Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I think that most people (especially Christians) fear change. Actually, if we were honest with ourselves, the Church as a whole is probably light-years behind the rest of mainstream culture as far as adapting to change, much less creating it. That being said, I believe that we have failed miserably in our call to be a body that moves with power. We have the ultimate Creator and Administrator of change on our side! First, we must always come to a point that we can acknowledge the great work that God has done in each of our lives. He changed me from who I was into who I am and is still here helping me to become whom I was supposed to be all along. It’s not that who I am is all that great, but you should see who I was! And if He can make that change real in so many of us, then why can’t He use us, His prized creation, to be agents of change in the world? Too often we sit back and think about everything that God is done, instead of involving ourselves in all that He is yet to do!
Just about any Christian will gladly give you their conversion story, but sadly most end it at the time of Salvation. We forget that the book is still being written. There are chapters left to write. But I don’t think it is only god who holds the pin. We have a big say as to what will be written on those pages. Unfortunately, most of us are okay with the rest of society writing it for us. There is a reason why we use phrases to identify people such as “creatures of habit” or “the frozen chosen.” It’s just sad that so many of these people line the rows of our churches. And it’s a travesty that so many of these people are in church leadership positions. I’m tired of churches sitting back, doing nothing, while the community passes them by. We should be out in front, pulling the community with us! Culture is ours to create, not the worlds! We have an unending supply of power waiting to be tapped into. Yet how many Christians won’t “tap” into the power of the Spirit, because “tap” is a beer term? (Random thought for the day). In all seriousness, if we are living authentic, Christ-centered lives, then we should be drawing from this unending supply every moment of our lives. It’s called living a Spirit-led life. Unfortunately, many people dismiss such talk, calling it charismatic, because they fear what it may lead to…unpredictability.
Nassim Taleb is a researcher, mathematician and philosopher who deals with the economy and wall street. He has done tons of research in the area of predictability. He has basically theorized that life isn't as predictable as we suspect. He says that most of what happens in this world is due to random events and people making random decisions. I love his research because it shows what I suspect many Christians truly believe but are terrified by. That life isn’t a forecastable sequence of events. That there are random (or planned) events that can’t be calculated that ultimately shape the outcome of things (can you say Holy Spirit?). That we do have a say in things and life isn’t a cyclical set of predictable outcomes. Sure, there are many things in our day-to-day lives that happen like clockwork. But if we really stop to consider all of the decisions that we make in a single day, we would realize that each day can play out to be something entirely different from the last. We should be creating those “random” events that Taleb was referring to. Sure, there will still be that which is predictable as well as that which is completely out of our control, but in no way should a Christ follower be content with sitting back and letting the world fly by only to be swept up in its draft.
God is constantly moving. It is also clear that He loves to use people in the process. Additionally, Taleb is just reaffirming some of what is taught in the New Testament. Jesus taught this – so did James. Jesus tells us not to be anxious about tomorrow. James tells us to use language such as “God willing” when referring to future events. Both recognize that there is something unpredictable about the future, but it is definitely something that we need not fear! God is with us. He is there, creating change. His Church is called to be there too. As leaders, we must embrace this reality. Tomorrow is not promised to us -- this in and of itself should spur us into action. We must move to create so that the people we lead will follow suit.


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Awwwwwkkkkkwaaaaard...

As I sat in the audience observing the 3rd-6th graders give their Christmas performance at Jorden's school (including her class which appeared to be very well taught) I realized that this is one of the most awkward aspects of the Christmas season. There's that...
Why do we subject those poor kids to such torture?



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So, this happened...

On Thursday night Jorden and I got engaged. I made a bet with her. She lost. A lifetime with me is her punishment.

Just kidding. Actually, it was kind of funny. I had planned on surprising her by meeting her after her last final on Thursday night at her school. I drove down there with plans of surprising her, giving her the present that I made for her to celebrate her finishing college, and then I was going to propose. Well, apparently I missed her, because she called me while she was on her way home. I was still in the Cal State Fullerton parking lot. I asked where she was at. She said, "I'm on the 57 almost to Lambert." So, I asked her to get off at Lambert and I would find a place to meet her and give her the now luke warm Peppermint Mocha and her present that I made. I made a video with a whole bunch of family and friends congratulating her on her big achievement of finishing college. Then at the end of it, I filmed myself at various locations that are significant to us. Then, after my video thingy was over, I said a few things to her, then proposed. I really don't remember what was said. I just remember getting on my knee, asking her, hearing her say "yes" then putting the ring on her finger. It was great! Then I got up and we prayed together. It turned out to be a great night.

Oh, by the way. This all went down in the parking lot of the Soup Plantation in Brea. I have never eaten there, but it is now my favorite restaurant.



