Wordpress!!!

I'm switching to wordpress! I hate to dis anything google, but wordpress is just way better than blogger.

So anyone who wants to keep reading, head on over to the new site.

My Wonderful Evening

My mom instant messages me at work and says that some of my aunts and cousins and a sister are getting together for dinner tonight at the Black Forest Inn. I was planning on swimming at the Y then doing a bunch of odd tasks, but decided to spend time with the fam instead.

Dinner was mediocre tasting and way over priced, but I really enjoyed the company. My cousins Lani and Tony were there. Tony and Lani are really young (kindergarten and preschool) and so they are also adorable. Tony plays this game where he calls me Luke to get a rise out of me (playing of course). Lani has the cutest smile ever. They are in the process of being adopted by my aunt Eve (who was there) and uncle Steve (who wasn't there).

So we all parted ways. My aunt Amy and I had to straighten my aunt Lisa and her son Luke out, they were hopelessly disoriented. I get home and do some of those odd tasks. Then I think "it's way too warm out to be inside today, lets go on a bike ride!"

So I grab my bike and head for the Greenway. I really wanted to see other folks who were hanging outside, so I headed to Phillips to see who I would see. I ran into Johnathon on his way back home, so we chatted for a minute. Apparently he has a very early morning on Wednesdays, so he was going to go to sleep soon. We parted ways and I continued to bike around Phillips. Sadly no one I knew was hanging outside, though I did catch a glimpse of the Tongs in their back yard.

So I headed back home and got out the guitar. I just played for a while on our porch, which overlooks the intersection of Lagoon and Irving. AKA it's pretty busy. I had a lot of fun playing, and Meredith, one of the other folks in our building, came out for a smoke. We got to chat about all sorts of stuff, she's pretty cool. I've been "looking" for houses and she has passed a few along to check out. She finally went inside to finish watching Milk with her boyfriend, which had apparently been on pause the whole time she was outside. Then I decided to do what I've wanted to do for a long time...

I met some neighbors! Erik (Eric?) and Kevin live across Irving from us. They are right around my age and both went to school at Winona. They are also brothers. We had a good time chatting about life and will probably do stuff together throughout the summer. I'm excited!

I walk back inside to find my roommate Taylor (who declined my invitation for bike riding) sweating profusely and writhing in the blistering heat. OK, not really, but he wanted to put the AC unit up. As he is in the basement I hear this yelling, followed by him running up the stairs. Apparently a bat had made it into the house and attacked him when he switched on the light! He grabbed a tennis racket and we both walked very slowly down the stairs. He wanted me to go first, so I took the racket and went in. No bat to be seen! We got the AC in with out further ado.

So there you have it, my wonderful evening!

Community - Taking It Offline

Here's a test: Spend one day surfing the Internet and spend another roaming your neighborhood. See how many good dinner table stories you have after each. There won't be a contest.

I can't remember how I got here, but that's where I found this.

Social Media: Twitter

I've been thinking a lot lately about social media. Questions like "What role should twitter play in my day to day life?" and "What is appropriate to blog about?" and "What information should I share on my Facebook profile?" just beg to be answered (if you're me). So I thought I'd give it a shot. Lets start with...

Twitter
Lets start small. Like 140 characters small. At first, I had no idea how to use Twitter.



But after a while, you start to understand that Twitter is so much more than a status update. It's a conversation. Or it's a place to ask questions. Or it's a place to keep current on a cool movie. I hear the search is really useful.

I like to use it for those thoughts that are too short to blog about. And as a giant chat room. You can follow me if you want.

Of course Twitter has it's drawbacks, but I'll save all the social media negatives for one post. That way you will only see the bad stuff once, and it'll seem less important. Kind of like how a kid would choose 10 pennies over 4 quarters. So I'm manipulating you, like I would a child.

Next I'll do blogging. Stay tuned!

