A Watchman for the Morning

I HAVE MOVED!!!

2009-09-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Blogger has been good to me. Very very good to me. But now it's time to move on. To bigger and better things. Hopefully, this is the answer.

www.ericdurso.com

It is up and running. It's not in its final state (like me) but it's gonna get there someday. Enjoy, comment, make suggestions, and visit often. Stay for tea, if you like. Enjoy.

The Drifting of Evangelicalism

2009-08-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

D.A. Carson on the drifting of Evangelicalism.

Lake Perris Videos

2009-08-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

This one goes out to Set Apart youth group. Enjoy. I sure did.

I hope you don't mind these videos forever embedded on the internet world.

John MacArthur vs. Mark Driscoll-- Piper weighs in.

2009-08-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine, Christ McKinny just posted a great blog on the interplay between these three heavy hitters. Listen to what John Piper has to say about it all, it's great.

Thoughts on Epaphras (Col. 1:3-8) AKA The Cycle of Encouragement!

2009-08-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Colossians 1:3-8

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.”

3 Observations:

Epaphras has been ministering the gospel to the Colossians faithfully.

Epaphras relayed the good news of the fruitfulness of the gospel in Colossae.

The reason Paul is writing to the Colossians is because he heard what was going on there from Epaphras.

I imagine that the reason Epaphras told Paul about the Colossians "love in the Spirit" is because he was excited to see the gospel bearing fruit in the lives of those he was ministering to. The joy of being used by God is by nature outpouring. Epaphras can wait to tell Paul how the gospel's bearing fruit, knowing that Paul will be encouraged by it. Paul, a spiritual leader in the churches, rejoices in the forward progress of the gospel. And his friends and fellow ministers love to share their joy with him.

Do you see the cycle of encouragement, and how it travels? First, Epaphras ministers. I imagine that there were some struggles and some hardships and resistence, like all ministry. Then, the gospel breaks down walls and open eyes and hearts. The people begin to grow and bear fruit. Epaphras is in awe of the work of God, and he rejoices. In his joy, he writes to Paul, relaying the power of the gospel and the fruit that is growing and the love that is happening. Paul is relieved and rejoices with Epaphras and writes a letter BACK to Epaphras and the Colossians, relaying how the good news has encouraged him. He says in this letter in vs. 9 "From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you..." The encouragement Paul received from Epaphras caused Paul to continually pray for the church, which undoubtedly is an incredible affirmation and encouragement for Epaphras and the Colossians.

There is a healthy relationship of love and encouragement and prayer between Paul and Epaphras and the Colossians. It reminds of the the Proverb, "Whoever brings blessings will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." (11:25)

I think this is why Paul said in Galatians 6:6 "One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches." Paul didn't want to miss out on encouragement!

The Point: Let people know when they've encouraged you. Let people know when you are praying for them. Let people know the good things God is doing in your life.

How the Gospel Changes Us (Become an Expert on the Gospel)

2009-08-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

You who know me know that I can't stand lessons or sermons or advice that tells me that I need to be a certain way. Don't tell me I need to love people more, I already know that. Tell me how to change my heart so that I will love people more. Advice that aims at changing my behavior first is a short-cut, it's shallow, it breeds legalism, and it's ultimately fruitless and futile--most importantly, it's lacking grace. As a pastor I need to stop demanding behavior and start shepherding hearts toward a grace-filled life. The first step in doing this is repentance.

Repentance is the act of turning from sin toward obedience to God, motivated out of love for God. For many of us, the act of repentance is very easy in concept, but incredibly difficult--borderline impossible--in deed. Why? Because repentance involves much more than the will. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians, "for godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what EARNESTNESS this godly grief has produced in you, but also what EAGERNESS to clear yourselves, what INDIGNATION, what FEAR, what LONGING, what ZEAL, what PUNISHMENT..."

Earnestness for reconciliation, eagerness for restoration, indignation at our sin, fear of its consequences, longing for righteousness, zeal in pursuing it, willingness to endure punishment for it-- these are not acts of the will. I cannot will myself to feel these things. So how can I come to this state of repentance? If we are to turn from our sins in repentance, what must we do?

Paul gives us a great hint in Romans 2:4 "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" God's kindness to humanity in Jesus Christ, that is the GOSPEL, is what leads humanity to true repentance, which results in a changed heart. Knowing, understanding, and experiencing God's grace to us, through Christ, will lead us to repentance. The grace of the gospel is the most practical and useful message for all people of all ages, because it leads us to repentance.

And true repentance is what changes our lives.

The Point: BECOME AN EXPERT ON THE GOSPEL (know what exactly Jesus did for you and how his death burial and resurrection affects you TODAY)

Why the Gospel is Essential for All of Life

2009-08-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Lately the recurring theme in and around my life has been the gospel. It has come at me from every angle- sermons, books, videos, etc, but it is coming with a fresh perspective. An essential perspective that I've overlooked for too long.

I recently finished How People Change by Paul David Tripp and Timothy Lane. It is categorized as a biblical counseling book. It's essentially on how God changes people from who we were before salvation to people he wants us to be, mainly focusing on the heart.
Chapter 1 is called "The Gospel Gap." His premise is that for most of us Christians, there is a gaping whole in the middle of the gospel. We all understand what the gospel did (cleansed us from our sins) and we know the future benefits of the gospel (go to heaven someday) but we don't know the everyday, right-here-right-now implications of the gospel. How does the fact that Jesus paid the penalty for my sins by dying on the cross and raising back to life affect me RIGHT NOW? How does this affect me when I take our car into the shop and am told that the repairs are going to take a while and cost me more than I can afford? How does the gospel affect me when I'm tired from a late night and just want to relax but my wife wants me to do the dished? Is there any practical correlation between the two events: JESUS' DEATH & LIFE and MY STRUGGLE?

That is the gap in the gospel. Even after reading the book I've been thinking about how these go together. We, by and large, don't know how these two events correlate. And to find the correlation we have to back track a little. In order for the gospel to have an affect on your daily life, you have to first address the issue of idolatry.

FACT #1: WE ALWAYS WORSHIP. Idolatry, as defined in Romans 1:25, is "exchanging the truth of God for a lie and worshiping a created thing rather than the creator." Idols are not always bad things, they are, as Mark Driscoll puts it "Good things, made into God things, and they become bad things." Humans were made to worship; we are unceasingly worshiping--the question is "WHAT are you worshiping."

FACT # 2: WE WANT FUNCTIONAL SAVIORS. We worship things that we believe can act as functional saviors. We want salvation-- we want happiness, fulfillment, purpose, satisfaction, joy, etc. So we turn to things that can offer us some kind of practical salvation in our daily lives. For some of us, our HELL is a life of obscurity in the background, where no one notices us. Our SAVIOR is popularity and influence. Our MEANS of attaining our savior is manipulation and cutting corners. For some girls, their HELL is being called ugly. Their SAVIOR is the adulation and complements of other people. Their MEANS of attain their savior is by dressing skimpy and spending money on clothes. Men may think HELL is a life without being able to satisfy sexual desires. Their SAVIOR is sex. Their MEANS of attaining their savior is pornography or a immoral relationship. Popularity and influence are not bad. Adulation and complements are not bad. Sex is not bad. But when GOOD things become GOD things, they're BAD things. And the way you know that they've become your functional savior is this: you feel like you need it and you can't live without it.

FACT #3: WE WANT SALVATION. We are all searching for salvation--our IDOLS are what we think will get us that fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness, joy, and purpose we so badly desire.

FACT #4: SIN COMES FROM IDOLATRY. All sin comes from our idolatry. The idols that we set up in our heart cause us to worship things that are not God. And that's where all sin comes from-- I won't lie if I am worshiping God, because if I'm worshiping God that means I'm not worshiping my reputation, and the reason that people lie is usually to protect their reputation.

So ALL sin comes from misplaced worship: idolatry.

And the way to conquer idolatry is to uncover the lie of the idol. Remember Romans 1:25. The first thing idolaters do is "exchange the truth of God for a lie." Every idol lies the same way, saying "worship me and I will give you what you need."

The gospel is your iconoclast. The gospel is fashioned to destroy idols. And the gospel does this with three truths:

1) Jesus has, through the gospel, given you "life abundantly in Christ" which is more satisfying that any idol.

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 But you have to "taste and see" for yourself to believe me. I can't convince you that it's more satisfying that all other idols.

2) Jesus has, through the gospel, given you every resources you need

"His divine nature has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness..." and "No temptation has overtaken you except that is common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide a way of espcape, that you may be able to endure it." Because Jesus conquered sin, we are free from it.

3) Jesus has, through the gospel, secured a future for you.

This works two ways: First, it's the promise that God will not leave us all alone to live, but will continually be working on our sanctification day in and day out. Every dilemma should be looked from the perspective that "God is using this for my good and His glory! He's using it to turn me into a person more like Jesus." Second, it's the promise that God already has a final destination for us. "Our citizenship is in heaven." says Paul. We're all taken care of, and no matter what happens in this life, we can live in hope and joy of the unmoving promise of heaven.

And that is why the gospel is essential for all of life. It gives me the fullest life, it gives me everything I need for life, and it secures a future for me in this life and the next.
Those three truths are freeing.

And all you have to do is receive Jesus by faith. Wow!

Lake Perris Trip

2009-08-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday this week we're leaving for Lake Perris. It's going to be hot. Luckily there's a lake. Coming soon: a some LAKE TRIP VIDEO.

But while we talking about video, enjoy this video I made of our Nicaragua trip.

A Day in the Life: The Drive Home

2009-07-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

The first of some vlogs where you get to follow me around as I do what I do in Fallbrook. Enjoy.

John Piper on TV

2009-07-21T14:04:00.001-07:00

At a Q&A session after the Advance 2009 Conference, Mark Driscoll, John Piper, Ed Stetzer, J.D. Grear, and Eric Mason sat on the panel and answered questions.

The first question had a humorous tone to it.

"Piper says get rid of my TV; Driscoll says buy more DVR's. How do I reconcile the difference?"

Piper: Get your sources right. I never said that in my life. Next question. There's probably something else. (Now to Driscoll) Say something significant.

Driscoll: I think it is that you don't have a TV, correct? That's probably where they got it.

Piper: I'm sure that's where they got it from.

Driscoll: But you wouldn't say that they shouldn't have a TV, you just choose not to have one.

Piper: Yeah. I'm just an addict and I know my limits.

Wow. How many of us are addicts and we don't even think twice about it. Blind to our own addictions.

Man and Woman

2009-07-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

Oh the joys of man and woman. Ashley and I love how much we have in common, but we also love how much we are different. We get a good kick out of failed communication. Take this story, for instance.

It was a Friday morning, and I had received a package in the mail that Ashley had not opened yet because it was made out to me. So while Ashley was making breakfast, I was sitting at the table opening it. It was a Christian magazine, so I started perusing through it. We had her iPod on shuffle as background music, and we were talking about the day.

Suddenly, she says, with some sense of hurry, "Do you know what it is?" I was a little taken aback at her urgency, and I pause. I say, "Yeah," while she is laughing and saying, "You don't know what it is!" Still clueless, I say, "Yes I do, it's a magazine." She pauses, looks confused, and then bursts into laughter. I begin to laugh too, even though I don't know what in the world she's laughing at. Finally, she says, "I was talking about the song!"

Apparently, a Beatles song came on the iPod while we were talking, and she was seeing how quickly I could name that tune. I was on a completely different page thinking she was asking me (with some strange urgency) if I knew what was in the package. We laughed heartily for a few moments (during which I correctly labeled the song--Octopuses Garden) and then sat down for breakfast.

Oh the joys of husband and wife!

Global Missions: God's Passion.

2009-07-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

I recently subscribed to a magazine called "Mission Frontiers". It is a publication of the U.S. Center for World Mission, and organization founded by the late Ralph Winter in 1976. It is a magazine that carries Winter's vision of sending missionaries to the "unreached people-groups" (a term coined by Winter). The latest publication, the May-August edition, is a tribute to Winter that includes a short biography, testimonials of his family and friends, and articles about how Winter impacted lives.

One of the articles was written by Tom Steller, the pastor of leadership development at Bethlehem Baptist Church (where John Piper is the senior pastor). This article had a special impact on me. Here are some excerpts:

"...During the summer of 1983 both John Piper and I were confronted with the 'statistics of missions' as outlined in the Hidden Peoples Pie Chart. We were thinking of adding another full-time pastor to our staff when a young couple from Bethlehem sent us a letter challenging this decision. They wrote in the letter, 'How can you justify adding another full-time Christian worker in a church that already has two in a city that has a thousand churches?' Then they proceeded to lay out the statistics of missions and encouraged us to consider that when the Bible used the word "nations" it doesn't mean countries, but ethno-linguistic groupings of people. This pesky letter was part of what God used to wake up John Piper and me to the reality that is we love the glory of God we will not be content until His glory in the face of His Son has been proclaimed to all the nations and worshippers have been won from every tribe and tongue and people.'"

This is back when John Piper's church was new and small. And to me, it demonstrates how and outward focus on missions has an inward benefit of growth. Instead of building up their staff as their budget allowed, they did something that might look foolish in the business world (or the modern church world). They put the money toward a full-time missionary. One might think that the money would have been better spent on someone who would be working in the church. I'm beginning to believe that God's desire is that every church be a beacon to the nations. And when the church has that correct focus, God blesses tremendously. Bethlehem Baptist has been dedicated to foreign missions for almost thirty years now, supporting 80+ full-time missionaries. It was Ralph Winter who said, "The success of a church should not be measured by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity."

A Note I Wrote to a Person Quoting Immanuel Kant

2009-07-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hey, I went to school with you and I stumbled upon your note about why you once opposed the right of women to vote, and your writing kept my attention. And I got to the end of your note, and I read this about Immanuel Kant.

"Immanuel Kant once wrote that an action is only moral if it is done out of a sense of duty, which in turn is decided by reason. That's the mentality that I am desperately working on incorporating into my life."

And I wanted to comment on the note, but I couldn't, so I decided to send you a message- you seem to appreciate comments and discussion, so here I go.

I think that the concept of morality Kant is getting at here is not true, and is actual damaging to biblical Christianity. Let me explain.

A Kantian morality says that Christians should obey God out of duty, decided through the mental processes of reason. It states that the virtue of an action decreases when we aim to derive any benefit from it. Actions are good when the doer is disinterested. We should do good because it's good--not for ourselves. Any action that is motivated by our own desire to seek happiness or pursue joy, then, lacks virtue because it is not done out of a reasoned "sense of duty". Am I right?

First of all, is that even possible? I don't think so. Every decision ever made by any person is always done for the same universal reason that goes like this: "It is better for me to do this than not to do this.". The man who hangs himself pursues relief. The man who wakes up early to study seeks knowledge. We are, at all times, in pursuit of fulfillment/gratification/happiness/satisfaction--whatever you want to call it. Pascal was right: "All men seek happiness without exception. They all aim at this goal however different the means they use to attain it...They will never make the smallest move but with this as its goal. This is the motive of all men, even those who contemplate suicide." Therefore, acting ONLY in a sense of duty, apart from personal, self-motivations (Pascal calls it "seeking happiness"), is impossible.

Secondly, Kantian morality is not only impossible, it's unbiblical and undesirable. Think about a man who is virtuous by biblical standards, not Kant's. He is one who LOVES kindness (Micah 6:8)--the implies that the reason a good man is kind is because he loves being kind, not because being kind is his "duty". He DELIGHTS in the Law of the Lord (Psalm 1:2)--same implication is here--a righteous man keeps the Law of the Lord because he loves keeping it, not because he has to. How can a man be virtuous in Kant's view of morality? He wouldn't be virtuous, by God's standards--if anything, he'd be a hypocrite.

Kant loves a disinterested giver. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Kantian obedience is dead-set against Christian, biblical obedience. The Bible is replete with incentives of rewards, including joy, pleasure, fulfillment, contentment, and happiness. So to say, like Kant does, that an action is moral only if it is done out of a sense of duty is to deny the role of affections in the life of a believer. The Christian life is not about cold obedience done out of a "sense of duty". It's about God changing your affections so that you fall out of love with the world and in love with God, so that obedience is a JOY.

