how like a winter hath my absence been from thee.
home in vegas - sunburned. working for the man - saddened. hanging with the homies - enlightened.
sorry it has been so long. more detailed updates and thoughts coming soon.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
Well apparently it’s going to be one of those days. One of those days in which you just throw up your hands and say whatever. No matter how hard you try or rely or whatever it just never seems enough.
These are the days when I most feel that the reformed church has totally manipulated my mind into something that gravitates towards depression. Yes I understand the beauty of grace but it’s hard to feel valued by Christ when you remember that you are totally depraved and a degenerate to boot.
Anyway like I said it’s been one of those days. So instead of moping I thought I get a quick emotional lift by listening to some tunes. And what comes up? “Born to Late” by The Clarks. Great. This is soon followed by the “Green Fields of France” by the Dropkick Murphy’s and “Stuck in Between Stations” by the Hold Steady. No lie. This was then followed by Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper.”
Needless to say the music is now off. Ugh.
Anyway here is a video of Western PA’s timeless rockers The Clarks. Enjoy.
These are the days when I most feel that the reformed church has totally manipulated my mind into something that gravitates towards depression. Yes I understand the beauty of grace but it’s hard to feel valued by Christ when you remember that you are totally depraved and a degenerate to boot.
Anyway like I said it’s been one of those days. So instead of moping I thought I get a quick emotional lift by listening to some tunes. And what comes up? “Born to Late” by The Clarks. Great. This is soon followed by the “Green Fields of France” by the Dropkick Murphy’s and “Stuck in Between Stations” by the Hold Steady. No lie. This was then followed by Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper.”
Needless to say the music is now off. Ugh.
Anyway here is a video of Western PA’s timeless rockers The Clarks. Enjoy.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
la ti da
ramblings...
seattle. beautiful seattle. wonderful program. hell of expensive program.
muncie. random muncie. decent program. free to me program.
it is funny how god functions. he can give us an opportunity we thought we wanted. really, really wanted in fact. then he can present us with something we had forgotten and long ago dismissed. but it is a call (and a hard one to ignore at that) nevertheless.
so what does one do?
or rather what do i do?
west or midwest? debt or no debt? dream or calling?
ugh. i know. i know. freakishly lame complaints from someone way too blessed. the decision has been made. i am just not willing to admit it quite yet. i still want to hold onto the dream. but what i really need to do is hold onto christ.
oh, well. ball state here i come.
seattle. beautiful seattle. wonderful program. hell of expensive program.
muncie. random muncie. decent program. free to me program.
it is funny how god functions. he can give us an opportunity we thought we wanted. really, really wanted in fact. then he can present us with something we had forgotten and long ago dismissed. but it is a call (and a hard one to ignore at that) nevertheless.
so what does one do?
or rather what do i do?
west or midwest? debt or no debt? dream or calling?
ugh. i know. i know. freakishly lame complaints from someone way too blessed. the decision has been made. i am just not willing to admit it quite yet. i still want to hold onto the dream. but what i really need to do is hold onto christ.
oh, well. ball state here i come.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Galatians 6:17
It was a Saturday when Amanda and I took a journey down to Pittsburgh where we arrived on Carson Street amidst the St. Patty’s Day parade madness. Already at two in the afternoon the Southside was dominated by waves of green clad Pittsburghers who were getting their drink on. Although the atmosphere was highly enjoyable, we dodged the drunks and headed towards our destination. As we came to the door we knew that this was it. We realized that within a few moments we would never be the same again. We would be forever inked.
Okay. Enough of the drama. But this story is true. Amanda and I finally got our tattoos. After talking and scheming about is for the past three years we decided to make the leap and get it done. We went to the tattoo parlor ‘In the Blood’ which Amanda has school ties to and apparently it has some sort of Christian affiliation. We received tattoos from a wonderfully nice man name Travis who I would highly recommend based upon the fact that he called Amanda a nerd and had an x-ray of his ex-wife’s head hanging on the wall. Well that and the wonderful job he did on my tattoo.
And what a wonderful tattoo it is. Although it is located on my left foot I initially wanted it on my neck until my mom informed me that tattoos located there are “ghetto.” So instead of aggravating my parents further with this venture I opted for the foot. Anyway after much debate and contemplation I decided upon on the hymn lyric “with heavenly beauty shine.” Although there were a couple others in the running, I decided upon the tattoo mainly because it conveyed my calling.
Yes calling. That dreaded term that Geneva students immediately hear and cringe. Last semester I read a couple of different books that indirectly referenced calling. One was the “Eat, Pray, Love” and the other was the “Irresistible Revolution.” Although both books had their flaws (like everything else) I did pull out a thing or two about calling from their pages.
