Sometimes it’s days like today where the gravity of living in a fallen world seems to take it’s toll. In some moments it seems like the darkness is winning and there is no room for the light. It is in these moments we must cling to what is good, hate what is evil, and love what is lovely. In the words of the immortal John Mayer we must stay where the light is. It is that tiny speck of light that will save us.. Sappy? Maybe … but true never the less
I don’t know that since that summer at the mancave there has been such a season of common grace in my life… It seems that the past month and a half has brought about comfort, rest and relief. I’ll give you three of many examples where this has been so evidenced so clearly..
#1) Where i live…
Where i live right now is this amazing place where i have amazing landlords. Everything in my place is furnished and with the furniture I have, i am living in a place with stuff that is well beyond what i could normally afford. I did not do anything to obtain all this, it is simply a gift given….
#2) My job…
I start a new job on wednesday that pays me 50% more money. Allows me to basically set my own schedule and looks like a really fun place to work…
#3 ) An amazing girl….
One night while Greg and I were driving we were talking about being single and without thinking my mouth responded that “I was ok being single, that ultimately God was in control that I understood that he was soverign and that maybe he hadn’t brought around a girl cause he was working on some stuff in me.”
As i lay in bed that night I thought to myself, what the hell was that? Was that really how i felt? Where on earth did that freaking come from? Sometimes when you are wondering through a dark night, i think sometimes you forget that God is chiseling away at who you are and replacing it with more of himself. The reason i know this to be true is that historically this is not my honest response. My honest response would have been i hate this, when can i move on.
The way the following happened is completely from my perspective (as this is my blog duh!) and there is another side to this story… it can be found here.
I came back to vintage in all honesty to roll with one man…. that guy’s name is Johnny Thiessen. Johnny has had the kahonies to call me on my junk more times than i can count. He is a man that loves to encourage and eat chicken wings…
The story with the girl begins about a year ago. There happened to be this new girl at Vintage. Her name happened to be Laura (This part of the story i’m totally not proud of) She looked a little how you say ‘homeschooled’, most people cannot see this quality but a kid who has been homeschooled can smell another homeschooled kid a mile away. As we went out to dinner with a group of friends, i proceeded to use all the filthy language i knew, and tell the worst stories that i knew. All this hoping to get a rise out of her. Instead of responding to me being a straight up jackass, she accepted me for who i was or the vignette that i put in front of her. As the year went on, i took notice of this girl in church who actually responded. In a church, of angry bitter church kids. It was really easy to spot one with a regenerate heart.. There was a season of 7 months where i was no longer apart of vintage and spent the time wandering around vancouver..
When i came back a girl was the LAST thing i was looking for… Seriously there are two single women at Vintage… I had always thought Laura was attractive but had never thought of her in that way…
To make a long story a fair bit shorter… We ended up camping in this camp up above Stillwood Camp that even boy scouts don’t camp in anymore… There were holes in the wall of the shacks that Fat Albert could have walked through let alone a bear. I’m thinking about writing a book about my shack experience… Ok i’ve totally digressed… Through out this weekend Laura and i interacted a few times but this was nothing out of the ordinary. As we left camp soaking wet and crabby… All i wanted to do was crawl into bed..
When i got home i dropped all my stuff on the floor and that’s exactly what i did. With my laptop on my chest i began to talk with Laura on MSN and a 20 minute conversation turned into 6 hours… She articulated all the things that I was looking for in a girl.. I won’t begin to repeat them all or we’d be here till next tuesday. As the discussion progressed, it became super clear that i was very attracted to this girl and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to ask her out. So i did…
I very quickly realized this was her first date ever and i knew that even if I was not the right guy for her that this had to be spectacular. So i planned this elaborate date including sitting on the beach watching the sun go down and dinner at a fine french restuarant. As the night drew to a close we had the modified form of the DTR talk.. As we said our goodnights we took a few moments to pray in my livingroom and the past two weeks have been a blur… I love how i can be myself with her.. Instantly we have this connection where I don’t have to pretend… I don’t always have to be funny. We can have sweatpants dates watching tv on the couch or super elaborate nights on the town.. i am in love with this girl that Jesus saw fit to put in front of me. it is unmerited grace..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_on_el_pr/rel_dobson_obama
In typical Religious Right fashion Evangelical Leader James Dobson took shots at Presidential Hopeful Barack Obama over his interpretation of scripture. In seeking to prove his point and to further his thinly veiled agenda. Dobson grabbed excerpts from a speech Obama made in June 2006 and pieced it together to make his case. He simply missed the joke. The joke that some fundamentalists are so literal in their interpretation of scripture that they miss the contextualization, the allegory, metaphor and imagery. He was simply saying that no one person or group is completely ‘right’ in their interpretation of all of scripture. While Dobson is a respected child psychologist and a revered evangelical leader. Many people including myself disagree with Dobson’s interpretation at many points. This does not make one person’s interpretation right or the other. Dobson believes the fundamentals of the faith and therefore is considered a brother. Rather seeking to join Obama in unifying around the person and work of Jesus Christ. Dobson sought to burn his own house down and is completely shocked to find the neighbours pointing and laughing. Personally I think he should stick to giving advice on how to beat your kids and living out the gospel as he’s been commanded.