C.S. Lewis says, "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can."

And Jonathan Edwards: "Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."

And even Jesus, who set the example of perfect obedience (Phil. 2:5-11), had this mindset. Consider Hebrews 12:1-3:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who [catch this!!] FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus' obedience was motivated by joy. So should ours.

All of the works of John Piper share this theme--that pursuit of joy IN GOD ought to be the motivating incentive for everything we do. "Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist" changed my whole view on obedience, and really helped me understand it. I suggest you read it, you'll probably love it like I did.

I know this is lengthy, and I apologize, but once I found out you even ATTEMPTED to read Critique of Pure Reason I figured you'd be able to read this.

What do you think?

--Eric Durso

Team Nicaragua 2009 (And Why I am for Short-Term Missions)

2009-06-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

On June 14th, our First Baptist Church down here in Fallbrook will be sending off its first short-term mission trip team in almost ten years. We will be headed to San Marcos, Nicaragua, with an organization called Beyond Partner Ministries. My prayer is that this trip will spark a passion in our church for reaching the nations (that means here and abroad). I am excited to see what God does on this trip and how he uses it in my life and the lives of our team.

Since we began planning this trip, which was around January (a super-late start, I know) I've had some conversations about short-term missions. In my planning I have come to find that many people have reservations about short-term trips and hence do not like them and do not send teams anywhere. I've narrowed these down to four reasons churches have reservations about short-term mission trips. And I am also going to give a defense as to why I believe short-term missions work.

First reservation: Often missionaries don't want short-term mission teams. They are a lot of work, they rarely leave lasting contributions, and they can be a burden. The negatives out-weight the positives.

My response: This is true, but it is not always true. The first rule of short-term missions is this: ONLY GO WHERE YOU ARE NEEDED. Never force yourself upon the missionaries. They probably feel a lot like Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:

"I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"

We don't want to add any pressure to the missionaries who are laboring for the lost where God's placed them. So never go to a place where the missionaries don't want or need you. Go where you're needed and wanted. In doing this, we completely bypass reservation number one.

Second Reservation: Short-term mission trips are costly, so why send a team out across the world when we can do the same thing here in our community?

My response: Yes, short-term missions trips are costly. But there is a big, huge difference between reaching out to your community and reaching out to the world. It is my conviction that a church should not be "either/or" with this issue-- churches need to be "both/and" here. Here's a few reasons why:

1) God has a passion for the nations. Therefore, God's church should too.

Acts 1:8 "And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And of course the Great Commission, "Go therefore unto all the nations..." God has the entire globe on his mind. So should his church.

2) Short-term mission trips breed full-time missionaries.

No one ever becomes a missionary without "tasting" and experiencing an overseas experience first. God uses short-term mission trips to turn lights on to the vastness of God. A healthy church is a church that is sending members to fulfill the Great Commission. And the best way to do this is to give little tastes of what it's like to be commissioned--what it's like to go.

3) The focus on global missions naturally translates into community outreach.

The common question short-termers ask themselves when they get back their trip is this: "Why can't I do that back home?" Short-term missions breed missional laypeople.

The truth is you can't do the same thing within your community. The difference between community outreach and global outreach is drastically different.

Third Reservation: Short-term mission trips tend to be impersonal, and not much can be done without relationship.

My Response: True. If a team shows up for a week, evangelizes and builds and church and then leaves, without true relationships being formed, it's hard to have a lasting ministry. Lasting ministries are built on relationships. But just because short-term trips are just that--short-term--doesn't mean the relationship has to be. There are things we can do to connect and cultivate relational, lasting ministry.
Here are some suggestions I would give in this regard:

1) This goes back to my response to reservation one--find a missionary that needs you. Don't bombard missionaries that are already overwhelmed and don't need your help.

2) As a church, limit the number of missionaries you support, so that the church can support a smaller number of missionaries with a more substantial amount of money. The smaller the number of missionaries you have, the easier it is to build relationship with them. You can know them more intimately. Think of it as "adopting a missionary" into your church family. Also, when you support a missionary financially that way, they feel obligated to spend more time with you. So again, the relationship is built.

3) Go and help them when they need you and bring people along. This way, the people in your church will put a face and a personality to the name they've been asked to support financially. They know how to pray and encourage the missionary.

Fourth Reservation: If we're not on mission in our community, why should we try to do it overseas?

My Response: Maybe the reason you're not on mission in your community is because the people don't know what it's like to be on mission. Maybe they need to do it and experience it. And maybe it takes an overseas trip to open their eyes to how people do it and how God's using it. Like my response to reservation number two: global missions breed missional laypeople. Missions help the saints see how we can be missional in our communities.

So there you have it. That's why I am for short-term mission trips. Short-term mission trips are not an end in themselves, but I think they are portals to achieving a greater end, that is God's global purpose: the spread of the gospel to all the nations.

Fairfax High School Crowns (Male) Prom Queen

2009-05-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

What?? This is insane.

Our country is so confused it thinks that it's sexist to tell him, "Sorry, but you're a boy."

Radical Ministry (I Think)

2009-05-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

I feel a call to radical ministry. I always wonder what that looks like in youth group terms. And it's hard to feel like you're doing something radical when you spend most of your time planning. Whether it's messages, meetings, or minutia (alliteration is always sweet). I think my idea of what is radical has a lot to do with its ties to mission.

Here are some things I've done recently:

1) Build up a kind of strategy for organic, personal outreach (see this blog post of mine to see where exactly I went) and emphasized it with the group. The series went something like this:

What is an oikos? (Focused on teaching what an oikos was and how to identify it)
Why an oikos (Focus on why oikos evangelism is effective)
How does it all work (Focused on the heart behind the evangelism-what is the motivation?)
How it can fail (Focused on how outreach will fail without first being true followers of Christ)

2) Organized a mission/vision statement that focuses on the three aspects of the youth ministry, which would look something like this:

Set Apart (this is who we are, who we want to be)
Operation Infiltration (this is our mission, our two-word summation of the Great Commission to go. Our goal is to infiltrate our worlds (oikos) with the gospel.
Oikos (this is our mission field. It's our 8-15 people God has strategically and supernaturally put into our lives.)

3) Everything we do is based around cultivating these things.

Sunday mornings are focused on biblical teaching as to how we are to be Set Apart for God's use.
Our small prayer group meets before every Wednesday night to pray for the kids in youth group.
Wednesday nights are an outreach program that kids can bring their unsaved friends to. It's intentionally programmed to be made for unsaved kids to come (but the gospel is not watered down!)
Other events are opportunities for kids to invite their friends (oikos) so we can build relationships and extend our sphere of influence.

The kids in the youth group are responding with enthusiasm with the right motivations (I think) but we have yet to see numerical growth...Which is okay!

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."

The Kingdom of Heaven

2009-05-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid three measure of flour, till it was all leavened.”

The Kingdom of Heaven is growing. Slowly. Imperceptibly. Often unnoticed by the unwary eye. But it is growing steadily. Our Lord God Commander has sent out his soldiers into the world as unseen, unknown, unnamed witnesses that slowly but surely further the kingdom of heaven. This is Operation Infiltration. These soldiers are fearless, faceless, as persistent as pit bulls and as gentle as lambs. They walk upright, with utmost confidence—not in themselves, but in their leader, who has given them everything they need. When they are mocked, they smile. When they are ridiculed, they rejoice. Resistance only makes them stronger. Why? Because they operate within an unstoppable force called the sovereign will of God Almighty—and they know for a fact that HE cannot be stopped.

They may be faceless, but o do they feel it. It’s not just church—it’s their passion. It’s their deep, heart-felt, blood-earnest desire to do God’s will. They feel it in their gut. They love the saints. They shed tears for the unsaved. They will do anything to win them for Christ. And yet, they know that no matter how hard they work, they can do nothing in regards to saving souls. But that doesn’t bother them, because they have been on their knees before God and know that He will act. They have heavy hearts for the hopeless but they are filled to the brim with hope. Their hope in God is what drives them day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.

They know scripture like their life depends on it—because it does. And not only their life but the lives of their associates and life-sharers who need to hear the truth. So they wear the Word of God like a sheathed sword on their hip, and they are ready to use it to cut through the deception and guilt and depression that is claiming the dying souls around them. They don’t go to church— they are the church. They are the faceless minority dispersed throughout the world to bring the lost ones to Christ. And they will continue to do it until every tribe, tongue, and nation has heard the gospel. And they are turning the world upside down one person at a time.

O, that God would raise up a generation of Christian soldiers that are characterized by driving passion, rock-solid confidence and a head-turning joy displayed in a steadfast love for the lost.

I Just Asked A Big Question

2009-04-17T11:55:00.001-07:00

I just asked a big question, and am grappling to understand it. I first asked "Why did God give us the Great Commission?" And here was my thought process.

My mind first jumped to answer it negatively. Answering the question by figuring out what the answer couldn't be.

I figured the answer couldn't be because he doesn't know who is going to be saved and he wants us to go out and find out who they are. Eph. 1:3-4 clearly says God knows this--he knows everything.

I figured the answer couldn't be because he needs us to accomplish his global purpose. God doesn't need anyone or anything. Acts 17:25 says he is "not served by human hands as if he needed anything..."

This assumption was even further backed up by the fact that not only are we not needed in God's plan of saving souls from every part of the world, we can actually hinder its progress by trying to do it ourselves. Paul tells the Corinthians how he doesn't want to preach with eloquence "lest the Cross be emptied of its power." And later on, in 2 Corinthians, how his power is make perfect in weakness.

So it's not cause God doesn't know. It's not because he needs us. It's not because we are able to do it ourselves--we actually can't do it at all by our own strength.

So why does he command us to go?

"Why" is a powerful question. It's simple and childlike, but it reaches straight to the core of the object in question and draws out purpose, motivation, deep-seated affections and desires. Why is the first question children ask their parents. We tell them not to touch a hot stove and they ask "why?" with all innocence. As we grow in the faith we must never stop asking the question "why?"

Why? Why all these commands? Why should we go? Why should be honor our parents? Why should we obey?

Let's focus in on the Great Commission. I said that we can actually hinder the progress of the gospel by trying to do it our way instead of God's way. Ultimately, though, we know God is working everything for his plan to succeed and by no means can our shortcomings thwart God's plan. Acts 1:8 says "You will be my witnesses." It's going to happen. Christians will be Christ's witnesses. Therefore we must realize that God doesn't lose when we are not obedient. God's schedule will go as planned, everyone who he has chosen will be saved, and it will work out exactly as he foreordained before he created the universe. God doesn't miss out when we don't fulfill the Great Commission. We do. God isn't thwarted when we fail, but we miss out. When we miss an opportunity to tell someone about the gospel we are deprived of the joy that would have come from faithful obedience!

And from this I think we can infer an answer to the "why" question. Why does God give us all these commands?

Because God has designed faithful obedience motivated by love to be the most fulfilling and satisfying and joyful activity any human can ever do.

Why "go make disciples?" Because, as Lottie Moon once said, "Surely there can be no greater joy than that of saving souls." Or listen to J. Campbell White, an early 20th century Secretary of the Laymen's Missionary Movement:

"Most men are satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within his followers except the adoption of Christ's purpose toward the world he came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of his eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ's undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards."

Participating with Christ in his global plan of redemption is the greatest privilege we can have here on earth. Praise God for giving us this opportunity.

Good Friday Not So Good For Some People

2009-04-10T15:01:00.001-07:00

It is Good Friday, and I am reminded of a time some years ago when I was in the Philippines on a short term mission trip during the Holy Week. In the area we were ministering in, the religion was a distortion of Catholicism--which involved a mystical worship of El nino de Cristo--the Christ-child. During our time in Naga City there were massive crowds and parades of blank-faced observers marching through the streets carrying man-made statues dressed up in royal clothes, portraying saints, Mary, and Jesus himself. The sight was an eerie one to behold--it seemed to be a tired tradition embedded into their society by demons. They had the story right--Jesus, born as a child, living a perfect life, dying on the cross, raising from the dead, ascending into heaven--but they had the application all wrong.

The most gut-wrenching spectable came when I saw two filipino men with sackcloth bags over their heads. They would take a single step, whip themselves with a cat-of-nine-tails over their their right should so the whip would connect on the middle of their back. Then, they'd take another step, with their other foot, and whip themselves again over the other shoulder. They were shirtless, and their backs had been torn up--blood poured down and soaked into their jean shorts. With every step came a new flogging. And they did this for an entire mile.

I was dumbstruck when I saw what they were doing. In my curiousity, I got close. A little too close--blood spattered onto my white shirt.

This was the most gruesome thing I saw on the trip. But that's just because we weren't allowed to go see the crucifixions.

That's right. Every year on Good Friday about 25 men voluntarily crucify themselves. It is no show. The nails really go through the hands. And the feet. And they hang there for 15 minutes before coming down. Here's an article on one of them.

I kept asking why when I was there, witnessing the self-mutilation. I wondered why they would do such a thing.

The answer comes in their crucial unfortunate understanding of Christ's atonement. They have no hymn called "Jesus Paid it All" because he didn't. There is still leftover sin that needs to be atoned for. They're caught in the same curse as the Galatians when Paul rebuked them:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"...

Jesus' death was enough. That's how we can call the Friday that Jesus was brutally tortured a good Friday--because he paid it all then and there.

Have a Good Friday!

Dr. Horner's Bible-Reading Program

2009-04-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

Dr. Grant Horner wrote this in one of his blogs, I laughed out loud. How awesome.

"When I was flown out by Masters for a 3-day interview/theological-grilling process, the culmination was of course being ushered in to Dr. John MacArthur's private study, which is where he asked me this one question: "Can I see your Bible?" I thought he would be horrified, because it looked like it had been through a typhoon -- it looked unloved and neglected. Something from a dumpster. It was unbound, with stringy mess and paper debris hanging out. I was so embarrassed. I thought he would chastise me and recommend I get a new study Bible if I was serious about the Word. (No doubt which study Bible he would recommend!!!) He flipped through it and handed it to his wife and said "If your Bible is falling apart, you probably aren't." I was basically hired on the spot."

This is in context the context of talking about his Bible-reading program you can find here. Pretty intense!

No Satisfaction

2009-03-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

"Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man."
Proverbs 27:20

Mick Jagger was right.

Nikon D40

2009-03-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

After much deliberation, I finally gave in and purchased a Nikon D40 SLR Camera. Probably one of the most fun items I've been bought. It came with 2 lenses, a camera case, and a two-gig memory stick. It takes great pictures. And now that I have a nice camera, expect this blog to be more...colorful.

Oikos: Your World Delivered

2009-03-14T16:09:00.001-07:00

I just finished reading a book called Oikos: Your World Delivered by High Desert Church Pastor, Tom Mercer, who, by the way, will be speaking at our Men's Retreat this year. Anyway, let me give you a brief synopsis of the book.

Oikos is a Greek word that means "extended household." Mercer explains throughout the book that everyone has an oikos, that is everyone has "a group of 8 to 15 people God has supernaturally and strategically placed in each of our relational worlds that He wants to demonstrate His love and grace to, through you."

The entire book is based around this concept. It explores how every aspect of church should center around an oikos. All lessons learned from church should be taken with one idea in mind: How can I use this to affect my oikos? Church is solely for the equipping of the saints for their oikos.

This book was a fresh perspective on evangelism. I enjoyed it. It's not a program, it's not a new methodology. It's just an emphasis. One of the things I like about the book is that the focus is not on method, it's on character. Be a Christ-follower, and remember your oikos.

I highly recommend it--it's organic, age-transcending, and durable.

Three Ministry Principles

2009-03-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I had a meeting with the people who were interested in being youth sponsors. 16 people showed up--excited, energized, and full of ideas.
What I had intended to simply be an informational meeting turned out to be something more like a pep-rally. Well, maybe it wasn't that wild, but there was a lot of excitement in the room. The reason I wanted to have a meeting is because we're taking some steps in a new direction in youth ministry, and I wanted to describe the areas that will need attention in the new approach. I'm really excited about this plan. It's been percolating in my brain for some time now (usually I have an idea and get to antsy to start it that I forget about details--luckily Ashley helped me think this one through) and I'm ready to kick it off and get it started. The basic principles behind this change can be summed up in 3 points.

