Time Flies!!

But I'm back!

Well, I do believe I have finished my first book with a friend of mine. We're getting some people we trust to read over it, and we're getting one person maybe two to proofread it. Then, we look for a publisher, and we try to get the book on the shelves. That would be so awesome!

With that, here's an excerpt from the beginning, enjoy!

"Aubrey paced the giant hall, clutching the crumpled wad of paper, desperate eyes roving all around the marble room searching for inspiration, for answers. So heated was he that his thin crown, if not fitted exactly to his blond head, would have been flung off like a discus long before. This iron band completed his bold features, dispelling any suspicion of his vanity at first sight. While the rest of his family chose crowns of precious metals inlaid with gems, Aubrey had opted for the strong look of iron. It gave him the air of a warrior."

Ha! It's not that much, and it only tells you of one character... anyway, there it is! :D

All that comes with life...

Well, there's a lot of it... I have a pressing question about my journey with my friends... I've been hanging around with a group of kids that I consider to be my best friends. These guys are great, and sure to have my back in any and every situation. I trust them...

But I'm concerned. I've seen the negative effects of careless words and behavior, and the I mean the worst effects of it. My friends, though they don't know it, have been carelessly speaking and saying things that could really hurt people. Okay, they're not that naive, they know they can hurt people with what they're saying. They don't seem to care though, and it makes me a little upset.

Teasing and that kind of stuff is one thing, but they've persisted beyond that. Insults to others are constantly flying from their lips. Things like race, sex, or just subtle differences between themselves and other people set on a barrage of terrible words that can last for ten minutes straight. Although it's just fun in their eyes, it's become monstrously vulgar and offensive speech, and I don't think they have a clue what their words mean.

I'm not saying they sincerely believe what they're saying, but that's just it, I really don't know. It's constant, habitual. One day, they could run into big problems with that kind of talk, and hurt themselves or others. In a few cases, the things they say do end up hurting others that they don't even know, and I know for a fact that that kind of thing is dangerous.

I don't know how to confront them on this issue. Three out of theese four, I believe have a love for God, and have confessed such a thing. Despite that, I just can't stand what their speech has become, and I don't know what to do or say.

Maybe it's no big deal? Or maybe I see that this is hurting people and I need to say something to them...

anyone with helpful words for me? Or them?

This blog...

I was just reading some of my older posts, and I find it incredible what I've done here. I wrote some things that, looking back on them now, I need to get straight back to. My eyes have been dry, and I was having trouble looking at life the way I used to. This is an adventure, and I need to be responsible for my exploits. I have stories to tell, and stories to live. I've been having fun and such, but I need more than fun. It's time to stand up and become who I need to be. I don't know how, but I'm going to try to do whatever it takes. I've got people who can guide me through and teach me everything they can teach me.

Over two years ago I started this blog, and I left it a while ago. I'm sorry for that, but no regrets for me, just lessons learned now. I don't need to dwell on this, but I need to take what I can from it, and use it for God, and for good. I will find out who I am, I will do what God calls me to, and I will fight the fight he has sent me to win. I have a life to live, and my old writings have awakened me again, thank God!

I have so much to share, so much to give, so much that God has sent me to do, and he knows how capable I am better than I do. Whatever he says, I will do, I will say, I will act. My word will be my bond, and my action will reflect that of a gentleman's. I'm almost eighteen, an adult by the standards of American society. I don't want to be a bum, I want to be a hard-working gentleman. So it's time.

There's still time for fun, for friends, for relaxing... but there's so much more time for discovery, adventure, and love for new things and new people.

Love is the quest, the adventure, and I've got to go and express God's love wherever he wants me to. I've got to go. I've got to do.... where first? Where do I go? I need to finish the things I've started, I need to go to the things that God has been calling me to. It's time to face my fears and get back into the battle. Apathy is the enemy, and action is the tool with which I will conquer!

It's not a game, it's a battle. It's time. I'm going. Nothing will stop me. God will help me.

Peace.

Sorry everybody.

Open Letter of Apology to The World

Please bear with me, this is long overdue and there's lots of ground
to cover. I want to make sure that I get it all out. Not just for me,
but because I think you need to hear it. Maybe there are other
Christians out there as well that need to make apologies and will find
courage here. I appreciate your time, I know it's valuable.

Dear Members of the World,
I'm just a guy, nobody really. Son of a preacher. Years
and years of Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, youth ski trips,
puppet shows - you name it. I'm not a bad
guy, I've been mostly behaving myself and everybody seems to like me.
I do some good stuff here and there.

