Thanksgiving, Gaza, and Black Friday.

Here in America, it's time for thanksgiving. In an hour I get out of this class and am free for the break. Something I'm thankful for, to say the least. It's been a busy semester. Nevertheless, my heart turns when I look at the news. War rages in the Middle East, people are dying. It hurts knowing I'm here and safe, able to eat big meals and chill when there's so much wrong elsewhere. And I don't say this to make everyone feel badly about enjoying the blessings they have—that's the whole point of thanksgiving!—but I do have a heavy hear this holiday season for those in the land where it was once said: "Peace on earth, good will toward men."
We should be thankful for all that we have, for all we have been given. But I want everyone who reads this (myself included) to be sure to give a healthy amount of time in prayer for the unrest of the situation overseas, because it is serious and that's easy to forget. God is good, He knows best and His plan will perfectly be portrayed in history and now.
One gauntlet I have been meaning to throw down on this blog for a few years has been on the topic of Black Friday. This day is the thanksgiving of the Devil himself. I bet he and his goons take the day off in the US and let our flesh take clubs on each other as we raid stores and literally trample people to death annually to get something cheaper now. Not that gross economic consumption in itself is wrong, it just breeds so much envy, strife, violence and just plain evil. Again, think about the war in the Middle East, the hunger in Africa, the unreached everywhere, and the call to be like Christ I grind my teeth at a day like Black Friday.

Knowing God and Valuing The Eternal

I'm getting choked up just thinking about it. Life is just overwhelmingly glorious today.

Mondays are exciting days for me this semester. The weekend is over, we're getting back into the groove of the week and my first class isn't until 10:35. We aren't expected to be there until 10:45 because it's ice skating and the instructor is super chill. Because it's ice skating. I love it.
Because of this I take my Monday mornings as good extended time with the Lord. Last Monday I went in the backyard to read and I left music playing on my computer on the dining table. I went to class and came home an hour later to find my computer missing. After some investigating I realized it was stolen right out of my house.
By no means was this expected or good. It was violating, a shock, and a stark exposure to the twisted nature of the world. Nevertheless, from the moment I realized until now, it's okay. Yes, I lost a lot of information and important things I had on a very expensive device, but it's okay. God gave me the desire that morning to be challenged and I asked him for a challenge. I didn't expect it to come that same morning but that's the way he works. Since losing my computer I have started being a joyful giver because I realized even computers are here one moment and gone another. Things don't matter in the end.
I got a glimpse of God's nature that morning when I was on the phone with my sister and realized my computer was no longer in my house. I froze, smiled, and asked her about her life. That's only by God's power and his movement in my life.

My encouragement to you is to know God. Pray, take time to get to know him daily. And second: give things away. I really can't express how rewarding giving is.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-22

Pinterest, its fueling and fanning of the female fanish flame.

So I definitely just had to search how to spell that word.

My good friend recently posted a status on facebook: "Pinterest's main message seems to be "It's okay to be fat, but you should also have six-pack abs, and here's a million pictures of cake." Now, I don't know a lot about pinterest, admittedly, but I have some experience in culture. The inconsistency of it all is stark. Pinterest is a place on the internet where girls go to feed their most girlish desires. I'm serious. I'm not getting on there right now because I'm at Mugwalls and everyone walking by would see me on there and that's not happening. I'm sure if I got on I would see exactly what every girl wants most. You have the marriage albums, the food albums, the good looking men albums and so on. The girls want to be accepting of who they are and so their cool with flaws. At the same time there's a desire for flawlessness because the world will be the world and have its way. And though there's nothing wrong with flawlessness, it is what we're called to, it isn't physically achievable.

Beyond that, Pinterest feeds a mighty fire of fanhood. Pinterest is a brand new machine that runs the factory of obsession. I was thinking today about the coming and going fads. Highschool Musical, The Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, The Lord of The Rings, Hannah Montana, Twilight, Inheritance Cycle, The Hunger Games, and Webkinz (That's right, I went there.) just to name a few. They come and they go, and now Pinterest is a means of that. I saw lately. Is this wrong? No, nothing is really wrong in and of its self, but there's a lot of potential for evil. I recently saw on facebook a picture of some girl's album filled with pictures of Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta Mellark in the recent Hunger Games movie. It was titled "My Future Husband." I can't help but shiver at the thought of it. Clearly this is too much. Even if she doesn't really think she's going to marry him, she is pouring her thoughts, emotions and time into obsessing over him. He's something that's going to be old news before we know it. (unless he gets a lot better at acting soon.) How much time is Pinterest taking away from what really matters? And worse, how is it affecting the minds of those on it? Take me seriously now, I know I'm starting to sound like an old conservative geezer.