1) It's Driving Force is Prayer
The more sponsors we have the better, because their first responsibility is to pray. I read this morning in Psalm 127 "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." I also take this to mean: "Unless the Lord builds the youth ministry, the youth pastor labors in vain." That's why I make prayer the priority of our sponsors. We can't get the results we want without God. We can't change hearts, save souls, or do anything of value apart from God. So we pray.
2) It's Primary Concern is Evangelism
We're in the last chapter of human history, in which God is bringing all his children to himself. We know that God's purposes will come to fruition, whether we are a part of it or not. And we also know that WE are the ones who are missing out if we do not involve ourselves with God's global mission. And so in this method we use what we have: a friendly family body and a large kitchen. We want use these things to offer something to the community, so that they will come and hear the gospel.
3) It's Ultimate Purpose is Glory
Not our glory, God's. And this third principle is entwined with the first. We are fully aware that we cannot do anything of any value apart from God's supernatural power. The system is set up so that if these new plans are successful (success=growth of faith, new believers, encouraged body) then all credit goes to God. He will choose to bless or not to bless. And we will try our best to do two things: 1) show them the gospel in the way we live and interact with others, and 2) teach them the gospel through God's Word. The gospel is the power of God, and I'm going to try my best to rest my whole ministry on that truth.

So there you go, what do you think?

How to Cast a Vision

2009-03-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some thoughts on How to Cast a Vision. I'm specifically thinking along the lines of a church, but I think this strategy would work in any organization. What do you think?

Step One: Know your mission.
The mission is not the vision. The mission is the command; the end goal; the ultimate priority. This is where we want to end up. You can't go anywhere until you know where we want to go. So this is where you start. What is your mission?
In the case of a church, the mission is clear and can be summed up in a few words: "Go therefore and make disciples in all the nations..." This is our mission.

Step Two: Know yourself.
Because every person and every church has been gifted in different way, visions will be different. The mission will never change, but visions will. Some churches will be more suited for international mission outreach, while others are more suitable for local community service outreach. Both fulfill the mission even though they look completely different. So before you determine what your vision is, take time to consider what your strengths and weaknesses are. This is one of the ways God directs us. A good little memorable tagline for this is: "Take what is in your hand and offer it to what is in your reach." What does your church have to offer?

Step Three: Know what to do
So now you have your end goal (your mission) and you have your strengths and weaknesses--now you brainstorm. This is the strategy part. What strategies can you come up with to utilize your strengths in a way that fulfill the mission? Take time to flesh it out, until you get to a point where you know what it looks like. And what it looks like is your vision. At this point is helps to make a summarizing statement of your vision. Many churches use "To Glorify God by Making Disciples" or something along those lines. It helps to summarize the vision in one encapsulating sentence to bring it to the people.

Thoughts on a Healthy Church

2009-03-06T14:51:00.000-08:00

In preparation for a vision casting elder's meeting we're having tomorrow, I put together four marks of a healthy church.

What does it look like?

· It’s a church operated by prayer.

“Prayer is the visible engine that drives our church.” –John Piper, author and head pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church.

· It’s a church that has a passion for the lost, and has organized, publicized, unified efforts to bring the gospel to their community.

“Take what is in your hand, and offer it to who is in your reach.” – Robert Bishop, head pastor of Whittier Hills Baptist Church.

· It’s a church in which young and old are entwined through the biblical means of mentoring and discipleship.

“Jesus trained His disciples superbly for their future roles. He taught by example and by precept; His teaching was done ‘on the way.’ Jesus did not ask the twelve to sit down and take notes in a formal classroom. Jesus’ classrooms were the highways of life; His principles and values came across in the midst of daily experience.” –J. Oswald Sanders, author of Spiritual Leadership.

· It’s a church that has God’s heart for the nations, and is willing to take faith-filled steps to go. “Many Christians are oblivious of the most glorious story in world history, the spread of Christianity through the blood and tears and joy of world missions.” John Piper, in Brothers We Are Not Professionals.

Quotable

2009-03-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

"A vision without a task makes a visionary,
A task without vision is drudgery,
A vision with a task makes a missionary."

N.G. Dunning

Real Joy

2009-02-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

Do people go to the Grand Canyon to increase their self-esteem? Probably not. This is, at least, a hint that the deepest joys in life come not from savoring the self, but from seeing splendor. And in the end even the Grand Canyon will not do. We were made to enjoy God.

--John Piper

Patriotic? Then Pray for the Church (Reprise)

2009-02-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

I wrote this blog a little bit ago, and felt that it got overlooked because of my stupid vlog thing that I did. So I reposted this one because I feel it's one that actually says something vaguely important.

I recently just finished reading an article in the Christian newspaper that I get called "What matters Most? Pray for the Church" by Chuck Colson. It was a great insight that I thought I'd share with my readership (how many of you are there, anyway?).

He starts off with "I do believe that Christians should pray for our nation. But first, we must pray for the church."
Living in Fallbrook, the most patriotic place I've ever been in my life, perhaps because we're neighbors of Camp Pendleton and know in person many of those who have seen firsthand the e
effects of war and the price of freedom, I've seen a side of the American people I didn't see in Simi Valley and Santa Clarita. Fallbrook First Baptist Church was one that, in its long church history, might have sung "America the Beautiful" on a Sunday morning-- I know for a fact that we have honored our country by singing patriotic songs in church in the past (My Country Tis Of Thee a few years back.) Many of the members of our church are Marines or ex-Marines. Two of our elders are ex-Marines. Last Sunday we said goodbye to our good friend Ray Ortiz, who will be in Iraq for the next 7 months. Our national pride is high; and we often pray for our country. Colson's article got me thinking: Do we pray as much for the American church?

Later on Colson makes a bolder statement: "We can't pray for our nation to be revived, to be saved, to receive God's mercy; we can't pray for our leaders to make wise decisions unless we first pray for the church...Our nation is in this crisis precisely because we've traded in a Christian worldview of work, thrift, savings, and prudence, and instead have embraced the false worldview of consumerism-- of leisure, debt, and instand gratification."

He's essentially saying that America's problems are hardly economical. A bad economy is the symptom of a much deeper problem: a society that has largely abandoned what most would call the cornerstone of Western Civilization-- a Christian world view. When it goes, its morality, work ethic, and discipline go along with it. This problem is not political, and cannot be addressed by political means. Of course it doesn't mean we must be passive, Christian politicians can still help America. But more powerful that Christian politicians is God's ordained means of propagating the gospel, the only cure to this economical disaster, which is the Church. Hence, Colson suggests before you pray for your country, and by all means pray for your country, pray for the Church.

Lastly, Colson writes, in a solemn tone, "...pray that we use this economic calamity as an opportunity to teach the culture what matters most-- a relationship with God. For if the Church continues to embrace the ways of the world, I don't see how America can maintain its place in the world-- much less survive in it."

Patriotic? Then start looking at America's problems as problems the Church needs to address, because I believe it's the only thing that can.

I Was Bored, Okay?

2009-01-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

Give me a video camera, some editing software, and an evening at the apartment alone and this is what I'll come up with.

I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed. It started as a video blog (which is about 50% more vain than a regular blog) then evolved into a trailer for a video blog (which, if my calculations are correct, is only 25% more vain than the written blog.)
Enjoy.

Patriotic? Then Pray for the Church

2009-01-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

I recently just finished reading an article in the Christian newspaper that I get called "What matters Most? Pray for the Church" by Chuck Colson. It was a great insight that I thought I'd share with my readership (how many of you are there, anyway?).

He starts off with "I do believe that Christians should pray for our nation. But first, we must pray for the church."
Living in Fallbrook, the most patriotic place I've ever been in my life, perhaps because we're neighbors of Camp Pendleton and know in person many of those who have seen firsthand the e
effects of war and the price of freedom, I've seen a side of the American people I didn't see in Simi Valley and Santa Clarita. Fallbrook First Baptist Church was one that, in its long church history, might have sung "America the Beautiful" on a Sunday morning-- I know for a fact that we have honored our country by singing patriotic songs in church in the past (My Country Tis Of Thee a few years back.) Many of the members of our church are Marines or ex-Marines. Two of our elders are ex-Marines. Last Sunday we said goodbye to our good friend Ray Ortiz, who will be in Iraq for the next 7 months. Our national pride is high; and we often pray for our country. Colson's article got me thinking: Do we pray as much for the American church?

Later on Colson makes a bolder statement: "We can't pray for our nation to be revived, to be saved, to receive God's mercy; we can't pray for our leaders to make wise decisions unless we first pray for the church...Our nation is in this crisis precisely because we've traded in a Christian worldview of work, thrift, savings, and prudence, and instead have embraced the false worldview of consumerism-- of leisure, debt, and instand gratification."

He's essentially saying that America's problems are hardly economical. A bad economy is the symptom of a much deeper problem: a society that has largely abandoned what most would call the cornerstone of Western Civilization-- a Christian world view. When it goes, its morality, work ethic, and discipline go along with it. This problem is not political, and cannot be addressed by political means. Of course it doesn't mean we must be passive, Christian politicians can still help America. But more powerful that Christian politicians is God's ordained means of propagating the gospel, the only cure to this economical disaster, which is the Church. Hence, Colson suggests before you pray for your country, and by all means pray for your country, pray for the Church.

Lastly, Colson writes, in a solemn tone, "...pray that we use this economic calamity as an opportunity to teach the culture what matters most-- a relationship with God. For if the Church continues to embrace the ways of the world, I don't see how America can maintain its place in the world-- much less survive in it."

Patriotic? Then start looking at America's problems as problems the Church needs to address, because I believe it's the only thing that can.

Beatlemania

2009-01-21T14:05:00.001-08:00

Check out this awesome Beatles article. Warning Beatles Fans: This Will Waste Your Time.

Readers are Leaders

2009-01-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

President Bush and his Senior Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove, have a book reading contest. Very interesting. Goes to show you that the top dogs of anything, yes, even America, read. A lot.

So, who wants to challenge me?

The Lights Go On Every Once and a While

2009-01-07T09:53:00.001-08:00

It's a fresh new year and during these kinds of times I'm prone to think about the past. I guess I'm a little late, most people get their fix of nostalgia on New Year's Eve as they ring in the New Year. I'm a nostalgia addict. I love thinking about the past as much as I can- anything to surface those hidden, forgotten memories that make life just a little more funny. One thing I think is a great way to do this- to capture some seemingly mundane moments and turn them into memories is to keep a book with you at all times, and write in it whenever a light goes on. I have a little black moleskine notebook (what it says on the cover makes it nearly impossible not to want. It says, "The Legendary Notebook of Van Gogh Matisse, Hemingway and Chatwin. It's history lies in its inside pocket." That, for me, said YOU NEED ONE. (I must admit, it also makes me feel more intelligent for some reason.)

Over 2008 I didn't use my moleskine as much as a would have liked. I wrote poems in it, one-liners that randomly entered my head, book lists, book ideas, quotes from books and people, and notes from sermons. This year I am going to make a concerted effort to have it with me at all times. And whenever the lights go on, I'm going to try and trap them inside my moleskine. The best part of these things is the looking back on it after its long been full. Pure nostalgia.

So now my prescription is a moleskine and a pencil on me at all times. Poised and ready to capture, because, believe it or not, the lights go on every once and a while.

Redirection Here We Come

2009-01-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

As you know, a few months ago I received an invitation to go on a mission trip to Argentina with the church I grew up in, Grace Brethren Church of Simi Valley. I was invited to come along and get some experience in leading short term mission trips. After some prayer, Ashley and I decided that this would be a great way to gain some practical wisdom that we would be able to bring back to our church in Fallbrook and utilize there. We were very excited about the opportunity—we announced it in church and began raising support.

That was in October. Since then, it seems that the Lord has put up a stop sign. The trip has changed in such a way that it is no longer what we originally thought it was going to be, and because of the new circumstances, Ashley and I have decided not to be a part of the trip. For a week or so, there was much question about whether the trip was still going to happen. Just this week it was decided that the trip will go on as planned, but with a new set of leaders. Because our purpose was to learn from the original leadership, and the nature of our role on the trip has changed, we decided that we would rather use our resources on a mission with our church here in Fallbrook. As you probably know, this was not in my plans, but we are confident that the Lord is working here and is in the process of redirecting.

Speaking of redirecting, Fallbrook First Baptist is in the process of lining up a trip to Nicaragua in June. We believe that God is redirecting our focus from Argentina to Nicaragua. For those of you who graciously donated your money to the Argentina trip, there are a couple options for you. First, you can ask for your money back. We will be able to return to you the exact amount of money that you donated for the mission trip. Second, we can redirect your donation to the Nicaragua trip in June. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll assume that your wish is for your donation to be applied to Nicaragua.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we turn our attentions to Nicaragua. Thank you so much for your generous support.

This was the letter I had to send out to everyone who had donated money toward our Argentina mission trip. I figured I'd post it up here so that you would all know why I'm still in California come mid-January, for those of you who were aware of the trip. Continue in prayer!

I MADE IT-- Add on some more C.S.

2008-12-31T17:56:00.001-08:00

Sorry for 2 posts in one day, but I had to put this one up. I ALSO just finished The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis really just about an hour after publishing that last post. So make that 17 for 2008. That's 1.4 a month.
It was about the hardest book I've read all year...a deep one. Hard to grasp.

The Books I Actually Finished

2008-12-31T15:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of the books I actually finished in 2008. 16 in all. Next to the author's name is the date I finished. Enjoy.

1. Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen (2/19)
This is an autobiography that I had to read for a class, but it turned out to be one of my favorites of the year. After I finished, I learned that it's also a movie, and that the movie won best picture in 1985. I haven't rented the movie yet, but someday, I will. It's a great read about a women who lives in Africa on a farm with natives. It's basically a collection of vignettes about her time there with the people. Great read.
2. Memories of a Catholic Girlhood, Mary McCarthy (3/1)
I had to read this one for the same class. Wasn't as good. Slightly interesting, but mostly sub-par. I'm not going to recommend this one.
3. Life of Pi, Yann Martel (2/24)
This was a fun and interesting and (seemingly) thought provoking read. I thought it was going to be pretty deep and present some big questions, but in the end it basically presented its underlying philosophy flat out: believe whatever is easiest for you to believe.
4. Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, Randy Alcorn (3/3)
A modern day Screwtape Letters. Always good to get the demon's perspective. Scares you a bit.
5. Poetics, Aristotle (2/28)
Pretty much all of creative writing technique is based on this short, less than 150 page book by Aristotle. If you want to be a writer it's an essential. If not, pass on it.
6. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (4/30)
I guess I expected to find symbolism and cool connections with reality and so on, but, to me, it was just a non-sensical story that had its moments but really went on too long.
7. Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell (4/28)
Another autobiography. It's Orwell's story of his early days as a homeless, jobless, hungry vagrant in the streets on Paris and, well, London. An interesting perspective and a good read. If you like autobiographies, consider it.
8. Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey (5/4)
Good advice on getting out of debt. Luckily, I'm not in too much debt (darn student loans!)
9. The War of Art, Steven Pressfield (5/25)
Dr. Jack Simons, my college adviser and professor for many of my writing classes, gave this to me as a gift upon my graduation. I read it pretty quickly (the chapters are really short and that always makes it easy for me). It was somewhat enjoyable, but it was mostly just saying that if you want to be a writer, you have to please the muses of writing by sitting down and writing 2 hours a day, rain or shine. The funny thing was he actually believed in muses, which was kinda weird.
10. Desiring God, John Piper (8/3)
Awesome book that has gotten me hooked on all things Piper. Read him for challenge or inspiration or deep thinking. Desiring God especially has it all. Read it.
11. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Prisig (8/12)
This is simply a philosophy book in story form. Hard to follow at times, and not entirely worth it at the end. Interesting, but, in a sense, futile.
12. The Road, Cormac McCarthy (10/11)
This was a pretty sweet book. McCarthy is coming off a good year after what's become of No Country and has grabbed my attention. He has a certain style that I like, simple and concrete, Hemingway-ish, I might say, but also quite pulling emotionally. Tragic yet hopeful-- and also a brilliant depiction of our world.
13. Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper (12/1)
Every high school graduate Christian should read this book. Period. It's incredible.
14. Peace Child, Don Richardson (12/2)
I love reading missionary stories, and this is one of the classics. Set in 1960 Papa New Guinea, in the Sawi tribe, where they have never seen white skin, heard of cars of planes, and most importantly, heard the name of Jesus. In the tribe, treachery and deceit are the highest virtues. It's an incredible story of how God uses the missionaries to bring the gospel to the tribe, and how it turns their world upside down.
15. Crazy Love, Francis Chan (12/6)
This book is really innovative, with online supplements to some of the chapters and online videos that go with them. In the first chapter he goes: "Now go to www.crazylovebook.com and watch the video on there. Seriously. Do it." and then the chapter goes on. You can always count of Francis Chan to do something in a new way. It was a good book, a lot like John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life but a little less of a punch in the face. Maybe it was a punch in the stomach- I don't want to minimize the impact of the punch: it was good.
16. ‘Till We have Faces, C.S. Lewis (12/26)
You've already read my review to this. If you haven't scroll down one post and you'll see.

