? I could try to think of something I learned today, or just tell about my week, or try to ensnare a profound idea and bind it behind my faulty words in a short snippet just to discover later that it wasn't so profound after all. Then I thought that the solution to my quagmire would lie in seeking the purpose of what I wanted to do with the entry. Should my blog entries be simply self therapeutic? Or should I entertain the idea that I should try to entertain some audience?

I guess I don't know what I want to do through this blog. I should come up with a mission statement for my blog.

But when it comes down to it, I can't avoid putting a significant portion of my efforts into making any given entry something that I myself wouldn't mind reading. Be it educational, entertaining, or helpful, I try to have a clear purpose when I make an entry. (except for this one, obviously)

To tie off this mangled limb of an entry I'd like to close with a completely unrelated quote from a very troubled man. I've known this quote for quite a long time now and it scratches my nuclear engineering itch.

"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the Shatterer of Worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer quoting The Bhagavad Gita on the topic of developing the first ever nuclear cascade reaction ordinance. These were the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

What If...

Our salvation doesn't depend on the salvation of others. If you have accepted Jesus Christ then you are going to heaven because of the awesome grace of God. Sure, there are other things that we are supposed to do; get baptized, spread the Gospel, be kind to others, etc. But those aren't necessarily requirements to getting to spend eternity with God. But I think we as Christians take this for granted.

What if our salvation did depend on the salvation of others? (I'm not suggesting it does; I just want to use the thought as an illustration.) What if we had to share the Gospel with a minimum of 10 people per day? What if half of those were required to accept Jesus per day in order for your salvation to be finalized? (these requirements are just made up off the top of my head of course) If this was the case, our behavior would be much different as Christians. We would be desperate for others salvation; it would be imperative.

But we should already be viewing the things Christians should be doing as requirements to get into heaven!

Now while I understand that truly investigating every facet of the concept of converting the "should's" of Christianity into "must's" would turn up a plethora of inconsistencies, I think when it is considered in the sole facet of how it would change our priorities, it reveals that many of us take the "should's" less seriously that we ought. Now you seem like a canny lad/lassie, so I don't suppose that any of this should cause you to fret over my cryptic explanation of a concept that seemed so clear and profound in my head just minutes before. (I hope!)

Moral of the story: Getting saved wasn't the finish line, it was signing up for the race.

Connections!

Many of us Elevators have become supremely familiar with Isiah 54:2-4:

Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtain wide, Do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will stretch out to the right and to the left; your descendants will disposes nations and settle in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.

But while doing some reading today I noticed that another one of my favorite verses is in the same chapter! This happens all too often to me. I know the gestalt of a lot of verses, but I need to make a big push to remember where to find them other than using bible gateway all the time. What we think we remember God saying doesn't hold a candle to what God says. And until I can afford a PDA to search phrases I kinda remember, I need to make more of an effort to store in my brain where I'm reading when I find something that piques my interest.

The other verse that I love in Isiah 54 is verse 17.

"No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD.

Now I'm not gonna go and interpret what this means to me right now. Among the reasons why include that I just finished Revelation yesterday and went into Isiah today and I may very well go end times on you because I think it would just be so freaking awesome to see Jesus riding a white stallion.

Also some other Isiah goodies. (there are a ton and this is a weird one to pick I know) Isiah 13:6-13

Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man's heart will melt. Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.

This makes me a little excited; a little VERY excited! Because my God can do this, it's easy to trust that He can do all less than this. That is pretty powerful stuff.

Hallelujah!

I'm sitting here giggling to myself because I just found out how much the Elevation leadership has pledged to Dominate. If you want to know the total, show up Sunday!

