The Cost of Discipleship

I read a verse today. I didn't like it at first. It convicted me, it was a challenge, and it was extremely hard to swallow. But it completely changed my life. In the Gospel of Luke, a large crowd is gathering around Jesus, and He says to them in chapter 14, verse 33: "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." I was immediately taken back when I read this. How could I have missed this before? Surely, Jesus could not be serious, could He? I began trying to find a loophole, looking for someway that I could say that this particular verse didn't apply to me. But I couldn't find one. No matter what I did, or where I turned, this verse was still in front of me. I couldn't evade it.

Yes, of course I want to be Christ's disciple. Of course I want to have a relationship with Him, where He teaches, and comforts, and loves me. But I have to give up everything in order to have that? Giving up everything is hard! And it was at this point, when I was debating within me this cost and how large it was, that I realized just how much like the rich, young ruler in Luke 18 I really am.

"When Jesus heard this, He said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.' When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.'"  -Luke 18:22-23

Before, when I read this story, I would subconsciously condemn this guy, thinking that I was nothing like him, and nod with agreement with Jesus. But now I get it. I am just like the rich man, and I have never seen it before. And I am certain that I am not the only one. What does it say about our hearts when we have a debate within ourselves as to whether we should truly listen to this verse, or not? How have I become so attached to these transient things around me that the ultimatum by Christ to be His disciple scares me? But the key word here is 'transient'.

The things of this world, they will not last. It's all a vapor. But a relationship with Christ, that is something that is eternal.  And when my eyes were opened to this fact in light of Christ's ultimatum, I realized how much of a fool I would be than to choose other than Christ. Jim Elliot said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Who wouldn't choose something of eternal value over something trivial that will fade?

And so, I had a choice to make. Would I choose Christ, or would I choose my things? Would I choose Christ, or would I choose what gave me a false sense of control and security? Would I choose Christ, the One who never fades, and who loves me more than I could ever hope to love Him back, or would I choose the transient, cold vapors of this life? And so, I chose Christ. I will desire a relationship with Him, and to truly be His disciple above all else, and will therefore, give everything up to follow Him. He can have it because I want Him more, and I cannot keep it.

 I'm gonna need Your help on this, Lord.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." -Matthew 13:44-45

Things Not to Do in Prison

I've had the awesome opportunity for a while now to help out in juvee on Wednesday nights, and as a result I've learned a ton of different things regarding my faith and how to share it with others. However, there are other things that I've learned as well which, though aren't as important as the spiritual lessons, are nonetheless important lessons to grasp, especially if you're going to be spending much time there, or if you value your physical well being. Here they are.

1. State your opinion about how ugly tattoos are -especially when the guy right next to you is called Tattoo, and for good reason.

2. Mention that your favorite TV show is 'Prison Break' - it makes the guards nervous.

3. Act nervous - they can smell fear you know.

4. Accidentally step on a guy named Viper's shoes - Ever.

5. Forget that 90% of the guys in there come from a martial art background - and the other 10% are the size of rabid gorillas

6. Get within 20 feet of the guy with the toothbrush that tapers to a point - unless, of course, you don't mind going through the rest of your life with the nickname 'Stitches'.

7. Assume anything - it makes you look stupid

8. Make sudden movements - unless you enjoy being at the bottom of a dog pile.

9. Say pit bulls are ugly and stupid - because for some reason, everybody in there has one and is very attached.

10. Ask the guy why he has tear drops tattooed on his face

11. Not realize that inmates are the real life version of MacGyver - it's amazing what you can do with a tube of toothpaste and an eraser.

12. Not bring food with you - or you won't leave with 20 new friends.

They say that the best kind of lesson to learn, is the one you learn from somebody else's mistake. By following these tips, you'll be well on your way to being able to avoid the 'minor' setbacks that can be caused by a broken femur or lacerated forearm, as well as not being viewed as weird by those inside. I'm looking forward to getting to hang out with the guys again this coming year, and as I learn new lessons (and hopefully, as they do too), I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Greatest Quotes of Fall '11

The semester has finally come to an end, and in order to give somewhat of a taste as to how things have been on campus lately, all semester long I've been keeping track of the greatest quotes and conversations of this past fall. Here are a few of them. I hope you enjoy.

• "Man, what I wouldn't do for a sweet pastry right now."
• "You peed in my pants!"
• "In this jar is a lateral meniscus. I'm going to pass it around for all to see. It came from my right knee." (This same professor later passed around a rod that had been in her spine.)
• "We made 300 egg sandwiches a day. It was gonna be an empire."
• "Why am I always attracted to married women? I'm like James Bond."
• "People used to do that to the monkeys back home. They'd inject vodka into an orange, and wait for a monkey to eat it."
• "I'm gonna give you a best friend hug."
• Russel-"What class you writing a paper for?"  Me-"Exercise leadership."  Russel-"You have a class on casting out demons?"
• "We did have one guy that just smelled horrible. He walked into the room, and I thought to myself, 'Ohh, you're poor.'"
• "What's a good song to play on his computer for when he gets back? How about 'I'm a sinner and I need Jesus'?
• "You. Me. Bucket of chicken. Snowflex."
• Mom-"Happy birthday Granny! You're 95!" Granny-"Well, happy birthday to you too!" Mom-"Uhh, thanks!"
• "Ewww. There's a leaf in my salad."

The Answer

The semester is finally over, and it's been an awesome one. And though I feel like Christmas kind of came at an inconvenient time, I'm glad to see that the Holy Spirit is definitely working in that juvee, and who knows, maybe a month off will give the guys plenty of time to process what we've been telling them all semester. I've definitely seen more of a genuine interest in Christ this past semester than I did last year. There's three guys in particular that are extremely close to accepting Christ as Savior, and I just wish that we could talk to them a little more before the break. I've also started to further realize the backgrounds these guys are coming from. I understood before that things hadn't been the greatest for them, but now I'm starting to understand some of the details. Most of the guys have been in a center like their current one before, most only have their mom around anymore, most have backgrounds in drugs, and many even have their own families (It can be kind of hard to not act surprised when you're asking the guys for prayer requests, and they ask you to pray for their little girls-especially if the dad is maybe 17).

These guys have been through a lot, and to be honest, many have nowhere else to go. They've hit rock bottom, and things don't look like they'll ever turn around. But that is where Christ comes in. I've seen Him radically change the lives of people around me, as well as mine, and I know He can do it again for these guys. They want to change. Believe it or not, they don't want to be in an institution like that for the rest of their lives. They want to change, they want freedom, they want to live for something, a life with meaning, and they're desperate for answers, as to how to obtain these things. Which is how they end up in there. They try to fill these voids with drugs, gangs, theft and they don't realize it's temporary and it's leading them places they don't want to go until it's too late.

And now, now that they've come to terms with where they're at, they realize that there's got to be an answer that satisfies. An answer that truly fills, and leads to true freedom. And it's the same God who led His people across the Red Sea, who can lead these guys to true freedom as well. That's the answer they're looking for. I just pray they see that soon.

More Proof That God is a Practical Joker

A friend of mine brought up the subject of God's humor the other day, and I couldn't help but think about this. I've had some more time to think about it now, and I think I've come up with even more definitive proof, some of which is based on personal experience (try to guess which), that God is a practical joker.

1. Your house doesn't make weird noises until you're home alone- and it's night, and there's a thunderstorm, and the power's out.

2. People that are terrified of flying end up in the plane that hits turbulence - and the people with weak stomachs end up sitting beside them.

3. It rains more on weekends than weekdays- you know that event you had planned? Forget about it.

4. God convicts you to help a little old lady move her firewood - and then He puts a spider the size of a pumpkin under the first log you grab.

5. People love to swim. - Sharks do too.  'nuff said.

6. Make plans - as the saying goes, if you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans. And then sit back and watch as He hopelessly destroys them. Kind of like when your brother kicks over the sand castle you just made.

7. Have you ever dropped your keys in the toilet? -Yeah, God did that.

8. Nightmares - considering nyctophobia (fear of the dark) is one of the most common and shared fears known to man, I consider this playing dirty. Apparently, it's just not enough to get you when you're awake. Everyone knows that the best practical jokes are played when the victim is completely unsuspecting. And when is one more unsuspecting than when they're asleep? Just when you think you're safe, BOOM, you're running down a hallway with the boogeyman chasing you. And your shoes are made of cinder blocks.

9. You're playing disc golf with your brother and he throws the frisbee right in the middle of a road construction crew - whom are all wearing orange jumpsuits and have a cop standing close to them. You can imagine the feeling a 16 year old guy and his little brother get as they watch their frisbee mysteriously drift away from the intended target and land in the middle of a bunch of convicts.