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, by C.S. Lewis

2008-12-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Probably my last book of 2008, unless I squeeze in a short one before New Year's, but most definitely not the least favorite of 2008 was C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces. It is not one of Lewis' most popular books-- in fact I had never heard of it before I got it as a gift a couple years ago for my birthday. I put off reading it for a while simply because I was reading other books and when I decided I wanted to read it it was mostly because I had been reading a lot of non-fiction Christian living books and I felt like reading some fiction. I got more than I bargained for-- and I liked it.
The story is a retelling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Pysche, set in a pre-Christian world of kings and queens and castles and knights. The story is narrated by Psyche's oldest sister-Orual, whose ugliness has left her unmarred and unwanted. The book that she writes is her "complaint against the gods." It is compelling from the first chapter, but increasingly draws you in as you begin to question the reliability of the narrator, her motives, and even the nature of love itself. The culmination of the book, in perfect Lewis fashion, leaves you in awe and longing, perhaps to start the book over and read it again.
It was Lewis' last book and his own favorite; and if you're looking for a read similar to Narnia but with some more depth, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it.

It's a Christmas Time Blog!

2008-12-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

-->Christmas is a time of joyful celebration. Come December, it seems like there’s just a huge change of mood. People are happy and energized for the holiday season. Carolers are in the streets, dressed up and singing boldly. The masses are excited to go out and spend money on friends and family—love is in the air. If I were Pastor Gary, I might have just broken into song. But seriously, can you feel the change? Can you sense the energy and excitement? It’s the Christmas Spirit.

I have to admit that when Christmas time rolls around I get excited. My family, to fan the flame of the Christmas Spirit has traditions. In fact I think that traditions are one of the most fun things about Christmas. On Christmas Eve every year we’d go out to my grandparents house and exchange gifts, and on the ride home we’d sing Christmas songs. On Christmas morning, my dad, who never cooked any other time all year, would put together an awesome bacon and eggs breakfast topped off with a choice between orange juice or sparkling cider! It was also a tradition of ours to go out to the Christmas tree lot and pick out a Christmas tree in the first week of December. Family traditions are one of the joys of the season.

Of all the Christmas traditions, the Christmas tree tradition is the most widespread. The funny thing is that few of us really know the background of the Christmas tree? Why have a Christmas tree? Why decorate it with lights? Why put a star on top?

Well, I did a little research as to why we have Christmas trees. I’m sure there is more to it than this, but one of the reasons we use Christmas trees can be traced back to 16^th century Germany. In 16^th century Germany it was common for Christian churches to put on plays at the beginning of the advent. The play was of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and on stage they had what they called the Paradise Tree. They decorated it with colorful flowers and apples. After telling the story of Adam and Eve, and after both of them had eaten an apple from the tree, there would be read the biblical prophecy of a coming savior to save us from our sins.

There is also a legend as to why we decorate the Christmas tree with lights. It is said, that on a cold December night as Martin Luther was walking home, he saw the glimmering of the stars through an old pine tree. He was struck by the beauty of the sight and decided that he would decorate his Paradise tree with candles. Apparently, the trend caught on, and slowly Europe started following Luther’s lead.

The star on top of the tree symbolizes the star that led the wise men to see baby Jesus. Sometimes, instead of a star, there is an angel, which represents the multitude of angels who appeared to the shepherds and cried “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace—good will toward men!”

The final step of the popularization of the lighted Christmas tree came during the Victorian Age when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were portrayed in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a decorated, lit Christmas tree. Being the popular rulers that they were, the lighted tree quickly became fashion. Soon enough, around Britain lighted Christmas trees went up in the house.

And now everyone has a Christmas tree. And we decorate it now with some of the most meaningless, hilarious things. Not to say that it’s bad, I just think it’s kinda funny. It seems that you just accumulate weird ornaments along the years and then they become way too sentimental and you can never get rid of them. We had this one growing up that I made when I was in kindergarten. It was a milk cap with a picture of me glued to it covered in glitter. There wasn’t enough glitter to actually hide the fact that it was a simple, plain blue milk cap. But there was just enough glitter to get all over you whenever you pick it up to put on the tree.

These things are part of the joys of Christmas. It’s even kind of fun to know how and why the Christmas tree came to be a living room constant in December. The truth is that the Christmas tree, however well we know all the history and symbolism behind it, is a mere addition to the true joy of Christmas. The true joy, which comes from knowing Christ our Lord. This true joy is what we call the Christmas Spirit. And it’s something that I contend we take quite seriously. This Christmas Spirit should be the mark of all Christians everywhere—and not just during the Holiday Season. We should bear this mark all year round.

I can’t say it better than J.I. Packer,

We talk glibly of the” Christmas Spirit,” rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit ought to be the mark of every Christian all year round…The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor—spending and being spent—to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others—and not just their own friends—in whatever way there seems need.

Enjoy the Christmas Spirit and let your Christmas Spirit give others joy. Because Christmasis a time of joyful celebration.

If Christmas Never Happened...

2008-12-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Take a look here to get a glimpse of what the world would be like if Christ never came.

Joyful and Triumphant

2008-12-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

After some long months of preparing for our Christmas musical, Joyful & Triumphant, we can rest. We had our musical Sunday night of the 14th. One of the words that someone used to describe the musical was "flawless." That's incredible, considering about a half hour before the doors opened mics were crackling, speakers were blaring, and we were worrying. But in the end, once the lights went down and the thing began, things went perfectly.
All that preparation for 1 hour. Was it worth it? Yeah, I think so. It was fun to be a part of a choir (I hadn't done it since the 6th grade) and get to know some of the people in it better. In fact, thinking back on it, I had a blast. Next stop: Easter Sunday.

Want a Free Ipod Touch??

2008-12-12T10:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, Tim Schmoyer, a fellow youth pastor, on his website showed how he got a free ipod touch, a Xbox 360, and $580. Here's a real picture of him and his ipod touch.
Anyway, I'm trying it. It's actually quite simply. All I need are four referrals. You sign up, and it counts as a referral to me. According to Tim, you don't have to worry about spam because this company has a pretty aggresive private policy. So, if you want to get me an i pod touch for Christmas, click here. This will take you to a website and it will ask you to sign up. Just do it. It costs nothing.

When you all come through and I actually get the i pod touch, I'll post some pictures of myself as living proof. See ya soon.

God is Huge...Period

2008-12-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

I love the Pink Floyd in the beginning. It's awesome. But seriously, after watching this I can't help but worship.

Top Ten

2008-11-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Every body loves reading a top ten list. Well, here's a list that's fitting for the season. Here's my top ten things I am thankful for this side of eternity.

10. Cheap Bottled water. Man, down here in Fallbrook water from the tap tastes like they forgot turn on the DIRT FILTER when they made the water. That's why I'm thankful for Fresh n' Easy's 24 pack for $2.99

9. Technology. How in the world did youth ministry exist before email, ubiquitous cell phones, and ipods? Hmm...does that say something about my ministry?

8. Seasoned Youth Pastors. Because they get it.

7. Bloggers who actually have something to say, and people listen. I am not one of these, but am inspired by them. I don't even know what it takes to get there.

6. Falling gas prices. I just filled up our brown car for $15! The funny thing is that people are still complaining about ridiculous gas prices ("Well, with the way gas prices are these days...")

5. Really good music. The Beatles. John Mayer. Others. I love listening to good music. Brings a smile to my face.

4. Thanksgiving Meals. Not just Thanksgiving dinner. I'm talking about all the meals before and after and around Thanksgiving. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, and I've already had a Thanksgiving dinner, a Thanksgiving Luncheon, and a Thanksgiving coffee break.

3. The Church Family. One of the biggest joys of the season so far was walking through the crowd of our church family during our Thanksgiving dinner while we were all singing Great is Thy Faithfulness. It was beautiful, not in the sense that it sounded good, but in a different, more sentimental sense. It brought a smile to my face.

2. My Senior pastor. A lot of youth workers complain about theirs. I am thankful for him. I couldn't do what I am doing without his support. Truly a mentor and example.

1. My wife. Far and away the number one on this list. I seriously question my ability to exist without her. The biggest joy of my life.

Holidays are Here

2008-11-21T10:54:00.001-08:00

So, the holidays are here. Can you believe it? They always come so fast. Here’s something that J.I. Packer wrote that has impacted me. And I think it’s timely.

As Christmas time gets nearer, let’s spread the Christmas cheer. And then, when it’s over, let’s do it again

A Close Up

2008-11-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe...And he said "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."

After this many of the disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Were they offended? Hurt? Was it because they couldn't understand? Was it because Jesus wasn't being politically correct? Was it because Jesus' words were just too radical?
In any case, Jesus was not afraid to speak the truth, even if it meant lower crowd attendance.

Sesame Street Culture

2008-11-13T16:16:00.001-08:00

No wonder school is boring. When you grew up watching this, why would you ever want to sit still and listen to a professional school teacher teach you to count to 8?

Argentina Here We Come

2008-11-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago I got the okay to go to Argentina. Grace Brethren Church (the church that I grew up in) is going to Argentina. Greg Barshaw, the missions pastor who is leading the trip, invited me to come along as a chance to learn, be trained, and gain some experience in leading. I am so glad for this trip and I am excited for what the Lord is going to teach me.
Ashley is going too. I am so glad that she is able to go. It will be such an awesome experience going on a trip like this together. What an opportunity.
We are going to the city of Corrientes, in Northern Argentina. It's located by a college university campus so we'll be primarily working with some college age students. The missionaries that we are going to be helping out are relatively new to the area and will be looking foward to a team to come help them jumpstart their ministry there.
I don't know hardly any spanish. It will be interesting to say the least.
Pray for us. Pray that the necessary funds would come in. Pray that the Lord would use this trip in our lives and the lives of the people we'll be ministering to.

We're in Good Hands

2008-11-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America.

God Almighty, the 1st and only sovereign ruler of the universe.

We're in good hands.

Thoughts of an Inexperienced Youth Pastor Pt. 3

2008-11-03T14:35:00.000-08:00

So truth be told I am struggling with the disappointment that comes from having a small youth group. There are so many reasons this shouldn't really phase me, and I know all the reasons. The simple truth is that sometimes it's just hard!
I'm not a numbers guy when it comes to youth group. I don't really count how many kids are there, I'm more focused on spirit caused epiphanies and those words: "O now I get it!" Sometimes, I just wish the youth group was bigger. Is that wrong? In a moment of weakness I googled "how to grow your youth group" and one of the first ones on the list was this. It really seemed to refresh me, even though it's kinda corny. I believe (and I constantly have to remind myself of this one) that the most important part of youth ministry (or any ministry for that matter) is being filled with the Spirit. Another little thing that helps is remembering that God is working, even though you may not see numerical increase...

But I still want a bigger youth group!!!

My Lakers

2008-11-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

I am proud. I am proud of my Los Angeles Lakers. Very proud.
When Shaq left LA with it was hard. I knew there could be no replacement for the self proclaimed MDE (Most Dominant Ever). And I knew that there would have to be a waiting stage. A rebuilding phase, if you will. I was not looking forward to it, but I stood by my Lakers.
It was hard to watch the Laker's 04-05 season. When they finished the season 34-48 and far from the playoffs it was just weird. I was used to getting together with friends and watching the playoffs. But there were no play offs.
A couple more years like this went by. Lakers blow a 3-1 lead over the Phoenix Suns in the first round. Mediocrity. And things seemed to only get worse.
My growing discontent for Mitch Kupchak hit its peak with Andrew Bynum the non-factor seemed to be a bust. I was bugged. I was deeply saddened when the rumors that Kobe wanted to be traded started circulating. Just so you understand how bad I was despairing, I started thinking that we were sinking into an organization similar to the Clippers' (drafting the Kandi Man in the first pick of the 1998 NBA draft just illustrates the direction of their organization). As you can see, it was a hard time for me.

I distinct remember the moment everything turned around. I was sitting in my locker getting ready for basketball practice when Joey Fuca came in saying that the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol. I couldn't believe. At first I was skeptical and asked who they traded, thinking that they had given up half their team to get him. When he told me that the only people they gave up was Javaris Critterton and Brian Cook, I was amazed. Who consented to that? Why wasn't it vetoed by the commish? What were the Grizzlies THINKING??

And it all happened right around the time Bynum started to prove himself. Suddenly, Mitch Kupchak looked like a prophet and I suddenly began approving him in everything he did.

And then they were finalists. I was so proud. I'll be honest, I didn't see it coming. But after a long and hard road, the Lakers are back on top, and I'm proud. They came so close to a fairy tale ending last year but it was just out of reach. This year is ours. I'm calling it now.
Lakers vs Celtics in the finals--

Lakers win in 7.

Obama's America

2008-10-30T10:36:00.001-07:00

Read this. This election counts.

Pastor Von

2008-10-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

I went on a one day trip to Mexico years ago. I wouldn't say it changed my life forever, but there was a man on that trip that people called Pastor Von that has forever been etched in my memory. Although I couldn't remember his face, I could remember his fearlessness, his blunt manner of speaking, and his loving determination to change lives.
Now, years later, as a youth pastor I sit here in my office thinking about cool things the youth group could do for the Lord and the name Von came to my mind. I knew two things about him: he worked out of San Diego, and he had a ministry where he brought people into Tijuana to clean/feed/help the impoverished. I decided to google "von mission trips" and nothing came up. Then I remembered someone mentioning him to me in an email a while back so I went into my yahoo mail and searched "von". Lo and behold, there was an email that mentioned Pastor Von's ministry. When I searched "Pastor Von" this was the first item on the list.
When the picture loaded, I recognized him. I also remembered the name of his ministry: Spectrum Ministries. When I saw he had a blog, I had to read it. And lastly when I read these words, a smile came over my face and I almost welled up in tears...I don't know why but these things are close to my heart. He wrote, after much talk about the dangers of Tijuana:

"Sunday I'm heading into one of the more dangerous areas of the city to preach. Does this make me a hero or a fool? Neither. I'm just doing what God wants done in a dark part of the city that needs a little light. I'm not preaching scared or walking scared."

Man, how awesome is that. We could use more of that in the world.

Reading List 2008

2008-10-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

READING LIST 2008
GOAL: To finish reading 25 books by the end of 2008

So far I'm only about half-way to my goal. I'll try to jam in 13 books in November/December. (Does Go Dog, Go! count?)