My point is, Pinerest brought to mind the temporariness of so much that we invest in. So much of what we talk/think/complain/worry about does not matter. Often times it's hurtful. At one point in the gospels, Jesus calls Peter "Satan" for thinking about earthly things over heavenly things, it's a big deal. So I suggest if you read this far, think about what you worry about and spend your time doing, because that's what matters to you. Simple as that.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:2

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

Jesus

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Valuing the Physical while knowing a Spiritual Creator

Over spring break I lost my bible. I'm pretty sure the day of presentation written in there by my parents is June 30th 2003. It's not just any bible, I've spent my most significant years of my spiritual growth reading that copy of the Word. I admit as much as the other bibles I have are just as much God's Word it has been a struggle to get as much out of time in them. Hopefully I will find my old NKJ somewhere someday but I bought an ESV yesterday that I've really enjoyed so far. (Nonetheless, if anyone happens upon a blue bible that's falling apart in either Galveston, B/CS, Frontier Camp or anywhere in between please let me know!)

I bring this up because of a few reasons. Ben Stuart of Breakaway Ministries last night had a tangent about the physical. He mentioned how as the church we have a tendency to over spiritualize Christianity. We forget that God made the world and all the physical existence and that it is good. So when we do this I feel like, for me personally, I start to phase out the value of physical ability, appearance, and behavior. These things matter (hah, get it? They matter because they... yeah forget it.) and we shouldn't detach them from how we live spiritually. We, as humanity, are the coming together of both the spiritual and the physical. When we were made in God's image we were given souls, we are the grand finale of the Conductor's great symphony of creation of the physical realem. We can't suppose that our lives aren't directly linked the the physical world around us. We are emotionally and spiritually affected by the physical. The position that you pray in doesn't matter as far as being acceptable but it being on your knees means something. I don't have to have a bible similar to my old one, the way it's tall and thin, but the new one is familiar and comfortable to handle and read. Also it's green, and has a cool cross design on the cover.
We can't write off ritual or tradition as weird symbolism of olden days. We take the bread and the wine, we eat and drink in remembrance of a physical death. One goes on his knee to propose to a girl to form a relational bond. We are baptized into water as a testimony of faith in the unseen. We cry when we're sad. There is a clear physical connections to the relational/spiritual/emotional aspects of life.

I don't know if there's a word for it yet, but I am the sort that views everything as significant or potentially significant. As a significantist, I have a good memory... I can also be sappy at times. All this to say, I don't think it's wrong to value the physical. There are little things in this world that mean something to me. From a hat to a train ticket, and I know I'm not alone in this. God knows this and blesses us by it. He gets us, I don't think we realize that enough. Of course we know that all will be burned away someday and we are only left with God and us so we need a good balance, which is almost always the case. God created a world full of opposites, most of them can oppose or complement each other. For example: the present case of physical and spiritual but also male and female, night and day, work and relaxation, sleep and wakefulness, talk and silence, truth and grace in their own way and etc. These are all good things (note that some opposites are not) but too much of/emphasis on one over another would be wrong. So much of life is a balancing act of our prospective and my prayer is that ours as individuals and as a church will be godly. For we walk by faith and not by sight.

1. Afterlife

(This post was first started last last year.)

One day I walked out on my front porch to see that there was a package waiting for me. Inside was Vice Verses, Switchfoot's latest album. That was September 26th. Since then my buddy Nate and I have covered a lot of miles listening to this album and I've sung my lungs out. This is a powerful, beautiful and straight up solid record.

I have decided to write on each of the tracks in this album. Each is very different and powerful in its own way. Here we go.

Afterlife
This is the start of something big. This album is something of a story of a life how it should be lived. A memoir for the human soul. It's powerful and vulnerable. Musically it starts the album off on a good foot and really gets you into it. There's a darkness that carries through the whole record, a soberness, an awareness of the bitterness of life. We're not just making sound here, this is for real.
This song is about living your life. We are made to live to the fullest and live now. We can't go talking like we're going to mess around now and get serious when we get to heaven. When we are saved by Christ, when the Holy Spirit comes into us eternal life begins right then and there. We are given a Power like no other and we are supposed to use it! "I've tasted fire, I'm ready to come alive." This should be us everyday.
See in the church it's always been this way. I'm not going to trash the modern church, Paul wrote to messed up churches and Jesus even visited John in a dream to rat on churches so it's not just us. Anyway, we need to keep the eternal perspective in mind and heart. That we have hope of what's to come, yes, but also that we remember that the Lord of all creation is indwelling and present every moment of our lives. We walk with a Holy Fire and power. Show the world! And that means pray more often then you might think. Take everyday as the beginning of forever. We live in a dying world, we are called to make a difference and we have no excuse to do otherwise.

