When Faith Gets Boring... and Disneyland!

so yesterday i hit up disneyland.
we started off the day eating breakfast here:

then we went off and rode some indiana jones and pirates of the caribbean.
got a cool pic from indy here:


i got a lil' cool clip of jack sparrow on pirates. check it out:



we then went on a few small rides. forgot to mention, IT WAS PACKED!
soon after we went on a couple small rides and then hit up star tours:


as the day came to an end i got an awesome shot of the castle with the icicles:



overall, the day was fun and good spending time with the family.
cant wait to go to san diego for new years...




i wanna leave you guys with a little something. this artcle really hit me alot because it speaks truth about our faith and we should not be just stagnant and going along with the 'CHRISTIAN' flow of things. we should be thinking for ourselves. check it out. i read it today on RELEVANT:


Walking through the front door of a church building [for the first time] was like passing through a portal to a different world. So much was unfamiliar. For the first time I heard about “propitiation,” “puppet ministry” and “potluck suppers.” I stood for “fellowship,” knelt for prayer and sat on a hard wooden bench (which they called a “pew”). I saw more polyester in one morning than I had my entire life. I experienced church snack time, which consisted of little pieces of cracker and small plastic shot glasses of grape juice. A man explained that we would be singing hymns 11, 52, 17 and 63. I almost yelled out, “Bingo!”

But it’s now 17 years later. I’ve gotten married. I have two kids. I’ve gained a few pounds. And I’ve gone from having never walked into a church to having 17 years' worth of Sundays in church buildings. And with all that experience (not to mention the few extra pounds) under my belt, I can tell you that there is something very familiar about most of the Christians I’ve met. Unfortunately, it’s not that they remind me of the people who populate the pages of Scripture. Instead, they remind me of a little girl named Emily.

Little Emily looks cute in her souvenir shirt that proclaims, “My parents went to Florida and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.” But there’s something sad about it too. She missed the journey. She didn’t get to take part in the adventure. While others broke out of their dull routine, Emily missed the excitement of doing something different. She didn’t get to play in the waves or hug Mickey. She didn’t get to experience the joy. Even the horrifying incident when the tire blew out and Stan, the self-proclaimed “Good Samaritan Redneck,” rescued the family in his Sanford and Son pickup truck has quickly become a fond memory for everybody. Everyone except Emily. She missed the journey.

As I’ve gone to church and met Christians and lived as one myself, I’ve realized something.

We are Emily.

When I read about the lives of the first Christians in the pages of the New Testament I see people who actually went “on vacation to Florida,” who truly experienced the ups and downs of the trip. But when I look around at Christians today, I see people who just wear a T-shirt for an adventure they’ve missed out on. We’re missing the journey. We’re stuck in the same dull routine. We’re missing out on the joy and fear and laughter and doubt and mystery and confusion of following Jesus, of taking great risks for God, of praying dangerous prayers, even of being spiritually attacked.

We wander around with lifeless shark eyes.

The more honest among us find ourselves asking questions like: Is this all there is? Is this really what Jesus meant when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”? Is this the life Jesus died for me to have? Didn’t Jesus pay too high a price to buy me this life? Am I just supposed to be miserable until I get to heaven?

I think the word that best describes how many feel about their Christian lives is not abundant, joyful or purpose-driven, but disappointing.

And when I met Christians for the first time as a sophomore in college, I was disappointed. I was disappointed at their disappointment. And I swore I would never be like that.

But I have to be honest.

Over the years I have, at times, descended into the world of the “T-shirt wearers.” I have found myself going through the motions. I’ve lost my purpose and passion for so long at times, I had to put them on the back of a milk carton. In honest moments I’ve asked those same despairing questions. I’ve been disappointed.

And I’ve wondered if maybe God is the problem. I mean, He does want everyone to say yes to His offer. And if someone is trying to sell me a new car, vacuum cleaner or cell phone, I don’t expect them to be completely honest. They’ll exaggerate the benefits, ignore the problems. It may still be a great car, vacuum or phone, but I’m not getting the whole truth, and I know it.