The Foolishness of Idolatry

God has something to say in Isaiah 44:

6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. [1]
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8 Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”

God is bringing it! Then read what He follows up with:

9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Come on piece of wood, say that you're like God. Tell me what is to come, what will happen. Oh wait, you can't.

The foolishness of idolatry shines through this story. A man makes a fire and a god out of a piece of wood, then worships it and expects the piece of wood to deliver him. He is such a fool! And yet, I find myself in this position too often. I make an idol of a phone, a man, even an image!

That last one really gets me. I can make a picture of the cross into my God. I miss the point! It's not the cross that's worthy of worship, nor even the salvation that was bought for believers on a cross. It's the one who paid the price. Jesus is the one we should worship.

Do you worship Jesus, or what He gives you? Do you worship Jesus, or a charismatic pastor? Do you worship Jesus, or what he has done for you?

Do you worship Jesus, or a block of wood?




I am convicted.

But there is one who is my advocate!

Update

I've been pretty busy lately. Ok maybe not too busy, but I haven't been setting aside time to slow down. So here's an update for anyone who's interested:

• I read the Twilight series in 4 days. At one point I read 120 pages in an hour. I didn't think that was possible. And talk about an unhealthy relationship!
  
• It was my birthday on Saturday. I got to spend it making some tasty treats with my sister and mom. Then we all ate Chinese food.
• Shane and Shane are my favorite group to see live. They are incredible artists, skilled musicians and sold out for Jesus. I haven't been able to get them out of my head since seeing them on Friday (and I don't want to).
  
• I'm going to hook up Shane Everett with some In Ear Monitors from my company.
• I need to get to bed earlier. Always.

I know I forgot some things, but that's fine. Just give me a call, I'd love to hear from you. I hope to write more, taking the time to put to paper (electronic bits?) what I've been thinking about. I have some new ideas and some old ideas that will (hopefully) be showing up here soon enough.

Thanks for reading!

Doxology

This has been in my head for a while, so I thought I'd put it in yours.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Community - Fear Of Man

Fear of failure.
Fear of looking foolish.
Fear of looking less than perfect.

Fear of rejection.
Fear of others judging me.
Fear of not impressing others.

Fear of not looking extraordinary.

My fears are silly. It's all about my ego. When it comes to living in community, I need to get out of the way.

My Own Little Limerick

Jess is quickly becoming one of my favorite bloggers. Right now she's doing a fun little deal where you give her your name and she writes you a limerick. Here's the one she wrote for me:

There once was a fellow named Scott,
Who became a career astronaut.
He fought his first alien
by ousting its ganglion.
Scott’s legend in schools now is taught.

I have to say though, the one Jess did for Katie is absolutely phenomenal. And check out her about page.

What Are Your Blog Post Standards

I write a lot for this blog. Most of it (~70%) doesn't end up getting posted. Even this post almost got stalled in production.

Do you want me to post incomplete, rough, ill conceived posts that would otherwise never see the light of day? Do you post those kind of things? What are your standards?

Links

A moral inconsistency in the white house?

Some sweet youtube music!

This post on wisdom cuts me to the core.

A must see for the role of suffering and the disabled in the church.

I don't know if I want to switch to wordpress...

I also don't know if I should quit blogging... sigh

One of the sweetest things I've read on guy/girl relationships in a long time. Be sure to check out the article he links to too.

Call Me

If you're reading this, I want you to....



I'm sick of text communication. Even better, lets get together for coffee or something. I'd love to see how life's going for you.

(if you're RSS, you'll need to click through)

Community - Putting On A Communication Face

A friend posted about Community. Read it for the context of this post.

I have thought about this too! My opinion: it's easier to write than speak. It gives every party time to think through their response, to phrase and rephrase things to their liking, eventually submitting some comment that reveals their best and wisest face. I even did it while writing the previous sentence (and this one).

Writing allows our thoughts to be refined and precise. The issue is, people aren't like that. People are rough, flawed, fallen. To present our thoughts in a pristine, beautiful form has great value, but it loses some of our character. We don't get to interact with the messy side of people. And the messy side is big deal.