The Marathon Weekend

I stayed up all Saturday night after going to a haunted corn maze and getting back late and being scheduled for the 3-4am block for the 24 hours of prayer at the Elevation office. (run on sentences are fun!) So after the prayer was over some guys went to waffle house and I ordered way too much food. I then went on over to church with my maiden voyage in the yellow truck. (I normally drive the white one, and I've found it's way cooler.) Setup went super fast because we had most of the guys from the prayer experience come on over to help. While barely being able to hold my eyes open, I had to sit through all 3 services and go up on stage with some other people for a sermon illustration where pastor basically sealed the fate of a ton of "my" money. After 3rd service, we had a Dominate lunch where pastor basically explains some concerns people may have about Dominate. After this, I pretty much died as I drove the truck back to the storage unit to get my car because I realized I had the leadership commitment thing to go to at 6. YAY! I get to stay up for a few more hours! So I did what any self respecting person in my situation would do.... I went to Barns & Noble and read Shel Silversteen books in the children's section with some friends in a state of twilight consciousness. Around 5:45 I left to go to the leadership thing and they fed us Qdoba. (This was supposed to be the end of a 24 hour fast, but I shifted my fast 24 hours ahead to Monday.) The commitment event was amazing. I felt I could stay up another 3 days after being there. We went to get some ice cream and then I went home to sleep for 6 hours before work.

I'm still tired on Tuesday evening!

P.S. - I have kinda slacked off on blogging my opinions about what I consider "profound" things after reading this recently.

James 3:1 - Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

I still plan to do it from time to time, but I'm gonna view it a little differently.

Mute Math

Ok, So the Mute Math concert last night was amazing. It was my debut seeing them live. Eisley opened and were great as always. There was some sound equipment issue during Eisley's first couple songs, and every few seconds it sounded as if the siren horn from Hades was heralding the demons for an attack. Luckily all the tall people stood in front of our group, and you couldn't see much. Well, I could see fine, but most of the other people in my group were not over 6 feet, and they couldn't see. Afterward we took a chill break at Jillian's. I got to bed at what I would consider a fantastically late hour, but I did get to wake up after the sun rose for the first time in a long while this morning.

Tonight: Haunted Corn Maze! Get home ~11pm go to bed, get up 2am, go to office for prayer experience with small group. 4am waffle house! 5am church setup. 1:30pm church tear down + go to butler campus to setup for the third Dominate lunch. 6pm Leadership Commitment Night begins. 9pm tear down butler. get home ~11, bed by 12 hopefully. up for work at 6 the next morn.

I'm excited about how much sleep I'm going to get.

It's OK to be Bossy Sometimes

There are some who are bossy all the time, and then there are some who are worried to impose the slightest thing at times. I've witnessed a striking dichotomy in the behavior of volunteers at Elevation between Church related things and everything else. It's not uncommon for someone on Sunday to ask a huge favor from a stranger, and then during the week to feel uncomfortable asking a small favor from a friend. This is very interesting to me.

After thinking about it for a while, a thought popped into my mind about something Pastor said a few sermons back. He said that when we're volunteering for Elevation, we are to act with the authority and commission of Jesus Christ. This makes so much sense!! Of course we're a bit more bossy when the Name of Jesus is at stake! Jesus was insistent! Jesus was bossy!

When you ask someone to help you out with something late on a Monday night, sure you might feel like you're being a little imposing. But when you're doing work that is unquestionably commissioned by God such as advancing His Kingdom, you have a duty get it done the best way possible. You wouldn't be avoiding imposing on someone by not asking them to help you, you'd be denying them an opportunity to get in on an obviously super move of God. (There are a TON of times that it's REALLY hard to see what I do as an opportunity to serve God, but it boils down to just that. Every once in a while I can feel Him giving me an "Atta boy!" and a pat on the back and that realigns me for a while longer.)

I'm not asking someone to do something because I'm lazy, or because I like to be in control. I do it because Jesus Christ has commissioned me and given me His authority to do a job and getting help is the best way to get it done.

Reminder:

A new episode of House M.D. airs tonight on Fox! It's like ambrosia for the witty insult part of your brain.

Also I got my old car running for the first time in about 5 years today. It's a 1982 Datsun 280ZX. What this means for you: Next time you see a Mexican in a beat up car that is 14 different colors (10 shades of rust) trying to show off how awesome his car is when it's actually pretty crappy, realize that it may not be a Mexican, but me. I've all but decided that although it is in perfect working order mechanically, its disastrous cosmetic status is not worth mending. I honestly need a new dash, interior panels, floor upholstery, complete body work and new paint to feel respectable driving it. In conclusion, I'm eating chocolate ice cream for dinner.