10. Your seat comes unbuckled at the top of the hill of a rollercoaster - and it's your first one. Luckily, God loves you enough to have your friend who is roughly the size of a small gorilla sitting next to you. That way he can hold you down as you fly through the air of your cart.

Once again, I say that the evidence still points to the fact that God is a practical joker. And the scary thing is that sooner or later, I'm going to have even more examples, and not from just thinking about it either. Nope, He's going to get me. And rest assured (or maybe not, considering #8), that when it happens, that He's gonna get me good.

An Update

So juvee has been awesome so far this year. We're growing closer with the guys, they're expressing a ton of interest in Christ, and the guys have all been really cool. I haven't been posting as often as I'd like though, so I just wanted to give a quick update about some of the major things that have happened so far.

• About two weeks ago, one of the inmates who had been in there since last spring, and probably the guy I was closest to in there, was moved 'upstate'. I'm not really sure about all of the ramifications as far as to what 'upstate' means, but from what I hear it's generally a rougher environment. He was excited about getting to go to court before he was moved up though, due to his getting to see his dad for the first time in about five years. Pray for his protection and that God will get a hold of his heart.
• Another inmate, who I haven't seen in a couple of weeks, told me he his court date was coming up soon, but that he was ok with it because he was truly grateful to have been there (in detention). When I asked why on earth he was happy to have spent time there, he answered that if it had not been for his being there he would have never come to know God. Pray that he continues to grow with Christ, and establishes a firm foundation.
•  One night, Brandon, a freshman from my hall and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, came with us. As we were playing basketball with the guys, one of the inmates and Brandon both went up for a rebound. However, Brandon came down while the inmate was going up. The next thing you know a loud snap echoed through the gym as the inmate fell to the ground holding his hand. He ended up breaking two of his metatarsals, and was in a cast for a while, but now he's getting back to being able to do things again. He's still got some pain going on when he flexes his wrist though, so if ya'll could pray for a full recovery I know he'd appreciate it. 

If ya'll could pray for these guys and what's going on in there, it'd be appreciated a ton. There's some real awesome things going on in there, and I'm really starting to see the importance of prayer for these guys, and the results that it has. I'll try to do a better job of keeping people updated in the future, but be assured, God is at work in there, and He's doing some awesome things!

P.S. - Brandon was ok. He felt really bad though, and is now the source of an infinite number of prison jokes.

To Nate

I've never met you Nate, and probably never will. Nevertheless, you've had more of an impact than you would probably ever imagine. I was talking with Bean tonight, and we somehow got to talking about his old neighborhood. He lived in the area, and he talked about how every Saturday when he was a little kid, local college students participating in something called Campus Serve would visit his neighborhood.(Campus Serve is a form of ministry where college students go out into nearby neighborhoods and hang out with the local neighborhood kids, build relationships with them, and talk with them about Christ. In a way, it's kind of like Big Brothers Big Sisters in that the students set a pretty good role model for the kids.)

 Anyway, you used to help with Campus Serve. Bean talked about how every Saturday you used to come to his neighborhood and hang out with him. You'd do anything for Bean. You both hung out all the time. You took him on a trip with your college to DC, and would take him to the school cafeteria to eat sometimes too. Bean mentioned how much you meant to him, even going so far as to say that he loved ya (not in a weird way, of course), and wishes that you both were still in contact with each other.

It was awesome to see the impact that you were able to have on another person's life, simply because you were willing to spend time with him. You showed Bean Christ's love, and very possibly were the best role model that Bean's ever had. Thanks Nate. I'm watching as the Holy Spirit sweeps through that place, and He's watering some of the seeds that you planted.

Teacher Judo!

For those who intend to stay in school any period of time it is helpful to know a few little tips in order to survive. Learning how to sleep while sitting up, how to conceal a text, and how to suck up to a teacher are all very important concepts that just about every high schooler already knows, but only a select few have mastered the finer arts of school survival. Foremost among these skills is teacher judo. What is teacher judo you might ask? It does not involve throwing screaming "Hiya!" at the top of one's lungs while throwing one's teacher onto a desk as might be suspected, but instead is a highly effective means of avoiding rebuke and shifting the teacher's attention onto another student at the same time, avoiding the 'hot seat', so to speak. Here is how it is done:

1. The teacher asks you to answer a question that you have absolutely no idea how to answer
2. You say something that sounds really smart and that pertains to the subject at hand, though it does not answer the question at all, and discreetly direct the teacher's attention to a fellow classmate (this can be through mentioning their name, pretending that you are partners, or a not-so-discreet glance)
3. The teacher thinks that you have done your part, and now is focused on the unsuspecting victim

Here is an example:
Teacher: Bill, could you tell me what you and your partner thought about the discussion board?
(Bill had no partner during the dialogue, was half asleep, and didn't even realize that the class had done anything)

Bill: Yeah, we talked about how it seemed like a very difficult subject filled with complexities, didn't we Bryce?
(Bryce is unwilling to make you seem like a liar in front of the entire class so he goes with the flow. The teacher is now staring at him intently, waiting for him to expand upon the subject)

Bryce: Uh, yeah. (glances at Bill) It was definitely a loaded topic. There are certainly a lot of different views one could take on the subject, and it's really hard to see things in black and white here...

Teacher: Yes, but Bryce could you be more specific?

Bryce: Uh, no ma'am. I didn't read the chapter.
(condescending glance from the teacher)

TEACHER JUDO!

The Crucifixion According to Bean

As I get geared back up for juvee this year I'm reminded of one conversation in particular from last year . One night one of the guys asked what Jesus' crucifixion was. Bean, another inmate, took it from there.

"You don't know what Jesus' crucifixion is? I know, I know! They brought Jesus in, and He didn't do no bad stuff. I mean, He's Jesus. He's good, He can't sin. So they bring Jesus in and are blaming Him for all these things, and Jesus is just standing there, and He's like (tilts chin up defiantly) 'Yeah, so what?'. And Jesus didn't do any of this stuff, but the people keep blaming Him, and then they nailed Him to the cross man. And He was up there for a while, and then He died and spent three days in the grave, and then came back to life, and went to Heaven. And that's what happened."

Well done, Bean. I couldn't of said it better myself.

Sacrifice

I'm excited for my church. I feel the excitement level and love for God rising, I see people constantly stepping out of their comfort zones to help others, and have watched as people have let God radically change their lives. But the thing that has struck me most lately is a feeling of awe towards the level of sacrifice I've seen.

Three instances in particular come to mind when I think about this. I've seen a man and his wife downsize their business, in part because they desired to be able to spend more time helping out with both the youth group and the children's ministry even more than they already do. I've seen a member of the youth group who was 4th in the world in a video game sell his handmade computer and games because he felt that they had become his idol. I've seen two fellow college students spend their precious summer time volunteering to help out throughout the week with the youth group. And when I see these things I'm filled with joy and respect towards the people that are willing to make such a sacrifice.

These people truly understand what we as Christians are to do. Where they see a need, they fill it. When they realize that priorities need to be shifted, they make painful decisions. All while chasing after God and striving to put Him first. I'm proud of you guys, and I intend to brag about you even more in the future. Don't disappoint.

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.                                                                                                                              Philippians 3:7-8

Those Hands

I can't seem to get the picture of those hands out of my head. They weren't just any hands. They were dirty, stained, and roughened by a hard life spent begging and sleeping on a sidewalk somewhere. They were cupped together, a very humbling position, trembling with nervous excitement as they felt the weight of over a pound of food, a feeling which had been forgotten long ago. They were filled, and as they were he just sat there staring at them not knowing what to say, wondering if this was too good to be true. And yet it wasn't, and he did find the words that he wished to express. A shaky 'thank you' was uttered from his lips, and then another, and another.

Joy filled that heart. And just as when a cup has too much water poured into it, and the water flows over the brim, so the heart does with joy. Those hands were filled with food, till they were overflowing. And what was the first thing that they did? They got up, took a firm but gentle grip of what had been placed within them, and gave some of their contents to the other pair of outstretched hands not far off.

Those hands were held in a way that did not expect anything, in the humblest of fashions, in a way that a man that has been humbled by circumstances holds them. And when they received, they shook with the utmost of thanks. And when they were filled, they shared their precious contents with the utmost of care. And I cannot forget, and will always have imprinted in my mind and heart, a picture of those hands. If only our entire lives echoed what they did.

Sometimes Blessings Stink

One of the defining moments of the trip, and my favorite, occurred at a place called St. Thomas More. As we woke up that morning we were scheduled to work at another local kitchen/shelter in the town. However, upon our arrival, we were slightly dissapointed and at the same time somewhat excited to find that the entire building had been closed due to a sewage backup. The backup had become so bad that it had become a health hazard, and everybody, even staff, had been ordered to leave the building. It was kind of a bummer not to be able to help. We had been told that this would be the best kitchen that we had worked at yet, and there was a strong Christian foundation too, something lacking at the other kitchens. But after waiting around for a little while as our hosts made a number of phone calls, we were soon on our way to St. Thomas More's, a hospitalized retirement home that also dealt with rehabilitating injuries and the mentally ill.