Finished Books
1. Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen (2/19)
2. Memories of a Catholic Girlhood, Mary McCarthy (3/1)
3. Life of Pi, Yann Martel (2/24)
4. Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, Randy Alcorn (3/3)
5. Poetics, Aristotle (2/28)
6. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (4/30)
7. Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell (4/28)
8. Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey (5/4)
9. The War of Art, Steven Pressfield (5/25)
10. Desiring God, John Piper (8/3)
11. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Prisig (8/12)
12. The Road, Cormac McCarthy (10/11)

Books in Process
1. Can’t Buy Me Love, Jonathan Gould
2. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
3. Good-bye to All That, Robert Graves
4. Peace Child, Don Richardson
5. The Ultimate Priority, John McArthur
6. Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain
7. They Like Jesus But not the Church, Dan Kimball
8. Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper

Books I Want to Read
1. The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
2. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
3. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler
5. Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
6. Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
7. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
8. Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders
9. Heaven, Randy Alcorn
10. The Seeing Eye, C.S. Lewis
11. The Satanic Verses, Salamon Rushdie
12. The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren
13. Penrod and Sam, Booth Tarkington

The Church

2008-10-21T10:07:00.001-07:00

The church is a group of sinners who are saved by grace through faith. Though the church consists of humans, it is called to do the humanly impossible.

Get Smart

2008-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

So the other night Ashley and I went out and saw "Get Smart." Yes, I know that it's a little late for a review on this movie because it came out such a long time ago, but, if you want to get movie reviews from me, you're going to have to wait until it comes to the $3.25 theatre in Temecula because I ain't paying $20 for Ashley and I to sit for a couple hours and watch the big screen. So any movie I review will be late.

It was kind of funny. There were some parts that I laughed out loud, but it really wasn't all that hilarious. I love Steve Carrel, and I think the was the actor for the part, but I felt like the part was too much nerd and not enough klutz. When I watched the TV show when I was a kid (it was a family favorite) it was always so funny how Smart could botch up everything and still manage to accidentally win. In the movie he was a good fighter and had a brilliant memory--quite competent, in reality. In the show, he was altogether serious- but always messing up.

Okay that's enough trivia. I'm out.

Thanks to the Hawthornes

2008-08-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

By the end of August we’ll be beginning our transition from Al and Katherine Hawthorne’s guest house to our own apartment. Though we are excited to get into our own place, we are deeply grateful for the blessing that the Hawthornes have been in our lives.

When I received the call that Thursday morning back in April that Pastor Gary Golike wanted me to be the associate pastor of this church, I was so excited. I couldn’t stop laughing afterwards. Eventually, when the euphoria wore off, I got to thinking about where in the world we would live down there. I hardly had any money, I had no idea where anything was—and I was moving there in a month. All I knew was that I had a job waiting for me and a fiancée that expected a roof over her head. As we traveled down late April to look for an apartment or guest house or something , I was a bit nervous. I didn’t know how or where or what to look for.

When the Hawthornes offered to let us stay in their guest house rent free, I was so relieved. I felt like a huge burden was lifted off my back. Ashley and I had been praying for months that God would provide—and, just like He had done in the past, He provided. We thank God for the Hawthorne’s ministry—they have definitely been instruments in God’s hands.

A Poem Without a Name

2008-08-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

A question whispers as a breath

of life and as a kind of death

It speculates the fruitful tree

and why it must exist with Eve

and Adam in their perfect state

they could not have presumed their faith

Because everything they knew was free

from sin, and nothing did they see

was botched with something imperfect.

They stood before their God erect,

unashamed and satisfied

to walk under the ever-pines.

And God enjoyed them at His side

It seemed that nothing could divide

the bond that in between them held,

but now- the hosts of heaven felled,

and down upon the earth, a third

confused what earned that horrid word

that cast them from before the throne,

"Was He not pleased with our loud drone?

The words we sang with our great lips?

Our songs were not enough for Him."

And for the first they tasted dirt

and groveled in the awesome hurt

realized by the given choice

and haunted by that booming voice.

And now, forever, bounded to roam

the earth without ever a home

without a place to rest their heads.

Their bitterness all beauty shreds.

To live among creation now

with all that makes their jealous brow

furrow in the unbelief

that God, once theirs, would hide relief

and force them live among his sons.

With Adam, full of bliss, he runs

through grass and shade unto his bride,

in perfect love, no need to hide

their bodies from each other's gaze.

And in the glorious Sun they bathe

unaware of jealous rage

that lingers in the shadow's shade.

In hidden, vile hearts- an oath

was birthed out of their guiled loathe.

But since all deeds they practiced pleased

God who made the Garden's trees

"What could make these creatures fall-

to fill their hearts, familiar gall?

All we'd need a simple rule

to serve as a specific tool

to draw the creatures into doubt

and force their Lord to kick them out

of perfect pleasure, doomed to feel

the pain of losing what is real.

To use the rule that God had made

to draw them both into the shade

under the tree so they could eat

the beautiful forbidden treat."

A God of love! Could he provoke

His son to hate the words He spoke?

That He would grow within the midst

of perfect beauty, perfect bliss

a simple, growing tree with fruit

designed to steal immortal youth?

But Adam must have known the scheme

behind the tree. He never dreamed

that Abba would within contrive

a plan to confiscate the lives

of image bearers- infant babes

so innocent dependent they

just wanted nothing more than Dad

to walk with Him and make Him glad.

And Eve who set the standard of

a woman's understanding love

never once began to doubt

that Father wanted children out

of His Garden, made for them

for somethine they can't understand.

When Adam pruned a lucious peach-

enjoyed the blessed fruits in reach,

no doubt he saw the cursed fruit

and understood a simple truth:

Without commandments to abstain

one would not know how to obey.

No reason then to such adhere,

no purpose for a godly fear.

Such law's existence, not so trite.

T'was made to show Adam upright.

Was not a curse purposed to damn,

to make their goodness just a sham,

but rather was a tool to bless-

remind them of their righteousness.

A truth- that God cannot so tempt

his sons with evil. Such intent

denies the Father's innate good

and claims that such a diety could

blunder in His competence-

create something that gives offense

to His own name- a big mistake.

Omnipotence, it could not make

such an item in the ground

No. No such thing would there be found.

So on the day creation rang

for the first time all nature sang

together in collective song.

And in them one could find no wrong.

All joy, perfection, love, embraces,

no evil in the lowly places.

God created girl and boy

and one small rule to so employ

the joy that comes from obeying

what Almighty's words are saying.

But at the aforementioned word,

The Corruptor fell to earth.

And so from here the story goes:

He'll take the truth and give it bows

and ribbons- with a little twist-

something that you may have missed

if you forget about the fight

he'll sing you his sweet lullaby.

So arm yourselves; unsheath your swords

and listen to Almighty's words.

You'll see the question has been faced

and still God has not been displaced.

The question whispered as a breath

of life-corrupted into death.

I started writing this in Horner's English Lit. class during school. I got a little carried away.

Walking Places

2008-08-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

So I had this idea one time while I was walking. That idea was to video my feet as I walked. I did it for about five seconds. When I went back through my pictures and watched it, it all hit me. I wanted to video just seconds of all the places I go in my life. If you watch closely in this video you'll see a few things. You'll see me climbing Half Dome, you'll see me leaving my office in Fallbrook, you'll see me walking along the Big Sur coast, you'll even see me walking--graduating from college. Maybe to you these things will be boring, but to me each little video is a remnant of my life that I don't want to forget. And though the feet are ugly, they are the things that have carried me all this way.

Desiring God-- John Piper

2008-07-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading John Piper's benchmark book, Desiring God. It took me a long time to finish and I am quick to blame busy-ness but I don't like blaming busy-ness for a bad reading schedule. Earlier this year I made it a goal of mine to read 25 books in 2008. I'm not on schedule.

But I have finally finished this one, and I'm very glad of it, because it's one of the great books on what it really means to be a Christian. John Piper has a uncanny ability to communicate effectively what is in his mind. The topic of this book is something that Piper calls "Christian Hedonism," which at first glance sounds like a contradiction of terms. Piper says that hedonism, living in pursuit of whatever pleasures you, is at the very center of real authentic Christianity. How can that be so? Because seeking after God in every area of your life 100% is ultimately the most pleasurable experience man can have. God doesn't demand (or want) joyless followers. He wants followers who leap in excitement out of their joy for their Master, and gladly follow Him.

It's a great read. And now that I'm done I'm moving on to a different book. Peace Child by Don Richardson, which is the telling of a true story of how the gospel came to impact some tribal people in New Guinea back in the 60's. I'll get back to you when I'm done to tell you how I liked it.

The Little Things

2008-07-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

My last post was real quick because I was so excited to get married. Now I've been married for a month. I love it. I love my wife.

Today Ashley was making me macaroni and cheese and she spilled all the noodles everywhere. It was really funny. We laughed hard for a long time because it was her very first kitchen blunder and there were noodles everywhere. We ended up salvaging some of the noodles-- there were about half that were still edible. The other half she gave to me. We still put in all the cheese and butter and stuff, making it the cheesiest macaroni I've ever eaten.

Married life is just a joy. It's all about enjoying the little things.

6 Days

2008-06-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

I'm getting married in six days.

Memories and Groomsmen

2008-06-12T11:22:00.001-07:00

And now, upon the entrance of my last week of singlehood, I have a few memories that I'd like to get down on some metaphorical paper.

1) The time Clark broke his front teeth.
2) The time Chad weighed more than me.
3) The time Beaty and I spied on Clark.
4) The time John and I went on that undie run.
5) The time Andy thought he could beat me in Settlers.
6) All the times Ryan and I made #1 hits. All starting will "Slapped by a Lung"
7) The time Steve $7.50'd
8) The time Myles tried to superman over me at lake Tahoe.
9) The time Jared won in pool basketball everytime, simply because he was on my team.
10) The time Brett beat me in Risk on his very first try.
11) The time Chris and I build the manliest fire ever made.
12) The time Evan showed me how to dance.

Ah the memories. There's too many more, but that's one for each of my groomsmen.

A Piece of Advice

2008-06-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

If there is one piece of advice that I could give to the world. A piece of advice that transcends all gender, race, and cultural differences; a piece of advice that is useful for every single living soul on this planet; a piece of useful advice that I ignored and am right this second paying the consequences for ignoring it-- the advice would be this:

Floss regularly.

Seriously, people. Root Canals are not fun. Last night I was under the drill from 5:20 to 8:20. That's right, Dr. Beye worked me over. Annihiliated me. Demolished me. Demoralized me.

I hate the dentist

College Basketball and Christianity

2008-05-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

The other night I got to play basketball. I haven't been able to play ball for some time now and I've been antsy to get out and do something active.

It reminded me that the Christian life is fun. It's hard too-- don't get me wrong-- but the fact that something is hard does not take away its "fun-ness".

The reason I was reminded of that is because I thought back to my first two years of college. Our basketball coach was insanely hard. I've never done anything harder in my entire life. But guess what? Those two years were probably the most fun I in with collegiate basketball experience. What made it fun? The people around me.

I think the Christian life is similar. There's something special about a group of likeminded people working hard together day in and day out for a cause. As believers, that's what we're doing! We are working through sin issues, fighting through addictions, overcoming adversity, practicing holiness. And even though we fail every day, we ARE IN IT TOGETHER! We bear each other's burdens. We pick each other up. We encourage and admonish and assist each other. We don't take ourselves too seriously because we're dead men! We laugh and whistle and tease because we are filled with the love God has filled us with.

It's a great thing to remember. It's much better than trying to do it alone, which many of us try to do quite often. We're not in this alone. Lean on me.

Thoughts of an Inexperienced Youth Pastor Pt. 2

2008-05-30T09:34:00.001-07:00

I love my job.
And here's a brief description of what I'm doing.
I'm working with fun people doing fun things all in an effort to bring people closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am blessed. I have a part in music ministry, which I love doing. I get to work with high school aged kids and I love doing that too.
And, if you are reading this, say "Lord, Help Eric's Ministry!"
Ha! Just by writing that I tricked you into praying for me.
But seriously, I appreciate your prayers.

Thoughts of an Inexperienced Youth Pastor

2008-05-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

As I begin this new career, I have such a mixture of feelings. I am so excited to get started and to be in the midst of it and go through it all. I also have a small feeling of inadequacy. Of course, the thought that I am inadequate isn't exactly wrong. The fact is that I am inadequate. To do this kind of work, there is nothing in me that I can apply to this youth group to change it. There is nothing I can do to grow individuals closer to the Lord. And because of this my inadequacy actually comforts me, because I know that God is going to do all the work. I just have to be faithful and obedient, and God will work through that.

It's something that I think I am always going to have to remember-- that God is working. Maybe I can't see it or feel it or even sense it, but if the Word is being preached (pray that I preach it accurately!) then the Holy Spirit will use it. I can't wait to get started because I know I am going to see God do some incredible things in me and to my new home church in Fallbrook.

As my momma always said, God is faithful! He is going to do his work on this earth, and the sweet thing is that he lets us take part in it!

God is Faithful

2008-04-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

It's always easy to look toward the future and be terrified, even though we can look into the past and be reassured. That's what I've been struggling with these last few weeks. A look into the future was a look into the complete unknown; all I knew is that a wedding was being planned for June 20th and by then I was supposed to have enough money to support a wife. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I was not sure about anything. I think sometimes it is good for us to take a look at our past-- at all the times we were so scared about the future-- and remember what God has done in those times.

You may not know it, but I have been pursuing youth ministry. It's been a crazy story; I think it would be a good idea to write it down soon before I lose the complete memory of it, but I must say, after many months of uncertainty, God has opened a door. I've accepted a youth pastor position at a church in Fallbrook, CA, just south of Camp Pendleton. Ashley and I are super excited.

Practical Proverbs

2008-03-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a study on the Proverbs. It's actually quite a simple study. This is how I do it: I read a chapter. After I'm done reading it I go through each individual verse and put it into a category. For example, Proverbs I would put 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction" in four different categories. I put it under a "Fear of the Lord" category, a "Knowledge" category, a "Fool/Foolishness" category, and a "Wisdom" category. There are so many categories that I have made (I'm in chapter 12) that by the time I'm done, I'm going to have a great resource for studying Proverbs and use. If I want to look up verses that have to do with money, I go to my "Money Issues" category, and look up the verses there.
Not only is it going to be a great resource, but it also forces me to think about what I'm reading. There are many verses that I have to figure out what the meaning is. For example, today I struggled for about 15 minutes with 11:15, "Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure." I had to go to some commentaries for that one. It has forced me not to breeze through the Proverbs without thinking about them, cause that's all I've ever really done in the past. The cool thing I've found is that these Proverbs, once understood, ARE SO PRACTICAL. They hit on the everyday issues. This is the kind of wisdom that I need. This is the kind of wisdom that we all need! And, according to chapter 2, if we diligently look for it we will find it-- God will not with hold it from us!
I'm pretty pumped about my Proverbs study. It's true that the more you dive into the Word, the more you WANT to dive into the Word.

Seeing and Hearing

2008-03-13T13:13:00.001-07:00

My mind is vacuum.
Everything I hear and everything I see gets vacuumed up into my brain and stored away. And, by the way, my brain has an incredible amount of space of its hard drive. That means that all the things I see and hear are the things that are on my mind. The more I hear them and the more I see them, the more I think about them. Paul tells us to think on specific things:

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

It is a goal of mine to think about these kinds of things more than I think of the other kinds of things. How can I change that? By altering all the things I see and hear. Listen to Christian music, stay away from immoral movies, READ the Bible, READ books about the Bible, read books about your world. Write. You cannot practice this verse in Philippians unless you control what you see and hear. You will automatically think about the things that you let into your brain. That's why you protect your mind from the poison of worldliness that can corrupt it.