Fin

Perspective

Everyone has heard that Christians aren't supposed to judge others. But in pop culture, the stereotypical Christian is the person at the parties that looks down on all the people doing naughty things or the office coworker that gossips about all the bad things going on at the office. The world seems to link being a Christian and judging people. It must have something to do with the fact that often we Christians do look down on others' faults from our high horse and while doing so commit one such fault!

But why is it that we shouldn't judge others? Oh yea God said so. That should be good enough for us, but there are tons of other reasons. One reason I believe we judge others sometimes is because we think we know their whole story. We don't. We have an extremely limited perspective into their situation. We may judge someone and say they're being really stuck up and bratty because you said hi to them and they just walked off. And then we talk to another guy that's really friendly at a party and assume he's a great guy. This is an extremely limited perspective! If we had a God-sized perspective, we would have known that the bratty stuck up kid had been struggling with social issues all his life and even showing up in public was a huge step in the right direction. He trusted God to take away his fear of social situations and left his basement. We also would have known that the "great guy" that we talked to at the party had left his wedding ring in the car and was here to meet girls.

Always give people the benefit of the doubt! C. S. Lewis puts it:

"When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing, does some tiny little kindness, or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, he may, in God's eyes, be doing more than you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend."

It's not about the good stuff you do, it's about what you do with what God gave you. We lack the perspective to see what God gave the people we are judging. They may be farther along than we are when you consider their handicapped start.

Terrible Theological Pick Up Lines

Yea yea yea.... two entries in one night, get over it, I'm falling behind. I stole this from a Perry Noble blog link. Some of these you will get and some you won't.

Seeing as how I used to be a singles pastor, I thought that I would give you some of the tips that I gave my singles on how NOT to lure the right one to your side. (Thanks to Carrie for her help!)

20. ”I am not overweight. The word ‘glory’ in Hebrew is kabod which according to HALOT literally means ‘heaviness.’ The Bible also says that we are to reflect God’s glory. Therefore, I am just doing what the Bible says.”

19. “Looking at you makes me reconsider preterism, because you are heaven on earth.”

18. “Paul said that it was better to marry than to burn. Therefore, I am under God’s mandate to marry you.”

17. “Here, let me take care of those tithes.”

16. “You may not have chosen me, but I have chosen you.”

15. “I could not help but notice you were exegeting me instead of the text during the sermon.”

14. ”Your name must be grace, because you are irresistible.”

13. ”There are six things that motivate me to talk to you, yea seven that turned my head.”

12. “Until this moment, I thought I had the gift of singleness.”

11. During communion say, “Can I get you another drink.”

10. “The Bible says that God is not concerned with outer appearance . . . neither should you.”

9. “The Good Book said that I might be visited by angels unaware, but something must be wrong with my interpretation, because I am perfectly aware of you.”

8. “I noticed you crying during alter call, can I help?”

7. While giving her a TULIP say, ”This Totally depraved person has been Unconditionally drawn to you, Limiting himself to your Irresistible beauty that is Persevering beyond all others.”

6. “God may be the bread of life, but you are the butter.”

5. “The site of you leaves me apophatic.”

4. “Well, gouge out my eyes and cut off my hands. If I hang around you much longer, I won’t have any limbs left.”

3. “You must have missed The Fall line, because you are lookin’ righteous.”

2. Sing this to the tune of George Strait’s “Chair”: “Excuse me, but I think you’ve got my rib.”

1. “Are you homo or homoi?”

Hang in There!

I find myself saying this to people from time to time who are dealing with an issue that is not easily resolved. The thing is, I feel kinda silly saying it on a few different levels. First, it probably feels a bit condescending to have this said to you when you're going through something and the other person seems to be doing fine. I'd probably be rather quick to think "Yeah, it's really easy to hang in there when you're not dealing with it." Secondly, it just seems like "fluff." There's no meat and potatoes to practically helping them with their issue in the phrase. It is just something you're supposed to say. Thirdly, when I say this, I'm usually not really worried that they are about to stop "hanging in there." They're gonna stick it out whether I say so or not, so saying it really does nothing.

But I've come to the realization that everyone else probably came to eons ago. Do it anyway. Just because you're worried you may come off condescending doesn't mean you will. Sometimes someone who isn't dealing with the same problem can help the most. Also, it's not always just "fluff." No matter how casual the encounter, be it a pat on the back or a thumbs up, the person can walk away with a real sense of encouragement. Just because you don't think you're giving practical help, you're giving encouragement, and that's usually a big help. And even though they aren't about to stop "hanging in there" encouragement can make whatever they're going through easier. So hang in there!