But lately I've been trying to understand Jesus more and stuff I never
noticed before has really started to bug me. I've been taking a look
around and I'm having a hard time making sense of what it is we've
built here. So, it just seemed like, whether anybody else says it or
not, I need to take responsibility for the part I played and say what
I have to say.

Here we go ...

I know you think that Christians are a big bunch of hypocrites. We say
we're more "religious" and we're going to heaven and you're not, and
then we drive our big shiny cars with little fishies on the trunk and
cut you off in traffic as we race by the homeless guy on the corner.
We average just 2% of our money to church and charity, despite that we
say the Bible is the word of God and it says we're supposed to give
everything. On average, we buy just as many big screen TVs and bass
boats and fur coats and makeup and baseball cards and online porn as
anybody else. Maybe more. You've seen leader after leader end up in
jail or court or a sex scandal of one sort or another.

Well ... you're right. We're guilty of all of it. We've done it all.
And, I'm really sorry.

You see our cheesy TV shows and slick guys begging for money and you
get that there's something seriously sneaky and wrong here. A high-
pressure call for money so they can stay on the air? Were we supposed
to use Jesus as just another form of entertainment? Who do we think
we're kidding? Where's Jesus in all this? Aren't we supposed to rely
on him? Isn't He going to meet our needs if we're inside His will?

What happened to sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor? I'm
just sick about this. I mean, the church leaders, they're not all bad
guys, there are lots and lots of really hard-working well-meaning
folks who love and care and are meeting real needs in the community.
Some of them understand and love Jesus - but I'm just real sure those
pastors don't drive Bentley's, have multi-million dollar homes and
their own lear jets! I mean, what "god" are we worshipping? Money?
Ego? Power?

You see our massive shiny new buildings all over the place. Heck,
maybe we even kicked you out of your house so we could expand our
parking lots. You can't figure out why we need four different
Christian churches on four corners of the same intersection. We've got
playgrounds and bowling alleys and basketball leagues. We've got
Starbucks coffee in the sanctuary. We've got orchestras and giant
chandeliers and fountains out front. We've got bookstores full of
"jesus junk" with every imaginable style and flavor of religious knick-
knack. But where's Jesus? Is this what HE wanted?

Oh, sure, there are good folks all over and not every church is such a
mess, but Christians are the ones that say we're supposed to be "One
Body." So even the good ones are guilty of not putting a stop to it
sooner. We were supposed to keep each other in line and not tolerate
factions and dissensions and greed and idolatry and all this other bad
stuff. Man, we really blew it! We've got 33,000 denominations and most
of them won't talk to the other ones. We lose over $5 million a day to
fraud from "trusted" people inside the church! We spend 95% of all our
money on our own comforts and programs and happy family fun time shows
and we let 250 MILLION Christians in other countries live on the very
edge of starvation. Not to mention the billion or so that have never
even once heard of Jesus - or the homeless guy downtown we almost ran
over when we cut you off.

We're as guilty as we can be. All of us. Nobody is exempt. We should
have put a stop to it a lot sooner. But I can't apologize on behalf of
anyone else. This is about me.

I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going
as soon as you could. I know that you might even have been abused by
somebody in the church! Maybe we got you all fired up and then just
let you drift off like we didn't really care. Maybe you just don't fit
our "profile." You might have piercings and purple hair or tattoos or
been in jail -- and somewhere inside you just know that even if you
wanted to go to church one Sunday, it would not go well. I'm sorry for
that. Jesus loves you. He always hung out with the most unexpected
people. He had the biggest heart for the folks everybody else tried to
ignore. What have we done? We've told you to put on a sweater and some
loafers or you can't go to heaven. I just want to throw up.

Look, I know you're mad. And you have a right to be. We've done you
wrong for a LONG time now. There's some things about Jesus that people
need to hear, but we've buried a beautiful masterpiece under hundreds
of layers of soft pink latex paint. If you have a Bible handy, look up
Matthew 23. (If you don't, you can look it up here - www.BibleGateway.com
.) Find it? Read it carefully, the Pharisees were the "religious"
people of the day, the leaders of the faith. In this chapter Jesus
SEVEN times says how pitiful and wretched and cursed they are for what
they're doing to the people they're supposed to be leading. He even
calls them "white washed tombs of dead mens bones" and a "brood of
vipers"! I don't have time here, but read it and see if we're not
doing EVERY single one of those things. Jesus can't possibly be happy
about what we've done to you.

