May 2008
"kids at church and comedy night"
Saturday, May 31, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
tonight, we started
some new things at church with the kids. we created a
response area in the back with some crosses where
kids can pray, give and write notes of affirmation.
but first they built towers out of dixie cups.
and then, it was comedy night here at The Plaza
that guy was funny!
and then, it was comedy night here at The Plaza
that guy was funny!
|
"some consulting and a wedding"
Friday, May 30, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
this morning, Michelle
and i met with a group of about 25 leaders from
Portland who want to know about RH
and what we do in Families. it was a lot of fun and
they were really into it.
and then we had Angelina and Alex’s wedding this afternoon...
even though weddings aren’t my favorite, we had a great night!
and then we had Angelina and Alex’s wedding this afternoon...
even though weddings aren’t my favorite, we had a great night!
"a chance for change"
Thursday, May 29, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
Michael Anthony
(Michelle’s husband) was recently made the Department
Chair of the Christian Education department at Biola.
the awesome part is that he’s completely redesigning
the program from the ground up and he’s asked me to
be involved and to teach some classes next year.
so, today we had our first meeting with a bunch of people to talk about the future of the department and it was pretty awesome.
so, today we had our first meeting with a bunch of people to talk about the future of the department and it was pretty awesome.
"a birthday get together"
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"racing and walking"
Monday, May 26, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"Michelle teaches and Gina and Brianna drink juice boxes"
Sunday, May 25, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"construction, a beautiful day and a trip to Yogurtland™"
Saturday, May 24, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
so, it's been pretty
cool/interesting to watch the construction going on
outside my building. the third tower is almost done
and the shops down below are as well. so, today i
took some pictures. (besides, it was BEAUTIFUL today.
nice and cool.)
and tonight, after church, Erica, Stacy and i went to Yogurtland™ for a little post-church snack.
and tonight, after church, Erica, Stacy and i went to Yogurtland™ for a little post-church snack.
"a day in without pictures"
Friday, May 23, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"the return of a childhood hero"
Thursday, May 22, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
today was the day i've
been waiting for for 19 years.... the return of Dr.
Jones.
unfortunately, it was good, but great. kinda like Indiana Jones meets the X-Files. (i kept waiting for Mulder and Scully to show up.)
after that, we stopped by the mall so Stacy could buy some shorts. (this is me waiting at the Quiksilver/Roxy store.)
unfortunately, it was good, but great. kinda like Indiana Jones meets the X-Files. (i kept waiting for Mulder and Scully to show up.)
after that, we stopped by the mall so Stacy could buy some shorts. (this is me waiting at the Quiksilver/Roxy store.)
"RA for skit writing"
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"an evening with a murderous barber"
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
today was a rough day
in the office. so, as Stacy was out with a friend
tonight, Tyler came over and we watched Sweeney Todd:
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. it's the romantic
and beautiful story of a wronged barber who decides
to get his revenge by slicing the throats of his
clients and allowing the woman who lives downstairs
to use the bodies to sell mincemeat pies. (it's a
tragedy.)
ah... the romance.
ah... the romance.
"a weigh in... early breakfast... and service team time!"
Monday, May 19, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"dinner on the beach"
Sunday, May 18, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"the return of the Hero"
Saturday, May 17, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"a great t-shirt and hanging out with Kirscher... without pictures :-("
Friday, May 16, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"office finale"
Thursday, May 15, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"dinner at Lucille's"
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"capstone day!"
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
| my life
today was a day better
than graduation... it was the day of my capstone
presentation.
in our program, the capstone project and presentation is the culmination of all the work we've done. mine is a project called "Reflections of Leadership on Popular Culture" and is an instructional resource on using popular culture to teach leadership concepts. (you can download it here if you'd like to see it.)
anyway, today was my presentation and it went really well! plus, my parents, Stacy, Michelle and some of my other friends got to see what i've been doing for the last two years.
(Rob Liefeld, Emily Cartaya, Michelle Anthony, Stacy Igarashi, me, Carrie Domen, mom, dad and Dave McIntire)
in our program, the capstone project and presentation is the culmination of all the work we've done. mine is a project called "Reflections of Leadership on Popular Culture" and is an instructional resource on using popular culture to teach leadership concepts. (you can download it here if you'd like to see it.)
anyway, today was my presentation and it went really well! plus, my parents, Stacy, Michelle and some of my other friends got to see what i've been doing for the last two years.
