New Blog

www.bringyourlife.wordpress.com

that's the new blog. be checking that from now on as this one will no longer be updated!

Google

My Google account has somehow become quite unuseful--everytime i want to log into blog it will not let me and then i have to go through a 4 step process of resetting a password...only to have to do the same thing everytime i log in.

but do not worry.

i'm working on creating a new and improved blog through another host. I'm exctied, i think it will give me more opportunities to be creative with layouts and pages. i'm hoping to have that up and running within the week, i will post the link here when it's finished so that you guys can all get the new web address!

The Story

So here's a breif explanation of the events around the time of the "incident."

i turned it on and it came up with a flashing file folder with a question mark. like a good apple person i went to apple support and followed their steps for disk utility and alas, we find problem #2. the hardrive is not mounted. regardless of their suggestions, the drive will not show up even in disk utility in order to repair. Shortly following, the online support suggests readers to call via the phone if these steps did not fix the error. So I called. after brief discussion with some fellow by a first name that began with the letter "g" he says that they will most likely need to set me up for repairs...in which all of my data will be lost and therefore i should seek a third party to access my data before calling again and setting up a way to get it back to them.

a frantic e-mail was sent to my steve, who kindly made time to work on my computer that evening, though all we were able to realy ensure was that we couldn't fix it.

if you did not already know, there's apparently a mac-certified service location in north canton, so i went by there wednesday morning to see what they could do. although they service macs on-site, they do not do repairs to my exent there (including fixing the plastic) so they shipped it out to the big apple service center. that is, the same one that compusa or the apple store would have shipped it to.

a guy with the a name coninsidentally again starting with the letter "g" said they do over-night shipping back and forth, and the earliest he's ever seen one come back is friday when sent out on wednesday but to prepare for about a week of computer-less time. (my ears apparently skim the last part of people's names when they tell them to me)

much to my delight, i recieved a phone call friday early afternoon informing me of my computer's safe return. they replaced the keyboard/palm area, the entire top case, hardrive, and logic board. earlier this summer applecare also replaced my battery. thus my weekend has been full of sorting through old photos and reloading applications...and of course backing everything up on a hard drive i couldn't possibly ever completely fill up.

Poor Corydon.

My computer died last tuesday. fortunately, to my delight...i was able to send it out to apple on wednesday morning and recieved it back friday early afternoon. thus my lack of updating...i have been frantically tring to recover and get things set for school to start this week (i lost everything on my computer). luckily, most of my information was backed up in various places such as external hardrives, flickr, ipods, etc. I did still lose some things though. I'd guestimate that i'll probably be able to access about 75% or so of the things i lost through those means. unfortunately, anything that was not backed up somewhere i lost. so pictures, artwork, and anything to do with rivertree is gone. i will update more later...but for now i'm heading off to rivertree for services this morning.

Books?

Does anyone know of any hiddent treasure local bookstores around? It's not exactly the easiest thing to gauge online, so i figured suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

The Believer

Last night i watched the movie "the believer." I'm still not sure how to process the film actually. I love films like that because they leave you with this with this unexplicable unsettledness. it's not that there isn't a resolution either, it's just that it leads you to continue to think about it even after it's end.

the movie is based in modern new york and follows danny, a 20-something struggling with the dissention between his beliefs and his heritage.

this movie probes the questions of religion, family, and self-hatred and it's an examination into the forces of religion and intolerance both within the individual and for society as a whole. Danny is torn as he processes how to live in light of his jewish heritage and how he observes religion and faith in the world.

God is Green

I've been listening to a few podcasts lately, one of which is the Mars Hill podcast. Many of you have probably heard of that church, or atleast Rob Bell before i'm sure through noomas and the books velvet elvis and sex god.

the past few weeks they have been challenging listeners to think more about the envirionment and the christian responsibility to really be the church. not necessarily dealing with the environment, but one thing that was discussed that really struck me was that we often give money and donate material things to organizations that serve people. why do these organizations exist? perhaps, according to their suggestion, it is because the churchis not really caring for people the way it should. what do you guys think?

we have accountants, educators, and engineers. aren't these the same people that our donations go to support? so we are choosing to give our resources to people to do a job we can do in the church? should we be doing these things to further the kingdom rather than to promote celebrity.

what do you guys think about this? moreover, what are the practical implications for us. you and me. the people living in USAmerica? check out the one titled "Do you realize how far we are?" from June 3rd.

Rob Bell makes a great statement..."why do these agencies get to have all the fun?"

Pretty

Wow. I'm not even going to try and give some lame excuse for not updating my blog (though the work one from the previous post is truly quite honest).

Just some updates in my life as of lately. I'm working a lot. House-sitting a lot. Summer is flying by and i don't even know what it is that i've been doing. I'm designing my own shirts...that's probably one of my most intriguing endeavors this summer. nothing extremely complex, but just things that will make people think a little hopefully.

the whole inspriation for this was birthed sometime in the spring. not necessarily the clothing idea, but rather, what lies behind it. in a way i feel a little contradictory saying this because i work at old navy...but then again...i don't by much printed clothing from there. anyway....i've become sick and tired of how people (sadly often including myself) have fallen into the american trap that you have to look and be a certain way to be beautiful. this is just overall...i don't think it's a bad thing to want to look nice, but i'm tired of someone telling me what it means to be beautiful.

i think we need to redefine what that means. it might be doing something that is "trendy" it may be going against the grain. you know what....it's not even going to be the same for every person. be beautiful. be who you were created to be.

work, work, work...

