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.