Sure, we like to kid ourselves and pretend everything is OK - but it's
not. We're hated. Now, please understand, Jesus was hated, too. But
that was because he said hard things and sometimes people don't like
hearing the Truth. And he promised we would be hated if we were like
him. But that's not why we're hated at the moment. We're hated right
now because we're a giant pack of lying hypocrites that say one thing
and do something else altogether. If we were hated because we were
like Jesus, that would be one thing, but that's not it at all. You see
right through our happy music and fluffy services and you can tell
there's something desperately wrong here. We're no different than
anybody else - except that we say we're better than you.

It was never supposed to be like this. Jesus asked us to care for the
widows and orphans, to feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit those
in prison, reach the lost. He wanted us to love our enemies and pray
for them. He cared about human justice and suffering, the lost and
lonely. But I don't think He would have marched on a picket line - He
had His mind on much bigger problems. He wanted us to focus on the
eternal things, not the everyday. He never once said to go into all
the world and build big buildings and divide up into factions and buy
Bentleys. Just the opposite! I get that you're mad at us and I think
you have a right to be, but please understand, you're mad at what
we've made under our own power, you're mad at "Churchianity." That's
different than Christ and what he wanted. Don't be mad at Jesus! This
mess wasn't His idea!

Look, I'm really sorry. I accept responsibility for my part in having
hurt you. But I'm committing to you all, dear Members of the World,
that I'm not going to do it any more. Not a single penny more. I'm not
going to put my faith in "Churchianity" or any leader or program or TV
show -- but in Christ Jesus and His salvation. That's when I was set
free and began to see that God wants and expects more of us than this.
And I'm not helping anybody that's not fully committed to the same
thing.

It took centuries to build this monster, so it's not like it's going
to just turn around overnight. But the times are changing and we're
way overdue for something new. Big bad things are happening - like the
tsunami in Asia - and I think more are coming. I don't want any more
time to go by without having said this. I'm sorry for all the time and
money I've wasted. But Jesus saves. Really. The church itself isn't
even the point. Jesus is the real deal. He lived and He died for my
sins and He rose again. He is who He said He was and He cares about me
- and you. He's our only hope. We need places you can go that will
only teach Jesus and will not be swayed or tempted or distracted by
anything else. God willing, that's coming.

Please don't think all Christians are just posers. Some of them really
mean it when they say they belong to Christ. The problem is mostly in
the West where we're all comfy and complacent and seem to like it that
way. The Christians in China and other places are deadly serious.
There's no room for anything but Jesus when you're on the run from the
government. They are dying every day for their faith and doing crazy
hard things because they're absolutely committed to Christ. These are
martyrs. People willing to crucify little pieces of themselves every
day to be more like Christ. People willing to set aside everything
they want to do what Christ wants. People willing to rot in prison or
take a beating or die if that's what it's going to take. People that
act in pure love and never back down. I'm not worthy to tie their
shoes. And there are some like that here, too, and I hope we can get a
lot more people to start living that way. It's way overdue.

If you're talking to someone and they tell you they're a Christian,
ask them if they're the kind of Christian that really means it all the
time or the kind that just means it on Sunday. The Bible says we'll
know them by their "fruits" - by the faith and purity and love in
their deeds and words. When you find one that proves Christ is in them
by how much they love you, ask them to tell you all about Jesus. If
you know one of those fearless martyrs that speaks nothing but pure,
clean, hard Truth - ask lots of questions. Truth is a lot more rare
than you would think. But don't settle for soft, fluffy and
comfortable anymore - that's not in the Bible.

As for me and my house, we're really sorry. From now on, we're going
to serve the Lord, not "Churchianity." We're going to try to call
together as many of those martyrs as we can and start doing what
Christ wanted. If I run into you someday, please give me a chance to
shake your hand and apologize in person. I'm going to try harder from
now on, I promise. I think there are lots of others feeling the same
way, so don't be surprised if you start hearing stuff like this more
often.

I got this from Brant. He's pretty much a genius...

If Jesus Had a Blog...

Most people that I know read my blog read Brant's blog too, so this will probably just be a re-read for most of you. But, with any luck, maybe someone who doesn't read Brant's blog reads my blog, and will see this post.

We FINALLY got an internet cafe in Galilee. The ESSENES have DSL, and we're just getting dial-up. That should tell you something!

Anyway, I was hanging out with some religious leaders. They got on my case for not keeping their Favorite Rules (apparently, you HAVE to wash up before dinner, in accordance with scripture.) I told them religious leaders love to have rules to make everyone else feel inadequate. They "tithe", and stuff, but my Father doesn't care, because He's all about people having hearts for mercy, and justice, not the tithing rule.