I was very excited. I love medical stuff, and the idea of being able to talk with these people had my full attention. Sam, an avid outdoorsman and very good friend of mine, and I immediately headed to the third floor and walked into the first room that we were invited into. In that room we met a man by the name of Donald. He was a local, having lived in DC his entire life, a former stone mason, as well as a fan of hunting. We immediately hit it off, and listened as Donald told his story to us, his desire to get out of there as soon as possible (a common feeling among the residents there), and about his interest in and experience with hunting. Stories were swapped, laughs were shared, and we all had a good time.

Eventually, as the time came for our group to leave, Sam began to make his exit (I had left 15 minutes prior due to somebody on the fifth floor asking for company). Before Sam left though, Donald thanked the both of us for coming by. He's been in there for a month now, and nobody visits. His family does not call. He feels as if he's been forgotten. The churches in the area that do visit, quickly stop in, say a prayer, and leave. Donald thanked us for coming, for being the first ones to come and actually take an interest in him, and for taking the time to talk with him. It was somewhat hard to leave that place knowing that he would probably be alone for a long time afterwards, but I believe that God had us there for a purpose. I believe that we touched his heart just as much as he touched ours. And I can honestly say that I have never been happier about a sewage backup in my entire life.

Mission:DC

So we just got back from our missions trip in Washington DC, and it was awesome. We were there for a five days working among the homeless and helping out in some not-so-good parts of town. The trip was everything that I had hoped for. We went there with the goals of sharing the gospel, serving others, and opening up our students eyes to the world around them with the hopes that this would leave a lasting impact on their lives. And I think that all of our goals were met too.

I'm super proud of our team. This was the first missions trip for pretty much everybody, and they did an amazing job. Our students were more than happy to have the opportunity to serve others, were never afraid of stepping out of their comfort zones (or if they were, they did an excellent job of hiding it), and reached out to others on a daily basis.

Mixing pasta by hand now = ibuprofen later

How did they reach out and serve though? Well, our time was spent mainly ministering to the homeless. Every morning the group would go to a different kitchen/shelter around time to help prepare and distribute the meal, which turned out to be a lot more labor intensive than I thought it would be.

Evenings were spent in a local neighborhood working a VBS program for the kids. By the end of the week we had probably around 20ish kids coming for VBS, and another 20ish coming to play basketball, where we'd talk to them about Jesus as well.

After VBS, things weren't as routine. One day we toured the city, another the group went on a prayer walk, another was spent in worship, while on another day we did probably one of my favorite parts of the trip, the Urban Plunge, which was a way to experience what life is like as a homeless person. One is given a minimum amount of money ($2), and told to go throughout the city to find a meal for oneself as well as a homeless person, find a place to stay the night, and find a pair of socks. As you can imagine, it was a pretty difficult task, but it was very rewarding, and as the group met back together it was awesome to hear the stories that were shared.

Overall, this was one of the most rewarding missions trips that I have been on, as well as the most labor intensive. I think that being able to watch these guys do things that they had never even dreamed of experiencing before, and watching them thrive while they were doing it, was probably one of the most encouraging aspects of the trip. The groups eyes were opened, and they did their job better than we could have ever asked for. I'm proud of them, and looking forward to see what we can do for next year...

Yep, She's Probably Right

As I was riding in the car with my little sister, Maddy, earlier today we started asking each other somewhat challenging, yet ridiculous questions. When it was my turn, I asked whether or not if Jesus lives in your heart and you get a heart transplant, are you still saved? After thinking for a moment she replied, "He probably just moves to your liver." Sounds good to me.

Why Forks Are Better Than Spoons

At the aforementioned camp, while eating in the cafeteria one day, I noticed that much of the food in there made me want to gag when eaten with a spoon. However, when I ate the same food with a fork, the same food somehow became edible, if not somewhat tasty. After sharing this discovery with the rest of the table, I was surprised to find that I was not alone. It turned out that nearly everyone at the table had come to the same realization in the past. After discussing with each other for a while about our finds, these are the reasons that we came to believe that forks are better than spoons.

1) Circles taste gross - wait a minute. How can a shape have a taste? Much less taste disgusting? I believe the answer to this question relies on the shape that a spoon causes your tongue to conform to. Depressing one's tongue down into a bowl shape is very similar as to when a doctor gags you with an overgrown popsicle stick while you're getting your tonsils examined.

2) People can't slurp a fork - for those of us who suffer from the pet peeve of loathing the noise of people eating, this is a Godsend. Even if one tried their very best, slurping of a fork is practically impossible.

3) Forks don't feel slimy - think about it. Spoons just kind of slide right of your tongue. That's gross.

4) Spoons get in the way of your tongue - typically, when food is eaten with a fork, the food is on both sides of the prongs (a pretty cool word by the way. Another reason that forks are better.). However, when one eats with a spoon you taste the cold, slimy metal part first, as you tilt your wrist upwards in order to dump the spoon's contents into the back of your mouth. This process alone is bad enough, but add to that the metallic nastiness, and it becomes virtually unbearable.

5) Imagine eating a forkful of corn. -Not bad, eh? Now imagine eating a spoonful of corn. I just shivered a little.

So as you can see, forks are much better than spoons in just about every way. From the sound they make, to the consistency, all the way to the taste, forks have proven themselves superb. Next time that you have a choice between a fork and a spoon, pick the fork. Your tongue will thank you later.

Need a LIFT?

So my youth group just got back from possibly the most amazing camp on the planet, LIFT camp. It was awesome. Why? Well, it wasn't just the awesome campus we were on, the ice-skating in shorts, the broomball, hanging out with friends, or the indoor soccer that made this place great (though it certainly helped). No, the main thing that made this camp such an amazing experience was watching and feeling God move through the students there. Over 100 students asked Christ into their lives this past week, and countless others made life changing decisions for Christ. The highlight of the week though, would have to have been last Thursday.

The night started out like any other night with both a lot of people and a lot of music. Then the drama team, Clear Vision, went up on stage. The skit they performed was about suicide. It showed a young girl's death, and then went on to show what the people who were closest to her were going through. The skit wasn't even over and dozens of people had already left the building in tears. I saw some of my guys slip out the back so I went back to check on them to see if they were alright. About an hour later I came back in the doors to find people everywhere in little huddles crying, praying, and talking. It turns out that this particular skit hit a lot of students closer to home than originally thought. Before the message had even began, four students had been saved, and there were even more after the night was over, including one of the guys from our group. It was such an awesome night to be able to see what was happening from the somewhat detached perspective of a person that didn't even get to see all that had happened, only a few minutes in the beginning. I was particularly proud of our group as well, because whenever one of them left for the back they were quickly followed by a good sized group of friends whom were willing to listen.

And for all this I say thank you to LIFT, Clear Vision, and to our students who were willing to help. Without all of you and your willingness to act like Christ none of this would have ever happened, and for that I am thankful.

Through Hiker Season

It's that time of year again. Through-hiker season!, the few weeks in June when the majority of those through-hiking (going from Georgia to Maine) the Appalachian Trail pass through nearby to where I live. It's the time of year when one can come across individuals known as Leprechaun, Frenchy, Stinky, or my personal favorite, Cosmic John. If this doesn't make any sense, everybody that hikes on the trail sooner or later picks up a trail name based on a personal characteristic. Leprechaun was 4'5" with a red beard, Frenchy was from France, Stinky smelled, and I'm assuming Cosmic John used to use drugs, a lot.

I decided to set out to meet this year's most recent group in town. Knowing that the average through-hiker can burn well over 6,000 calories a day, I decided that instead of being that weird creepy guy that just shows up wanting to talk, I would hit up the Food Lion on my way out the door to be certain that I would be welcome. I then raced to the nearest, and often busiest, hiker campground only to find that it was completely deserted. Well, maybe not completely deserted. The campsite stretched a good distance into the trees and figuring that somebody would be way in the back I kept walking. My intuition proved itself correct, because I did find someone, at least their clothes anyway. The site is bordered by a river, which apparently happens to be a great place to go skinny dipping. I decided that I could find someone else to talk with instead.

When I finally got to where all the hikers were (a local hostel), I found that they were all (about 20) plopped down in front of a TV watching Tron. I said hi and that I had brought some Coke for them. They said thanks. Then I said that I had brought bananas for them too. This time they said thank you a little louder and with much more enthusiasm. Then I mentioned that I had brought ice cream sandwiches as well. At this the entire room erupted with cheers as smelly, greasy people came up to me and shook my hand, asked for my name, and gave up their seats for me so that I could watch the movie with them. I think that's the moment I won their trust.