Also, puppies help:

Jeremy,

I'm sorry I called you rambunctious. I still love you.

-The Management

P.S. See you Wednesday!

My Day Off

Well, I'm gonna call it a day off. I got off work at 3:30 as usual, but today I didn't have to work anymore after that. (No church office, no working for my dad etc.) I have got so much done since then. Tons of clothes folded, room cleaned, car cleared of trash, bills paid, and currently in the closet.

Now I'll have you know this is no mere closet. It is a cavernous expanse that consists of a cache of treasures and perils that defy reasonable sense. I haven't used this closet in any significant capacity in about 4 years. After leaving for college, my brother laid claim to my room an began to use it as his own. Basically my stuff became buried under half a decade of sibling silt deposition. Therefore, tonight I, not unlike an archaeologist, excavate my closet in search of treasures and new storage space.

I have thus far discovered:

1. Eight pairs of shoes (Six no longer fit, throwing all away.)

2. Two trombones and a trombone stand

3. A full band portrait from my sophomore year.

4. Two Nintendo Entertainment Systems. ( I don't know if they still work, I'll try blowing on them)

5. My boy scout uniform.

6. One Super Nintendo Entertainment System

7. A pair of bright white bell bottom dress pants that were my dad's.

8. The 1998 Union County Basketball Association 12-13 year old age group "Runner Up" plaque. (The highlight of my entire life)

9. The game of "Risk"

10. One bone from a cow's vertebra. (I'm not kidding)

I'm about half done so far. Back to work.

It's That Time Again

About this time every year, it happens. And I think it happens to everyone at some point, but I'm not really sure if I'm a little early. It's been going on all week. It's a deep longing for it, but an understanding that it can't happen yet, otherwise it'd suck. It started this Monday at work when I caught myself whistling "The First Noel!" I'm ready for Christmas! It was a little cooler today. That's gotta count for something, right? This will also be my first Christmas since I've gotten my spiritual act together!

Christmas has never been a big thing at my house. It's been probably 10 years since we've put up a tree. I think I went out for Chinese last Christmas with my dad like that Christmas Story movie that plays for 24 hours on TBS. (not kidding) I can't remember if we did gifts or not. But Christmas at my mom's house is incredible! She usually starts shopping in march. And on more than a couple occasions she's told me she had already bought my gift mid summer. She eats Christmas up! She decorates everything. She has a "Christmas version" of everything in the whole house. Suddenly, there appear Christmas coasters, glasses, plates, serving dishes, even a little Christmas-esque mouthwash cup dispenser in the bathrooms. Plus everything is covered in fake holly. (except the ceiling fans since the fateful season 1999) She has probably 4-5 nativity scene figurine sets that go in different rooms. She has a whole wardrobe of Christmas clothes, and seasonal music is played constantly. Also it seems every homemaking woman has their "thing" that they simply must have every version of. My aunt's is lighthouses. At her house there is about 10 things related to a lighthouse in every room. My mom's is angels. She has crystal angels, porcelain angels, wooden angels, angel ornaments, even a little tin angel that hangs in her kitchen. Plus! Oh my freaking Lord she can cook! Oh my gosh I can't take this anymore. I'll have to get back to you after I get some supper. (and yes, it's "supper" not "dinner")

Excellence

My days have become full. You can probably tell this because of the infrequency with which I have updated this blog as of late. I started a full time job last week 7-3:30 assembling insanely complex textile machines. I get very dirty. But I am committed to helping out at the Elevation office just after work on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday until pretty late. (Hopefully it's only late for the next few weeks.) I love it. On Tuesday and Friday evenings I'm normally housekeeping or working part time for my father who seems not to realize that I have my own job now. Saturday is my day to read and possibly do something with friends and go to bed early. Sunday is the big day. Wake up at 3:30 am and get home at 4 pm if all goes well and nothing is happening after 3rd service. But this hasn't been the case for a while and I usually end up getting home around 11 pm somehow. For instance, I had to go to two meetings today, and was late for both of them. Suffice it to say that I started to get a bit burned out! What's that you say?! Adam, the archetype of "nothing is too much, send me anywhere and it'll get done" is dwindling??? Alas, I was. Until tonight.

