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.

Break Yet?

3 exams tomorrow.
I'm kind of nervous
not because i dont' know it
well atleast i think i do
mostly because it's just so many

i need to fill you guys in on some stuff
some ministry stuff
about worship
and jesus
haha
could i be more vague?
probabaly not

okay
study time
again.

goodnight.