Maybe God is like that.

The benefits He claims to give to those who say yes to Him include abundant life, pure joy in the face of trials, peace that surpasses understanding, power to heal the sick with our prayers, assurance that we will never be tempted in a way we can’t handle, fearlessness and the promise that we will do greater things than Jesus did.

How many Christians would say these things are a good description of their lives? More personally, does it describe yours?

So maybe God is the problem. Perhaps He’s just a master salesman. After all, he’s good at everything else. But I don’t think so. Actually, I think we’re the problem. And I think there’s a solution. I think we need to go on vacation.

I love vacation. And, when I’m really living it, I love the Christian life. It’s helped me to approach my days with a sense of anticipation, and it’s allowed me to break out of my routines and experience adventure.

But, like a vacation, following Jesus is not a perfect life of nonstop thrills. There are some boring and bad parts. But still there’s something different about them, simply because I’m following Jesus.

So why are so many Christians disappointed? Is it possible that we, like Emily, are missing out on the journey? Is Jesus calling us to live life with authentic spiritual passion, but we’re just wearing the T-shirt, practicing a souvenir religion?

Jesus asks people to follow Him. He’s going somewhere, and He wants us to go with Him. He promises that those who follow will experience life fully alive.

Here’s the best I can figure. The life God authored for us and offers to us, is this:

To live life with Jesus, and to live the Jesus life.

To live life with Jesus is about the inward life. It’s me experiencing the presence of Jesus. It’s soaking in all of Him that’s out there. It’s God impressing Himself on me. It’s God changing me.

To live the Jesus life is about the outward life. It’s me being the presence of Jesus. It’s releasing out all of Him that’s in here. It’s God expressing Himself through me. It’s God changing the world with me.

Since moving to Virginia Beach, I’ve developed allergies. Recently my wife bought a humidifier for our bedroom. Each morning I have to fill the thing up with water, and the rest of the day it releases that water into the air. I’ve learned that the humidifier can be turned on and running hard, but it accomplishes absolutely nothing if it’s not filled with water.

The Christian life is something like that humidifier. I admit it’s a simple analogy, but it helps convey the give-and-take there is in following Jesus. Repeatedly I need to be filled up with Jesus (which happens as I live life with Jesus), and then I need to continuously release Jesus (which happens as I live the Jesus life). I release Jesus because my purpose is to serve others, to touch them with God’s love. But I can only do that if I’m filled with Jesus. Otherwise I can run hard, but I won’t accomplish anything.

We’ve been invited to live life with Jesus and to live the Jesus life. To do that, we need to understand what it means and overcome what holds us back. Then we can lose the T-shirt and experience the adventure.

Excerpted from I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt (Baker) by Vince Antonucci. Used with permission.

Mtn. High and a snowboarding self-made video

So today was a good day...

Went to Mt. High to board
Got some really good footage. Check out the video:


This was my first video I have ever put together. Alot of work involved :)

Going out to Disneyland tomorrow with the fam.
Gonna get some pics from there too and post em up.
Life is pretty good right now. I dont have much to say but I will leave you guys with some pics.


It was so crowded as you can see:

WAR! WHEN IS IT GOOD FOR?

So here is a blog by Anberlin's STEPHEN CHRISTIAN that i thought was interesting. Again, it comes from RELEVANT MAGAZINE (see a pattern heh?)
Tell me what you think. Be open minded to this too.

WAR! WHEN IS IT GOOD FOR?
Posted on December 11, 2007
Filed Under Stephen Christian

i don’t know where to begin this conversation and i am sure i won’t know when to end.

i am not one of those people who stand on the side of the road and protest the war, in all honesty i try to look at the positives in the war (debatable whether the word “postive” and “war” ever belong in the same sentence). we all see clearly the negatives, i mean its war. people die. no matter if that’s one person or one million no one should die. but some positive aspects of the war in iraq currently are this.