It was an awesome night. We all watched the movie as jokes were made, and luke-warm Cokes (I looked for the hikers at the original site longer than initially expected) were passed around. I even picked up a trail name, Flip Flop! I did a lot of praying too. Mainly due to the guy beside me picking the skin off his foot and throwing it into the trash can on the other side of me though. I think for the most part they were answered. I never got hit, anyway, but his hands never got the severe cramps that I was praying for.

A Broken Bottle

As I looked into the distance as I was walking down the beach the other day, I was surprised to see that something very shiny had just washed up in the surf. At first, I thought that it was probably somebody's old trash that they had simply been too lazy to throw away, but my curiosity got the best of me, and so I went to see what it was anyway. As I got closer, I realized that I had just stumbled upon (great website, by the way) what just about everybody that's ever been to a beach has dreamed of finding, a message in a bottle.

As I picked it up to get a closer look, I thought that some grandma somewhere had recently found a great way to bond with her grandkids. However, as I looked closer I didn't see the colored pirate ships and dinosaurs that I was expecting, but instead a younger woman's handwriting. The bottle didn't look to be too old. It was a 2010 Italian Pinot Grigio (I'm not sure what that says about the woman's tastes), and the label on the bottle was not worn barely at all. In fact, it looked like it could have been thrown in the water the day I picked it up, and seeing that I found it about 200 yards from a fishing pier, the owner was probably nervously watching as I picked it up.

As soon as I got back to the house I gathered my family and we cracked open the bottle as carefully as we could. The moment that the contents of the bottle were within reach, hands shot out from everywhere grabbing every last piece of paper that had previously been inside. It turns out that the message was one lady's form of venting. My little sisters quickly figured this out and put the pages back. Within those pages a plethora of people were addressed, in especially not-nice language, stating the ways that they had done her wrong. These peoples' lack of judgment, sheer stupidity, and extreme incompetence were all discussed over and over again. It turns out that the lady had watched as a coworker who had been there three months got promoted over her, who had been there three years, as she looked on in anger and frustration, and that this bottle was the only way that she could truly express what she was feeling (and boy, did she express it!).

She must have been angry. There's over 30 pages here!

I'm not sure what I really learned from this. Probably, that if I put a message in a bottle someday, I'm going to put a fake treasure map inside to get the reader's hopes up.Think about how much cooler of a post this would have been! I'd be writing about my preparations for a nationwide treasure hunt, instead of a random angry person. However, I did learn what this lady's grocery list was, as it was scratched out at the top of one of pages. Looks like watermelon and toilet paper were on the list for this week.

Proof God is a Practical Joker

For some reason, right before I fall asleep, ridiculous questions come into my head. Ones that are certainly insignificant on a cosmic scale, but nevertheless, are interesting to think about. Things such as whether or not the creator of the pogo stick originally intended it as a means of transportation, what's God's favorite food, or what was Jesus' blood type? (I actually got into a debate with a guy on my hall with this one. I claimed that He must have been type O because His blood is for all, while he held the position that it must be type AB because He accepts everybody.) One that's been going through my head recently is exactly what type of humor does God have? After thinking and observing some different aspects from my own life for a little while, I think that if anything, God is a practical joker. He must be. Here are some examples that I think help prove my point.

1. Drinking water makes hot peppers even hotter - this is a classic example. Just what you think will relieve you of the torment that is occurring inside your own mouth due to the foolish dare from a friend actually makes it ten times worse. I can picture God laughing as one's eyes begin to water and their face turns as red as the pepper they just ate.

2. Spiders have a tendency to build their webs right around face level - after all, arachnophobia is one of the top ten most common phobias. Of course they're going to build them at face level. You know how your friends all point and laugh as you're running around screaming hysterically? That's what I picture God doing every time this happens to me.

3. Guys get acne right around the same time that they have to begin shaving - have you ever shaved off a pimple?

4. Arguably one of the healthiest foods on the planet is a type of pond sludge - positively correlated with why it is so hard for people to lose weight. The nastier something tastes, the healthier it is.

5. Your stomach doesn't make funny noises until the room gets quiet - at which point you begin to pray that God will have mercy and just make it stop.

6. Birds don't have to poop until you're all dressed up and/or you're running late - I think that you'll agree with me on this one. Everyone has their own bird poop story, they just do their best to keep it under wraps. Just be thankful it was a little chickadee instead of a goose or something. I imagine it was even worse when pterodactyls roamed the sky, which makes me a little more sympathetic towards Adam and Eve. Speaking of which, I bet that the fruit that they ate that completely ruined their lives didn't even taste good. It was one of those "HA! Gotcha!" moments.

7.Circumcision - Why? I bet Abraham was asking the same question.

8. Rain and extremely powerful wind seem to be intertwined with one another - rendering umbrellas completely useless

9. Nothing wraps around your leg until the water gets murky - yeah, see that seaweed around your leg that caused you to scream like a little girl in front of all your friends? God put that there.

10. Babies are nocturnal - the complete opposite of the rest of the population.

11. You can't get God back -  He knows everything. You know the feeling. That guy you know that gets you every time, while every plan of yours to get them back seems to fail miserably. It's the sign of a seasoned practical jokester, and further adds to the "Gotcha!" sensation.

As you can see, all of the evidence points to God being a practical joker. It just makes sense. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. I've been sitting outside as I've been typing this and just now realized that I've been sitting in an ant nest the entire time. This is unfair.

Two Nights on the AT

Earlier this week I got off of the Appalachian Trail. I've had an interest in the trail for about three years now. A friend and I hiked around 105 miles of it as soon as we graduated from high school. Now every time that I drive by it, I'm reminded of what it was like to be out there and how much I miss it. I have hopes, which may never be realized (kind of like my owning a motorcycle one), of someday through hiking the entire thing. As a result, I take every opportunity that I can to get back out there again.


Getting back on the trail seemed like a fitting way to finish off another year of college. No more papers, exams, or early morning classes for a while. Just whatever you are able to carry with you into the woods. My roommate and I decided that we were going to take a 30 mile, 2 night trip.Not that bad of a hike, but tough enough to make you feel as if you did something. The hiking the first night went fine. We started a little late (7pm), but the weather was perfect, and the coolness of the night kept us from having to take a lot of breaks. As we rolled into camp around 10:30p, I quickly remembered one of the three things that I absolutely detest about backpacking, sleeping. (The other two are brushing my teeth and using a privy. For some reason, you can never get the taste of dried pineapple out of your mouth. As for the privy part, do I really need to go into detail?)


Things were fine the entire night. It wasn't until morning that we began to have problems. From 6-7 in the morning, person after person kept on walking literally inches away from our tent. Normally you might be able to sleep through somebody walking right past you, but not in the woods. Leaves crunch, you're naturally more alert,  and there's only a thin sheet of canvas separating you from what your imagination perceives to be the hill billy version of Freddy. I couldn't imagine why someone would decide to walk so close to our tent. After all, were the woods not big enough for all of us? Everything finally made sense when we got up. Due to it being extremely dark when we finally made it to camp, we could not see where we were setting up the tent. It turned out that we were right on the path to the privy. That sounds that we kept on hearing were the sounds of a dozen bitter hikers, stumbling to shuffle their way around our tent just so that they could use the bathroom.


Things did not get much better the next night. After about a 15 mile day, we finally made it to our shelter around 3:30pm. We set up our tent (well away from the privy this time), talked with some hikers ("Oh, so y'all were the guys."), and decided to eat dinner at 5pm. Dinner was amazing. Various forms of chicken were served as well as, beef stew, tuna soup, and to top it all off, fried spam for dessert (yum). After eating we put the trash by one of the sides of the tent, our first mistake, and went back up to talk with the other hikers. One thing that you must understand about the woods is that you must hang up your food and trash. If you don't you will have an army of bears, skunks, opossum, deer, and various other woodland creatures right at your front door begging to get in (tent door, that is). (One night when I was with my friend from high school, he left a granola bar in his bag. We were up the entire night listening to a hundred different rodents hop around and shake that stupid wrapper all night.)


Anyway, as we were getting ready for bed, we put all of our food and what we thought was all of our trash into a bag and hung it on something called a bear pole. Everything except, of course, the very fragrant remains of our dinner. Not long afterwards we went to sleep. Everything was fine until about 10:30p. It was then that I woke to find the side of the tent parallel to me stretching inwards about a foot like something was pushing it. After pushing the tent three more times, whatever it was finally found what it was after, the pile of yummy delicious goodness that's known as leftover fried spam and tuna soup residue. Unfortunately, that pile of assorted meat parts was right beside my head. Whatever it was that had previously been causing the entire side of the tent to bulge inwards was now poking me in the head.