Basically the last week of my life has been ridiculously crazy. I have a part-time job this summer....yet i've worked/will work 8 days in a row and over 35 hours. i know this is all part time still, but add in alive, rivertree (youth and main services), and trying to manage a social life. i'm just not sure if it can be done. i don't even know what to do to relax at this point. i work tomorrow at 6am again.

i've been listening to azure ray today. a few of her lyrics today completeley hit me. she seems to get it.

this never ends.

Faithful

It's amazing how God has proven himself so faithful in the past few months. absolutely mind-blowing.

moreover, who thought the agent of this to be a car insurance company?

God works in mysterious ways...far beyond my comprehension.

The Tree.

i've been home about a week now from vacation. i've been working a lot at old navy and getting myself established into a summer schedule. the trip was awesome! we had a blast staying down there and relaxing for the week. the only thing that really made me think a lot while i was down there is how missionally forgotten tourist areas seem to be. I mean, even myself went down there to vacation rather than to serve. i mean, these people literally served us day and night...who is serving them? shouldn't we be? i kept an eye out for churches but probably only saw 2-3 the whole time (minus university boulevard, assuming that the mexican universities may be somewhat affiliated with Catholicisim). I feel like i've got to many ideas and not enough resources to be proactive in the matter. yet i know we live in one of the most resourceful places on the earth. it's all a little paradoxal if you think about it.

but to keep catching you up on life....

Old navy has been going great. i really enjoy working there, especially doing shipments when you're in the store before it opens and just working away. i was there from 6am-11am today.

Also, i'd highly suggest if you have a little spare time on your hands (about 30 min or so) to take a listen to the sermon from last week at the Tree. This is not about the church, it's about the Church. it's not about us, it's about us all together. i cannot believe that i am able to be a part of a church that is pursuing and seeking out how to live in a way to really be the Church. that's a lot of church talk.

Vacation

I'm leaving for vacation in about 30 min. i shall return on saturday evening at some point! have a great week guys!

School's Out.

In an effort and as the school year came to a close, i sort of neglected this blog for a while. here's been what's up lately. I just got a job at Old Navy, which is very relieving because i was beginning to get worried about getting a job. I'm going to be staying around Canton this summer (i say that as if i've left in the past, haha) and working at RiverTree and Old Navy. I start training/orientation on friday at old navy, and then leave on saturday for vacation with my family. i'm really looking forward to getting away and relaxing for a week cause it will be the first family vacation we've had in a few years. It's really just going to be a continuation of what i've been doing lately though cause i've really just been relaxing around here and job-hunting. Thus far i've read a lot of books that i slowly gathered during the semester. my plentiful pile of "to-read" books seems to be shrinking at an incredible speed.

interestingly enought, it seems as if i'm being unintentionally presented this summer with two sides of a postmodern argument. i realized that out of the books i've collected at random to read, many of them are advocating either the embrace or rejection of the church's embodiment of culture. i'm not sure exactly where i fall on that yet, moreover i'm not sure if a person needs to be on one side or the other. my question is this...is there room in the Church for both the embodiment of aspects of culture for the proclamation of the gospel as well as and overall rejection of culture in other cirlcles for the spread of the gospel? i would love to hear you're thoughts on this.

as this year has closed and i've finished up my classes i've reflected a lot on what i've learned this year. as that previous question asserts, i've realized how central the idea of unification is in my personal theology. literally everything i hear, read, or see, all comes back to the question of "how is this dividing or unifying the church?" i've been really encouaged to explore some writing this summer and am going to hopefully write a paper or two this summer. two specific topics have sparked my interest thus far.

An Apology

Sorry about that last post guys. i didn't end up being by myself last night actually. :)

i realized a lot last night. about me, about myself. it was a good night. an encouraging night.

look at the library thing i added on the right, it's a cool little thing i found off of JR's site. (he alwasy has cool programs on his) I'll talk to you all later!

mALONE

Finals have been nasty this year. I've sitll got 2 left. on monday, one tuesday. Summer is more than quickly appraoching. I've put in a few applications at several places loooking for a second job, i've still got to do some follow up with those to see what's going on with them though.

I had a few days to rest last week before reading day, which i actually read on. i, similar to mo, am excited for school to be over mostly so that i can have the time to read again. just in these few days i had off i read almost 3 entire books. (not any particularly long ones though)

i feel like i could literally fall asleep right now...but i'm at malone, so i really don't have any place i could go to nap for a while. i'm actually starting to wonder why i drove out here. sometimes i just get discouraged cause i'll make a point to try and be around people and i just end up sitting around by myself all day.