* “there are now over 100 newspapers in the free press. . . in a free iraq.” this means more freedom of speech in iraq! something we americans take for granted.
* “the independent central bank of Germany, it took three years after world war II to establish it-it was established in iraq in two months; that the police in germany were established after 14 months-in iraq, they were established in two months; that a new currency in germany took three years-it took two and a half months in Iraq. the cabinet in germany took 14 months. iraq has a cabinet today after four months.”
* “the governing council of iraq is easily the most representative body of governance ever formed in that nation, and is rapidly gaining real powers and responsibilities, such as appointing ministers, representing Iraq to the international community, and beginning the process of drafting the first-ever iraqi constitution.” the arab league last week accepted an envoy from the council as a legitimate representative of Iraq.
* “over 90% of Iraqi towns and provinces now have their own governing councils, including the holy Shiite cities of najaf and karbala.”
* “schools were immediately stood back up. at all levels the school year was salvaged.”
* “hospitals nation-wide are open. doctors and nurses are at work.”
* “public services-electrical, water, sewage-are better than pre-war levels.”
* “oil production has continued to increase, and recently it has averaged between 1.5 and 2 million barrels per day.”
so in some ways we are working for a more “free” and stable country on the other side of the world. the problem rests for me not just in the age old question of ‘is war just or right?’ and not just ‘what makes any war just?’ but who voted america to be the police of the world? i want to help the world i really do but i just feel there is more ways to solve problems without the use of so much death, destruction, and debt.

i recently read an article on an education portal, which was explaining that we pay about $186,000 per minute (total of 443.7 billion). it is not the amount of zeros that make this frustrating its that they went on to say that with that amount of money we could put 21,510,598 (the amount of every high school student in the united states) students through a four year college education at a state school, add 7,689,734 million more teachers to our school system.

how ethnocentric (i hope) some of you are saying!!! here i am ranting on relevant all the time about helping the world but then i turn and use the money used to save a nation from a malicious and malevolence dictator. but honestly if we invest into all the children/high school students in America i GUARENTEE that we will live in a better future for the ENTIRE WORLD down the road. here we could raise up a generation who values the power of the pen over the sword, we could invest into their children’s children by empowering their parents with education (which equals better jobs and a more stable economical environment). the positive reprocutions to the generation who receives the opportunity for a free 4 year education is endless! when there is a suddam (and there will be) in 50 years they will know how to handle the problem diplomatically with more options than just “shock and awe”.

don’t get me wrong, war in american history has done some necessary, positive, and even very valid achievements in our history! revolutionary war freed us from taxation without representation, civil war freed mankind (america) from the oppression of slavery, and world war one and two were vital to defeating emperors and dictators determined to conquer the world. before i got into music for years i wanted to go to westpoint military academy and even visited it in high school hoping to eventually make the military my career. i theologically and philosophically have no qualms with the function of a democratically run military. i believe that we do need a military, not every government in the world can sit down at a table and have a in depth conversation and negatiate problems and come to a balanced and fair agreement. i think we need a good defense because not everyone wants america to be a thriving nation, and due to past experience liquidating our entire military would be asinine!

but where do you see the line?
what is a just war? and when is using a powerful military a just cause?
who should decide to use the military; the government or its people?
what is the point where ethnocentrism and military conquests collide?
i don’t have the answer, just inclinations and opinions.

Christmas then... and Christmas now

im gonna start by showing you a funny illustration it basically shows Christmas in the old days, compared to now. so funny. check this image out:



so today is jesus' birthday. pretty cool. think about it... for those of you who believe in Christ that is. god came to earth in human form. he came and experienced every stage of humanity. from birth to childhood to teen years to adulthood to death. he experienced it. i think thats pretty remarkable. if you dont believe that at all then thats fine, no pressure :). im just saying, for those of you who do, think about it. pretty awesome if u ask me.

so i think this is the first Christmas in a while that feels just like any other normal day. nothing to fancy or special. but im glad for that. i dont think it should be all special and fuzzy inside urself. but rather a time to think and be thankful for what you have (other than thanksgiving day)

i went to christmas service last night and for some reason, the majority of it felt ritualistic. i dont know why but it just does. i think its because i experience it every year. the only part that didnt feel ritualistic is when pastor ryan was speaking about how jesus was named IMMANUEL. this means "God with Us". that hit me hard and made me think alot. other than that, i wish church wasnt so agendanized and structured. i wonder if thats how jesus wanted it. i personally dont think so.

