Happy New Year

This crazy lady and I wish you a Happy New year!!

Death Penalty

I'm still against the death penalty. Even if it includes this guy. I don't rejoice or celebrate when I see this photo. I want to throw up.

D-Day is Coming

I'm starting the diet again on January 2. I'm kind of dreading it, but I need it. If you are a few lbs too heavy, you should try Weight Watchers. It helped me drop 25 pounds last year and will hopefully help me drop the 10 or so that I need to drop now.

Fake eggs, carrot sticks, sugar-free syrup, Subway 6-inch Turkey sandwiches, WW desserts, and turkey bacon - Here I Come!!

Life out of Nothing

I know this kind of image can be a bit over-used in Christian circles, but I still love the imagery. My life has felt pretty desolate at times, even recent times, and I know that God has been bringing life out of that crappiness, but I feel like this image helps me see how God makes something new even in the midst of our brokenness, emptyness, and hurt. This whole pregnancy feels like such a huge blessing of God allowing life to blossom after a period where we truly felt like it could never happen. God broke us and re-shaped us through that trial and then decided to bless us after the lesson was learned. It almost showed me how much more He is in control through the blessing. I thought I had Him figured out near the end of the trial. "Oh, God wanted to teach me patience, surrender, expectation, and worship. That's why we can't have a baby." Then, BOOM, God shows He is stil in control by giving us the blessing we wanted all along. I didn't expect that.



Thanks to Aaron LeBrun for the photo. http://alebrun.blogspot.com/

Obama Gaining Ground

So in our little silly anti-Christ pool Obama is looking like the front-runner still. Check out these quotes from The Week - a magazine that is a compilation of newspaper and news magazine stories.
"I see him as very messianic" - Kelsey Woodward, an artist at a fundraiser that appeared more like a rock concert in New Hampshire.
"If Obama is wildly popular, it's because he has no apparent ideology." - Peggy Noonan, The Opinion Journal.
"What America needs at this dispiriting juncture in history is a president who can offer prose as well as poetry" - LA Times

Any other guesses?

My Next Best Present

So I got these for Christmas and I love them. They are the sweet Noise Canceling ones. I got the Q2, not the newer ones because I like how they cover the ears.



They seriously rock. Worth every penny that my wife spent on me. Oh wait. I guess that's my money.

New CDs listening to on them: Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction, Best of Motley Crue, Nirvana - Nevermind, Radiohead - OK Computer. I'm revisiting my Jr High years with the metal stuff, my high school years with Nirvana, and my late college years with Radiohead. Loving it.

I Lost

I lost in the first round of the playoffs in my Fantasy Football league. My team quit on me and my opponent was dominant. So I guess I play for third place next week. Third out of twelve isn't bad, but I would way rather win. I'm such a geek for Fantasy Football. I love it. It's kind of sad really, but it's fun.

GO UCLA in the Emerald Bowl tomorrow!! Woooo!!!!!!

My Favorite Present

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Obama the Anti-Christ??

So a group of us have a little bet where we try to guess who the anti-Christ is going to be and we have had some good options at the top of the list. Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, Bono, etc. But the best bet we have going now is Barack Obama. He was on the cover of The Week a couple months ago with a halo around him and being hailed as the next great leader. He has partnered with Rick Warren to garner support from evangelicals. His charm, good looks, and influence were discussed on the front page of the LA Times today.

Any other possibilities? Probably not because Obama is a lock. Step aside Nicolae, here comes Barack.

Merry Christmas Eve!

The Punch

This was so fun. It was intended to just be a fake hit for a picture, but then I just got so into my role that I actually punched Victor pretty hard in the face. Victor has a "caption contest" for it on his blog - it's on my list of blogs on the right. I'm still trying to remember how to link stuff. Too lazy to look right now. The Wonderful Noise.

Don't you think that sometimes the worship guy just deserves it?

Home Cookin'

During the whole move process we ate take-out for almost every meal for a couple weeks. Today I went to the grocery store and got our refrigerator all stocked up and bought some food. I cooked a killer dinner tonight and it will get better tomorrow before we head off to other homes for the Christmas meals.

Dinner tonight - Chicken breast stuffed with fresh mozarella and basil and cooked in Pinot Noir resting on a small bed of spaghetti and marinara sauce with roasted asparagus cooked in balsamic vinegar and parmagiano reggiano.
Breakfast tomorrow - Either waffles or swedish pancakes.
Lunch tomorrow - I love buying sandwich meat at the deli counter. I got some Honey Roasted Turkey, Roast Beef, and Muenster cheese for some killer sandwiches.
Dinner tomorrow - I bought a four bone, bone-in ribe-eye roast. We will have that with mashed potatoes, yorkshire pudding, and green beans.

I can't wait. Home cooked food is the best. Any favorite home cooked meals?