Worship

Feel the power
In your hearts and souls and minds.
Listen to the cries and shouts of joy.
For the Lord has defeated death
For my Lord has brought brought me new life
I will sing
A song of triumph

I will feel it
In my car
Yes
In my car

Portage Guy

So I was driving home from school today like normal. no big deal, nothing out of the norm. these days driving has been quite a different task. this year i decided to partake in lent. so, for the past 5ish weeks i have not listened to music in my car at all. i know. it seems kind of small and minute...and indeed, it is. but music is a huge deal to me. it's been weird, and it hasn't necessarily gone as i thought it would, yet it's still been good. for the first week or so i realized how much i would literally separate myself from the people around me while i was on the road. for the first few days i remember driving down the normal streets but seeing new things. it's like i never even looked at what was around me while i was driving. anyway, there's a reason for all of this.

these past few days have been especially cool because i've had my windows down. i'd be driving and hear all the things around me that i wouldn't normally hear. the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the wind is blowing. you can just feel Him all around you. but something happened today, in the process of seeing and hearing all of this...i witnessed the cruelty of the world. You guys know portage guy right? you know, that guy who stands at the 77N-Portage exit. he's there anyday it's not freezing cold. same sign. same clothes. "Stranded" it says. stranded from what? stranded from who?

you pull up. look over his way. he won't make eye contact. he's got it figured out. most people probably don't want to make eye contact with him. so today was different. i pulled up and was first in line. stopped at the red light again. he was there. to my left. do i look? i don't have money. then i hear it. i hear it because i have my window slightly down. something that broke my heart. a car drives by on portage and you hear a yell. a voice. insulting this man. this one that's there everyday.

i sat there. comepletely shocked. how do i love this man? i prayed. right there. "Help him know that you love him and that he is valued, even when the world tells him otherwise"

So how do we respond to this? i'm completely baffled. how do i show this man that God loves him...am i just as at fault as that person driving by that yells at him if i don't say anything at all?

Happy Birthday

As of today, my blog is officially 2 years old. I figured I'd reminisce through some of the old posts....it's cool to see how God has worked through my life. Keep an eye out cause that'll be posted soon!

David Crowder

Yes....word is out! David Crowder and Co. are back in the studio recording for their upcoming cd. No word on when it's due out yet, but I can't wait! I'd suggest maybe keeping an eye on his blog or the dcb website...recording times are always particularly amusing becuase of the ever-so-immanent blog world. haha.

so check out his blog here and the official website here.

This next month has the potential to be a lot of different things for me. For those of you who don't know yet, the youth sunday services are taking a 6 week break this spring for a few logisitcal reasons. April 8th is easter, so we will not have service that week, then the following four are the "pure sex" series in the big-service. Specifically, we really want to encourage everyone to go be a part of that service and engage in the important messages taht are being taught those weeks. That series actually concludes with guest speaker Mike Foster from XXXchurch. Then the following week is mothers day--i'd say that's a notable day to stress being with your family. So that's that. For 6 weeks i will not be leading worship in the student ministries. However, I'm hoping that this may be an opportunity for my involvement in the downstairs services to increase this month as well as simply just being a part of services. In addition to those, I will basically be living on my own for the next month. I am house-sitting for a week, home for 3 days, house-sitting somewhere else for another week, home for a week (with grandparents in town), then they (including my parents) leave for 10 days. I think it will be nice, but strange to be home but not really "home" for a whole month.

The one thing that is quickly approaching is April 1st. No, not in the sense that it's april fools day--but that Shane Claiborne is going to be in the area. First at First Christain on Sunday then Malone for Chapel on Monday. I will definitly be making the first hike over to the new "Johnson Center" for the year since I haven't had to attend chapel all year. As with Rob Bell's new book Sex God (which is phenomenal, by the way), Shane Claiborne's book (Irresistable Revolution) is the other one that i read over the first part of spring break. He really challenged a lot of contemporary thinking and i loved it. Do I 100% agree with everything he said? Well probably not....but i sure do respect what he has to say. he's got some great insight and vision for some of the things that are really starting to hit home for me. One of which is some of the financial (and dare I say hypocricial?) choices of the Church today.

Well, I must return to the ethics paper. Talk to you all later.

As I Promised

Things have been great thus far for spring break. I've basically been able to do a lot of reading and hanging out and relaxing that i don't typically get to do with school all the time. I read sex god in two sittings--yes, i thought it was that good. i'd highly suggest it if you're looking for a book to read or have some spare time. I'm going to have to start working on some schoolwork soon though, i've got to get some done or else i'm going to be going nuts with papers when school starts again.

the stuff i was talking about in the last blog really isn't even all that defined. i mean, there are a lot of things going on recently, but i've just felt this strange feeling like god is going to be doing something soon. i've said over and over again that i feel like i've been put in a position at malone and rivertree to basically be a sponge and learn everything i can, and i think i'm starting to feel that it may be time, or that i may have an opportunity to begin to apply what i've been learning somehow. i have no idea what that looks like or what is going to happen...if something is even going to now.

well i'm beginning to dose and i've got a meeting rather early tomorrow morning...well early for spring break that is.

goodnight world.