The first couple of times were kind of scary (ya think?). I quickly got up and hit the tent only to hear something go tromping through the woods and then return 45 seconds later. This routine of me getting bumped, swatting the tent, listening to something go running off into the woods and then return, continued for about 2 hours. Then I fell asleep. It's not that the poking me in the head stopped, but I was so tired that I think I fell asleep between swats. Then around 5am I woke to the sound of an army of vicious little mice chewing. I wasn't getting poked anymore, but the sound of a thousand little rodent mouths gnawing away at garbage right beside my head quickly got annoying, and so I finally did what I should have done all along, flipped my sleeping bag around so that my feet could deal with whatever beast was outside instead.

The source of my frustration

When we woke up we discussed what could have possibly been the source of my sleeplessness. Bears, deer, skunks, and even Sasquatch were discussed (though when I mentioned Sasquatch my roommate was quick to reply that he thought they weren't allowed off the reservation). In the end, I think that I've come to the conclusion that it was just a really big raccoon.


The next day was amazing. A seven mile hike to the top of two mountains, two stream crossings, and getting lost in horse country made for an awesome hike, but I've learned my lesson. From now on, if I'm going to forget to hang up the trash, I'm secretly making someone else sleep beside it.

Until September

The last night of juvee was almost two weeks ago now. It feels kind of weird to actually be going to church on Wednesday instead. It was a good last night too. We took the guys in to play basketball and at the end got to talk for a little while. There wasn't much of a Bible study that night. I pretty much just thanked the guards for letting us to be able to come, and told the guys that it had been awesome getting to know them and that if they were still there by the end of the summer that I would see them then. The sad thing is that I probably will see most of them again in there too. According to the statistics, the re-incarceration rate is around 75%.  I don't want to see them again in there. I want them to be able to when they get out be able to stay out. I want to run into them at Wal-Mart, work, or a restaurant or something (though if I saw them at church I'd probably be happiest). I also realize that the way that they are going to be able to stay out is through Christ, and one of my goals is to help them to realize that as well. Phillipians 4:13 says that we can do everything through Him, and yet, John 15:5 says that without Him we can't do anything. They won't be able to beat the statistics without Christ.

It truly gives one a sense of urgency to know that your time with someone is extremely short, and that you may be the only person that they'll ever meet that shares a very urgent message with them. The guys were interested in that message too. They had questions about everything, and they wanted to know more. And even though I may never see them again, I have a hope and pray that someone else will come along that will help them to find the answers.

A Freshman's Survival Guide to Classes

As the time to register for classes next semester approaches, I figured that it would be very beneficial to give a brief synopsis of what you will learn in each class, to help upcoming freshmen. This is strictly based upon my own personal experience, and is in no way universal, but I do believe that it covers the majority of similar classes out there. Good luck picking your classes, and here it goes...

English 102 - English classes are mainly composed of reading bizarre, disturbing, or tedious pieces of literature and then debating about the (nonexistent) symbolism within the story

Math 110 - what you should have learned in elementary school

Philosophy 201 - how to sleep sitting up

Biology 115 - how to pray

English 221 - When looking for someone to tell an extremely long, bland personal story that no one else wants to hear about, tell an English major. Their boredom tolerance is off the charts.

Communications 101 - group projects should be avoided at all costs

Psychology 101 - Sigmund Freud was a weirdo, and even though many of his theories have been rejected today, we still continue to study him. Why? I don't know, but I think it has something to do with the shock value.

English 101 - When writing a sentence that is intended to inquire something from somebody you're supposed to put a funny little squiggly thingy that looks like this '?' at the end.

Biology 114 - Formaldehyde burns if it gets in your eyes. This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "giving someone the ol' stinkeye".

Bible 110 - Hezekiah is not a book of the Bible

Math 221 - how beneficial it can be to have a roommate who's a math major

Health 216 - Smoking = Bad

Kinesiology 101 - P.E. majors have the easiest schedule of anyone on campus.

History 201 - that this semester, you will kiss reading for pleasure goodbye.

As you can see, there is much that you will learn by taking these classes. Much of what you learn will be brand new (and quickly forgotten), while, likewise, much of what you learn will have already been learned in high school (especially the sleeping sitting up part. Anyone else take high school chemistry?). Anyway, here is a brief overview. As time goes on (and I take more classes) I should be able to give more helpful, timeless pieces of advice.

How to Fit in at the Gym (No Pun Intended)

As the warmer weather comes around, more and more people begin their quest for the perfect 'beach body' by signing up at their local gym. However, many people, when making their first appearance in a gym since last April, quickly realize that they don't exactly fit in, leading to confusion and embarrassment. After witnessing many embarrassing attempts by the newbies coming to the gym lately I have compiled a very basic list of tips that will help you to be able to avoid such humiliation.

1. Wear as tight a shirt as possible - preferably one with the sleeves ripped off leaving a gaping hole all the way down to the level of the belly button. A 10 year old shirt without holes is simply unacceptable.

2. Grunt - Do this as often as possible. The louder the better. If Gold's Gym was a country, grunting would be the national language. Be sure to grunt while lifting weights, during conversations, after drinking from the water fountain, when you sit down, when you stand up, when you change the weight, when you walk up stairs, and as a substitute for the word "hi" when you see somebody that you know.

3. Make funny faces - while lifting it is essential that you do two things: grunt and make as absurd of a face as you possibly can. This helps to show that you are struggling with your weight and therefore, will be much more massive than all those other weenies that can't be struggling

4. Constantly look like you're about to kill somebody - 
This shows that you are not to be messed with. You're simply too strong.

5. Walk with your arms 6 inches off your side - This is normally done simply because one's armpits are really sweaty, but when asked why this is being done the answer normally runs along the lines of how their arm muscles have gotten so big that they can no longer put their arms at their side, much less in their pockets.

6. Carry a protein shake shaker - This is an essential part to any workout. These are generally filled with a $50 protein supplement from a barrel bought at GNC.

7. Drop weights right in front of the "Please Do Not Drop Weights" sign - to show that you are simply too powerful to be held down by any system.

8. Offer 'tips' to everybody within a twenty foot radius - See that football player over there? He's not doing those curls with very good form. You should probably go help him.

9. Wear shirts from bodybuilder.com - even though you clearly haven't been shopping there for long.

10. Tell others how loose that shirt used to be before you started doing so-and-so - but don't tell them that the shirt is three sizes too small...and that you've had it since you were 11.

11. Look at yourself and flex/suck it in every time you walk past a mirror - How else are you supposed to gauge your success?

These last two tips are gender specific. Please do not get them confused or you will suffer a very embarrassing outcome.

Girls: Do as ridiculous of an exercise as you can - ones that make you mimic a monkey, Richard Simmons, or some type of cross between a snake and a crane are the best.

Guys: A girl just walked into the room - up your weight twenty pounds.

Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of not getting these last two mixed up. Guys doing ridiculous exercises are publicly mocked, while girls that do them are seen as attractive. Girls that up their weight twenty pounds when a guy walks into the gym will be looked upon as masculine, as well as potentially able to beat up the other guys in the gym, and are therefore undateable. This is also a reason that girls are to avoid the punching bags at all cost.

By following all of these tips you'll come across as a natural, and will soon be owning the gym in no time.

S.H.E and 'the Hand Game'

Today had to be one of the strangest days that I've had yet here at college. It all started shortly after church. The first thing that you need know is that every Sunday me and my friend Dave listen to Chinese music on the way to and from church. And this is no ordinary Chinese music. No, no this is none other than the amazing S.H.E, the Taiwanese version of the Spice Girls. Dave and me have taken the laborious task upon ourself to expose the U.S. to the wonders of S.H.E. Anyway, after church we went to eat in at a pretty well known Mexican restaurant in town. As we were leaving to pay the bill, I stopped for a second to listen to the music in the restaurant, thinking I heard a familiar tune. Sure enough, it was none other than Don't Say Sorry by S.H.E. At first I was excited just to find that someone else besides us two listened to them, but as I thought about it I realized something. Why were they playing Chinese music at a Mexican restaurant? I suppose that Dave and me are doing a pretty good job, at least, that's the only explanation that I can give.

After we had finished eating we decided to hit up the local Wal-Mart for some much needed poptarts (Dave) and granola bars/apples (me). As we were walking in the store, an elderly Chinese man stopped us. He mentioned, as he pulled out a wad of cash, that he would give me $20 if I did something for him. I immediately thought, "Oh great, I'm about to be involved in some kind of drug deal". But no, I was wrong. The man said that he wanted to play a game. I didn't know what kind of game that elderly Chinese men are willing to pay somebody $20 for, but I had a hunch that I probably didn't want to play. The man said that it was called 'the hand game'. The object of the game is to on the count of three, either pull or push your oponent's hand causing him to lose his balance and move his foot. If I won, the man said that he would pay me $20. However, he avoided my questions regarding what would happen if I lost. I made it clear that I wasn't going to pay him $20 if he won, and figured that if he did happen to beat me and demanded payment, that I would probably be able to outrun him.

