Life of Loo

into the wild

2007-10-31T07:58:00.000-06:00

After re-reading John Eldredge's Wild at Heart in August, it only made sense that our guys small group went to see the new movie Into the Wild.

It was a good movie with a lot of really good thoughts and points. I think Sean Penn may have tried to get a little too artistic by including some completely unnecessary scenes, but overall I was impressed.

What surprised me most was the conclusion the main character came to at the end of the movie. Not what I was expecting from the one movie trailer I'd seen. But it was a good surprise.

lessons from a pit bull...

2007-10-29T20:03:00.000-06:00

last weekend i was enjoying a rare dinner with my girlfriend. we decided to eat picnic-style outside on her front lawn. just as we were finishing our food we spotted a shadow in a parking lot across the street.

before long the shadow became the silhouette of a fairly big dog. a couple more seconds and it became clear it was a pit bull. based on my past experiences with big dogs, i was already picking up our picnic and moving toward the house.

but this pit bull ended up being a nice one. he didn't have a collar, but his chewed up harness made it clear that, at least at some point, someone had taken care of him. with no one in sight we fed our new friend and put him (and yes, it was very clearly a him) in my girlfriend's backyard for the night.

around 4 in the morning it started to rain, and though the dog had a safe place to stay, he decided he wanted out. he jumped two chain link fences and was gone - at least for a little while. three hours later he showed up on the front steps, crying to be let back into the backyard.

to me, the dog's journey was symbolic of my own at times. God has given me everything i need to survive and enjoy this life. yet at the first sign of something uncomfortable the fences feel more like preventative boundaries.

like the pit bull jumping the fence, i forget God knows what's truly best for me and try to do what i believe is best for me. at for a short while, it might seem like the right decision. but ultimately i have to humble myself and come back to the God who knew the best path for me all along.

i may not be the biggest fan of dogs, but i'm not so different from them at times either.

velvet elvis

2007-08-13T17:24:00.000-06:00

I've always been a fan of the Nooma videos, so I thought I'd give Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis a read.

After watching the videos, a lot of the book's content was pretty familiar, but I still really enjoyed it. I really like Rob Bell's writing style - it feels like he's with you in the room talking.

More than that, I really like the picture he paints of creating authentic community in today's culture.

Overall, a good, quick read.

live the gospel...

2007-07-30T17:27:00.000-06:00

By nature, I'm not much of an eavesdropper. But I happened to hear part of a phone conversation one of my friends was having with his roommate from college. Really, all I heard was the very end...

"Live the gospel."

That was it. Just "live the gospel."

I think that might be the coolest way I've ever heard a conversation ended. It's an amazing encouragement between two men who want to make much of Jesus with their lives. It wasn't softened by a routine "see ya later," or "take care."

And in three words it says so much more than that.

We'd all do well to follow my friend's encouragement. Problem is, it sounds much simpler than it actually is.

on the right track?

2007-07-24T10:33:00.000-06:00

A few guys from church have been meeting and talking about the book Wild at Heart. This week we had a really good conversation about a question that I think almost everyone has to ask themselves:

Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life?

How do you figure that out? I mean, I can't answer that question with any certainty. Most people my age probably can't. And because we can't, we start playing these crazy games trying to figure out God's will for our lives.

When that doesn't lead to a conclusive answer, I get restless, frustrated, go through a mini quarter-life crisis - or worse, I just go about my routines and ignore the question in the first place. I'm pretty sure none of those actions do anything to answer the question.

So here's where I'm at on the situation. Even if I can't answer that question with any certainty, if I feel like I have battles worth fighting in my life, then I at least know that I'm not wasting my life. And if I'm not wasting my life, then I can't be too far off doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

But that's me. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've got any...

five weird habits

2007-07-16T19:45:00.000-06:00

About two weeks ago, I was tagged by Brian to post on five weird habits. So without further ado, here it goes.

1. Hair Twisting. My hands don't keep still very often, so other people (and especially my sister) catch me twisting my hair. Sideburns, leg hair, arm hair - it doesn't really matter. Since I can finally grow semi-respectable facial hair, that's been the hair of choice lately.

2. Repeating Songs. I've been known to take a few songs and play them over and over again. To honor this weird habit, my college roommates have made playlists of the songs I played the most.

3. Cookie Eating. When I eat those big cookies like the ones from Mrs. Fields, I eat the inside first and save the outer ring for last. It's a habit that started in high school for no apparent reason.

4. Inspirational Movie Scenes. My junior year of college, I watched the last 20 minutes of Braveheart every day for a month. No joke. At that point, I felt like I had a lot of battles to fight and I love the end of that movie. Still, that's pretty strange.