Didn't fly very well. :0

Posted 12:36 p.m. in Category "Stuff I Was Talking About in Aramaic Today but Now I'm Typing in English"

12 Comments

----------------------------------------------

COMMENTS

Jesus, love ya, but I think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater again, here. There's nothing wrong with tithing, there's a lot of scriptural precedent for it.

I "get" where you're coming from, a lot of the time, but this is a little too simplistic. I encourage you to continue to learn and study.

-- karifish777

I normally don't comment, but I had to come out of lurking here.

"karifish" is right, Jesus. It's easy to criticize and critique, but how exactly do we measure "mercy" and "justice"?

Maybe pray about this and talk to your pastor about it. Oh -- I forgot -- you don't HAVE a pastor! (I still remember that "brood of vipers" entry...)

-- chapterboy21

J -- I usually love your blog, and I appreciate the need for "love", here, but you're basically saying (am I clear on this) that it doesn't matter if I give money or not?

You go off on these guys, but they're following their convictions. I appreciate your emphasis on having a heart for mercy, but that's not the only issue. We need people to DO things that show their hearts, and tithing is part of that. I'm glad I tithe.

My dad is a pastor, and I showed him your blog. He said (no offense) you've probably got a thing with authority. Anyway, I don't think you do, but you tend to over-simplify things.

-- buckeyesgo02

Dude, what are you smoking?

Honestly I love some of the funny stuff you post here (that cartoon of Herod was over-the-top, though) but this is just wrong, I'm sorry. You are too reactionary against religious authority. God put those authorities in your life. Look it up in the Bible, the Word of God. (I know, I know, I caught your post about how YOU are the word. Didn't care for that, either.)

-- quiettimephil

OMG. I *love* this.

THANK YOU for posting this. I have felt like a loser for so long, like I can't keep up with all the rules and everything my church is asking me to do and I feel like a failure as a single mom. And you're saying you just want to see me love people!

I'm crying. Thank you.

-- karen83

J-Train -- Love the blog. Keep it comin' brother!

You do seem to lump all religious leaders together. I appreciate your point, but the fact is, there are LOTS of great religious leaders out there. You've got a little 'tude going on there, and you speak in big, blanket statements.

Yes, our religious system is messed. But we don't need to trash it. We need to reform it. Blasting our leaders doesn't help. We NEED great religious leaders. I just wish you'd acknowledge that.

Anyway, just a thought from a brother.

-- agape4U

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-- yourmedsnow2323434

I linked to your blog from your woodworking site. I had ordered a new wood pulpit, but now I'm going to cancel, now that I can see where your head is with regard to religious leaders and our system.

To be honest, I'm surprised you have a public platform in Christian ministry, and that you're still allowed to do it. I wonder if your audiences knew what you really thought...would you still have a job?

-- preachtheword9021

Yeah, let's all stop tithing. Let's stop obeying all the rules. There won't be any pastors, and we won't be able to pay the bills for our churches. Nice.

While I'm at it, I'll quit as worship pastor and give all my money to the poor. Why don't you quit ripping on everything and tell us how church government is SUPPOSED to work? You never detail that, you just rip, rip, rip.

-- jesusfreak777

Dude -- This story is CLASSIC.

This is why I try to link everyone to your blog. In fact, my church-planting site is all about trying to get people to believe what you're saying. You RULE, man.

I'm so totally with you on the establishment, too. The weird thing: Almost as soon as I get a new group of Jesus-blog-followers going, and then I try to recognize the mature SERVANTS among them, they all start ranking themselves, and jostling for position and attention. Unbe-freaking-lievable.

I write letters to them, telling them to quit putting rules on people, and then they make rules out of my letters. Hellooooo?

Anyway, I used to be one of those guys putting rules on people, trying to make things complex. Swet gig, that. THANKS -- seriously -- for putting me out of THAT job.

-- saul_call_me_paul23

Love the blog. I think you way over-simplify, and I don't think you're right on all this stuff. But if you are, I just wasted three years in seminary.

-- lutherules99192

i don't understand the tithe thing but i like yourblog and i read the thing about how kids rule and i liked that a lot

i like the little yellow flowers U made UR AWSOME

-- horsegirl1999

The great commision, and the battle that's already been won.