Dealing with imperfect people also allows for closer fellowship. Understanding and copping with others' flaws helps me know them, love them, be gracious with them, in spite of the difficulties. And not only do I know them, but they get to know me! My sin gets stirred up when someone aggravates me. I have tons of flaws, more than enough to go around. Yet through it all, community can survive, even flourish!

None of this really addresses how to reach out to that neighbor, coworker, or friend of a friend. But it starts the discussion. I'll save those thoughts for a future post.

(p.s. I am looking for folks to run with, so hit me up if you're interested)

You Found Me

I had heard this song before, but had never really listened to the words. I share them with you now:

I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, "Where you been?" He said, "Ask anything"

Where were you when everything was falling apart?
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me

But in the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not and who I wanna be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me!

The early morning, the city breaks
And I've been calling for years and years and years and years
And you never left me no messages
You never sent me no letters
You got some kind of nerve taking all I want!

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, where were you? Where were you?

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me!

Why'd you have to wait to find me, to find me?

I don't know what to make of it all, but I hear a seeking for God. I had thought it was a throwback to Job with the "Where were you" action, but it's pretty clear that God is being questioned, they want to know why God didn't call before, why He didn't find them sooner. However it's intended, I like the song, especially because of how I see God in it.

The Greatest Challenge

"Today, the greatest challenge facing American evangelicals is no persecution from the world, but seduction by the world" - C.J. Mahaney, Worldliness p.22

I'm Back From Europe!

The reason for not posting anything these last two weeks is because I've been touring around Europe! I hit up England, Turkey, and France. I have to say, this was probably the best trip I've taken in my life (it's a tight race with China). God blew my expectations away in how He used my time across the pond.

Here are some of my favorite things that happened in Europe, in no particular order:

• Getting trapped in my hostel at 5am and needing to climb a 12 foot fence with my luggage, so that I can make the first tube to make my train to make my flight (which I did by less than 5 minutes) to get to Turkey.
• Spending 4 hours in a Turkish Cafe with Jon and Erik
• Great conversation in Mullhouse
• Hanging out and playing Parcheesi with the other team in Turkey
• Getting to see the France team and hang out with them
  

Finding A Future With Teaching

Some of the best council that I've heard for figuring out your gifting is this: It is done in community. The church will either affirm or deny your giftedness in the things you attempt. Ray Orlund Jr. shares his experience in an interview:

2. In a paragraph, how did you discover your gifts in preaching?

How does one discover gifts in any area? It just appears, as experience allows and in the fullness of God’s time. My own preaching started with complete ineptitude, graduated over time to struggle, and by now has advanced to varying degrees of effectiveness and ineffectiveness. My progress seems directly related to growing theological discovery of God’s glory in the gospel, through dissatisfaction with myself as a preacher, through the joy of seeing God use me, and through the assurance that at any time God can rend the heavens and come down in revival power.

(via Between Two Worlds)

John Piper began teaching 7th grade Sunday school, and then 9th graders, and then he helped out with a Greek class. Throughout this process, he was affirmed by those who were learning from him that he was gifted in teaching. Experience in community will lead us to our gifts.

I did not expect to be confronted with the idea of going into the pastorate.

I was talking with a dear brother after church one Saturday and the conversation turned to the future. He is doing the TBI program and asked if I had considered going through it. He affirmed in me some traits that would benefit someone in the pastorate.

The qualifications of an elder can be found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 (though I'd say read the whole book and not just a chapter). One of them is to be able to teach. Thinking on Pastor John's example, I think the next step for me would be trying to teach! I am praying about teaching Sunday School at BBC with the kids I've been with for the last two years (coincidentally, they'll be in 7th grade next year).

While I don't know if I am gifted in this area, I certainly love it. Being able to explain something in an understandable way brings me so much joy. And that may be enough to meet the biblical qualifications for an elder (there are other ways that I don't, but that's another discussion).