The second meeting was about production volunteers at Elevation. And how we are to strive for excellence. There's a lot depending on how you act and what you do. And if you're doing it in Jesus' Name and with His Authority, it had better be excellent. I'm living my life in Jesus' Name, and I've been tempted to be less than excellent. That's over tonight. I'm not saying that Christians never get burned out. I'm not saying you should do more stuff. I'm saying do what you do excellently. No more, no less. If you aren't excellent, figure out why. It may be that you're trying to do too much and are overwhelmed, or you are doing too little and haven't the field to showcase your calling. It may be that you're doing the right amount, but the wrong thing! Be excellent in Jesus' Name!! The lease I can give is My Utmost for His Highest. (a great book)

Let Me Just Say...

The clean clothes in my laundry basket are not getting folded tonight. I've been conscious far too many consecutive hours to mind the fate of my wardrobe falling prey to wrinkles. Behold! I offer for your consideration the art of "Throwing Your Stuff Back in the Dryer for like Ten to Fifteen Minutes to get the Wrinkles Out While You're Taking a Shower"! This cryptic ceremony is privy only to the most learned martial artists in the south pacific, and, since I'm offering it for your consideration, you.

Step 1: Find Wrinkly Clothing.

Step 2: Throw Your Stuff Back in the Dryer for like Ten to Fifteen Minutes to get the Wrinkles Out While You're Taking a Shower.

Step 3: ....

Step 4: Profit

By Jove!!! Brilliant!

(I've been awake for around 20 hours, sorry.)

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

It's weird to me when I sometimes have a really great evening when God just puts amazing peace in my heart and I end up listening to old hymns and praying for what seems like forever. It's weird because I feel like telling everyone how awesome it was the next day, but the next day that idea just seems silly and I realize it was one of those "you had to be there" moments. Tonight is one of those nights for me. I must have listened to this hymn 10 times. It's always good, but tonight it was great. Sometimes I guess I get a little overly sentimental and nostalgic. This will all look very alien to me the next time I read it. It's past my Saturday bedtime, night-y night.

Airline Safety Illustrations

(Attempt #2; 2 days late)

My Small Group

My small group is breaking up in a couple weeks. It's kind of bittersweet. I consider myself very lucky to have been put with such great people. I have witnessed the greatest turnaround in my life during my tenure with these guys. I went from not attending a church in 5 years to getting way more involved than I ever thought possible and yearning for more. And I have formed relationships with people that I honestly didn't think were possible at this level. It's been great.

But the sweet part of bittersweet is that the reason we're breaking up is because we're splitting! The Dr. Rev. Billiam Eyecandy M.D.; Ph.D.; Ob.-Gyn. (I think it's a game to make Bill's name more and more ridiculous, partly because he calls Greg Gary.) is starting his own group with a couple guys from the existing one and Ben and I are going to be co-leading a group with the other guys from the existing group. I'm also starting a high school small group, but I'm not sure what the turn out of high schoolers will be. (I hope hundreds) I'm really excited. Whenever I'm doing some reading and it says something that relates to genuine community, I write it down in hopes of sharing it when my group starts. Of course I do have some pretty big fears about it along with the excitement. What if no one talks and we get done with the questions in 15 minutes and are just staring at each other. What if I go off on some rant like I feel I do too much instead of leading the discussion. What if we don't get along. Will we ever figure out what the heck is going on on Lost? How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop???? To many of these questions, the world may never know. But it's ok to be afraid. Do it anyway. :)

Time

Wow. I don't really feel up to the task of crafting a blog entry entitled "Time." The concept of time is so daunting that some revere it almost to the point of worship. Others seemingly squander it in meaningless pursuits. Time is the ultimate limited resource, making it the most valuable asset you have been given. This is why it's so intimidating for me to venture into a talk about it, but ironically, it's also the reason I feel I should talk on it.