I was reading a book called A Scandalous Freedom by Steven Brown when I read an excerpt from him that said, (and I'm paraphrasing) the battle has already been won by Jesus. What the author left out is our role after that. If the battle is already won, why are we still here? Then, as I was reading on, God reminded me of something not even in Steve Brown's text, but in His text, the Bible. He reminded me of the Great Commission. When Jesus commanded the apostles to make disciples of all men, I believe he was telling them to love. How else do you make disciples? There is no other way. So then I thought, if the battle is already won, then why are we making disciples? Has Jesus not won them over already? Well, the obvious answer is that not everyone has been won over by Jesus. So is the battle really won?
Yes.
The reason we're still here is we, as Christians, have been assigned a task out on the battlefield. Now that the enemy is defeated, it is our job to tend to the wounded. Those who were damaged by the original sin, and still need help getting to a doctor. There's only one doctor that can tend to their wounds, and that's Jesus. So our assignment is a recon mission. Out to find the wounded and bring them to Jesus. We aren't fighting anymore, we're healing. We're leading our wounded brothers back to the medic. All men are our brothers. We must tend to their wounds, and be sensitive to them. Those of you who understand this metaphor, thanks for reading.

When life gives you lemons...

Just thought I'd like to remind anyone who reads my blog and might be going through hard times about one of my favorite scripture verses:


We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

If you're struggling, and you're down in the dumps, no matter how hard this may be for you to believe, please know that whatever you're going through is for God's purpose, and that His will for you is unmatched in how good it is for you. It may be hard. May seem impossible, but faith in God's promise to work all things together for you and His purpose will bring a way through the impossible. So remember, when life gives you lemons, God is making lemonade for sure.

Just thought someone out there needed that reminder.

Easter Wellabration!

Not much to be said about it. It was just like the new Year's Wellabration, except there were eggs flying in the air instead of fireworks. It was, once again loads of fun. We had egg relays and egg tosses, and kinda left the true meaning of Easter to be taught by the parents at home, because it was not time for Easter sermons, it was a time for Wellabration!
Hey-yeah!

Something about the phrase"plugged in" really bugs me.

So, some who read this blog may know that I am not "plugged in" to any "real church" "program." Instead, me and a good forty to fifty people meet on Sundays as friends before God, and learn from eachother, and God's word. Mostly God's word, and how we daily experience the truths of His word in our lives. It's a beautiful scene every Sunday which was put together by God's beautiful scheme. Unfortunately, some people feel that it's not enough to be doing what we're doing every Sunday. They think we should be "plugged in" as if the Bible tells us to be "plugged in... or else." My older sister, a senior in high school was at a youth group she had enjoyed attending for about a year. There came a time (very recently) when she became interested in going on a mission trip to Jamaica with the youth group. Keep in mind that she does not attend the church. Because that's the thing that gave the youth pastor grounds to say, and these were the words, "No, you don't come to this church, you're not plugged in. I'm looking for people who will work well together as a team, but I don't see you as one of them. You don't attend this church."
What a shame! How wrong is that? In an effort to get her to attend "his church" this guy used something important to her, already a believer, as leverage. This is not how it should be! The dude is going to Jamaica to spread God's word, and he rejects the help of a sister in Christ because she is not "plugged in." I would dare anyone to justify his reasoning! Such a rejection is uncalled for! How can you turn away someone so willing to come with you? Just because she's not "plugged in?"

Former public-schooler's insight.

You know, I'm finding a reason to learn while I'm doing this homeschool thing. Even math is becoming exciting to me. My reason? God wants me to explore His creation and learn about it so that I can function in it. It makes sense if you have any kind of theistic view that isn't atheism. So, I comfortably take my stand with my reason that I learn. Most of the books I read are Christ-centered, and give me motivation for doing work. It's sad though, because in public school, that's not quite the case.
What I discovered about public school is that, because there is no theistic belief, they have no reason to learn. I used to hear these words, verbatim, from many of my public school peers: "What's the point of learning this?"
Then the teacher says, "It will help you in college."
The student then asks "Why do we need it in college? I'm not aiming to: be a mathematician, scientist, author, travel to France etc..."
The conversation ends when the teacher says (no longer verbatim) "Just memorize it today, and regurgitate it tomorrow on the test so I can prove to my boss that I told you something he/she wanted me to."
What's the problem here? The kids aren't interested because they have no reason to be.
Me? I hate math. I struggle with it, and I'm terrible at grasping mathematical concepts, but I want to learn it. Why? Because the God who created it fascinates me, and so, math fascinates me. The public school kids, unless they, themselves are Christian, have no reason to learn it. Simply because even in highschool, they have a pretty good idea that if there is no god, and their lives are finite that they'll just end up going to college, being successful, maybe, then dying. Whether they acknowlege it or not, they know it's true. They have no reason to learn simply because the only reason to do so is no longer allowed in school. God is no longer allowed in school. It's sad, but true. What will fix it? Good question...