anyway. im going boarding thursday and im stoked. its so dam windy down here in so. cal.

utah is gonna be off the hook! omg check out the snow forecast for Xmas day @ Snowbasin Resort:

Christmas Day: A 40 percent chance of snow before 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 19°. North northeast wind between 12 and 15 mph becoming calm. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8°. Calm wind becoming southeast between 10 and 13 mph. Wednesday: Periods of snow. High near 19°. Southeast wind 8 to 15 mph becoming northwest. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches possible. Wednesday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 7°. North northwest wind between 5 and 15 mph.

it is gonna be off the hook!
check out what im going up against :)

no agenda, no judging, no fakeness, no masks. just love and respect.

so its christmas eve. time flies...

this is a weird xmas too because i totally am not asking or expecting anything for xmas. i dont know if this comes with maturity or what but i learned not to expect anything. its kinda peaceful.

so i went to my church yesterday morning and i am going again at 4pm but its weird because church to me right now feels so fabricated. it feels as if churches go along with what culture says. everything that is done parallels culture in some way.
wasnt jesus counter-culture? but not sinful.
that is what i want to be like.

my ex-pastor has a new church emerging and it is looking very counter-culturish and im stoked for it. the church is called sacred way. www.sacredwaychurch.com. check it out.

here is something i read from their website, it says:
Over the last century the church has slowly been moving away from ancient spiritual disciplines that defined early Christianity as a holy, sacred way of life. As the world around us became more enamored with science and reason, spirituality and mystery where dismissed as childish pursuits. We were on our way to explaining everything, thus there was no longer any need for faith. During this time the church has conformed to culture and ceased being a counter-cultural movement.

for some reason this is so true.

i guess what turns me off from typical church now-a-days is the business aspect of it. i know it is a necessity but i never saw that in the new testament. again, our culture is ran by money and business and it has poured over into our churches. lame if you ask me.

im searching for genuity amongst believers right now. something small and authentic. kind of like my small group wednesdays called BADFISH. no agenda, no judging, no fakeness, no masks. just love and respect. thats how it should be right? i feel like it should.

anyway.
tomorrow is jesus' birthday. so awesome. 'God in human form day' is what it should be called. pretty amazing when you ponder it.

anyway. im just rambling now :)


here is a lil' present from me to you guys, a pretty cool pic of a hand plant:

kind of where i feel at the moment...

So I got this article off of RELEVANT MAGAZINE online, but it speaks a little of truth about my life at the moment. There are dark times but there is also hope. Which I smile about thats for sure.

It's at my doorstep, knocking gently but constantly, until I let it in. It refuses to relent, persisting despite the elements. Warmth. Sun. Cold. Rain. Even the wind won't drive it away. Nearly each day I pass by and something inside me pauses, frozen in some sort of fear, entirely unsure of what do about it. Why couldn't I face this long ago?

It's time.

It's in my living room, laughing and sipping a cup of tea. Was it always so familiar? It seems we are old friends. And every day it takes more space, spreading to the corners of my ceiling and the cracks in the mantle. Silently it envelops me, and I try to hold my breath.


I cannot prevent the inevitable.

It's in my lungs. My heart. My being. It seeps into my soul. With wide eyes and shaky hands, I reach out for more. And though I struggle to know what it is to truly be at home, somehow I know I am drawing closer. Yes, I am drawn in. Held. And now I learn to return the embrace.

Is the chase really over? Or will I run again?

You see, redemption comes slowly at times. Restoration takes a lifetime. One day I run full force down the narrow path. Another day I stray aimlessly on the wide open road to Hell. It’s usually lined with bright lights and distractions that seem harmless at first, but then sink their deadly hooks into me before I can fight back. Most days I am somewhere in between, my path weaving in and out of what I know to be God’s will, and what I know to be the result of my own complacency.