I Love College Students

I love their diligence, tenacity, creativity, and artistic ability in putting these signs all over my front lawn. This was a couple months ago at my old house, but now that I'm blogging again I thought I should share it. Do you see Grace in the middle of the sign patch? The best part of all this was that Grace was mad at me for taking them down and said, "But Daddy, they're pretty!"

I am Pro-Life

I am against abortion.
I am against the death penalty.
I am against lots of people having guns.
I am against AIDS and apathy towards it.
I am against almost all forms of war.
I am against murder.
I am against euthenasia.
I am against divorce.
I am against spiritual apathy.
I am against narcotics.
I am against extreme poverty.
I am Pro-Life.
Are you?

My Christmas Chicken

In the preschool Christmas program Grace's class was assigned the role of farm animals. So my little precious girl was a chicken hanging out in the stable when the baby Jesus was born. The birth of the Messiah was so exciting to her that she yawned for about 30 minutes on stage. She's on her way to being a great American worshiper. But she sure is cute!!

Jesus is My Homeboy...errr...HERO!!

So I'm preaching in a one-service Sunday on December 31st at my church which means that both the Celebration and Elevation services meet together as one. Victor is leading worship and I'm speaking so it will be sort of a Elevation hosts the church kinda thing with stations and all that jazz. I'm preaching on Revelation 1:12-18 where Jesus is described by John. John describes him with these things:
A. Long Robe and Golden Sash - to signify a kingly priest
B. White Head and Hair like wool and snow - pure and eternal
C. Blazing Eyes like fire - all searching, judging, penetrating
D. Feet like burning bronze - judgment - bare feet were required by priests before offering at the bronze altar
E. Voice like Many Waters - powerful
F. Stars in His Right Hand - controls the angels and churches
G. Sword in His Mouth - The Word converts and convicts
H. Face like the Sun - Greek gods were portrayed as suns or shining like suns, God is taking that back. This was at the transfiguration too.

That God is intense, powerful, majestic, strong, and freaking AWESOME!! We don't pray to the baby Jesus or to some weaksauce Jesus. He is our friend, but not our homeboy. He rules!!

John fell on his face as if dead. I say we worship like that.

Pregnant

Bea is 12 weeks pregnant. WOOOHOOOO!!!!!! I'm so stoked. This is an amazing miracle. God is good. Please be praying for the health of this little one.

Africa

I'm super excited because I am going to be leading a trip of High School and College students to Kenya, Africa next August. We are working with Christ's Hope International doing Choose to Wait abstinence training/sharing gospel and ministering to people with AIDS and orphans of people who have died of AIDS. It should be pretty intense. If you have seen The Constant Gardener you have seen the exact slum called Kibera outside of Nairobi that we will be going to. We will also go to a town called Kisimu on Lake Victoria. Then we will do the obligatory two day safari.

I can't wait.

Just Moved

So we are in at our new place in Irvine. It's pretty sweet. I like it here so far. It's definitely a change getting used to an apartment instead of a single-family home, but this apt is more like a condo. 3 bdrm, 2 bath, attached 2 car garage, 1300 sq ft.

So it's a change and a humbling one in some ways, but it is good for us I think.

Life Update Blogging

I had today off work (Sunday) and we hung out at Bea's parents. It was nice and relaxing, but I didn't like not going to church. I like the fact that I like going to church. I'm excited to listen to the podcast of Jeff teaching today. My control freak side really hopes everything went OK too.

I work in the office tomorrow and then leave for Hume Lake on Tuesday morning to spend a few days up there with our High School students. It's kind of crazy and nerve-wracking because I'm speaking in both services this Sunday and I'm going to be out of the office pretty much all week. I'm also going to do something different where I preach really short and basically tell them, "Duh, you know what it means to be merciful! Go be it! Go do it!" A little risky, but there will be some structure and content to it as well. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the different services.

Bea and I are trying to adopt and I hate waiting. Waiting for the agency to call us and say that we are on "the list." We were supposed to be on "the list" six weeks ago.

Bea got a job teaching at Orange Lutheran High School next year. She is excited about doing what she loves and doing it for the first time with High School kids - teaching English. She will also make some serious cash for us so it's SWEEET!! The school worked it out so that she gets to be "full-time" but get off every day at 12:30. Grace will be in preschool until 12noon every day so it should work out pretty easily. I will be dropping Grace off every day at school at 8am and then picking her up a few days a week which should be really fun.

We are also selling our house. We want to cash in and pay off a lot of debt, put some money away for future stuff, and then invest a big chunk for another downpayment in about 6 months to a year. We will rent for that time. We hope it sells high and soon. We won't do it unless it sells for close to the number we are asking. You can look it up at www.homeseekers.com if you want. 318 N. Pine St, Orange, CA 92866

That's a big update and all I have for now.

Meekness

So I preached on meekness yesterday in both the main services at church. Afterwards, I went up to the guy preaching next week and I said, "I just gave the most insane sermon. It was the best thing anyone has ever heard. Good luck following that up buddy!"