I just thought I'd like to ask...

What does the word "free" mean to most people. Do you think that the "free" our forefathers died for is the same "free" that Jesus says we are? How many definitions of "free" are there? I'm pretty sure that there's only one in the dictionary, but I've had a few Christians tell me that I wasn't really that free. So, I don't get it. Is it possible to be half free? Does that make any sense? Here, this is what it looks like to me...

married woman: "Mom, good news, I'm pregnant!"

mother: "really? you're having a baby?"

married woman: "well, no, mom... Geeze, I'm not that pregnant."

Well, I've had conversations like that about freedom. "Oh, we're not that free." Well, I'd like to know how that's even possible. It seems nonsensical, illogical, and pretty unbiblical.
It's wrong. I believe that I am completely free in Christ, and if you think I'm going somewhere I shouldn't with this, well, too bad, I'm going there. You know, I am totally free to mess up even if I am saved. God will love me no less. I am completely free to sin, sin, sin, and God will love me no less. Do I want to? No, not particularly, but if God is truly as strong as we say He is, then He can hold on to us even if we sin. And Jesus' blood really makes that possible when He says we are free, He really means it. We can still choose, but seeing as if we're saved, we know that we are new creatures, and most likely, we have experienced God's UNCONDITIONAL love for us, which means, with God having given His new creatures the ability to understand and reflect that love, then we should want to reflect it because we enjoy it so much that we want other people to see it, and you know what's capital in God's love for us? He made us free. Completely and totally free of any bondage of anything of any control by anything or anyone. Free free free free free free free!!!! F-R- double E FREEEEE!!!!!
So, you know what that means? We're free to be His, and free to make mistakes and still be loved. We're free to love, free to dance, sing, laugh, and even sin. We're free in all things. And, even though we're free to sin, we are no longer bound to sin, but rather we are bound to a victory in Christ. This is the freedom He has given us. That's all freedom has ever meant. Our rights to choose as human beings do is what we have fought for, and what Jesus has already won.

I found these awesome pics of objects in our solar system compared in size to stars and things visible from earth. These pictures are set to
scale, so you'll find a new understanding to the term "it's a small world," and also a new way to ask the question, "why did God choose us?"

Let the Wellabration Commence!!!!

This once-a-year, first-day-of-the-new-year celebration was held six days ago at Mike Bishop's house with all the festivities I could have hoped for on New Year's Eve. The glow of fireworks, and small, destructive children with sparklers. High-spirited adults with recently emptied wine glasses in front of them. The satisfying taste of sparkling cider, either grape or apple, deliciously sliding down the throats of those not old enough for wine. If you enter Shawn Bashor's man-cave, you'll find crazy men playing WWE on the XBox 360, beating the virtual crud out of each other. My friend Josh nearly blowing his ears out with bottle rockets that he didn't quite let go of in time, and concerned mothers gasping at his daring feats. A couple full rounds of "cops and robbers", arguing about whether the star in the middle of the sky was Mars or Jupiter, and wellabrating like no one else could dream of. Screams and shouts of delight rang from the Bishop's house like from no other house in Jupiter Florida, and the smiles on people's faces as they left the party proved that NOBODY wellabrates like we do.

I'm not so sure how to deal with this...

Recently, I got into a pretty cool discussion with a girl I work with. (This post is kinda serious, so I won't take on the name Mr. Publix.) We were talking about God and things related, when my clumsy mouth stumbled on the law vs. grace thing, and how even though we do wrong, God is still okay with us if the blood of Jesus has covered us, and shown us the way to love Him and one another. Well, I didn't quite word it that way, but she took it the wrong way, and thinks I'm into the idea of total carnage and what not, and expecting God to let me into heaven covered in sin. As I was telling her of grace, she mentioned to me "God is a wrathful God, and He gave very strict guidelines."
Now, he did give strict guidelines, all of which were totally summed up in His two commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind... the second is like unto it, love your neighbor as yourself."
Now, I was shocked, here is what surprised me, that she says God is such a wrathful God, yet he loves and commands us to love. She talked as if she had never seen the loving side of Him, or the full reason He died on the cross. I don't want to show it directly to her, because only God can open her eyes, but I'm going to tell her about it, in hopes that God uses me to open her eyes to His love. I just don't know how to tell her without her thinking I'm some kinda hippie liberal. *sigh*. I don't know... help, anyone?

On the night of the Sunday before the Sunday before Christmas...