Spend time wisely, but also spend it generously. Because time is our most valuable resource, spending it is the greatest way to show our love to God and others. We are called to give monetary assets to God, (tithe) but we have other income to fall back on, and if not, there are many resources to keep you from starving. But you have no idea how much time you have left. Spending your time with God or another person is kinda like saying, "I have no idea if I'm going to die tonight,but you are the most important thing to me now." Buying wives and friends more stuff doesn't say this at all. Money can be replaced, you're not going to get a time raise from your boss and live to 200. So how much is your time worth? Whatever you're willing to sacrifice to avoid spending a given amount of time, the moment is worth even more still.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Luke 12:34

This is usually meant to get people to give money to prove their heart is in something. I don't know about you, but I treasure my time just as much if not more than my money. Treat time like you treat money in many ways, except that money is like the $1 chips and time is like the $100 chips. Your heart lies where your time investment lies. If you treasure time and donate 50% of your money income to the church, your treasure doesn't lie there. If you treasure time and buy your family the nicest things to occupy their time while you are spending your treasure at work, your treasure doesn't lie with your family. And neither does your heart the Bible says. Show your love by giving your time!

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

It's corny I know, but I think Elevation volunteers do just this. We pull it off with flying colors. (Even when many people abandon us for the holiday weekend!) And when we hear a sermon about volunteering, it isn't because we're doing a bad job and need to improve, it's because volunteering in the name of Jesus Christ is a form of worship. Now, of course, not all "good" Christians volunteer from 5am to 3pm every Sunday. (For instance, I was a slacker this morning and came in late at 6am. For this terrible transgression I was forced to bear the awful prize of Nick and Bill's shunning scorn.) I'm not some crazy guy that says if you don't volunteer at the church office like a part time job then you're going to hell, but I do believe it's a sin to disobey God if he calls you to that. Some people are just called to do other things that are just as great. Some people's call may be to labor all week for some other day for His own purposes. Here at Elevation, we're all called to work for the weekend.

Procrastination

Some people see this and think, "Oh yea I procrastinate all the time too", but I'm terrible at it. For instance, I just remembered the hamper full of clothes on the other side of the room contain articles I want to wear tomorrow to Elevation's Triple Header Super Sunday Extravaganza. I should be in bed now, (my alarm goes off at 3:30 am) but I'm up waiting to put clothes in the dryer. I could use this time to be taking a shower, but I hate doing it while the washer is running because the rinse cycle summons unspeakable pain borne from a scalding steam-water mixture for anyone so unlucky as to be caught in the shower.

I wonder if there exists an anti-procrastination pill. You could probably make the argument that some special mixture of PCP and cocaine makes it impossible to procrastinate. While on it it's literally impossible to put something off. As soon as the idea pops in your head you simply must act on it, regardless of the fact that it's 3 in the am. Of course, the threat of rioting mobs springing up due the most mundane of reasons and huge chance of death with every dose would probably put a damper on the FDA approving it. But I must admit the thought of blacking out around bedtime and coming to in the morning to find that my house has been cleaned, laundry done, and a brand new gazebo built in the backyard isn't ALL bad.

Ooh, I think the washer is done!

I'm Better Than You

If I had to think of my best ability, one that I do better than anyone else, it would have to be my humility. I dare you to find anyone more humble! I'd kick anyone's butt in a humility contest! I'm the humblest person alive today!

Of course someone that says this doesn't seem very humble at all. But if this isn't humility, then what is? Often, the picture of humility that I hear people paint is one of convincing yourself that you are worthless. A humble person is supposedly one who has convinced themselves that their skills aren't as good as they are. If you're really good at basketball, in order to be humble you shouldn't play it otherwise, you're "showing off."

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom." - James 3:13

This verse turns that notion on its head! It seems that God doesn't want people with abilities like wisdom and understanding to cover the abilities up, but "Let him show it..."! Show your abilities through a good life! And have that good life by doing deeds in humility that comes from wisdom!

What then is the difference in an able man, and a humble able man? C. S. Lewis puts it this way from the perspective of Screwtape, a demon. "The Enemy" he is speaking of is God.

"The Enemy wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world , and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another."

This is a hard thing to do. Lets say Elevation somewhere down the road had 100k in attendance. I'd be bouncing off the walls and giving all the credit to God! But lets say some other church did it first. I can imagine myself getting a little sour about it, and that isn't what God wants. He wants glory, not just Elevation brand name glory. Rejoice in kingdom advances regardless of the servant God chose.