(Rob Liefeld, Emily Cartaya, Michelle Anthony, Stacy Igarashi, me, Carrie Domen, mom, dad and Dave McIntire)
"mother's day on stage!"
Sunday, May 11, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"AIDS walk 2008"
Saturday, May 10, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"a baby and a bonfire"
Friday, May 09, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"a very early morning"
Thursday, May 08, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"RETREAT!!!"
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
today was our main day
at staff retreat. we were up at Ponderosa Pines Camp
in Running Springs. i didn't really know what to
expect, but it was very cool to hear about how we're
going to be approaching the vision of the church
("give yourself away") for the next year. also, we
spent some really intentional guided time in prayer.
plus, i got to hang out with a lot of people i didn't know very well before and even play a little volleyball.
and then we played spoons (with granola bars instead of spoons) until like 1 am. (and i kicked Michelle's ass at some game called Rubbish.)
plus, i got to hang out with a lot of people i didn't know very well before and even play a little volleyball.
and then we played spoons (with granola bars instead of spoons) until like 1 am. (and i kicked Michelle's ass at some game called Rubbish.)
"my desk"
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
i finished my desk
today. and then we left for staff retreat.
(that's a mountain dew bottle collection, mountain dew truck, jack-in-the-box bobble head, mountain dew license plate, Buddy Christ, MacBook, keyboard and mouse, Dunder Mifflin Mousepad, monitor, Office magnets and Ikea magnetic pen holders.)
(that's a mountain dew bottle collection, mountain dew truck, jack-in-the-box bobble head, mountain dew license plate, Buddy Christ, MacBook, keyboard and mouse, Dunder Mifflin Mousepad, monitor, Office magnets and Ikea magnetic pen holders.)
"the freedom of total surrender"
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Filed in: deep thoughts
a lot of Christians
talk about how we're supposed to try to be loving
with the love of Christ or loving as Christ loves.
it's a great and, i believe, well intentioned
sentiment. in fact, it's one that i've often been
known to endorse. (see my blog entry for
12.20.06
entitled "all you need is
love.")
recently however, i've changed my mind. i'm done
trying.
let's be honest. there is no possible way for us to love the way the Christ does. i mean... He's totally and completely unconditional in His love... He's unbelievably patient, thoroughly selfless, undeniably good, completely joyful, unsettlingly peaceful, overwhelmingly kind and ridiculously patient. He shows mercy and grace to people who don't, for any reason, deserve it and He is the definition of sacrificial love. and, He is all of these things all the time. so, if the call in our lives is to be like that... to love like that... we're screwed from the start. we've been set up for failure. we don't stand a chance. it's a good thing that He doesn't expect that of us.
i know what you're thinking... "um... yes He does! i've read my Bible (or not). i've gone to church (or not). i've heard the stories. that's exactly what He calls us to!" nope. God's not that mean. He's not the God that sets us up for unavoidable failure. i mean, i feel like a God that would do that doesn't fit into the criteria listed in the previous paragraph. so, what are His expectations of us? the only answer that could possibly make any sense is that God expects nothing less than a total surrender of our lives to HIm. oh.... that's all.
we all know that we're not capable of perfect love. we have sin in our nature and the one's who taught us to love did too. the one's we look to for that perfect love in our lives (our parents, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, kids, best friends, etc...) are imperfect just like us. no wonder we're always let down by love. but God is different.
the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). He IS love. that doesn't mean that God is lovING. it doesn't mean that He likes love or tries to show love. it means that He is the embodiment of love. obviously, we aren't God. for us to ever think we could attain God's love is to believe that we could be God and that is (as Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords would say) a preposterous hypothesis.
so, God gave us another way. He gave us Himself. more specifically, He gave us His Spirit. when we accept Jesus as God, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live in us. and since God is love... we suddenly have the embodiment of love living in our soul. so the challenge becomes not to choose to show all of the attributes of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 (as i had previously supposed), but to choose to let God work through us. to set aside our own selfish desires and allow God to do His thing in and through us. to totally surrender our own will to the will of God. only then can the people around us really experience the love of God through us.