All the while, if I am quiet enough, I can hear His footsteps as He pursues me. It scares me, stirs me, shakes me, comforts me, takes me apart and puts me back together. To be pursued is a paradox in itself, because it implies that I ran or moved away in the first place. Somehow it always comes as a surprise that God is still after me, no matter how much of a mess I’ve made of myself. I don’t always know why I run, but I do know why I stop. It gets me every time.

And as much as I grapple to learn what it is to be holy and to allow Him to examine and judge me, to love me, to restore me and to set me on the right path, I have learned His faithfulness and His love for me.

bad and good news.

how can my clippers be losing by 19? oh wait, its probably because we are so injured. so disappointing! sigh. chris kaman though has been playing amazing. did i mention he looks like a gorilla? a white one at least. hahaha.
if that doesnt make you laugh i dont know what will. lol


good news though, my ucla bruins are only down 13-17 against BYU in their bowl game. and did i mention their bowl game is in vegas. how fun! wish i was there...

sooo hmmm, i learned tonite that a friend of mine is having a christmas party and i wasnt invited. kinda sux cuz i just hung out with this person about 4 days ago. oh well though. its not a big deal. im moving on.

i need to also write myself a cover letter for this internship at abc7 news here in burbank. i am hoping and praying that i can possibly get this internship, God willing.

so snowboarding at mt. high yesterday afternoon was pretty bad. icey and windy. prolly worse conditions in a while. not too fun. oh well, there are better days.

for those of you who have not been to mtn high here is a lil' pic of the west resort

not a bad resort but there are better.

woooo my ducks play in about 25 min. that should be fun!
i miss the old logo

oh well...

wow today was a cold, wind-burned, snowy day

snowboarding was a blast even though i was sooooo rusty. i was uberly dissappointed with how i performed

oh well.
poop happens then you die right? haha

anyway...
im chillin at my buddy garretts pad and we might head out to pasadena for a like party gathering thing. should be fun!

but omg im soooo tired!!!
kinda upset that i didnt do the c-bow box like i said i would... sigh. oh well...

had a blast either way, went up with bob and his friend josh. two gnar dudes that are a blast to be around.

hmmm ya so this post is pretty lame. but oh well.

peace

approach it with an open mind

man i am so relaxed right now its not even funny.
i dont have to worry about anything right now and i have not felt this way in a long time.

i read something today that really hit me. its kind of interesting and true. i personally dont believe everything that is said in the article but it does speak some truth. it comes from RELEVANT magazine online.

here it is:

I have decided that I don’t believe in prayer. I don’t believe that God hears us when we speak to Him. I don’t believe that time I devote talking to God makes any difference whatsoever. It is a waste of time and I would rather do just about anything else, than to spend time on something so irrelevant as prayer. This is what I have come to realize.

Before you cry out “heresy!” I would ask, “Do you really believe in prayer?” Of course you do, you would probably say. Well so would I, even though I still don’t believe in prayer. Most of the time I really don’t believe that you do, either.

The fact is, if you and I truly did believe in prayer we would pray a lot. But, since we don’t, the only explanation is that we don’t believe in prayer. Unfortunately, if we follow this logic it would lead us to really wonder if we believe in God at all, but since that is such a frightening suggestion, we will steer clear for now and just address the topic at hand. (That way we can pretend it’s a separate issue so we can at least sleep at night.)
suppose you are reading this thinking, “Well, I don’t know about this guy, but I know that I believe in prayer.” All I have to say is prove it. I know if someone asked me to prove it I would fail miserably. How many of us would be failing together?

But let’s just think about this for a moment. If we believed in prayer, if we actually believed that God Himself was listening very closely to what we said to Him, and not only that, but that what we said would actually cause God to act on our behalf, what would be stopping us from praying all the time? We wouldn’t be able to work, we wouldn’t be able to go to school, we would barely be able to eat, and most likely we would be unable to spend hours in front of the TV, because the God of the universe was in our living room and He actually wanted to hear what we had to say. And depending on what we said, He would actually do the things that we ask of Him.