To Do List:

These are some random things I want to do at some point.

1. Buy a brand new car (don't really care what kind) and take really good care of it (mechanically, not necessarily cosmetically) and put 1 million miles on it.
2. Get a puppy and train/raise it myself. I've had dogs, but always got them in the post puppy stage. I'm thinking golden retriever or labrador.
3. Memorize a few books of the bible.
4. Witness man landing on Mars.
5. Get my pilot's license.
6. Skydive. (hopefully not from the plane I'm piloting)
7. Visit every continent.
8. Teach myself guitar and piano.
9. Run a marathon.
10. Find my wife. (although I probably won't have that much of an active role in doing this)
11. Learn Spanish, German, and Japanese.
12. See Elevation have 100k in attendance.
13. Start playing trombone again.

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INTERMISSION
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I've just now returned from a 1.5 hour hiatus due to a stranger knocking on my door and telling me I have a dozen escaped cows dancing in the highway. Luckily my father (who is recovering from major eye surgery and can't see in broad daylight, let alone utter darkness.) was still awake and in quite the chipper mood. After dashing through the wooded night for a good 30 minutes, I began to wonder: Could I strangle a bovine with my bare hands if it came down to it? Luckily it didn't, but I must say I am leaning on the "yes" side of the table.

They are all back in as best as I can tell, and the fence is repaired; and oh yea, I startled a skunk while I was repairing the fence and it sprayed about 50 feet away.

I consider myself a lucky guy. Even if the glass is only 10% full, at least it's not 90% empty.

Legitimacy

This is probably the biggest difference in the last two job opportunities I've had. It's kinda nebulous for me to think about, so probably the best way to explain it was one was all talk and no walk and the other didn't need to talk because its walk did all the talking for the company.

Legitimacy usually refers to the authority of a given organization or person. Most western governments are considered pretty legit. Mr. Policeman can tell you to get out of your car. You will probably do this because you know he can get you in trouble if you don't; plus he has a gun. (but not everyone does this.) Then after you flip him off and call him a pig, he will continue to ask nicely for you to get out of the car for what seems like a completely unreasonable time. (I would have maced you long before I ask you the 10th time, methinks) Then, finally, after you have resisted his authority for WAY too long, he has the delightful assignment of tazering you until fall out of the car. While this can be VERY funny, it also teaches us several things.

1. Tazers hurt.
2. 3rd party people usually can see when you're pushing the limits.
3. The more authority someone has, the more you should listen to what they're saying. (I'd listen more to the supreme court than a meter maid)
4. Tazers really, really hurt.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." - Matthew 28:18

That is quite a bit of authority. Maybe we should listen to him. Jesus has big tazers. He is even more patient than the policeman, but I wouldn't push it, He's got a big gun. And He is legit.

I really have no idea how this morphed from a talk about my job to Jesus tazering people out of vehicles, but I think it's all good.

Cage Fight

So these two Shane guys are pretty much the bomb diggity with a bag of chips. I saw them for the first time at a concert tonight. That being said, elevation's worship leaders could totally take them in a cage fight. I imagine they would be kinda slow but pack a punch. However Chris looks like he could out run them while Wade uses guerrilla tactics to slowly nibble their ankles into submission. One of them has facial hair so you may think he's really good at fighting, but he actually sings the high part, so that pretty much negates any chance he had. Plus, our guys look like underdogs at first. Wade is pretty tiny and Chris has fashion sense, both common factors of really bad cage match contenders, but herein lies our advantage! Wade is SO tiny they won't be able to track him and Chris' striking good looks will make his competitors introspective of their own ill tastes in clothing. They will then be demoralized and react slower. This slight edge we will have to exploit at every turn and victory will be ours!

I would pay at least $15 to see this.

A Case of the Mondays

For me, Mondays are the low point of the week. First, I'm still lagging from Elevation's weekly triple header super Sunday extravaganza. (Which was awesome this week with 2812 in attendance, a 400 increase in 1 week, and 23 salvations.) And second, I realize I gotta wait 6 more days for the next one. Plus, NOTHING is ever going on on a Monday night. Except for Younglife, which Billiam Eyecandy informed me of today. Yes, it's for high schoolers and no, I'm not one of those creepy guys. I'm soon to be starting a high school small group and I figure a little head start may help out. So take that, Mondays!