... me and my awesome group of Christian friends had a white elephant gift exchange. It started out incomprehensibly rowdy as we watched a ballgame that we never saw coming. That day, during the Dolphin's terrible season of '07, the Miami Dolphins.... won!!! They beat the Baltimore Ravens 22-16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't like the Dolphins all that much...
But the party erupted into such a glorious state of somewhat-mock celebration after Brant Hansen stood among an amazed crowd, and started a slow clap. Then, we ate! Dinner didn't last too long before we started the gift exchange.
It was ruthless, awful, as children under five years of age had the gifts adults coveted cruelly stripped from their hands. The Hansen family tearing each other apart over a stretchy, gooey frog-thing. I DESPERATELY attempted to sell off my five-episode classic collection of Little House on the Prairie to someone who didn't care so much about their gift. I finally found someone, and I got a pair of socks. Then, I traded the pair of socks for a plush Patrick Star from Spongebob. I later traded that for a collection of "create your own adventure" books. Score!!
The women quarreled over both a pink purse or a bag with fake tattoos and $5. Twinkies passed around the room, a squirrel-themed lamp switched consistently from reluctant hands, and two men, one being Brant, dressed in small girl's clothing.. Yes, don't worry, it was unfortunate that that was the gift they ended up with. Brant's said "GIRL POWER" and had pictures of Wonder Woman and other female super-heroines. The other one's said "Multi-talented."...
We had a blast over all, and I desperately wish I had pictures to share.

God IS Love.

I've been considering, and I have yet to bring scripture to my eyes that supports my ideas, but here they are, scripture-less.

I believe that when we're told that God is love that we're supposed to take it literally. That's what God is. When we feel love for our fellow man in the name of Jesus, we feel God Himself in that time. It's not that he just zaps us with love, but rather His Spirit, which is love, stirs ecstatically in our own spirit when we love one another. It is His overwhelming presence, of that love that is Jesus, that moves us to love in the first place. When we do what that call to love asks us, it's the ultimate gift that we could give to our Savior. God is love. Period. It's not just a metaphor. It's a complete truth. I believe that there is much more to God than love, but love is all we've seen of Him on earth. It's all He chooses to show us. It's all the glory that we can handle from Him in our state right now is love. It is Him, though. The presence of God is the presence of love, and vice versa. So "love"... Love. Capitol L. God, Love. All we've seen on earth is a result of His Love. It's a result of Him... duh! There is no form of good here on earth that is not a result of Love. Name one good thing that isn't a result of Love. If it's all resulted of love and it's all a result of God, it means that it is one in the same. It's making more and more sense as I live Love. I live God. I live as Jesus said. I try at least. It's love through Jesus that saves us. Love in Jesus' name, Love because of Jesus, Love is Jesus. I'm learning that that's what it means to be a man after God's own heart. We live as Him, as He is Love.
Peace Out! Love ya!

Mr. Publix/ Jonathan Bourque

Jonathan sat outside the art room at lunch time on Friday. Here was where "Warriors for Christ/ First Priority" met. He sometimes enjoyed being there, and today it was pretty good too. He was talking to a kid on the varsity football team who showed up there every Friday. The kid (whose name Jonathan never got) had asked him where he went to church. Jonathan paused, trying to find a way to answer that question without having to explain himself later.
"I'm here, right now." he said.
The football player paused for a while and said, "Yeah, I gotchya, that's pretty cool, man. Alright."
Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief. The bell rang to end the lunch period, and he went on to complete the school day.
When Jonathan got home, he had a mission: to dress as his if-it-wasn't-for-God-then-would-be-worthless-alter-ego/ not-so-heroic-superhero a.k.a. Mr. Publix. Easier stated, he had to go to work.
Later in the work day, Mr. Publix got into a conversation with a regular church-goer who made the slight folley/ beneficial action of asking him where he went to church.
"I'm here, right now." He said remembering what Jonathan had said earlier.
The woman looked at him and said "At Publix?!"
:(

I meant to post sooner...