2008-03-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

This whole reading thing has been great. I have set goals for myself, as you know. 25 books in 2008. It is the beginning of the third month of the year, which means I should have read four books by now; and should be getting ready to go for 5 and 6. I will have you know that I am on track.
I have read four books. Three of them have been for class, but I've also been able to get some pleasure reading on the side. I read Life of Pi over the course of a week in between books I had to read for my Autobiography class and thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I don't think it's as deep as people want it to be. It's good simply because it's a good story with likable characters. It is my opinion that people who make it out to be a philosophical tome have been mislead; it's a good book because it's a good story. It's as steeped in philosophy as you think.
Out of Africa, an autobiography written Isak Dinesen, a woman who left her homeland of Denmark to live in Africa on a farm amongst the natives, was my favorite read of the first four. It was a required read in the class. I started out reading it with determination; I had to get through the book-- I was committing to it. Ten pages in I was hooked to Dinesen's magical prose; it was the kind of prose that reminded me of C.S. Lewis-- it didn't matter what she was writing about; her simple eloquence and keen insight made for an astonishing account. I would have liked to meet her.
Poetics is a classic work by Aristotle. It is the most basic piece on writing tragedy. If you ever want to write any kind of story, Poetics must be strongly suggested. After all, Aristotle and his works helped found Western Civilization.
Just ten minutes ago I finished reading another book that was assigned to me in my autobiography writing class. Memories of a Catholic Childhood by Mary McCarthy. It was hard to me to get through; I didn't like the protagonist. The most interesting part of the book was the chapter where she "lost her faith." Other than that, I didn't feel like she had much to say. It was about her family life; her friends; the life she lived at school. Where as Dinesen always made an effort to attach it to the real world, McCarthy didn't, and her work suffered for it.

Anyway, I am just happy that I've been on track so far.

If you haven't got the point yet-- START READING. Carry a book around with you and read it in the 5 minutes you are waiting for your friend to meet up with you. Exercise your mind! People who don't read are fast on their way to senility.

Books Goals '08

2008-02-20T17:12:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading "Out of Africa," a book written by Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixen). It's the first of my 2008 book list.
As I mentioned before, I am setting a goal. I want to read 25 books in 2008. It's really not a super ambitious goal, but it's a start. It comes out to two books a month, which means I am already behind. I have a whole plethora of books that are just begging to be read by me once school is over-- some C.S. Lewis in there, some Randy Alcorn, and even some Michael Crichton. I'll be keeping you updated as I finish the books.

The Future

2008-02-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

I am in a portal.
It's called "The Last Semester of My Senior Year."
This portal will take me into a new world. As Morpheus would say, "Welcome to the land of the real." That's where I'm headed.
What I'm saying is that my life is going to change drastically in the next six months. For one, I'm getting married in June. I can't wait; I know that it's going to be a big blessing in my life. It is still, however, a step into the unknown-- simply because of the fact that I've never done it before.
I've never really had a serious job-- my job has always been basketball and school. Once basketball is over I'm going to have to get a job that has an income. I am going to have to pay bills. These are things I've never done before. They are on my mind often.
I'm in a strange place in my life. It's life I have a brief outline of what I want to be doing with the next few years of my life but only God knows the actual story. I'm just one of his characters that he's developing. It can be a scary place, but it's good. It's like being led through the darkness by a hand and a voice that you trust more than anything in the world. It really gets scary when I stop listening to His voice and pull my hand from His.
I can't wait to see where I end up. I'll keep you posted-- that is, if you keep reading my blog.

Happy and Inspired

2008-02-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

The title of this blog is a lame pun, so let me explain.
The fact that I had created and effectively sustained a blog for some time last year randomly came back to my mind today as I was checking my email. I decided I'd log in for some reminicsing of the good ol' days when I used to blog nearly every day about the interests in my life. I have something like five people on my blogroll, one of them being Happy Gilmore's consistent, up-to-date blog titled "The Happy Couple." I decided to stop by for a read.

The article with the big list of books caught my eye. It turned out to be a list of the 47 books he read over 2007. Although he failed in accomplishing his goal of 50 books, he succeeded in inspiring me to make a similar goal. Not only that, but also to keep up with my blogging.

Happy, thanks for inspiring me.

I'm back.

School's Back

2007-08-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here on my computer procrastinating. I know what you're thinking: "Procrastinating? How? School hasn't even started yet!" Well here are the many ways that I am procrastinating right NOW:
1) a D.S. that I started during the second semester of last year is what I am supposed to be working on NOW...
2) I need to go to the gym sometime today...I'll go later
3) I need to do my laundry and pack for school cause I'm moving in tomorrow...

Man as I'm writing this list it's making me stressed. Gotta go.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER

2007-05-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Okay. Sorry. Jeez. I didn't know my Beatles obsession would disappoint so many of my readers (I know there are lots of you). So, because you guys don't share my interest in the most influential four musicians ever to walk to the planet, I'll move on. I'm sorry George and Ringo.

So, school is out. I'm done with finals, which means that my junior year in college is over, and all I have left is my senior year. Wow. That's insane. Just a little while ago I was a little skinny freshman who thought four years was an eternity. Well, that eternity is 3/4ths of the way over and all I have is ONE MORE YEAR. Insane. Unbelievable.

So next year, I'm hoping to be living in Cornerstone. I'm sorry Hotchkiss, I've had an great three years, but I think it's time to move off campus. I'll be around, don't worry.

I'll get into what my summer's gonna be like in future blogging. But as for now I have the world to save. Later.

E

Paul McCartney

2007-04-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Though John Lennon is often portrayed as the leader of the Beatles, Geoff Emerick, observant author of Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording with the Beatles would suggest otherwise. Lennon was the outspoken "cheeky" rebel who stole the show whenever there was one to be stolen, but McCartney seemed to be the amiable, confident, kind leader who could calm Lennon down whenever he got out of control. Paul was the baby-faced Beatle that everyone loved because he had a good heart and a good voice.

Paul was very into drugs in his early years. It is said that when the band stayed up late to write and record their songs, they were given "prellies" (Preludin) to aid them in keeping their energy high. It is said that Paul took one and John would take five. Anyway, this led to Paul's heavy usage of cannabis (which was introduced to him and the Beatles by Bob Dylan). It can be noted that many of Paul's songs contain references to marijuana. His song "Got to Get You Into My Life" sounds like a song about a girl, but he's really singing about weed. In 1967 he and some other smokers paid for an ad in the Times Magazine that asked for the legalization of marijuana.
Paul had quite a strange marriage. He met Jane Asher in 1963 and convinced her to become his girlfriend later that same year. He and John practiced many of their songs at the Asher's household. In fact, the world's most covered song (Yesterday) was written there. They had a strong relationship for the next for years. Then things would become strained.
In May of 1967 Paul met photographer Linda Eastman while she was shooting a project on the bands of the "swinging sixties". After a date, she finished her project and went back to New York.
But things with Asher went on as planned. In December of '67 they were engaged. When the Beatles when on their trip to India in '68, Asher accompanied Paul. One day Asher came back from Bristol and found Paul in bed with another woman. She ended the relationship and though attempts were made later in the year to mend it, they parted for good.
May of that year Paul ran into Eastman again while he and Lennon were in New York. She flew back with him to London. They got married less than a year later in March of '69 when Eastman was four months pregnant with their first child.
When McCartney was at the top of the world during the Beatlemania years, he too had the realization that there was more to live for. As a musician, he realized that the music that he made, though great, couldn't really change the world. His success wasn't enough for him-- he felt the need to do something that he felt had purpose. Where did he turn? To an unlikely place.
Paul McCartney is an outspoken vegetarian and animal rights activist. Many of his concerts are for raising money to support animal rights groups. In fact, in the year 1999 McCartney paid around 3 million pounds to make sure that his wife's food was free from GM (Genetically Engineered) ingredients. Paul wants to do something to change the world for the better. So why is he choosing try to help animals??
I'll be honest, I like Paul McCartney. I'm still trying to decide whether I like him or Ringo more. The truth is, though, is that McCartney's values are all skewed. The truth is that whatever it is he accomplishes for the animal kingdom will burn. Everything that he has ever accomplished has no meaning unless in has in some way furthered God's kingdom. Sadly, it seems as though Paul has rejected the kingdom of the Almighty for a kingdom of animals.

John Lennon

2007-04-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

This man was presumably the leader of the Beatles. At age five he was forced to choose between his father or his mother, and he ended up choosing his mother. Shortly after the split and John's decision, his decided that she didn't want to take care of John anymore so John had to move in with his Aunt Mimi.
This only caused John to rebel.
For a super interesting read on John Lennon's life click here. It's all about John's life and the legacy that he left us Americans.
When the Beatles reached the absolute top and they couldn't go any farther, they started searching for something else that could give them happiness. John's life, which happened to be one full of sin and rebellion, always gave him temporary pleasures: drugs, sex. Though in his rebellion he sought true freedom-- freedom from the restraints of society and the social norms that he was expected to live up to-- he only found bondage. He became a slave to the drugs that he took. He couldn't go a day without getting a fix because it was the only thing that could get him through the day.
After the Beatles broke up, John, as the time went on, increasingly became more reclusive. He would lock himself inside his apartment alone and watch TV. He didn't go outside very often because he hated the media following him around. For some reason, he liked to watch televangelists. During one Easter Sunday message, John found himself crying and wanting to be saved. He wrote Oral Roberts a letter refering to the lyrics of his song: Money can't buy me love. "It's true. The point is this, I want happiness. I don't want to keep on with drugs. Paul told me once, 'You made fun of me for taking drugs, but you will regret it in the end.' Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He [Jesus] love me? I want out of hell." Wow. Talk about bondage to sin. He couldn't take it anymore. And, after a series of letters back and forth to Oral Roberts, John Lennon became to call himself a born again Christian (a great article on this period of John's life)<-- seriously read that.
John, however, was the rocky soil, for when the seed landed in him, it began to grow but never developed roots, and when the trials came, he ditched it all.
He became an old, paranoid man. He felt alone and unhappy. Some people believe that in the last years of his life he went insane. This is an interesting look at the latter years of John's Life

LENNON’S NEAR INSANITY. There were many evidences of insanity during Lennon’s final years. In the early 1970s, Lennon and Yoko underwent psychological therapy at the Primal Institute in California. Dr. Janov testified: “John was simply not functioning. He really needed help” (Giuliano, p. 18). The therapy consisted of giving oneself over to hysterical outbursts in an attempt to purge the psyche. Lennon would scream and wail, weep, and roll on the floor. “John eventually confessed to several dark sexual impulses: he wanted to be spanked or whipped and he was drawn to the notion of having a spiked boot heel driven into him. . . . Later in his life, John gathered together a collection of S&M-inspired manikins, which he kept tucked away in the bowels of the Dakota. These dummies, adorned with whips and chains, also had their hands and feet manacled. John’s violent sexual impulses troubled Yoko” (Giuliano, Lennon in America, p. 19). Lennon was plagued by nightmares from which he awoke in terror (Giuliano, pp. 83, 137, 142). Though never really overweight, Lennon was obsessed with his weight and when he found himself overeating, he would hide in the master bedroom and force himself to vomit (Giuliano, p. 92). After the couple moved into the Dakota apartments in New York in 1973, Lennon spent most of the time locked indoors. He referred to himself as Greta Hughes, referring to Greta Garbo and Howard Hughes, famous recluses. “More and more, the increasingly reclusive Lennon began to shun his friends. . . . Lennon’s anxieties were rapidly getting the better of him. . . . Everybody’s working-class hero was sliding steadily into a morass of hopelessness and solemnity” (Giuliano, pp. 84, 97, 105). He “quietly slipped into a dark hibernation,” spending entire days in bed (Giuliano, p. 129). To help him conquer his $700 per day heroin habit, Yoko introduced him to a form of therapy involving self-hypnosis and “past-life regression.” He thought he was actually traveling back into his past lives. In one session he discovered that he had been a Neanderthal man. In another, he was involved in the Crusades during the Dark Ages. Lennon was so paranoid that when he visited Hong Kong in 1976, he did not leave his suite for three days. He thought he had multiple personalities, and he would lie down and imagine that his various personalities were in other parts of the room talking to him. “In doing so, Lennon was in such a state of mind that the slightest noise or shadow would terrify him” (Giuliano, p. 122). When he went out into the crowds he would hear “a cacophony of terrible voices in his head” which filled him with terror. When he returned to New York, he became a virtual hermit, “retreating to his room, sleeping his days away, mindlessly standing at the window watching the rain. Once Yoko found him staring off into space groaning that there was no place he could go where he didn’t feel abandoned and isolated…” (Giuliano, p. 142). In 1978, Lennon “locked himself into his pristine, white-bricked, white-carpeted Dakota bedroom. Lying on the bed, he chain-smoked Gitane cigarettes and stared blankly at his giant television, while the muted phone at his side was lit by calls he never took. . . . he stayed in a dark room with the curtains drawn…” (Giuliano, pp. 173, 174). By 1979, at age 39, “John Lennon was already an old man haunted by his past and frightened by the future” (Giuliano, p. 177). He swung radically “from snappy impatience to bouts of uncontrolled weeping” and could only sleep with the aid of narcotics. Yoko talked Lennon into visiting their Virginia farm in 1979, but he became so paranoid and shaken from the brief excursion into the public (they rode a train) that when they arrived back at their home in New York he “erupted violently, reducing the apartment to a shambles.” The man who is acclaimed as the towering genius behind the Beatles had “all but lost his creative drive and confessed he’d sunk so low he had even become terrified of composing” (Giuliano, p. 130).

It's amazing what sin can do to the life of an individual. Once again, we find that happiness is not found in all the pleasures of this life. The only real joy we can have is in the transcending hope that there is real meaning in this life and it is to know God and learn how to love him day in and day out. Without a God, nothing has a point-- Lennon realized that once he hit the top, and then again once he hit the low. Hopefully we won't all have to do that before we learn the truth.

The Beatles

2007-04-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

Because of my late obsession with the Beatles, I've decided to do a post on them. Yes, that's right, I'm going to scratch the surface of my knowledge of the Beatles and what they've done to the world.
We all know John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They've become icons over time because of their music and what they've contributed to rock & roll in general. Is that all they were? Did the extent of their influence end with their music?
No. The Beatles set off a movement that defined the 60's and the 70's and fueled the counterculture movement. They came into America with long hair (we look at their pictures now and think that was long?). The hair they had then was not the norm. The music they played was not your conventional music. The teenage generation (the babyboomers) fell head over heels in love with this band. Girls would faint at their concerts. Guys would scream like girls. For some reason, this generation was looking for someone to follow-- they looked to the Beatles and followed them right into rebellion against social norms.
Now every teenager wanted long hair. They didn't want to listen to classical music, they wanted music that rocked. When the Beatles got into drugs, their fans did too. When Lennon, in the first song ever meant to be listened to while high called Tomorrow Never Knows said "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream" what do you think the fans did? Drugs, and history tells us, were rampant. Promiscuous sex was everywhere. McCartney's "Why Don't We Do it In the Road" may have had something to do with that.
The generation which was once founded on solid principles dissolved into a culture of self satisfaction. Before the Beatles, songs had meanings, told stories, or love songs. The Beatles changed all that. They began the shift from concrete to abstract. You can see this if you look at their early songs. Here is an early song called Eight Days a Week.

"Ooo I need your love, babe guess you know it's true Hope you need my love babe just like I need you".

And here is a later song called I am the Walrus.

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together /See how they run like pigs from a gun see how they fly /I'm crying "

The lyrics went from concrete to abstract. It is not the lyrics that changed culture, it's the idea behind the writing of the lyrics. The idea is this: there is nothing of true value; there are no absolutes; therefore, no one can say that one word is better or worse than the next; I can put any words together that I want to simply because I want to. One message is no more virtuous than the next.
The Beatles came to be an example of lives lived without absolutes. Each one came to their own conclusions of how life should be lived. In the next few blogs, I will be giving brief histories of the individual Beatles' lives, and their searches for meaning in a world with no absolutes.

Business these Days

2007-04-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

I put a google ad on my blogsite so that when people visit my blog, if they click on it, I will get paid for it. Isn't that crazy how business works nowadays? All I have to do is create a blog or a website that gets a lot of hits and I can make money. Like I've said before, every thing can be done nowadays without leaving the computer.

Here are Some Pictures

2007-04-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

On this blog I'm going to just post a few pictures for your enjoyment. I hope you enjoy them.

Here I'm holding Tae for the very first time. See how long my fingers are? Tae's are going to be bigger. I'm telling you, he's going to be palming a basketball by the time he's three.