I was just kidding around, but what was funny was that I really was trying to do an awesome job so that people would learn, but also on some more hidden level because I want to look good doing what I do best. Teaching on a stage in front of lots of people is a head trip.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. How opposite is that to what my human nature thinks? Jesus is cool.

Lost passion for blogging

I'm sorry I haven't been posting. It's been hard to get back into posting on the blog. I think my passion went away for it in the hiatus. I want to try. I need to try. I have no desire to set up my links or anything like that again for some reason though.

Life is super busy right now. Interviewing people, building project committee meetings, preaching a ton, youth ministry summer, selling our house, Bea's sister getting married, Bea's brother and his wife having a baby, dieting, and oh yeah, trying to hang out with my family.

Anyways, this is not a promise, but after Victor berated me I will try to blog more.

Victor (Tostada) and Jasen (jda) need to meet. You guys would like each other. You do the same job.

Back and normal

I'm back from my two trips. Of course I didn't take a camera. I also received the approval to turn in my thesis for binding and final signatures. I will do that today so that's a huge relief off my back.

The drive to Puerto Vallarta was of course long and tiring, but it was interesting to see everything between here and there. You go from the sandy desert of Tucson, Arizona to the lush, tropics of Pacific mainland Mexico near Puerto Vallarta. We drove through a hundred miles of Mango tree groves and a hundred miles of corn fields. Old men riding two-wheeled carts behind donkeys crossing bridges and vaqueros herding cows or horses were an inspiring sight to see. The time with my parents was good too. They are safe and settled and their place is beautiful.

Hume was Hume. Beautiful, relaxing, and fun with our team.

Off to Mex

Ok so I leave this morning to drive for 30 hours with my parents to Puerto Vallarta. Should be interesting. Be back on Saturday night, then leave Monday morning again for Hume Lake for the Youthworkers Retreat.

Spin and Smoking

We saw the movie, Thank You For Smoking, tonight and it was very thought provoking while being pretty funny. Spin is such an interesting and captivating thing. I found myself loving the character who was spinning and smiling and eloquently fontificating on the benefits of smoking and why smoking isn't bad for you and all of these things. What really got me was in the car when Bea said, "It's movies like this that make me think the whole world is spin." Everyone is trying to spin for their product or their government or their religion. And that's when I got a little bit sick. Religion and spin. All religions do it. Christianity does it. We do it at my church. Nobody is being bad, but I think we just need to learn to tell the truth. The whole truth. We believe in the truth of it, not the spin version. Don't we? Their is a deep and sometimes painful cost to following Christ. Their is peace and contentment, but we are pretty much betting the farm on this whole thing right. It better not be spin. Why do we feel the constant need to make church pretty and attractive and not make the cross too offensive. It's really offensive. There are some things that God says about sinners (all of us) and those that don't believe that are gnarly. The Bible is rated R and even NC17 a lot of the time. How should we spin that? How do you spin David with a necklace of foreskins after he massacred his enemies? How do you spin that we do believe a lot of things by faith? How do you spin the sweet and bitter pill of grace and that we really don't earn any forgiveness by ourselves? Because you know you wish you could. We don't spin. We speak truth. We are truthtellers. The truth as we read it and know it in our bones. The truth of love and justice and beauty and pain and unfairness and forgiveness and sin and sin some more and mean people and friendship and betrayal. It's all there. Just tell it like you see it. That's better than a fake smile and some easy religion.

Thesis

I'm going insane with my thesis that was due two weeks ago. I'm frustrated because I did all this primary research and now I'm analyzing and sorting the data into these lame frequency tables that are so FREAKING BORING to do. I'm learning a lot about Excel and how to make tables. Pretty cool stuff. Sarcasm sarcasm sarcasm. My paper is on transitions between age-stage ministries and the quantitative research is basically going to "prove" that it's hard to transition kids from JH to HS to College. Then all the qualitative research will give ways to help them feel more comfortable, provide program, relationships, etc. Then I think of a bunch of witty ideas to make transitioning easier. So anyway, it sucks. I'm also presenting all of the research and my "witty ideas" at the CMTA (formerly GLASS) conference on May 6 so I gotta get it done soon. I'm also supposed to graduate May 28. I hope I can. eeeek.

Anyways, I'm also going to be driving to Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday with my parents. That's really far.

I'm reading Simply Christian by N.T. Wright right now. So far so good. More to come.

I'm coming back

I've had enough of my silence. It's time to return to the blogosphere. Prepare to be blown away. I love Jesus so much and have a lot of passion for Him, but I also struggle with a pit in my gut at times. I'm human and loved by the most powerful being that has ever existed. That's the most intense thing ever. I was feeling kind of down lately spiritually, but we read I Corinthians 15 today - the whole thing, not just the first several verses - and it fired me up. So I'm back.