If I were to pursue the pastorate, I feel it would be necessary to go through seminary. However, the one that I am most familiar with (TBI) requires a year of Greek before enrollment. This means that I have some time to think and pray about any decision that would be made. Providentially, God placed me in the TBI Essentials course, which will meet that requirement by the end of next year. Praise God for His sovereignty!

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Guide me Lord!

Sometimes I Wish I Was Funny

Everybody knows someone who is stinkin' hilarious. I know a lot of those folks, and I love to laugh with them. Sometimes though, I start to get jealous. Why am I not a funny guy?

I am one of the worst story tellers ever. I mean it, I am downright bad. I can occasionally build some momentum in the telling of a tale, but the climax ends up being a cliff of disappointment that we all stumble over as you think I'm getting to the good part. Surprise! There is no good part. I got you excited for nothing.

Sometimes I try to make my stories as bad as possible, hopefully redeeming them with the different kind of funny that makes you laugh at how bad something is. Does that work? I hope so.

The reason I bring up stories is because they are a pivotal part of someones hilarity. The ability to effectively capture attention in an enjoyable way is just one step away from being the funniest person in the room. Once you have an audience, it's easy to get on a roll and keep cranking out the laughs. Plus, stories are a great place to drop in all those witty comments that crack everybody up. Seriously, I think about some of those for days.

Another way to be funny is to get that one person who will laugh at anything (like me) to be your friend. Then when you're talking with them and they burst out giggling, everyone else will stop what they're doing and think to themselves "oh man, that guy must be the funniest person ever, look at how he's making his friend laugh! I should totally listen to their conversation instead having my own." That's when I mess it up with one of my lame stories, but I know you're better at story telling than me. Keep up the good work!

Typing Races

[...]
(2:51:43 PM) Andrew: it took me about three times as long to type with just two fingers
(2:51:45 PM) Andrew: yikes
(2:52:04 PM) Andrew: 11 vs 48?
(2:52:08 PM) Scott: 11?
(2:52:19 PM) Scott: mark
(2:52:26 PM) Scott: it took me about three times as long to type with just two fingers
(2:52:30 PM) Scott: 7
(2:52:30 PM) Andrew: 7
(2:53:01 PM) Scott: this is so dorky
(2:53:04 PM) Andrew: lol
(2:53:14 PM) Andrew: enjoy life
(2:53:16 PM) Andrew: dorky is okay
(2:53:18 PM) Scott: haha
(2:53:21 PM) Scott: i want to blog about this

For the record, Andrew is the one who types with two fingers. I type like you're supposed to. :-)

Gratitude For Singleness

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

Now most people associate February 14 with Valentines Day, but single folk know what I'm talking about. Today is the day that we get reminded of our relationship status. That's right, I'm talking about Singles Awareness Day (or we could just call it SAD)! So happy SAD!

I've been celebrating SAD for about 4 years now, and it has been good! I remember one particular year, during my sophomore year of college. I was living in the dorms and had written this little note on my whiteboard:

"Scott would like to apologize to all the ladies out there, he will not be your Valentine"

My sister read this and got a little creative. For the rest of the night, I got about 12 phone calls from everyone who happened to be at this house a bunch of girls lived at called "the quad". The one that really made me laugh was Carrie. She calls at about 11:45pm and, sounding completely serious, asks me to pray about it. I think I'll remember that night for the rest of my life. Thanks girls!



But seriously, I really appreciate being single. It sucks at times, but only when you are viewing things from the wrong perspective. I've been studying 1 Corinthians 7 lately and have been very convicted:

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Am I anxious about the things of the Lord? This passage assumes that we are, and speaks to how being married distracts us from Him. I've been thinking about this all day, and it has really got me excited. I want to be anxious for the things of the Lord! I want my singleness to be something the Lord works out of! And I want other singles to be similarly burdened!

I'm so grateful we have scripture to teach and guide us! I'm praying that I am faithful to the Word.