Here are some good looking men. Nuff said.

Here's the one we took at the Laker's Game. No, we're not in a blimp above the court. We're just in really high seats.

Student Moons Teacher

2007-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

This would never have happened 50 years ago.

Enjoy Mark Twain

2007-04-04T22:03:00.001-07:00

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. "

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

"What would men be without women? Scarce, sir, mighty scarce. "

Mark Twain

Baby I'm Rock Star

2007-04-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Baby I'm a rock star.

That Alaskan cruise was so much fun.

WORTH IT

2007-04-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

Friday night Isaiah Kottke, Brandon Tussy, Ryan Zamroz, Andrew Penniman and I spent the night at the beach. Here's the story.
Ryan and I left Master's around 8 thinking that the other guys would already be there by then. It turned out that the other guys spent too much time at Tussy's school in Thousand Oaks and ended up leaving after Ryan and I had already been on the road for at least an hour. Knowing that It'd be a while until they caught up with us, we went to a convenient store to buy some snacks and look for a Ralphs. We got the snacks and found the Ralphs, but Penniman and his crew had just left. We chilled for a while until they got there. Even then, Penn wasn't sure where the place was; he had a perfect spot in mind but he didn't know how to get there. We drove back and forth for a while until we finally found the spot we had been searching for. To our dismay, it had been taken by a pack of high school girls. See, the place they had taken was perfect because it was between two big sand dunes and the wind didn't blow through there. Since we couldn't take the perfect spot we set up a few dunes down. We then realized that our spot sucked, and we wanted the perfect spot.
I tried to make a fire for a while but every time it'd get going the wind would pick up and snuff it out. All we were getting was smoke. I eventually came up with an ingenius idea to make a log-cabin looking design with the firewood. We had paper as the foundation. Penn made a firewood hotdog as he called it (a piece of wood wrapped in newspaper) and set it in the middle on fire. It worked! The wind could not blow that sucker out. Right when our fire had been built and was sustaining itself, the high school girls left. So everyone decided to go down to their spot. I was mad because I had just accomplished the fire creation.
So we set up down between the dunes, got out the iPod dock to put on some tunes, pulled out the towels and took a seat by our new, easily-made fire. We talked until 1:30, when we decided it was time for bed. This is when it got interesting.
I was on the left end, Zamroz was to my right, to Tussy was next to him, and Isaiah was the other book end. All we had was a couple thin blankets and towels and let me tell you: it was freezing. At first, we figured we could take it if we huddled close together for warmth and stayed close to the fire. This was true for a while. We talked even more after we began spooning until about 3:15 when we all fell asleep. It was freezing.
The fire went out. I couldn't feel my feet. The moon was so bright it was laughing in my face. I was shivering and trying to get comfortable on the sand. Eventually, I woke up and began thinking "When in the world is the sun going to come up." During all this I was tossing and turning. When I was rolling over Ryan woke up and said, "Dude, let's go to the car." And I said, "Okay." We ran to the car and it was 5:30. We turned on the heater. Oh man it was great.
Then, Ryan was like "you wanna just go?" I nodded, and we took off. We got back to school around 6:45. I went straight sleep, slept till 11, at brunch, went back to sleep at 12, and slept till 3.
See, you read this and think, why in the world would you want to put your self through all that crap? That doesn't even sound fun! We I got two words for you:
WORTH IT.

That phrase, by the way, has been deemed the phrase of the night.

ERIC DURSO

UCLA 66, FLORIDA 76

2007-03-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

As you all should know, I am a huge Bruins fan. I had them winning in my bracket on facebook. Yeah, I know, my bracket's pretty bad. My girlfriend, though, got 7 out of the 8 elite 8 and all four of the Final Four right. Impressive right? She should be an ESPN analysist.

Anyway, the Bruins started out playing very well with solid defense, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half while they only gave up one. That's what kept them in the game. When Arron Afflalo got his third foul with 10 minutes left in the first half, I knew the Bruins were in for it. Darren Collison wasn't producing on offense, Lorenzo Mata is the ugliest person I've ever seen, and I think Luc Richard Mbah a Moute forgot what time the game started.
The Gators at least got to practice their tip jams all throughout the second half. Their size was too much for the Bruins. Horford misses a 7 foot jumper and Noah or Richard are there to finish. It was an altogether embarassing second half.

UCLA doesn't have a single senior on the team. They'll all be back again next year, ready to take on the gators. After Afflalo's performance tonight I think he'll be reconsidering entering the draft, so he should be back next year. Who knows. What I do know is that UCLA needs a big man, someone that they can get the ball into down low and have him go to work. They are overloaded with guards.

Okay. I'm over the game. Tomorrow I'll write about my long night last night. It was a lot of fun. Tune in tomorrow ans see. Later
eric durso

TMC Basketball 07-08

2007-03-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

A lot of people are always asking me about what the basketball team's going to look like next year. We're losing Isaiah Kottke, our only senior, and Lucian Pesoli who has left to play professionally wherever he can. Along with them, we are losing guard Aaron Dickson.
All three of these players were starters on our team last year, and we'll miss them all in different ways. Despite these losses, I think we have a good chance to be a better basketball team this coming year than we were last year, judging by the recruits Coach Martin and Assistant Coach Chris Connolly have been bringing in. We've already signed big man Everett Bryson who will be a big plus. We have another small guard we're looking at who's supposed to be a very, very good point. I've played with him a few times and though he's small, he's lightning quick and has got a nice stroke. We'll have to see how he can run an offense. We also have two more big men that we're looking at that could be huge assets if they choose to sign. With Ryan Zamroz and I returning as the nucleus, we should have a great starting five with a solid bench.

My Summer Reading List

2007-03-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

I wondered if I'd ever run out of things to write about, and it seems that I may have done so. I'm sitting here trying to write a blog but I have no idea what I want to write about. There is no pressing social issue that is on my mind, nothing that's been bugging me lately. It's really just been school, working out for basketball, and friends. Not much else. So, because I have nothing else to say, I am going to make a list of the books I am going to try to read this summer:

1) Next, Michael Crichton. Daniel Beaty got me this book for Christmas, we've always liked Crichton's books. We'll see how this one goes.

2) Penrod and Sam, Booth Tarkington. I have no idea what this book is about or if it's even supposed to be good, but my advisor, Jack Simons suggested it once and my mom bought it for me for Christmas and I want to read it.

3) A Feast For Crows, George R. R. Martin. I started reading this over Christmas break but it's pretty slow, unlike the three other books in the series before this one. It seems Martin has stretched his story out way too thin and now he has too many characters and nowhere to go. We'll see what happens with this one.

4) The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis. I've read a couple Narnia books every summer since my freshman year in college and I'm finally on to the last one. I like them a lot, and am quite ashamed to admit I've never read them before.

5) The Seeing Eye, C.S. Lewis. I had never heard of this book when I saw it while I was in Borders a couple weeks ago. I LOVE C.S. Lewis, not only for his brilliance but for his writing style, his eloquence, and creativity. The back of the book reads: "C.S. Lewis presents and eloquent and colorful defense of Christianity for both devotees and critics...in a collection of essays composed over the last 20 years of his life." Sounds good to me!

6) Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. Geoff Emerick. It's an autobiography of one of the sound engineers who was at all the Beatles' recordings. He got to know them very well as people, not just as rock stars. I think this will be an interesting read, considering my obsession with the Beatles.

7) Total Money Makeover: A proven plan for financial fitness. Dave Ramsey. I hear this book is great for people who need to learn how manage their money. For the little amount of money that I have, I need to manage it well.

Anyway, that's the short list. As for now, I'll be reading schoolbooks and crap like that. I can't wait till summer. Alright. Off to dinner.

ERIC DURSO

Life-not apathy

2007-03-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

Every year our school does something called Spurgeon Fest which is a week where three different students from our school get to speak in chapel. It's called Spurgeon Fest because Charles Spurgeon, who was saved at age 15 and preached his first sermon one year later as a 16 year old. The whole purpose is to give an opportunity to godly young men who are aspiring preachers.
Anyway, it got me thinking about what I would talk about if I were asked to speak (this thought distracted me from Patrick Stickney's message for a little bit-- sorry Patrick). At first I wasn't sure if I would want to pick a passage and try to exposit it and I wasn't sure if I would want to do a topical sermon. I started trying to think about things that would apply to our school, our culture, and I came up with something that I think needs to be addressed because it is a growing epidemic in our society today. This problem is a cesspool from which all vices emerge; it is a hidden pandemic that permeates our minds without our consent-- striking us at all times, never letting us alone. What is this virus I am talking about? It's called apathy.
It's defined as the "absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement."
It's sad to see that people don't care about their world, their society-- they don't care about other people, they don't care about themselves! Instead, our culture immerses itself into whatever pleasures it desires-- it's so easy, anything that you want to do can be done without leaving your house. Instead of working toward something with future benefits, we live for the now. We will watch a TV show instead of read a good book. We will escape from the world with our ear phones instead of enjoying the smell of spring and the sound of the wind. We don't have to actually interact with people anymore because there is instant message, Myspace, and Facebook--and BLOGGING! If I could have one wish it would be that our culture would turn away from apathy and live with passion. At this point, I really don't care what for! Live with passion--do everything you can do foster it, because without passion, everything is nothing. Enjoy real things. Myspace, Facebook, and instant messanger aren't real-- they're subsitutes for the real things. Talk to people, listen to nature, learn about the real world (not the world of youtube or TV) through books. Know what's going on in our country. Know why you like President Bush when everyone else hates him! Live curiously. This is why:
When we acknowledge the real things in life, we are interacting directly with God's creation. Whether I know it or not, but when I see a beautiful sunset and remark how great it is, I am attributing worth to God's creation, thus, glorifying God. When show people that I care about them by interacting with them, I am glorifying God. When I take time to read a book, I am exercising my mind--showing that I care about my mind--glorifying God. If I am learning about my world, it shows I care about my world--God wants us to care about the world he's given over to us to have dominion over. When we love life, we are loving God's greatest gift. Here's my challenge to you: the next time you admire something, stop and remember who created it. Open up to a world of life

Laker's Game Tonight!

2007-03-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight I'm taking Ashley to a Laker's game. It's probably one of the most expensive dates I've ever taken her on, but we've decided that we are going to go to at least one Laker game every year. Last year I found two tickets for ten bucks apiece. We were at the highest level about two feet away from the huge band that plays the "DEFENSE...DENFENSE..." chant. It got old, and then it became kinda funny, and then later it got old again. Now, it's kind of endearing, and we both hope we get the same seats we had last year so we can sit next to our band friends. It'll be fun, I know it. Hopefully Kobe will drop 50 on those Grizzlies.

Last year we took a picture of ourselves with the basketball court in the background and we plan on taking another one with the same poses with the court behind us. It might become a tradition of ours. It looks like we're miles above the court. We pretty much are.

We Are Immortal Souls

2007-03-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

So it's official, I am an Uncle. Sorry for the long wait, all you readers of mine, but I had a pretty busy weekend becoming an uncle and all. Tae David Simmons was born 6:19pm on March 23 in Simi Valley hospital across the street from our church. He's small little sucker; came out weighing 8lbs and 10 ounces, I think. He's quiet and doesn't cry much, but he does have the Durso fingers and toes. Oh boy they're long. I think he'll be palming a basketball by the 4th grade (I could palm one in the fifth grade).
But the whole thing about becoming an uncle is finally hitting me. It's just weird to think that he will never know of the last 21 years of my life. There are so many things that I have gone through, so many experiences that he will never know about simply because he wasn't around. And now there his brand new life is crossing paths with mine. He's entering my life on my 21st year, but I get to see him grow up from day one. I've never done that before-- not even with myself. This little human being-- who has my long fingers and long toes-- will grow up and watch me to see how I live my life; how I conduct myself. The creature conceived in my sister's stomach is now an immortal soul whose eternal destination could possibly be determined by the way we (his "elders") interact around him.
And this thought about Tae brings me a step further in my thinking. Isn't every person that we interact with an immortal? We aren't living among people who, when death comes, cease to exist. We are on a daily basis interacting with immortal human beings, all of which can be influenced toward a better eternal home or a worse one. To think that every action carries such weight is pressure. How are we acting to the people around us? Are our actions encouraging? Do they discourage people? How are you affecting these immortals you are crossing paths with?

Road to South - Part 3

2007-03-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I am officially an uncle. From now on, you will address me as Uncle Eric. And if you call me that, I will know that you are reading my blog. And that means you are part of my readership. After today's post, I am going to go back to my original blogging habits. I am periodically going to to a 3 part story like I've done the last three days, but for the next few weeks it's gonna be back to the natural blog. But, as for now, enjoy the last part of my epic adventure south.

When we reached the border we weren’t sure if we should enter Mexico. We didn’t have much food—our loaves were getting smaller and smaller. The ham that we bought smelled rotten when we opened it, so we didn’t go there anymore. Despite these harsh conditions, we decided to do the noble thing and keep on going south. We all noticed how no one cared who was going into Mexico. We didn’t have to stop at all. Justin, our driver, suddenly began to drive the speed limit. He had an acute paranoia of the cops in Mexico, and he was convince that if he broke the law his car would get impounded and we’d have to bribe their government to get our car back. “The American government should convince everyone that they’re corrupt,” he said, “that way everyone would obey the laws.”
We drove along the coastline. The beaches were beautiful and clean; not a single person could be found on them. We went straight through Tijuana and then through Rosarito. To give you an idea as to how hungry we were, that Subway sandwich that I mentioned in the beginning, remember? Justin ate it. I think at that point it was three days old.
We finally hit Ensenada and decided it was the right place to stop for the night. We parked his car by the beach and when out and watched the sun set. It was probably one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. Straight above us was the sky blue of the night but as you went down closer to the ocean it gradually became more orange until it culminated in a big glorious yellow ball. The ocean was purple and shadowy and eternal. We enjoyed it for the time it lasted. It was so much more significant because we found it.
After the sun had gone down we went back into the city to walk around. It seemed like on every street corner was a gentleman’s club with promoters outside ready to give you a discount. One time we were walking by one and a promoter came up and was yelling “CHICKS, CHICKS! Here, I give you a discount.” To this Justin said, “No, we’re Christians.” The man paused and laughed, and then said, “We’re having a Bible study in there!”
Eventually we found a nice authentic Mexican restaurant. In the windows there were chickens spinning on a spit. Inside there was a three man ensemble that came around and played music for people. Me, Justin and Steven ordered Dos Equis beers (we were afraid to drink the water), while Dave ordered a coke. I had one or two sips of my beer and remembered how much I hate beer. I traded with Dave so I could have his coke. He finished my beer and I finished his coke. I was afraid that the ice would melt and that I could get sick from it.
After we ate we looked for the cheapest hotel we could find. We tinkered with the idea of sleeping in Justin’s car, but first of all, that would be impossible because we were all too big, and second of all, it’d be too dangerous. We ended up paying for a hotel.
The next morning we decided that we couldn’t go any farther south. So, having conquered everything between The Master's College and Ensenada, we decided to go back home.
Leaving Mexico proved to be another difficult task. Steven was filming our triumphant reentry into the states when we were crossing the international line. The guy in the post stopped us and started yelling at us: “Were you taking pictures? Were you taking pictures?” For some reason, Steven denied it so we had to get pulled over and searched. He took our video camera and looked back at what we had recorded while they opened our trunk and went through all our stuff. It was funny and nerve-racking at the same time.
We finally became free and drove back to The Master's College. It was long and tedious, filled with many stupid jokes and more uncomfortable positions, but we made it. Once we were there, we all went our separate ways. There were still three more days of Spring Break left.

This is a picture of all the relics we accrued on our trip to south and back.

Road to South - Part 2

2007-03-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

I hope you didn't think my story was over-- there's much more to go. So here's part 2!