5. Sports. I root for the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals. No explanation needed.

truth outranks experiene

2007-07-12T14:55:00.000-06:00

Twice a year new missionaries come to Avant for Candidate Orientation Program(COP). This time around i had the opportunity to teach several sessions. The topic: "Telling Your Story"

Now at first I was a little intimidated. Not so much of teaching or talking in front of a group of people. Between college business classes, BYX and youth services at my church, I've gotten comfortable with that. Rather, I was intimidated by the fact that I was teaching people with more experience than me on the subject of telling stories.

Missionaries are professional storytellers. Think about it. They go to the ends of the earth to spread the gospel - God's story. When they're not doing that, they're writing updates and talking at churches, telling stories of God working in and through them. It's a missionary's job description to tell stories.

Who am I to tell them how to do that? At least that's what I was wrestling with several weeks ago when I was figuring out what to talk about. But then it hit me - truth is truth no matter who speaks it.

Truth outranks experience.

What would the world be like if people with good ideas kept their mouth shut because they didn't have experience in that field? Even worse, what would the world be like if we heard those good ideas and ignored them simply because of who said them. The apostles were some of the first to flunk out of Rabbi school, - what if people ignored the truth they spoke?

Armed with affirmation, I compiled my sessions on "Telling Your Story." And I'm pretty sure I taught with a confidence that would have been missing without this realization.

Now I will always respect the experience of people who have done something longer than I. They have learned so many lessons that can only be learned from successes and failures. So in the future, whenever I'm in a position of speaking or teaching to those more experienced than I, this will be my motto:

Respect Experience. Follow Truth.

no regrets

2007-06-20T16:11:00.000-06:00

Some people would apologize for not posting anything in over a month.

I am some people. Sorry.

Adventures from my first business conference

2007-05-08T12:49:00.000-06:00

So it's been a while since my last post. I apologize to anyone who actually reads this. Sorry Mom.

Anyway right now I'm in the middle of attending my first conference in my post-college life. This one's about a particularly exciting topic: grant writing.

But while the topic might not get me out of bed in the morning, I love talking with the people here. Out of fifty attendees I'm one of two from a faith-based organization. Everyone else is associated with doing medical research, community development and health and human services. It's awesome to see how some people ended up here.

For example, sitting three seats down from me is a man named Cal. Cal is from India, but now works for Texas Tech and is currently trying to get a grant to do diabetes research with low-income Hispanic people from El Paso.

Right next to me is a woman named Esther. Esther is a native American who lives in Oklahoma and works for her tribe's national office. Her tribe has traditionally been funded by what she calls a "smut shop" off the interstate. Having made the drive from KC to Texas many times, I've seen many such shops in Oklahoma. But Esther doesn't really like that her tribe is funded that way, so she's learning how to write grants to raise money a different way.

What's so cool about this conference is hearing these stories. The people here are all trying to raise money for great causes: disabilities, education, homelessness, AIDS, native American tribes, sharing Christ. There's an air of respect among the attendees that can only come from people who have taken a step back fast-moving life, seen all kinds of crap that goes on in the world, and decided to do something about it.

Truly a neat environment. I hope all the conferences I go to have people like this.

easter weekend

2007-04-09T20:51:00.000-06:00

I had a great Easter weekend. Not only did I get to spend four days with Shea and more time than usual with my family, but I was reminded and encouraged to pursue the full life Jesus came to give.

Two weekends ago, I talked during our Sunday morning High School service about the workers in the vineyard. The main idea was that Jesus isn't fair - and thank God, because if he was, we'd all have to pay for our own sin. But beyond that, we talked about the idea that, if Jesus saves us whenever we come to him, whether it's 2 seconds or 90 years before we die, why not pursue happiness now and come to Christ later.

It's a great question that probably every high school and college student who has grown up in church has to face. But at the heart of that question is another question: do you believe that following Jesus is the fullest, most satisfying life possible? If you don't, then you're likely to pursue happiness and satisfaction elsewhere, put Christ on hold and come back to him later.

As Christians, we so quickly focus on the "don't s". Don't drink, don't smoke, don't have sex before you're married, etc. In high school, I mastered the "don't s" of Christianity. And I consequently became bitter and judgmental. I wasn't remotely close to the full life Jesus came to give.

See, following Christ and living life to the fullest is about what you do, not what you don't do. Full life is putting God and others before yourself. Full life is seeking joy and satisfaction in Christ. Full life is glorifying God.

Granted, because of what full life is, there are some things you don't do. But the focus is always on the "do s", not the "don't s".

I love Easter for a lot of reasons, but probably the best one is that it reminds me of Jesus' (and therefore mine in him) victory over sin and death. Through that victory I can experience life to the full and I can take hold of it now.

now and later...

2007-03-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

About 17 years ago, a guy named Paul Tokunaga spoke at Urbana, a student missions conference held once every three years. Here's what he said...