Longevity

I'm realizing more and more that I really, truly desire longevity. Not so much for my body, (that may interest me later) but for my patience on God. I have placed all my trust in Him, and I'll do whatever He says as long as I'm certain it's Him that's speaking. But it seems that after I agree to wait on Him, like a little impatient kid, I'm asking, "Are we there yet???" and "Ooh how about we go this way???" Now don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for the advances He's helped me make in this area. Formerly, if I got impatient, I would do the equivalent of opening the car door and jumping out instead of asking if we were there yet, with usually equivalent physical/spiritual injuries. I now completely surrender to His will, I just think I must annoy the crap out of Him with all my silly suggestions. He's the one with the freaking map! He's got google maps memorized! What the heck am I even basing my suggested alterations to my path on? (Sorry I ended a sentence with a preposition there, I don't care.)

I just wish that the peacefulness that's associated with relying on God had a little more, well, a lot more longevity. But, of course, if we were on autopilot like that, we'd feel we didn't need God so much anymore. Where we live, where we work, who we marry etc. are just details that represent the process we went through of learning to trust God. The process is the point! (I didn't intend on this turning into a thievery of pastor's previous sermon point, but it just came to mind.) Now that I mention it, I think I'll start thanking God for keeping me unsettled. It helps me remember to go to Him, and draws us much closer.

Good talk.

Panera

Some people half comically say that they are convinced of the existence of a graceful God because there would be no other way to end up with a spouse as good as theirs. I'm single, so my half comical proof lies in the existence of Panera. People WAY cooler than me came up with this idea that if you build a restaurant like it's the brainchild of really hip people (with laptops) then people will flock to it. I'm not really sure if they're making up the names to all these bread types (I don't really care) but I do know they make me feel savvy at something, I just don't know what yet. I'm so uncultured that Panera taught me what a baguette was. (Shut up! I know, I know) It's like the Starbucks of solid food. I'm actually posting this from Panera right now in Matthews. It's really funny that the 95% of people without laptops stare continuously at the 5% with laptops imagining all the important white collar business work we're doing. Ha! It's really all youtube and facebook surfers! But at least we look cool.

Boast in the Lord

This is a phrase that's been going around Elevation a lot recently. I think it's most commonly brought up in defense of the church's actions of what some might consider showing off. Many have this sense that a church should be hidden in a corner somewhere and not step on anyone's toes or boast.

My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. - Psalm 34:2

I agree it would be wrong for a church to boast about how great their pastor is, or how cool the music is, or how many people they have... if they gave credit to these accomplishments to anyone but God. You don't put a lamp under a bed, you put it on a lamp stand in the middle of the house so it fills the house with light, not because of how cool the lamp is, but because of what the lamp contains. There are also people that say churches should be more low key. They should scrimp and save in every way to give the money to the poor. Some may be turned off by large extravagant churches, but if the church is solidly grounded in the fact that it's not their doing, but the Lords, then it stands as a monument to the Lords ability.

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." - John 12:3-5

The church is the body of Christ. There is nothing wrong with anointing it for the purpose of God's glory.

Why?

What is the point of me starting a Blog? No one is gonna read it...yet. I don't have all the answers for anyone. I don't even like writing. However I've recently become aware of the huge asset that a blog can be to someone. I hope to amass a huge collection of entries that I can look back on in the future and reflect; kinda like a journal, but with a more public intended audience. (I also started a journal yesterday and my debut entry was 4 freaking pages long.) I view my journal as a place to spill my guts, but this arena more along the lines of a long, drawn out introduction of me to whoever. Do I intend this to be pure, raw "what I'm thinking"? No. Do I intend this to be fake? No.

So what does all this abstract reasoning add up to? What is the answer to why I'm starting this? Ultimately, I do it for the glory of God. I believe He can use this format to bless me and others in ways I can't even imagine yet. Whether it simply will be a supplementary vehicle of reflection to my journal, or something I say influences someone in a positive way, or someone calls me out on something stupid I say and helps me with it, it's all good. I trust that He will use it as He sees fit.