When we woke up, there were students walking all around us looking at the tent and wondering who in the world had pitched a tent in the middle of their campus. It was awkward to get out of the tent and see these people stare at you, especially when you are not expecting people to be there, and especially when you are not fully clothed.
Our next goal was to find a bathroom and a shower on the campus somewhere. This is a funny story. After we put the tent away, I went into their fitness center to see if I could use the showers but they wouldn’t let me. While I was doing this, Dave, Justin, and Steven were looking for a shower. They found (and showed me later) a room that had a paper taped to the middle of it so people could see. It read: “Temporary Woman’s Locker Room.” I figured I could go without a shower so I went up some stairs to a different gym and found some public restrooms where I could brush my teeth and wash my face. They all stayed downstairs. When I finished washing up, I came back down to find them but they were gone. And then I notice another thing was gone: the sign on the door that said “Temporary Woman’s Locker Room.” I thought to myself No they couldn’t have. I cracked open the door and heard a shower going. I yelled “Dave?” I saw his head peek out from behind the shower wall. I started laughing when I realized that Steven, Justin, and Dave were all showering in the room. I was envious, so I figured I’d join them.
When we were done we started to get dressed. I was clothed, but Steven, who was trying to dry off in with a hand towel, was not. We were inches from successfully pulling it off when the door opened. I prayed.
In walked to older men. One was a big black man. I think we were all scared of him because we didn’t say anything. They paused, as if they were surprised to see us in the room, and then said, “Is your water out too?”
I looked at Justin and then at Dave, then back at the man. “Yeah. It’s been out all morning.”
The man exhaled. “So has ours,” he paused and looked at Steven, who was awkwardly trying to stay decent with his hand towel. The look on the man’s face was priceless. It was a look of pity. Finally, he said, “You need a towel?”
Steven thanked the man for the towel and got dressed. We got out of there as soon as possible after that.
We packed up the tent quickly and got out of there before security could take us down. We needed to find the Road to South, and we did. We got back on the 5 and kept going.

The story is NOT over, there is still one last segment. Tune in tomorrow for the final piece!

The Road to South

2007-03-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

Friday my sister is going to be induced. That means that she is pregnant and ready to have the baby, and that if she doesn't have it before Friday, the doctors are going to do something to her to make her have it. I don't know what in the world she is going to do, but I'm going to be there for a little bit. After that, I will be Uncle Eric. Sweet.

My Last blog I wrote about how I want to keep my readership interested. I've come up with an idea. I'm going to post sections of previously written short stories and essays on here that I deem my best. I think you guys will enjoy them. Don't worry, I won't forget to write about myself and daily life.

This first essay that I'm going to put on here is going to be Spring Break related. It's a story of what me and my friends did last Spring Break. It was a great time, and I think you'll enjoy reading it. It's pretty funny. Here you go:

Dave Andrews, a small blond haired pessimist sat with his knees pressed against his chest behind the passenger side seat that I sat in. The old ripped Carl’s Jr. bag lying on the floor held a 48 hour-old Subway sandwich that we had been saving in case someone got hungry enough. To my right, in the drivers seat was the slouching, dark haired road scholar named Justin Lehtonen. He had a goatee with peanut butter in it, one hand on the wheel while the other twirled his hair. His half shut eyes caused him to look uninterested in the scenery around us. His left foot hung out of the window while his right foot pressed on the gas. Behind him was his roommate from USC, Steven something. I never got his last name, but he was pretty funny. He had thin long blond hair that whipped around as the air from the open window rushed through our undersized car. He laughed a lot and cared a little. I don’t blame him—it was spring break: the time when college students force away their homework cares and commit to saturating every last second with as many memories as possible.
We didn’t have a particular destination. All we knew was that we wanted to go as far south as we possibly could in the next three days and go home on the fourth. Going north was physically painful for us. Whenever we heard the word “north” we all cringed because it epitomized the nemesis of our hero, our freedom, and our salvation: south. We started using the word “south” in ways that would startle an English major, saying things like “we need to go souther,” or “we need more south.” By the end of the trip, the word south had an entirely new meaning than when we began. Anyway, we jammed ourselves into the small car as awkwardly as possible and got on the 5 South.

Our first stop was in San Diego. But first, before I get into what we did in San Diego, let me tell you about our diet. Before we left, we all went to Ralph’s to buy some food for the road so we wouldn’t end up eating fast food for the whole trip. We each bought two loaves of bread, some turkey/ham, and some cheese. I don’t know why we thought that that would supply our dietary needs for an entire four days, but we did. And we didn’t think twice about it.
So anyway here we are on our first night. Our food supply is running low so we begin to come up with a plan to get a free meal. We called several friends who were familiar with the San Diego area to see if they knew of any high price formal restaurants. One friends suggested “Mister A’s” or “Mister Hays”. I couldn’t ever really figure out what they were saying. We planned on going in, getting some water and some dinner rolls, and then one of us would go to the bathroom and call us and we’d act like the call was so important that we had to leave immediately. Free rolls, free water, no harm done. So we looked all around for this place and never found it. So, instead of mooching off the restaurant, I got out one of my loaves, broke of a piece and made a turkey sandwich and ate it in the car.
The search for food was over. We had lost; our plan had failed simply because we couldn’t find a restaurant to give us free food. We retreated to our loaves and hoped that Jesus would multiply them and feed the four of us. Needless to say, he didn’t. Now it was time to enjoy the city. Justin told me to get my guitar from the car and bring it out so we would play it in the streets. Steven found an old computer monitor sitting on a mailbox and he used it for a drum while I played my guitar. There we had it: a full band. I opened my guitar case and let Justin feel the music. He sang as people walked by and gave us weird stares. I have to say, it was really awkward, but hey, we made some money. We made approximately 33 cents.

Then a bum came up and started dancing to our music. It was really weird.
When we stopped playing, another guy wearing long robes, dark sunglasses (although it was night) and a lot of “bling” came up to us and started talking to us. He carried some more clothes over his shoulder in a bag. He told us about an Irish Pub called “The Field” just one block down from where we were. As we continued to talk to him, he eventually told us he was a very spiritual man, and that he believed that Jesus Christ had changed his life. When we were thinking, “Hmm…cool,” and were about to leave he proceeded to tell us where to find the best strip clubs in San Diego. It seemed like every time we were about to leave he’d say something outrageous. Next, he told us about a screenplay he had written that would be coming out in the next couple years. He said it’s kind of like Shrek. It was called “Pretty Evil.”
Finally, he left, and we headed over to “The Field” where we played some music in front of a whole crowd. When we finished, people cheered. I guess it’s just common courtesy to cheer for people who perform on stage, because we didn’t deserve it.
After our few songs we got back on the road, looking for a place to stay for the night. We found UCSD and drove around until we found a secluded area surrounded by trees. We set up a tent there and went to sleep. It was a cheap and easy place to sleep.

Readership

2007-03-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

I haven 't figured out how to see if people are actually reading my blog, or if they have left a comment how to read it, but I've heard that I've got a reader. I got one, baby. I'm not sure if this is going to be a one time deal, where he was just surfing along and found my blog, but now that I've got someone that I can call my "readership" I feel somewhat established.
So, now that I have my readership I feel like I need to do something that will cause readers to want to come back for more. Like, I was thinking maybe I could write some continuing story and every time I sit down to write in my blog it could be a little thing about me and my day and then a little bit of a story. Or maybe I could make my blogs completely fiction, like a fictional journal entry that ends up being some sweet story. Anyway, the point is that I want to satisfy my readership. Yes, that's you Penn, as far as I know.

So sorry I missed a couple days. It was Spring Break and I was busy doing fun things. Hopefully now that I'm at school I will develop a more consistent blogging habit. I keep writing because I want this blog to kind of come into its own theme, but nothing is arising-- I have no pressing topic to discuss.

Perhaps therein is my solution. How come I rarely have something to talk about? Is it my lack of creativity or my inability to put my opinions into words? Whatever it is, I think that by writing daily I will engender in myself a higher ability to articulate my thoughts and opinions and write them with effective rhetoric value. Flannery O'Connor said she owes her desk 2 hours a day. That meant that every day of her adult life she wrote for at least two hours. Now, the stranger thing is to realize that they didn't have computers when she wrote her stories. She would sit down at her desk, get out a pen and start writing. Two hours of that! That's just too much man. My hand would start to hurt and I'd put down my pen and start thinking about how sick Amare's bash last night was. That's the darn problem with a society these days. We're bombarded by so much entertainment it becomes the center of all our meanderings. Where people of the 18th century would meander on the latest Shakespeare they read-- simply because it was what they had been entertaining themselves with it--we dwell on who was voted out on last week's American Idol. Entertainment of the 18th century is now homework for the modern college student. Now, we're getting to the point where we study movies (Film History I&II). Fifty years from now I can see one of my peers as a professor in college teaching the art of crashing weddings. I've heard it said before, and I'll say it now: WE'RE ENTERTAINING OURSELVES TO DEATH!

--two coins--ERIC DURSO

Have I been forgetting to Put titles up here?

2007-03-14T17:04:00.001-07:00

Today there was a little bit of a scare. My sister called me and I could tell by her voice that she was fighting off tears and she told me that something was wrong with baby Tae's heartbeat and she was scared and she was being transferred from the place where she does her usual checkup to an actual hospital. So, I went over to see her (which, by the way, was a huge hassel because I had no idea that she had been transferred. I felt like Woodward and Bernstein) and she was laying in a hospital bed with straps around her belly holding things that somehow meaured Tae's heartbeat. The nurse eventually came in and said that she was 99.9% sure that everything would be fine, and that this was just a precautionary procedure. I called my parents, who were out camping near Point Mugu, and they packed up and left to come home to see her. Natalia was embarrassed for making a big deal out of something that turned out to be very small, but it's normal for those kind of things to happen to first timers, I assume. I stayed there for about 45 minutes and Jessica came in and talked to her, and then finally my parents made it. Everything was fine when I left.

It kind of made me think of what kind of husband I'm going to be. If I'm around I'm going to be pretty on top of things. I'll be making sure nurses are around and that everything is under control. A couple of times when we were in the room, a beep would go off signaling that Tae's Beats Per Minute were very low. The beeping would keep going on and there would be no nurse or any one to do anything about it. If my wife were laying on that bed and my son's heart wasn't beating like it should, I wouldn't let anything go unnoticed, nor would I let a beeping go unchecked. I'd get that nurse in there to make sure that it's okay every time I felt like it. Who cares if I'm being irrational.

Anyway, that was the big event of the day. That and how I set up a couple arrangements to pick up fish tanks on Craigslist. I'm gonna be picking up a 55 gallon with a stand, 2 filters, a pump, a light, and with gravel. I was pretty pumped about that. All I did was put a post up saying: "i want a FISH TANK" and I got two phone calls and two emails from people ready to sell their tanks. Sweet, I know. I was supposed to go pick those aquariums up but I called the guy and he said that he couldn't do it now-- he lives on a Navy Base or something like that and it'd be a big hassle to get me on base. So I'm gonna wait till next weekend or something so I could do it with Ashley.

I'm very hungry now. I'm gonna go eat a beef pot pie. THey are GOOD.
signing off-- this is eric durso

2007-03-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I need to write something every day. That, and I need to read something every day. Not just textbooks or assigned reading for school, but something outside of my cirriculum. Reading strengthens the mind; it enables it to think because reading is a thinking task. Television is a passive activity-- one can actually not doing any amount of thinking. We are a culture that likes to "turn off your mind relax and float downstream."
I want to do things from now on that excerise the mind. Read. Write. Make music. Listen to classical music and actually study it.
This is why I am against i-pods. Our generation has discovered a new dimension: "i-pod land" is what I call it. It's a dimension that tunes out all natural sounds of beauty and isolates oneself from any normal kind of passerby communication. No more "Hello, what a beautiful day, huh?" Now, if you have any free time to walk from one class to another you have to do one of two things: talk on your cell phone or get lost in a magical world where you don't to acknowledge anyone else's existence and you can avoid having to think about the real world. I-pods are another contributing factor to this Isolationism Movement. Nowadays, you can do whatever you want without leaving your Mac.
Keep your mind turned on. Read a short story. Take those earbuds out of your ears.

2007-03-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

I should make a rule that I am not alloud to delete what I've written in here. I sometimes write sentences or entire paragraphs or start new ideas and then delete them because I don't want to spend the time going into them. Okay, here's my new blogger rule: the only time I am allowed to press backspace is when I have misspelled a word and I need to fix it. Other than that I am not allowed to delete anything. So, there you have it: an entrance into the mind of Eric Durso--uncensored. Hope you enjoy.

I have a course that I'm taking as a directive studies course which means I pretty much do everything on my own time. That is probably never a good idea for me because I procrastinate like a mother. (Right there I wanted to delete the word "mother" and come up with a better, funnier thing to say, but kept the first law of my blog [listed above] and kept it). I always start things at the last minute, but, since it is spring break, I think I'm going to try and get ahead on this Rhetorical Criticism class. Sadly, the very fact that I'm writing this blog right now is because I am procrastinating. I got out my computer to start this thing and then I went to blogger and started writing. I suck at this, man. I need to get on top of things, I guess.

Anyway, I think I should go now. I really, really should start this D.S.
Holla at ya later

My First Blog-An Introduction

2007-03-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

I think if I understood the fact that everything I write doesn't need to be a masterpiece I would have started a blog a while ago. It's strange, I have this weird feeling that whenever I sit down to type something-- anything-- It needs to be a perfect, witty, flowing river of beautiful words so cleverly knitted together that it causes readers to smile or laugh or think or cringe.
I also didn't start a blog until now because I felt that whoever writes a blog should have something important to say. Well, I probably shouldn't tell you this if you are reading my blog, but I really don't have anything important to say. The title of my blog A Day in the Life is stolen from the most influential Beatles song ever written and I think it really sums up what this blog is going to be. I can't really say for sure, I guess, perhaps as I mature my blog will evolve into something different; I can't say what it will turn into, but perhaps it'll be more interesting than this one is.
I'd like to think that I'm an interesting person. I love my life, I love my family, I love my girlfriend. I have so many things in my life that I love. I like to enjoy things. I like to create things. I'm a pretty creative guy. I have a different sense of humor-- I love word humor. In the movie "Stranger than Fiction" I laughed out loud when Harold Crick said his favorite word was interger even though there's no inside joke there. That kind of stuff is just funny to me. My writing will probably operate in conjunction with my mood; sometimes I am a great writer with perfect and appropriate words flowing out of my fingertips onto the computer screen; other times I look for words in every corner in my brain and can only come up with "thing."
Anyway, I'm starting one simply because I love to write. It's a release, it's something to create. It's a way for me to feel like I have a voice in the world, even if no one wants to listen.
Hopefully I'll be doing this pretty frequently, maybe I'll even get someone to read this.

So. You want to know more about me? I guess I'm hard to know; at least that's what some people say. I'm a Christian first, and unfortunately I am going to have to clarify that statement because just about every middle class white American will call himself a Christian. I believe that this planet/solar system/galaxy/universe could not have come into existence without a higher being-- a God. All evidence points toward a creator. The Bible has proven itself to be a reliable foundation for living because it is that the creators truth given to his creation: us. The Bible is the most translated book in history; it has the most original manuscripts-- more than any other document of antiquity by thousands-- and it's principles have changed lives for thousands of years. The apostle who wrote the books died for their cause--why would they do this if they didn't really believe in Christ? They spent all their time with Jesus, you'd think they'd know if he was lying. But they were tortured for the sake of Christ and became the foundation of which the Church was built. I think I can trust that whatever message these guys were trying to send us is the truth. Afterall, has anyone found evidence that Christ didn't raise from the dead?

I'm kind of passionate about that subject, after all, it's the only thing that transcends this life. We all know this life is temporary; that's a given. That means whatever comes after this life is worth looking into. If you don't believe in anything, you'd better start figuring out what you believe about life after death. If there is an eternal life, there is nothing on this earth that should hold us back from finding out what it is and attaining it.

I go to The Master's College in Santa Clarita. I play basketball and write short stories. I've written only four so far, but I think some of them are okay. I think there should be a website similar to a blogging website that allows amatuer writers to post their short stories or poems or whatever to see what other people think of them. Maybe I should create something like that.
Okay, Now I have to go.
Bye.