When I used to drive several hours a week for my job. I used to like to put sermons on my ipod and listen to them while I drove. One of the guys I liked to listen to was a guy by the name of Matt Chandler. Matt is simply a young punk with some game. I don’t really know any way to put it other than that. The problem with being a preacher/pastor is that as you listen to different guys you inevitably rip their stuff off. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes unconsciously but i think that every one borrows stuff from other guys. It’s generally understood. It is not uncommon anymore to hear some dude rip off Mark Driscoll. In fact, it happens more often than not. It is understandable to rip of a joke or two. It is not understandable to rip off an entire message. The other Sunday my roommate Greg and I had the oppurtunity to visit a popular church here in the city and as we heard this guy preach it started to sound more and more familiar. At first I didn’t know where I recognized it from but then i quickly realized the guy was ripping off Matt Chandler joke for joke, point for point from a sermon I heard three or four weeks prior. The delivery was all wrong and thus the jokes were not nearly as funny as they were originally. I’m not going to mention the guy’s name (although part of me really wants to) but i thought i would take this second to publically mock him and men like him.
In a rapidly deteriorating evangelical church where men and women are more concerned about outer appearance and action then the state of their own heart and souls. This is just one more nail in the metaphorical coffin. Often the label of hypocrite gets thrown at the church and the sad truth is that when that rock is thrown i often agree with the person throwing the rock. How lazy are you that when your only job is to open scripture, study it, know it and preach that you completely steal some other’s guys work? In the business world, it would be no different than a marketing manager from Microsoft stealing a market analysis from a marketing manager at Apple. A) it doesn’t translate well. Microsoft and Apple are two different markets and B) it’s straight up theft. It is not tolerated in the business community and it should not be tolerated in the Christian community. Sadly, this is not the case. Every week hundreds of men across north america get up and preach using someone else’s stuff. At the very root of the action, is idolatry. Everyone wants to be the next Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll or God forbid the next Rob Bell. We have made these men rockstars and glorified them instead of Jesus. No one wants to the be the guy with a church of 50. No one wants to put in the hard work, live out the gospel and see marriages restored. Everyone simply wants the stage. The people who suffer are the men and women who attend these churches. They are getting leftovers from someone else’s meal. James 3:1 says that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” What that means is that those who get up and preach will be judged more harshly on what they say and do. Some men seem to not care but the scriptures are very clear that God does.
my first big boy business trip was a little rocky… i don’t know if it was excitement or the fact that i had slept 11 hours the night before regardless i only slept 2 hours before the alarm clock rang and it was time to begin the morning routine… 5:30 saw my AMAZING roommate drive me to the airport where i was dressed in some of my finest business attire which included a sweatervest… while i was waiting for my plane i thought i saw Morten Schroder in the airport and thought how wonderful it would be if we were flying together but sadly it was a different man (same mustache though)….
I got on the plane and watched a good boston legal episode… finished up and landed in calgary…our client was waiting at the airport to take me to the site…
I got to work right away trying to break into a server that no one new the administrator password too.. after a couple hours my dictionary software finally got me in… Dictionary software throws passwords at a server until one of them works…
While my software was working it’s “madgic” i set to literally ripping their network infrastructure. there was 2 routers in place handing out the same addresses and so many wires and not enough holes. Once i rewired it nice and pretty… I dropped a sonicwall and fresh switch in place. Configuring it nice and tight… I configured every thing to work and it was only 3:00… (it was supposed to take till 9pm)
So i called my grandma up and said “hey do you want to have dinner?” what Grandma would not want to have dinner with her big business boy grandson..
So we ate dinner and told exaggerated stories till it all too soon it was time to go home.. She drove me to the airport and i got on the plane.. to head home where my most amazing roommate would pick me up..
Not bad for my first trip
in silence
the crowd no longer loud
all is still
my soul is quiet
the secret place i find
all that i have hidden deep
take me away
away from here
let not your anger rain
down on me
yet you still draw near
as one who understands
instead of wrath i find kindness
instead of justice you offer grace
in quiet darkness is revealed
in quiet i find rest
Today I officially became a Microsoft Certfied Professional… I think that this makes me a full fledged nerd now…
When I walked in door in May of 2006. I had no idea that I would be leaving so soon. I had no idea of the growth that would come my way in the next year and a half… I had no idea of the relationships that I would build. This last week has been my last week at Vintage.
I’ve known it was coming for a couple months and to be brutally honest it has not been without many tears but as i shared in my last post. God is clearly leading me away from here and somewhere new. The truth is I don’t want go because it’s scary, it’s unknown, it’s uncomfortable but I’ve done disobedience thing and the clearly did not work out. And so, I need to go. I’m ever grateful the men and women of Vintage for welcoming me into their community. For the men who had the kahonies to walk right into the throne room and call me on my junk and challenged me to become more and more like Jesus. It’s a place I will definitely miss