So, I played the game. As the man took hold of my hand, a million thoughts were going through my mind, most of them involving how this man was probably about to play some cruel practical joke on me and throw me to the ground like some sort of ninja. (You would have thought this too if an elderly Asian man had just grabbed your hand laughing the entire time.) The man counted to three, and with a slight twinge of guilt, I yanked the old man behind me. However, he said that I cheated (of course), and that my foot had moved when I yanked him. So, we played again. This time, deciding to show the old man who's a cheater, I decided to push, although now that I think about it, I would've felt really bad if I had pushed an old man onto the ground. Sadly, as I pushed, the man pulled, and I lost my balance and moved my foot. The old man thought this was hilarious and began asking me "What happened? What happened? Your foot went like this! (as he points to his feet and acts like a ballerina)."

I laughed as well, mainly because Dave was cracking up, and told the man that I thought he cheated on the first round. The man laughed and let me go. Then as we walked away I began to wonder where that had come from. Is this some kind of game that old people like to play just for kicks? I still had my wallet, I hadn't been thrown to the ground/mugged, and I hadn't been swindled out of any money. I guess he just likes challenging people to a epic round of the hand game. I don't know what exactly his intentions were, but what I do know is this. Next time, I'm gonna win.

What Does the Bible Say?

As I was looking up a verse online the other day, I stumbled across my long forgotten, yet favorite verse search engine. It contains relevant information on many pertinent subjects to life. You simply type in what you want to know about, and out comes a relevant Bible verse. Here is what the Bible says on a few.

Twinkies
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.


Pie
2 Corinthians 11:14
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.


Boogers
1 Corinthians 6:12
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything.


Eggs
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.


Football
Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.



As you can see, apparently there are a plethora of subjects talked about in the Bible that I never knew about. Some of these verses are very helpful too. I find comfort in the fact that I'll never be enslaved by an army of rogue boogers, that my being a health nut is not in vain, and that I actually need football. There are some very helpful warnings as well. Maybe I should quit eating scrambled eggs for breakfast and start eating Twinkies. Who knows? Here is the link (What Does the Bible Say?) if you would like to see what the Bible says about any issue that you have not had the nerve to ask your pastor about yet. I suggest searching hot dogs, Brittney Spears, and Tweety Bird for starters.

Life is Like a Puzzle

Juvee tonight was amazing. For those that have read the last couple of weeks posts, lately it hadn't been going as well there as I had hoped, and tonight was a much welcomed break from the previous weeks of, what I felt, was spiritual dryness.

There's a guy that comes every Wednesday with our group named Ken. Ken is a very good break dancer, and tonight he brought his whole break dancing crew with him. The entire juvee (about 40 people) showed up for a very impressive demo, which the guys really seemed to enjoy, and afterwards Ken gave his testimony, which just so happened to be one of the best testimonies (and contained one of the best illustrations) that I've ever heard. Here is a brief(ish) summary.

Ken talked about how he likes to think of our life here on earth here as a giant puzzle, and in order to finish the puzzle one of the first things that you need is a picture. If you have the picture you can figure out what exactly the puzzle is supposed to look like, and better put things in their proper place. Without the picture, pieces are going to be in the wrong place, and you might never figure out how to put it together.

Now imagine all of the trials, hardships, and rough times in your life and imagine that as one piece of the puzzle. If you don't have a picture to be able to figure out where the "trial" piece goes then you're going to end up putting it into the wrong spot, resulting in, a messed up puzzle. Ken then went on to describe his three major trials in his life, and how the Bible became his picture to help put his trial piece in the right spot.

The first trial for Ken was his parents' divorce. His dad's cheating on his wife and abandoning the family made life extremely difficult for Ken, and it was because of his dad's being a pastor that Ken became disgusted with Christianity and wanted nothing to do with it. He talked about how he was always embarrassed about his father and how he could never brag about his father like other kids did about theirs in school.

His father's abandoning him led to Ken's second trial: the absence of his mother. Due to having to raise a family completely by herself, his mom wasn't around as much as he would have liked, resulting in long days and nights at home with no body else to be with but his sister. She constantly had to work to provide for Ken and his sister, something that he was extremely grateful for, but the intense, persistent loneliness began to take its toll.

 Finally, Ken told about his hardest trial yet. About three and a half years ago, Ken's mom passed away, due to over exhaustion. Ken is from South Korea, and his being in America at the time, made things even more difficult. A few years before her death, Ken hadn't gotten along with his mom. They were constantly fighting, and yet through all of this Ken's mom still showed love to him. Her love for him was unconditional, and it was this unconditional love that caused him to seek out where it came from. How could somebody show unconditional love to someone else when that love is not being reciprocated? It was this search for unconditional love that led Ken to Christ.

The guys (and girls) seemed really interested in what Ken had to say, and it was encouraging to know that they were taking all of this in. Some of them are soooo close to accepting Christ. They are finally starting to understand what this Jesus guy is all about, and they're beginning to like it. I'm looking forward to next week and the questions that they bring. We'll see what happens.

Normalcy, Limits, and a Miracle

Not much has happened the past two weeks at juvee. I don't feel that the guys as a whole have been as interested as they were in the past regarding what was being taught. There are some exceptions to this, however. Last week there were two new guys who had a lot of really good questions regarding the Bible, Muslims, and Jehova's Witnesses. They seemed pretty interested and one of them even said that he was "starting to believe what we were saying", his words, not mine. It's also comforting to see that M is opening up more and more. He no longer sits in the corner silent and rolls his eyes when I talk, but now actually talks and jokes around a little, though the rolling of the eyes is ever present. It was also cool to see that we had a lot of new volunteers yesterday. Normally, it tends to be about five of us going in there. Last night I think we had ten. They were really excited about what they saw there, and all seemed eager to come back.

Despite the normality of the past two weeks, there was something new that kind of (more like a lot of) bothered me. While the leader of the group was going over some basic rules with the new volunteers, I heard one that I had not heard before and sounded like somewhat recent addition to the list of don'ts. As of last night, we are no longer allowed to "peer pressure" the guys. It doesn't take a lot of complex thought to figure out what this means. We can teach the Bible all we want, but when it comes down to giving an invitation, the message is pretty clear, don't do it. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do with this. I guess the only thing that I can do is pray and keep on doing what I'm doing. It makes for a somewhat confusing situation.

On a side note, and possibly more exciting as well, there is something truly amazing that's happened within the past week. One of my friends from work here at school has recently been battling his third bout of cancer, all three bouts being different kinds, the most recent bout being a fight with colon cancer. Anyway, as he went to the doctor within the past week getting ready to begin a round of some pretty serious chemo, he went in for another routine MRI. When the test results came back the doctors, as well as my friend, were shocked to find that there was nothing on the MRI. The cancer was no longer there where it had been! It was gone! I talked with him tonight about it, and he was extremely grateful, as am I. I'm excited to be able to tell the juvee guys next week. Maybe I can get him to come in and tell the story himself...

51 Hours

I thought that this was kind of interesting and figured you all would too. I became hooked on reddit.com after using it to follow the protests in Egypt. It's basically a website that's supposed to be designed for people to update the news as it's happening and post whatever else they feel like (within limits, of course). Anyway, as I was on the website Monday I saw a post titled "51 Hours Left to Live". It was posted this past Sunday by a 39 year old man battling lymphoma. He was euthanized Tuesday. It was pretty interesting, to watch as this guy gradually counted down the hours of his life and to see what was going through his mind.

I don't know what exactly I learned from this, but I do feel that it did have something of an impact on me. To know that this guy was going to actively terminate his life and to watch as people encouraged it...it seemed kind of twisted. Here's the link if you're interested - 51 Hours Left to Live

I Thought I'd Need a Metal Detector to Find the Silver Lining

Tonight didn't go as well as I would have liked it to. Last week I came out of juvee super pumped and super excited about what God was doing in there. I felt like these guys were almost to the point of accepting Christ, and apparently Satan did too. A lot of things have gone on the past week that feel like some pretty intense spiritual warfare. Things have happened to get me into a bad mood so I won't be as affective with the guys, or to keep me so busy that I wouldn't be able to prepare anything for them. In part I wonder if I lost. This past week I've: failed a lab quiz, forgotten about statistics homework that was due at midnight and gotten a 76, gotten my car towed ($90), hurt my knee, and been super busy resulting in little sleep and not a lot of preparation for a message for the guys. Due to three tests this week I really didn't have time to prepare for anything. Only six of the guys showed up tonight too.