...but a lot was going on.
Let's start on Friday, the fourteenth, my eyes felt like lead weights all the way through school as we took our diagnostic tests. We keep taking useless tests like that.
After school, it was unofficial "poker night" at Mr. Darrel, "Big D's" house. I call it Josh's house, because normally, although I really love and enjoy the presence of the whole Easley family, I'm normally there to see Josh. Tons of people showed up. Brant Hansen, Shawn Bashor, my dad, Chris Miller, Dr. G, Paul Adams (just started showing up at our house for worship) and one of my dad's co-workers. Those who had sons (Brant, Chris Dr. G, Big D) brought them, and their sons just happen to be my friends. Justin, another friend of mine, also showed up. Unfortunately, those younger than eighteen (Joel G., Josh E., Justin L., Justice H., Peter M., and me) didn't seem welcome to play a game of poker with the "elders," so we played our own game of poker... and got... bored. We went outside and played tons of games. Eventually, we concocted a plan for everyone to sleep at Josh's house. It worked. All six of us hung out that night. Consequently, I wasn't at home to post.
Saturday...
We woke up spread in all corners of Josh's house on either couches, air matresses, blanket cots or beds. My dad came in later and invited us to go snorkeling. We declined in favor of airsoft wars (recentlty banned by the Maplecrest H.O.A.) We played our match B.B. (Before Ban) and hung out at my house playing video games later. After a while everyone seemed to vanish back to their houses, and later Peter and the rest of the Miller family would come for dinner. They stayed late. Once again, I didn't post. I didn't mind either.
Sunday... I don't normally post because of group and such runs late, and I would much rather hang out with them than be on the computer.
Monday...
Once again without good sleep, and still taking a few diagnostic tests, I made it through shcool making the best of it all. I went to get my haircut after school... an interesting part of my day. My mom and I arrived at the haircuttery, and were greeted warmly by the face at the front counter. Not too much later, I was called to the chair to get it over with. The lady there was very enthusiastic, either about people or hair, at first I couldn't tell. She commanded I get a shampoo, and I sat at the sink. My mom came up and asked if I told the lady cutting my hair what I wanted. Before I could answer, the lady, whose name I got to know, "Ilana", asked a question I never expected to hear... I'll never forget this... While looking at my mom, she asked "Oh, is this your boyfriend?"
I froze, my mom tried her best not to react strangely. "No, this is my son. I'm married."
Ilana covered her mistake well "Oh, you look so young, it's possible."
Later I found out that she was saved. Strong in her faith in Jesus. I also learned that she was the mother of a certain girl quite popular due to a certain event, and certain technology recording that event, and posted all over YouTube until they banned the video because it was too violent. No, her daughter was not the bruiser. She was the "bruisie." ?
She has a locker right next to mine. I was encouraged to talk to her. It's not easy when she's always talking to other people. I'm not one to interrupt people's conversations. Tuesday, regular, and today, not much happened. Some of Josh and Big D's friends from Louisiana came down. They're still here. It's pretty cool, they can cook really well!
Yeah, so my week had its hinderances to my posting on this blog, but it was all worth waiting to post all of it in one post.
GOOOOO JOE!

Yes! That is NOT what I wanted.

I think I'm happy that I can't always get what I want. It just makes sense. If I'd gotten everything I've wanted to date, I don't think I would be so happy. Think about it. Imagine if you always got what you wanted. Eventually, blessings become worthless to you, and all that you had wanted becomes something you already have, so what's there to want anymore? Well, nothing you don't already have. So, basically, not getting everything I've wanted is something I consider a blessing. It's one of those things that I want, and actually get. Yeah, that's it.

So Friday at lunch...

I went to what is called "Warriors for Christ" and/or "First Priority." This is where Christians, or those that claim faith in Jesus, choose to spend their lunch hour learning and talking about Jesus. I got to talking to a friend of a friend of mine that claims to have been saved this summer. I thought that was pretty cool, so we were talking. He finally made it to the question. For those that meet with me and my family on Sundays, you know what the question is... that's right, "What church do you go to?"
Knowing that my answers might confuse him, I went on anyway. I explained how I don't go to church, but live as the church wherever I go, because I am the church. A good amount of study is what it takes to learn what living "as the church" means. He seemed to understand, or at least acted like he did. I went on to explain that I do meet together with other people living as the church. These people, my family, (extended or not) I like to refer to as the body. The church body. The body of Christ. Yep. I told him about the friendship we've all acquired through Christ, and how we will hold eachother accountable, and helped eachother through struggles.
Then, he said... "So it's like accountability and churh at the same time?"
I felt like hitting my head with my flat palm stupidly. I didn't. I told him "Isn't that what you should expect from every church?"
He made it clear, though, that he thought we were missing some religious ritual that we're supposed to do. I'll spare you the rest of my conversation for the point of my story.

People put so much emphasis on doing certain things religiously in order to gain favor in God's eyes. Well, no matter what we do, we won't be favorable in God's eyes. It's Jesus (if he is in your heart) that makes us so worthy of heavan's gates. So, all we can do is live, and love. And love is the important part, the only way to actually live. Love is about you and God, the friends you've made in Christ and because of Christ, and all that you treat them with in God's name. That's all we can do, and it means nothing else... and nothing else could mean more.