In “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert related her search for her word. Her word being the culmination of all of her beliefs, passions, and dreams summed up into one simple, brief utterance. Gilbert saw defining herself as an essential component of living out her life and achieving her need for balance. Interestingly, Shane Claiborne’s also discussed such a search. However, his exploration was for a place. Claiborne’s search was for his Calcutta. A place where he could serve – a place in Christ. Similar to Gilbert, Claiborne searched in order to identify himself so that he could live out his life and calling.
After reading both these works I was split between finding a word and place. But then I thought couldn’t these things be combined? So I thought about it for a while. Read a lot. Reflected a lot. Cried a lot. And then read a lot more. And reflected a lot more. And cried a lot more. I won’t weigh you down with the specifics but I found that I was continually drawn to one specific concept though all of this. And that was beauty.
But not your typical run-of-the-mill shallow beauty. No. My beauty implied a level of completeness and that advocated for redemption. This beauty made love a revolution rather than a commodity. Beauty to me is a place of unhindered love in which I am able to be the creative and vulnerable person that I am commanded to be so that He is glorified.
Sorry for the crappy transition here, but since I wanted a tattoo I decided that somehow I needed to convey this concept of beauty. I needed to find something that would remind me of how I am called to live. So I searched through different hymns that featured the word beauty. I found numerous hymns with “beauty” in it, but the one that truly grasped me was from Remember the Sabbath. “Shine with heavenly beauty.” The words lay bare how I am called to live.
So if you are planning to get a tattoo or have one already tell me. I would love to hear your story.
this picture was inspired by amanda's sourness (she hasn't found her vampire yet). however, as her new tattoo expresses so wonderfully in french, she will continue to hope.
aerial view.
Okay. Enough of the drama. But this story is true. Amanda and I finally got our tattoos. After talking and scheming about is for the past three years we decided to make the leap and get it done. We went to the tattoo parlor ‘In the Blood’ which Amanda has school ties to and apparently it has some sort of Christian affiliation. We received tattoos from a wonderfully nice man name Travis who I would highly recommend based upon the fact that he called Amanda a nerd and had an x-ray of his ex-wife’s head hanging on the wall. Well that and the wonderful job he did on my tattoo.
And what a wonderful tattoo it is. Although it is located on my left foot I initially wanted it on my neck until my mom informed me that tattoos located there are “ghetto.” So instead of aggravating my parents further with this venture I opted for the foot. Anyway after much debate and contemplation I decided upon on the hymn lyric “with heavenly beauty shine.” Although there were a couple others in the running, I decided upon the tattoo mainly because it conveyed my calling.
Yes calling. That dreaded term that Geneva students immediately hear and cringe. Last semester I read a couple of different books that indirectly referenced calling. One was the “Eat, Pray, Love” and the other was the “Irresistible Revolution.” Although both books had their flaws (like everything else) I did pull out a thing or two about calling from their pages.
In “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert related her search for her word. Her word being the culmination of all of her beliefs, passions, and dreams summed up into one simple, brief utterance. Gilbert saw defining herself as an essential component of living out her life and achieving her need for balance. Interestingly, Shane Claiborne’s also discussed such a search. However, his exploration was for a place. Claiborne’s search was for his Calcutta. A place where he could serve – a place in Christ. Similar to Gilbert, Claiborne searched in order to identify himself so that he could live out his life and calling.
After reading both these works I was split between finding a word and place. But then I thought couldn’t these things be combined? So I thought about it for a while. Read a lot. Reflected a lot. Cried a lot. And then read a lot more. And reflected a lot more. And cried a lot more. I won’t weigh you down with the specifics but I found that I was continually drawn to one specific concept though all of this. And that was beauty.
But not your typical run-of-the-mill shallow beauty. No. My beauty implied a level of completeness and that advocated for redemption. This beauty made love a revolution rather than a commodity. Beauty to me is a place of unhindered love in which I am able to be the creative and vulnerable person that I am commanded to be so that He is glorified.
Sorry for the crappy transition here, but since I wanted a tattoo I decided that somehow I needed to convey this concept of beauty. I needed to find something that would remind me of how I am called to live. So I searched through different hymns that featured the word beauty. I found numerous hymns with “beauty” in it, but the one that truly grasped me was from Remember the Sabbath. “Shine with heavenly beauty.” The words lay bare how I am called to live.
So if you are planning to get a tattoo or have one already tell me. I would love to hear your story.
this picture was inspired by amanda's sourness (she hasn't found her vampire yet). however, as her new tattoo expresses so wonderfully in french, she will continue to hope.
aerial view.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
geneva college film fest reject
simply brilliant. watch the first link before watching the geneva remake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJf5VqAUDes
happy birthday bobert!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJf5VqAUDes
happy birthday bobert!
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