However, despite all the discouragment and crud that's gone on the past week there are still some things that I find a glimmer of hope in. I felt like these guys were so close, that something was finally happening, and I still feel that way. I think that this past week goes to show that Satan does too. He's been around long enough to know when he's about to lose, and I think he knows that this is one of those times. He fought really hard this week, and as I said earlier I wonder if I let him have too much. Maybe not as much in the attitude area, but more in the time area. I've been kept so busy this past week that I didn't prepare much of anything to say to the guys. However, I think that God helped to fight back at this tonight, as tonight was basketball night and we played until there was only ten minutes left, about all I had prepared. It was also encouraging to see M, one of the hardest guys to get engaged in conversation, actually smiling and talking. It's amazing how He can use sports to cause a person to open up. It gives me more of a respect for sports missions agencies and the like. It was also encouraging to see that after much prayer and last week's post mention of a desire to get these guys more Christian literature that I was blessed with the money to get these guys some books. They should be in soon, and the guys were really excited when they found out.

Anyway, that's all I've got for tonight. A lot of crud went on, but I guess there was a lot of silver lining as well.

PS: blessed that I realized when I woke up that my car had been towed instead of right before I left.
Also surprised to find that they've been there the past few weeks -Trial Tonight. Be in prayer for these guys. Glad they've been coming at least.

A Word of Thanks

Tonight I would like to say a word of thanks, or many words of thanks, and to many different people and for many different things. I would like to say a thank you to everyone, because without you tonight would have never happened.

 As I went to juvee tonight, as usual I sat down with the guys I've been with the past couple of weeks, and I quickly realized that God was at work tonight. I didn't even get through the message that I had prepared due to the plethora of questions that these guys had about everything and anything relating to Christianity and the Bible. I quickly realized that I was not there to give a message, but to answer these guys questions. I was asked questions about everything. From reincarnation, to salvation, to Revelation, to Hell, to Heaven, to Cain and Able, to death, everything was fair game tonight. The crazy thing was that I was able to answer every question! This is not something I would normally be able to do. I did not brush up on my evolution, theology, Christian history, archaeology or anything like that before I went in there. I did not prepare for anything like that, and yet God brought the answers to every single one of those questions to my mind from things that I had heard or read in the past! I was somehow able to remember obscure articles I had read online in the past, lectures I had attended, and theology movies I had seen in the past without hesitation, something I cannot normally do! This had nothing to do with me, it was entirely God! I am not that smart, I cannot remember minute details like I was given tonight! These guys had questions too! Tonight was a miracle! Anyway, these guys are intensely curious about the Gospel and what it has to do with them, and tonight would not have been anything like that without you guys help.

I would like to say thank you to all of you readers who read the last post with the prayer list and prayed through it this past week. Tonight was made possible by prayer. I would like to say thank you to my dad for providing me with some of the money to provide New Testaments for these guys. These guys read a ton, and they will read anything that they can get their hands on right now. I would like to say thank you to the church that brought these guys the entire Bible this past week. The past few weeks I've been telling these guys how much I wish that I could get them the Old Testament as well due to all the amazing stories in it of God's love and what He did for people, and tonight when I mentioned it the guys told me that a church brought Bibles in the past week and that they were reading them everyday and were loving the stories. I would like to say thank you to Eunchong because without your tips I would not have begun tonight with prayer, something that I believed truly made a difference. I would like to say thank you to Larry, Mr. Thomas, Jeremy, and Donald for all those years of putting me up there in front of people and helping me to be able to speak in front of people, because it was not that long ago that I would not have done anything like this, and it was you guys that helped me to be able to do it. I would like to say thank you to my theology and creation studies professors. Tonight I was asked so many questions about salvation, evolution, dinosaurs, etc. etc. that I would not have known the answers to had it not been for those classes. I would also like to say thank you to Matt. I was going to print off a paper that talked more about salvation to give to these guys, but right as I began to print them my printer ran out of ink. As I ran frantically from locked door to locked door on the hall I found Matt getting ready to leave. I asked if I could borrow his printer and he said sure. The guys were very excited to receive those papers, and had it not been for Matt they would have never gotten them.

Above all though I would like to say thank you to the Lord for tonight. Nothing would have happened tonight had it not been for Him. I slept and thought about lunch in half of my theology classes, how was I able to remember topics from lectures that I wasn't even paying attention to? I played poker and talked through half of my creation studies classes, how was I able to remember answers to some of those very serious questions without God's help? If I had taken my hapkido class this semester I would not have been able to be a part of this, because it was on a Wednesday close to this time. I was registered in the class, but the schedule got changed and I had to drop it instead. I applied to be a prayer leader, but wasn't accepted. If I had made it I wouldn't be doing this. There are too many coincidinces here.

These guys curiosity is piqued. They read the Bibles everyday, tell me their favorite verses and books, and have plenty of questions (including whether Jesus really wants us to cut out our tongues or not). I am full heartedly expecting many of these guys to come to know Christ as Lord very, very soon.

As far as prayer requests go this week, almost every guy wants us to pray for their court date and their family.  D wants us to pray for his mom to get better. Please continue to pray for these guys this week. They are very close to coming to know Christ and need all the prayer they can get. I would also like ya'll to pray for me to be able to find some more reading material to give them. These guys have some very difficult questions, and I would love to be able to get them some books by Lee Strobel or something like that, though those books can be very expensive. Pray for the ability to find something cheap to be able to help these guys out. These are people's souls we're talking about.

Thank you very much everybody. Tonight was an awesome night and I pray that you will pray with me that next week will be even better.

Another Night

Tonight was another night at juvee. The guys seem to really be opening up now and are becoming more comfortable with the random guy that shows up on Wednesday nights to talk and play basketball. I myself am getting more comfortable with it as well.

Tonight we talked about  not wasting one's life, how even when many people in the Bible such as Daniel, Joseph, or Shadrach,Meshach, and Abednego were at some pretty low points in their lives things still turned around for the better thanks to God. (When I began to talk about some of these people it was one of the guys in there that mentioned the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It's surprising what these guys have heard of before.) It was then mentioned how if these guys are ever gonna turn their lives around they're gonna need Christ's help. Without Christ we can do nothing, but with Him we can do everything. When asked if they had any prayer requests many of the guys mentioned that they did want to get their lives on the right track once they get out of here. They did want to change. They don't want to spend the rest of their lives incarcerated. These guys have dreams that they want to see become reality someday, and serving a life sentence isn't one of them. But they're gonna need a lot of help and a lot of prayer to get to that place. Which brings me to the reason that I began typing up this post anyway. I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe what the Bible says about prayer (1 John 5:14-15 and Matthew 18:20 come to mind). If ya'll would pray for these guys with me it would really mean a lot to them.

Z. - to get his life right once he gets out Sunday
D. - to get his life on the right track, to comfort his family, and that his court date will go well
K. - to comfort his family, and that the court date will go well
Z. - for his family, and for the court date to go well
D.  - to get his life right, for his family, and that the court date will go well
N. - to comfort his family, and that he won't be in there until he's 18

As you can see, court dates and family are the two most popular requests. These guys really care about their families and their court dates are days that essentially decide what's gonna happen to them for either a small or large part of their immediate future. Both issues need prayer.

A Stereotypical Guide to Recognizing Majors

Though I have not been at college as long as many other people, I have been here long enough to realize that one of the most common questions that one will be asked is, "So, what's your major?". Around the end of one's second semester of college one quickly tires of hearing and/or asking this question, and frankly, simply doesn't need to ask this question to others because one can already tell what another's major is just by looking at them. The following list is a guide to help to put an end to this needless question, as well as to be able to impress people that you have just met by being able to state their major before you even know anything else about them besides their name:

business/communications - students of these majors are very easy to identify. If one spots a male dressed up very nicely in a tie and suit, he is a business major. However, if a female is dressed very nicely in business atire, she is a communications major. There is little to no leeway here. Briefcases are another obvious sign that one falls within this group.

religion/philosophy - students of these majors tend to have very impressive facial hair, particularly beards. Even the professors seem to follow this trend for some unknown reason. (Note: this does not also apply to females, as they never major in either of these)

mathematics - students of this major are easily spotted thanks to what is known as a 'math sweater'. A math sweater is a sweater that though not considered hideous, comes very close to crossing that line.

kinesiology/exercise science/athletic training - these people are the ones that walk around campus carrying gymbags. They need these to carry around their clothes and equipment for extremely difficult classes such as: badminton, ping pong, tumbling, or bowling. All athletes also fall under these majors. Athletes can be recognized by their obvious lack of being in dress code in class (such as shorts, wife beaters, or sweat pants) or extremely long hair.