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Bella

Tonight Jorden and I went to see the movie Bella. We both loved it! It's a new movie about love and life. In fact it has a very obvious pro-life message concerning an unwed woman who gets pregnant and a former professional soccer player who has had a major life-changing incident causing him to view life differently. If you get the chance, go see it. It was really refreshing to see a movie that had a positive message on life, but wasn't too cheesy. It was actually pretty creative. It wasn't your run-of-the-mill overdone, Hollywood love story (which was nice). As the tagline says "Sometimes love goes beyond romance" and it was very clear in Bella. It's well worth your time.

Here's the movie trailer:




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Calling all anime nerds...

I was at Family Christian Bookstore the other day and I saw this little beauty. If you don't know what Manga is, its basically Japanese comics. In fact, I just learned (thanks to our sometimes reliable friends at Wikipedia) that Manga is actually the Japanese word for comic. Anyhoo...
I thought it was awesome that there is a Manga Bible out there! And a quick little stop by amazon.com helped me learn that there are actually quite a few different Manga Bibles out there. Not that I'm a big fan of the comics or anything (I don't think I've ever even owned a comic book) but I am a big fan of the bible. So, there's that...



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My Way-More-Talented-Than-Me Nephew

Watch the big rockstar ending!



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Awesome!

I'm not sure where to start with this one. So, I'll just let it speak for itself.

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Beauty and the Geek

I am a big fan of the show Beauty and the Geek. I know, not too manly of me. But its one of those shows that the more you watch it, the more hooked you are. The thing that I really enjoy about the show is the social dynamic for which it is aptly named. The show pairs one "geek" with one "beauty" to live in a house with the other teams, competing in challenges, all for the chance to win a ton of cash. The "geek" is usually a guy who is stereotypically dressed in all his geek-splendor, armed with a sickening GPA in a geek-major from somewhere like MIT or Cal Tech, and topped off with a ridiculous geek-hobby of some sort (like LARPing -which stands for Live Action Role Playing). All they seem to care about are things like rocket science, chemical engineering, and perhaps the occasional comic book here and there.

The "beauty" is a stereotypical, material-driven, glamour queen. She likes to shop, primp, shop, complain, sleep, then shop. In fairness, most truly are beautiful girls, but they only seem to care about their physical appearance. Or so it seems...

They more you watch the show, the more you realize that outer appearance and stereotypes are only, well, outer appearances and stereotypes. As the season marches on, we start to realize that some of the geeks are just as vain/conceited/annoying as some of the beauties and some of the beauties are just as nerdy/withdrawn/introverted as some of the geeks. Should this surprise us? I mean, we make poor judgment calls everyday, don't we? Even when I know I'm doing it, even when I know I'm in the wrong, even when I know better, I still place value judgments on people based on so many outer factors. Why do I do that?

I know that to truly see people the way that God sees them is impossible. He loves each one of us more than we can possibly imagine. It seems as though it's so far out of our grasp of understanding! I am constantly reminded that He is God and I am not (that is never a newsflash to anyone but me). That said, why can't we get past so many of our hang-ups?

Why can't we see that some of those who are outwardly "showy" might actually be more generous and caring than someone who looks like they are modest or even frumpy? Why can't we see that just because some one looks like they are simple and modest it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't more greedy and/or self-absorbed as a guy who is driving a Mercedes?

The think that I love about the show Beauty and the Geek is that we get to see this all play out before our eyes. I understand that "reality" shows are often times every bit as produced as any sitcom or drama. I am aware that there are editors who are paid to make a certain story line appear to be taking place. But they don't force the "actors" to say the things they say and do the things they do. So we still get a decent picture of what most of the people on the show are really like.

This is why I think relationships are key. How can we really know an individual's heart unless we spend an extended amount of time with them? I live in a place where the average person makes a heck of a lot more money than I will ever make in a year. They drive nicer cars than I do (although, I am pretty stinking blessed to have the coolest car on earth -- a Honda Element). They have bigger houses than I will ever own. They have hobbies like golf and boating. But it would be tragic if I left it at that. I am constantly surprised by how many people at my church exhibit generosity that exceeds their lifestyle.

Looking at someone on the surface and making a judgment call about their character is the easiest thing in the world to do. But it may also be the most offensive to God. I truly believe that God cares much more about the why than He does the what. I think He is much more concerned with why we have the things that we have, why look the way that we look, or why we buy the things that we buy, than He is with what those things are. Ultimately, when I concern myself with what other people have, it usually stems out of greed in my heart. Don't get me wrong, in no way do I endorse the vain pursuit of wealth. Iam simply suggesting that sometimes we are quick to judge even when we don't realize that we are doing it.

This post is going a lot longer than I had originally intended. It is also going in a different direction than I thought it would. I really just wanted to post a picture of Jorden and I with the title of Beauty and the Geek...but what are ya do? I like to ramble so, there you go...

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