Of course we all know that God doesn’t say yes to everything, of course we know our requests have to be for His glory. We all know that, so that’s not the point right now. The point is that if all the things the Bible says about prayer are true, most of us would radically rearrange and reprioritize our lives around prayer. Our lives would be different. Period.

How we approach everything would change. Do we want the war in Iraq to end? We would pray. Do we want to know what kind of job to have? We would pray. Do we want poverty to be eradicated? We would pray. Do we want our family member to be healed? We would pray. Do we want our non-Christian friend to know Jesus? We would pray. We would pray and pray and pray, and we wouldn’t stop because God would be listening and acting on our behalf. The entire world would be different.

It’s too bad we don’t believe in prayer. We will go on saying that we do and every once in while we will be reminded that we don’t, so we will try to pray more. Unfortunately, it won’t last long because deep down we don’t believe it makes a difference. We can’t hide it. Beliefs only mask the absence of action for so long.

I don’t believe in prayer.

You don’t believe in prayer, either.

If you disagree, prove it.

kinda controversial huh?
i thought it was interesting and i approached it with an open mind. just as jesus would do right?

so i went to sport chalet today aswell and got a new snowboard jacket. check it out:


im so stoked.

gonna go boarding tomorrow and i cant wait to hit up this:

so stoked right now.
thank God for everything i have, seriously...
Christmas party at 830 tonight.

merry xmas all!

no fakeness, no masks, just realness

so im basically here chillin at my friends sarah's place watching the office (an episode i already saw tho)

im here with bob and sarah
i havent seen either of them for a while and reminds me how great of friends i have here in so. cal.
no fakeness, no masks, just realness in them
its awesome and wish more people would be real.
it just bugs me so much! kinda reminds me of the chorus to a Scary Kids Scaring Kids song called 'Faces':

Lets tear away these faces we hide behind
Cutting through the airwaves
Open up our minds
Show ourselves to the world tonight
Cause we are.. No longer in disguise!

again, im stoked to be home.

i seriously dont get the office. but it is hilarious either way. some of the characters in this show are just omg... dumb.

anyway
going boarding on friday and im stoked.
this is gonna be a gnar christmas break.

over and out...

away from earthly distractions

wow such a long drive home...

so im home now
its good to be back
good to think about life and stuff while listening to music for 5 hrs on the way home.
just thinkin bout how fortunate i am. weird how you think of stuff like that until your all on your own and away from earthly distractions
its cool tho.
i like.

my dam clippers lost again. oh well. lol

i cannot wait to go boarding. im hittin it up on friday with bob. pretty stoked.

here is a lil' preview :)
here is a lil' preview

3 more to go...

so i really dont have an agenda of what i am going to write.

i guess now i am writing from my heart. cuz right now i am at a point in life where i am so stoked yet not sure what is going to happen. especially in my spiritual life.

i love life. i can say that. i love those who God has put in my life to just love on.
i have really understood what love means.
sacrifice
non-judgemental
forgiveness
patience
trust
there is so much more...
those are just some of the words that come to mind. but the closer i understand who i am and who god made me, the more i love the word love

i dont know how many of you can understand where i am in life but i do know that its an adventure. i love the guys that keep me accountable and on top of my spiritual life. thanks badfish... you know who you are.

i saw this stage in my life coming over the summer.
leaving old friends and meeting new ones
understanding that there is more to life the just the bubble of 'christian friends'
yea... i have sinned and messed up with some stuff in my life that i never encountered before
but i have also had so many positive.

i leave for so. cal and i dont know what to expect back home but i cant wait to hit the snow.
its gonna be pretty amazing.

i know i dont writing eloquently but i hope what i do write relates to you somehow.
our God is amazing and i am not... i am a sinful/selfish human. and this semester ive seen the worst and the best of me. funny how that happens huh?

just wanna thank some of the new people i really got to know this year

walter
samantha
samuel
joby
bryan castillo
alot of the D.U. men
leone

from all you guys i learn so much and i realize how diverse and awesome my creator has made this world.