Spanish - students of this major can be recognized by their apparel or accesories. Males within this major will almost certainly wear a Latino looking hoodie that they purchased while on their missions trip/family cruise to Mexico, while females will carry a brightly colored striped purse/bag thingy that they got on their missions trip/family cruise to Mexico.

youth ministry/worship - these people can be consistently spotted due to their constant wearing of flip flops and flannel. Hair resembling Justin Beiber or the carrying of a guitar case also classify one as a youth ministry/worship major. Youth ministry/worship majors tend to come out in droves in the warmer months where they can be found all over campus grounds playing guitars and singing to females.

So, here's a very basic list of some very basic majors. Though this list is certainly not exhaustive, these majors tend to comprise the majority of a campus, and are a good starting point for being able to recognize other majors such as engineering. I hope that this comes in handy.

All We Have to Do is Try

So, Wednesday nights are the night that I go to the juvenile detention center here in town for a Bible study with the guys there, with a hope of getting to play a little basketball with them too. I look forward to this time of the week because I feel that it is one of the times that I'm actually actively doing something to further His kingdom and it is very exciting to see the results that God brings to the place. One of the first things that one realizes upon setting foot in this place is that the people there are just like you. They aren't always straight up thugs and punks as the media will lead one to believe, but people just like you or me.  They like the same stuff, play the same games, and eat the same food as me. They also have dreams, desires, and goals for their life.They don't want to be in prison for the rest of their lives, they want to do something with their lives, they want to have a future.

Tonight one of my friends from the dorm named Abe* came to the prison with me. Abe is one of my newer friends on the hall, seeing that he just moved in about three weeks ago, but he's been a great guy. He's been through a lot with his life. Everything from drug dealing, to weapon sales, to some pretty nasty fights, he's been in it. But within the past two years or so, thanks to a pretty intense boot camp called  Teen Challenge, Abe came to know Jesus Christ as his Savior and he's been living differently ever since. He's been on mission trips to Guatemala, given his testimony to hundreds of people, and gotten away from his past life.

Tonight after we'd finished playing basketball with the guys there, Abe gave his testimony. He told about how deep he had been into the world of drugs, how he should have been in either prison or a casket, but God had better plans for his life. God kept him from those places through some pretty miraculous events as well as some pretty miraculous people.

After Abe was finished we split the guys up into two different groups to talk about what they had just heard. One would expect these guys to just shrug it off and not pay attention, but instead they were sincerely interested in what had just been said. They thought it was amazing that Abe had been through all that and how he had gotten out, and they told very similar scary stories from their own lives about how they could have ended up in prison for a very long time but miraculously ended up there instead. One of the guys was even interested in the boot camp that Abe had gone to, saying that he had been looking for something like that for a while to get his life back in line. Make no mistake, these guys do want to change, they don't want to live like this forever, and they are seeking for answers how. They are incredibly open to the Gospel, all they need is for someone to tell them about it.

After an amazing night like tonight it makes one wonder if Christians realize that it is much easier to share the Gospel with others than one might originally think. People aren't always going to completely stop what you're saying and tell you to leave. People are wandering through life...and they're sick of it. They want someone to tell them how they might have hope, how to add meaning to their life. As Christians, all we have to do is try. You might be amazed at the results.


*name changed for his own privacy's sake

Today I...

...learned some Korean, ate a banana, saw a guy with a bowl cut, fenced, did some homework, watched a girl get slung into the air after her feet let go of the seat while on the lat pulldown machine, took a nap, thought about China, felt bad for the employees at the Tilley who have to listen to the scream-o concert, read a hilarious website, reminisced about my senior trip, considered phlebotomy, learned how to read an EKG, almost lost my toes, walked from class to my dorm barefoot (closely related to the losing of the toes), read the Koran (and the Bible too),spent too much time on facebook,debated between physician assistant or physical therapy school, talked to my mom, and ate some really good chicken.

Oh yeah, here's the website - Funny Stuff

Why Won't We Witness?

I saw this video a while back and it got me to thinking (and not just because it mentions my name)...
A Letter From Hell
I feel that as a whole, the church in America has forgotten to and how to witness. When I look at other parts of the world where the church is booming such as East Asia, Africa, and the Middle East I wonder how the church is able to grow that rapidly with all of the persecution that occurs there while the church here is indeed growing, but nowhere near the rate as it is in other parts of the world. It seems kind of ironic that where we have religious freedom we have become apathetic and scared regarding witnessing, but where people can be put to death for believing in Christ they view witnessing as an essential part of daily life. How have we become this way? Though I am certainly no anthropologist, after thinking about it for a while I think that these are a few of the reasons:

1) Materialism - Here in North America, people have definately been blessed materially. However, I believe that people have grown content and comfortable with their possessions. They receive a sense of security through things. To be frank, people in other countries typically don't have as much as we do over here and I think this causes them to act as if they have nothing to lose, while we act as if witnessing will cause us to lose everything.

2) A passiveness about where others spend eternity - We have become perfectly content with where things are at now. We think that if God wants somebody to be saved that they will find a way somehow, while we do nothing to help. I don't understand how people can do this. These are our brothers, sisters, coworkers, neighbors, parents, and friends we are talking about, and yet we care nothing about where these people will spend eternity.

3) Fear - We have become afraid of what others will say or think about us. We've become afraid that someone might not like us anymore, that we'll offend someone, or that we'll be made fun of. How have we gotten to the point that we have become so self-absorbed that we care more about our own temporary comfort rather than others' eternal destiny?

4) The "I witness through the way I live" excuse - Yes, we are supposed to live a Godly lifestyle. But if one looks at Jesus' life, He not only lived in a God pleasing way, but He actively witnessed as well. Everywhere Christ went He was telling others about how they could be reconciled with God. What would have happened had He just went through His life completely silent regarding the matter as many of us are doing today? I feel that this is nothing more than an excuse to get one's self out of some potentially uncomfortable situations.

5) The "I don't know how/am not trained enough" excuse - Many people will quickly give this as an excuse as to why they will not or don't witness. We in America have been blessed with religious freedom and many, though certainly not all, have been going to church for a very long time, if not a majority of our life. After this much time as a Christian and this much time in church, Bible studies, weekend retreats, personal devotions, etc. how are you not prepared to share the Gospel? If you compare yourself with many Christians in places such as the Middle East who have just come to Christ, how is it that they are willing to share their faith with others immediately though they certainly do not have near the amount of training that the majority of us have today?

These are only a few (I ended up counting 10, I might post the rest later...) of what I believe to be some of the reasons that the church in America has forgotten/forsaken the command to actively witness. I believe that we can certainly do much better than we are now. It is my prayer that God would open up the eyes of believers throughout America and cause them to see people through Christ's eyes. By seeing people in this way it becomes impossible to not desire to do something to reach out to the people whom surround us. May God open our eyes and put a passion in our hearts to reach the lost.

Communism and Christianity

I've been reading a lot of books about China lately, and it's occurred to me that communism could possibly be one of the best things that has happened to Christianity in the 'Middle Kingdom'. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a communist in any sense of the word, but I do believe that some of the results of its rule in this particular country have been very helpful to Christians. In the West it is hard for someone to grasp how communism could possibly be beneficial. The cons seem to certainly outweigh the pros. But in keeping with the trend throughout history where God has used the foolish, weak, unimaginable, or even evil (think Joseph being sold into slavery) to accomplish His plan, I believe that the same thing is happening in China right now. 


There are a few things that have been very beneficial, especially for Christianity, that communism in China has accomplished. For starters, before the communists came to power in China in 1912, there was no standardized language in China. The push for a standard language throughout the country resulted in greater literacy, better profits for the literature world, as well as further uniting the country. With a standardized language a Bible would be able to have a far greater impact than one written in a minority language. A single Bible would be able to be read by people throughout the country rather than one particular region. 


During the time following 1912 the government both built and repaired thousands of roads making it that much easier for people to travel bringing whatever books, ideas, or beliefs they had with them, including Christianity.


The written language was also reformed during Mao Zedong's reign at this time. This further increased literacy rates making it easier for people to learn how to read. Those of us that do not speak or read Chinese as a mother language are very grateful for this. Characters that used to be very complicated such as this 廣,  now became much simpler, like this 广. By further increasing the literacy rate, more people would be able to read the Bible which helps to further Christianity.


Education throughout the country was also improved at this time which, like the simplification of Chinese characters, also led to higher literacy rates as well as the resulting benefits. 


When looking at the results, one can't help but notice that they are very similar to what happened to Christianity during the Pax Romana, the most peaceful time during Roman rule. The standard language, abundance of roads, lack of tragedy, and relative peace enabled Christianity to spread and flourish throughout Europe where it has maintained a foothold throughout much of history. At the moment it seems as if history is repeating itself.