with the majority of Christians (including myself) running around trying to act like God and failing miserably, is it any wonder that non-Christians often despise us? (i despise us half the time!) we look ridiculous as we preach one thing and then fall flat on our faces using every ounce of our human weakness to live up to the unreachable standards we've set for ourselves and the world. no wonder we're regarded as morons. it's time to let it go. it's time to stop trying to act like Christ and, instead, put ourselves aside let Christ act through us.
there is great freedom in this recognition of our limitations. now, the pressure that we put on ourselves to be more Christ-like can be lifted. (this is a relief since the effort is really pretty futile.) instead of praying for the strength to be able to love like Christ, pray instead that you would be able to surrender to His will and be filled to the fullness of His Spirit as Paul did in his letter to the Ephesians. then, God (love Himself) will shine through you.
let's be honest. there is no possible way for us to love the way the Christ does. i mean... He's totally and completely unconditional in His love... He's unbelievably patient, thoroughly selfless, undeniably good, completely joyful, unsettlingly peaceful, overwhelmingly kind and ridiculously patient. He shows mercy and grace to people who don't, for any reason, deserve it and He is the definition of sacrificial love. and, He is all of these things all the time. so, if the call in our lives is to be like that... to love like that... we're screwed from the start. we've been set up for failure. we don't stand a chance. it's a good thing that He doesn't expect that of us.
i know what you're thinking... "um... yes He does! i've read my Bible (or not). i've gone to church (or not). i've heard the stories. that's exactly what He calls us to!" nope. God's not that mean. He's not the God that sets us up for unavoidable failure. i mean, i feel like a God that would do that doesn't fit into the criteria listed in the previous paragraph. so, what are His expectations of us? the only answer that could possibly make any sense is that God expects nothing less than a total surrender of our lives to HIm. oh.... that's all.
we all know that we're not capable of perfect love. we have sin in our nature and the one's who taught us to love did too. the one's we look to for that perfect love in our lives (our parents, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, kids, best friends, etc...) are imperfect just like us. no wonder we're always let down by love. but God is different.
the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). He IS love. that doesn't mean that God is lovING. it doesn't mean that He likes love or tries to show love. it means that He is the embodiment of love. obviously, we aren't God. for us to ever think we could attain God's love is to believe that we could be God and that is (as Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords would say) a preposterous hypothesis.
so, God gave us another way. He gave us Himself. more specifically, He gave us His Spirit. when we accept Jesus as God, the Holy Spirit of God comes to live in us. and since God is love... we suddenly have the embodiment of love living in our soul. so the challenge becomes not to choose to show all of the attributes of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 (as i had previously supposed), but to choose to let God work through us. to set aside our own selfish desires and allow God to do His thing in and through us. to totally surrender our own will to the will of God. only then can the people around us really experience the love of God through us.
with the majority of Christians (including myself) running around trying to act like God and failing miserably, is it any wonder that non-Christians often despise us? (i despise us half the time!) we look ridiculous as we preach one thing and then fall flat on our faces using every ounce of our human weakness to live up to the unreachable standards we've set for ourselves and the world. no wonder we're regarded as morons. it's time to let it go. it's time to stop trying to act like Christ and, instead, put ourselves aside let Christ act through us.
there is great freedom in this recognition of our limitations. now, the pressure that we put on ourselves to be more Christ-like can be lifted. (this is a relief since the effort is really pretty futile.) instead of praying for the strength to be able to love like Christ, pray instead that you would be able to surrender to His will and be filled to the fullness of His Spirit as Paul did in his letter to the Ephesians. then, God (love Himself) will shine through you.
"weigh-in and business cards"
Monday, May 05, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
today... i hit the 18
pound mark! only 22 pounds to go.
also, i got my new business cards and my profile was (finally!) posted on the ROCKHARBOR website. (click here to check it out... a bit entertaining.)
also, i got my new business cards and my profile was (finally!) posted on the ROCKHARBOR website. (click here to check it out... a bit entertaining.)
"exhausted"
Sunday, May 04, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"in progress... no more!"
Saturday, May 03, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
"a presentation and a hooding"
Friday, May 02, 2008 Filed in: daily photos
today was Emily's
thesis presentation. she did a great job. amazingly
enough, it fit in perfectly with what we've been
doing at RH
and what the Orange Conference is about. very cool.
that night, we had our hooding ceremony and banquet. it was great to be able to be there with my friends from the program as well as Stacy and my parents.
that night, we had our hooding ceremony and banquet. it was great to be able to be there with my friends from the program as well as Stacy and my parents.