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

-John 17:3

How we all see the same thing.

Some people see me and say: "Americký"

I often get called a "Slovakian"

but those don't even exist.

They're Slovaks, and not even the Czech sort.

In the north,

I'm a southerner.

In the deep south,

My pawpaw calls me a yankee.

I have been called a false teacher,

Overly spiritual,

A heathen.

I've been seen as rich,

I've been seen as poor.

Called humble, called arrogant.

Who's right? I can't say I agree with any of this,

At least not with all my heart,

Not fully.

Oh to be in a world where I belong!

There's a God who calls me His son,

I am pretty okay with that.

The Fridge of Social Networking

So one night I was laying in bed wondering about life, love, and why when I happened upon a thought.

Facebook, is pretty much the refrigerator of the internet. So often I find myself standing in front of the fridge just staring at what's inside. I don't know how I got there or what I'm doing there or what I'll do next. Then I close it and look around until I open the fridge again. This continues for about the rest of my life.

Here's the thing with Facebook. It's like everything else in the world, it is a neutral tool that can be used for whatever the user wants. A lot of good things happen on Facebook as well as really really bad things. I'm still there now, after a lot of debate, just like I still have a refrigerator.

Rethinking

I suppose I sort of have a reputation of thinking. This is funny because that really doesn't mean much besides getting really distracted when spotting for someone bench pressing while thinking about the purpose of working out. Thinking is a dangerous business.
Just because I think I feel like I form differing opinions than most people I know. It was thinkers that started revolutions.
Now just because I think doesn't mean I'm wise. I waste time thinking over acting and can get pretty honestly depressed if I let myself think about some things too much. I do a lot of dwelling. Wisdom is applied understanding.

I have been rethinking a lot lately and it's sort of scary. I have been pretty set on my major for a while and I'm really starting to think about changing it. I need to apply to Texas A&M soon as possible but I don't even know if I'm sure what college to apply to, I actually admit I don't. Nothing I want to chose makes sense to most other people but then, the foolishness of God doesn't make sense to most. That might be a bad example....
I was thinking I may want to major in English, maybe Creative Writing. Minor in Geography. Haha, what a weirdo.
Also, I was thinking about taking a gap year, do things I love and spend time in places and with people I love. Make some money. I'm getting tired of reporting to an authority that doesn't really care about me. I long for freedom that's really only been half-gained now that I'm out of the house.

Meh, ranting. I have been writing a lot anyway, and reading for that matter, it's been nice. I want to create art more than I think I ever have. Spring break hopefully I'll take the time to really be proactive.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is.

Hopefully it isn't big headed of me or insensitive to say I get used to it. I get used to new countries and I am no stranger to seeing people not as well off as I am. Haiti was a new experience for me, but new is something I know very well. Having been to so many countries and (three of them third-world countries) before coming to Haiti I wasn't phased by the lack of things and the amount of poverty. The most amazing part of it was how easy it is to get there, honestly.

Something I never want to get used to, and what I love most about my trip to Haiti was the hope of the Lord. Truly without the Lord there would be no motivation, I feel that's obvious. I see a hope in these people that I have not seen in the wealthy and I believe with all my heart these people are better off than I am. Jesus actually meant something when He said that it was harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to fit through the eye of the needle and He actually meant it when He said the poor shall inherit the earth. When we get to Heaven it will be so different from this earth because the worshipers who had nothing but the Lord and rejoiced shall be the ones running the show.
Going to church and singing with the believers and singing at camp I witnessed once again the truth that this world is nothing compared to the glory of the Lord. In Romans 8, Paul writes saying that "the sufferings of this present day are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us." I have always thought this meant when we come in our glorified bodies. I actually still think that's what he meant. However, I believe that there is much glory being revealed by the Holy Spirit through us now. When we smile in the midst of calamity knowing God is in control, when we say "Even so, blessed be Your name." and when acknowledge the victory of Light over dark we reveal the glory of God. Who does this more than the afflicted church? Truly they are the greatest of us all. It's easy to lean back in a lawn chair with your Shiner held high and sigh "God is good." But I want you to know death, mud and the uncertainty of food tomorrow as well as the Haitians and tell me the same.

I was in Haiti for ten days, it was actually more like nine but that's technical. In that time I met a lot of people and a lot of young people who couldn't be in a better place for them spiritually. Jacob's Well is the most exciting place I have been and I've been everywhere, man. There is something happening there that I know the Lord has His hand in. Nothing can be more exciting than that.

Please keep the people of Limbé in your prayers and the missionaries that are there full time and the ones in and out.