"The best missionary later is the best missionary now. The patterns that we establish for ourselves now will likely be our life style patterns when we're thirty, forty, and ninety. If you're a driven student now who only has time for studies, in twenty years you'll probably be a driven business person with ulcers."

Although I was six years old at the time he said this, I could swear this is directed at me. I'm restless by nature and whenever I feel like I'm not being effective, I'm quick to look for something new.

Lately, that something new is missions work overseas. I think God could make me a pretty good missionary in another culture. And maybe someday he'll do just that.

But the reality is that I'm a pretty crappy missionary right now. I don't think going overseas is an instant fix for that. That'd be like saying, "I'm a horrible boyfriend, but once I get married, I'll be a great husband." I don't think that's how it works.

Bottom line: I need to be just as willing to reach out to the people next door as the people across the world.

And let's be honest, I can't afford to have ulcers. I like spicy food way too much.

Believe and Belize...

2007-03-12T19:58:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I got to hang out with a bunch of middle school students in St. Louis for the Believe conference. It was a change of pace from hanging out with high school students, but a great change of pace at that.

Probably the only thing not great about the weekend was Robert Pierre. He actually has a good voice (although a little on the soprano side) and I'm sure he's a great kid, but he's just a tad awkward on stage. And by a tad I mean a lot.

It probably wouldn't have bothered me, except that the conference was pumping this guy up like he was the next big thing in music. They even gave out Livestrong bracelets with his website on it. Still, I held my tongue until just before the last main session. Then the conference staff played a music video he made and that just pushed me over the edge.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if his music career lasts once he hits puberty and his voice drops. By the way, whatever happened to Billy Gillman?

On a completely unrelated note, my girlfriend Shea left for Belize today for the next week. Her and thirty other people from Trinity Chapel are doing missions work and supporting the local church there. I'm really excited to hear how the week goes, although I won't hear it soon enough. This will be the longest we've gone without talking in a year-and-a-half.

Want to hear a 60-year-old man be really relevant?

2007-03-05T08:37:00.000-06:00

John Piper loves Jesus a lot and spends his life trying to spread that passion to others. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hear him speak at Passion '07 in Atlanta a few months ago, but I heard from a few who went that we all need to hear the message he gave there.

I checked it out this weekend and I completely agree. If you're like me at all and have ever questioned your ability to truly follow Christ because of sin in your life, you should read this message. Piper specifically talks about how Satan will use guilt from sexual sin in an effort to cripple our passion for following Jesus.

Click here to read or listen to the article.

walk on water?...i missed the boat.

2007-03-03T11:01:00.000-06:00

Peter may have lost faith when the winds began to blow, but at least he had enough faith to get out of the boat. Reading this passage in Matthew, it's easy to overlook, but Peter actually did walk on water--as short a time as it was.

As for me, I'm not sure I've ever stepped out of the boat on faith like Peter. In fact, I'm not sure how often I've even been in the boat in the first place. The 12 men in the boat had left everything to follow Jesus. What has following Christ ever cost me? I can't think of much.

Maybe that's why we don't see many miracles today. We don't walk on water because we don't step out of the boat because we're not in the boat because we're "safe" on shore with our contingency plans and savings accounts.

But that's the danger of "safety"--it keeps us from following Jesus. Jesus isn't safe. So we can't follow Jesus if we're trying to be safe. Safety makes us complacent and numb.

I'm convinced there's a whole new dimension of life few people, including Christians, ever experience. We are content with waiting until heaven to experience life to the full. But we're told to take hold of full life now.

So far, I've missed the boat. But thanks to grace, today is a new opportunity to push off shore.

a life-changing book...

2007-03-02T22:06:00.000-06:00

I just finished reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Shane and a few other "ordinary radicals" started a community in Philadelphia called The Simple Way. I think that every North American Christian needs to read this book, but caution: this book will challenge the way you think and the way you've been taught to think.

Among many amazing thoughts in this book, Shane talks about "charity" and how we as Christians will much sooner throw money at people who aren't like us in order to maintain a safe distance from them. Anyone bold enough to actually love their neighbor by immersing themselves in poverty, homelessness, or any other sickness of society we deem a "saint." But in deeming that person a saint, we write off their actions as something we can't (or aren't called to) do. Actually we are both able and called. Dorothy Day, pioneer of the Catholic Worker movement was once quoted as saying, "Don't call us saints; we don't want to be dismissed that easily."

Throughout the book, Shane makes some great points about how, when we actually look at what Jesus said about being his devoted follower, we should have some serious problems with how Christianity often looks in America. But rather than be cynics (because cynicism is easy) we need to live the life of a true disciple of Christ.

Jesus comes that we may have life to the full, but life to the full has nothing to do with the American dream. Graduating from a private school and living in Johnson County, that's not always the easiest thing to remember.

More on this book later...