Peer pressure of the hungry kind...

I brought my lunch. I didn't want to spend the money on going out and buying it. I made a wonderful chicken sandwich, I brought chips, oreos, and some orange juice to wash it all down. Why then did I end up eating a chicken quesadilla from Qdobas? I'll tell you why. Hunger peer pressure. Its an epidemic that is sweeping the nation and has been for some time. The infection starts with just one hungry person, most usually a twenty something hipster that just wants some grub. Of course, the congenial thing to do is to invite others, yet this is where it begins to spread. 

Once one person becomes susceptible to the out to eat hunger bug, it overrides the common sense of food that is nearby. That is why a group of 20 guys will walk over a mile to get soft drinks at a gas station at Taylor. The peer pressure of the traveling drives you. A group of out to eaters is a little bit like the roman mob of peer pressure. You can almost never stand up to it. How many times do you go to a fast food restaurant alone? 

I wasn't even hungry! I had just drank a mocha from a local coffee shop so i was still metabolizing the drink, yet i still fell. The odd part was that i almost had to drive as well! If Jake, Neil, and Darrin were more cruel, I'm sure that i would have been outed on some petroleum as well... Oh well. It was a good quesadilla. :)

To shift gears, i want to talk a little bit about the way classical music makes me feel. I know that this is something that is talked about a lot, but i think its important to completely understand what you are feeling and what is making you feel that specific emotion. If this internship at school is teaching me anything, its teaching me that being introspective about the things you do and the ideas that you believe is always good for you. Self improvement comes from observing yourself. 

The most beautiful kind of music is  for sure classical. I don't think that there is any disputing that. I also find that classical music draws the most emotion out of me. Songs like Rhapsody of Paganini are soft and lilting, but they remind me of huge clouds. That is how i feel when i hear a good classical song. Its like looking at something much bigger, much deeper, and much more beautiful than my own life. It carries me into something bigger than myself. I think God gave classical music this kind of depth for a reason. 

The piano is the most beautiful instrument besides a voice. It has such contrast in what it can do, but when it is played well, it brings together every type of music. Look at classical composers, coldplay, Ben Folds, Medeski, Martin, & Wood, Ray Charles, and many others. Lots of different genre's all held together by a piano. By the way, my favorite song is "Fred Jones Part II" by Ben Folds. 

Oh! I also have some random observations about the route that I run everyday.

-There is a house on a road that I run called the "Qaus Haus". I have no idea what Qaus means.

-The Qaus Haus' neighbors have a billy goat for a pet. It is standing in the front yard every time I run by. They also have a carousel horse in their front window. Not really sure why...

-A house I run by has the street address 8888. That is sweet. 

Sorry for the babbling for the last half of this blog post. I promise that my next post will have more meat to it. I'm still learning the in's and out's of this whole blogging thing, so cut me some slack. :-) 

In it or out of it?

Yesterday, Jake and I were talking a little bit about what it is like to be a minister. We at first were talking about what we are called to do as christians, but it eventually developed into, "could i have a greater effect on people if i wasn't in vocational ministry?" This is something that he said he has struggled with, and as i see how ministry works, i can see myself wondering the same thing.

Would i be more effective to the gospel if i was an artist that worked in the secular world? Would people listen to me more about everything i had to say if i was a columnist, not a christian columnist? By that i don't mean i'm not a christian, but if i just wrote about the things that were in the world as opposed to only christian ideals. 

take for example coldplay. They are one of the biggest bands on the face of the planet right now, having millions of fans and huge venues that they play at. Imagine if Chris Martin were a christian. What if through his music he promoted christian ideals? What if they way he lived his life showed that he followed God? He would be able to communicate what a true christian life looks like to MILLIONS of people! He would be able to have a positive effect on people's lives that won't ever step into a church. If he said that he was only going to write christian music for the rest of his career, he would lose a marvelous soapbox that he currently stands on. 

Now, taking it back to my life, what should i do? How many real non-christian friends do i have? How many people do i hang out with that don't know christ? How much interaction with the rest of the world do i have apart from christian society? Looking at it from this point of view, i'm failing pretty liberally at being a christian that is actively applying the Gospel. How much outreach do i do?

On the flip side of this though, there has to be minsters. If there was no church, then christians would be completely left to fend for themselves, which isn't what God intended for us. The church (and the people that run the church) are an important part of the christian faith here on earth. God has chosen the church as the vessel for His message of grace to be communicated to the rest of the world. 

Last night i was talking with my Mom about this topic and we came to the conclusion that the church should be like the doctors and coaches that stand on the sideline of a football or basketball game. The believers in the church (the football or basketball players) are out on the field (the rest of the world) playing against the other team (Non-believers). When one of the believers gets hurt or is tired or doesn't know what to do, they can come to the sideline and receive attention from the church. They get bandaged up, encouraged, disciplined, or taught something in order for them to get back on the field and keep playing. The goal of the player isn't to defeat the other team, but to get them to join the right team. The church can empower believers, but it can't do there job.

This doesn't mean that people that work in a church don't have to be active players as well. Everyone, either on the sideline or on the field, is on the same (winning!) team, therefore they are all working toward the same goal. Becoming a christian and going to church isn't the goal, but working to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth is. We are working toward holistic redemption and restoration of the earth, not converting to a religion. That might be the means that it is carried out, but is definitely not the end. 

Last night at the mexico mission trip team meeting, i found out that one of the people on my team has the same name and birthday as an international fugitive. Hah! Crossing the border into mexico might be interesting! :-)

Also, last night i finished the book that was currently reading, The Sword of Shanarra. I'm now looking for something new to read, so if anyone has any suggestions, i will gladly accept them! 

until next time!

ps- i'm glad the Celtics lost on Sunday. It means they'll win at home. 

Tight.

Earning and Learning

recently i've been stressing out about the cost of eating food in real life. Since i've been in school or at home my whole entire life, i've never had to think about consistently purchasing my own food. I respect every single person who lives a real life much more the longer that i'm in "life". 

Today was a good food purchase though! a six inch sub from Subway only costs $3.91, which i consider an acceptable amount to pay for such a sandwich. Oh, southwest Chipotle sauce, how you justify so much... On another note, the blog spellcheck is telling me that i'm spelling Chipotle incorrectly, and it is suggesting that it should be spelled Shippable. Hm. 

This sunday at the high school service at traders point (the church that i'm interning at) i will be delivering my first sermon! O_O When Jake; my boss; asked me to speak, i got a little frightened, but i'm cool with doing it. I will be speaking on christian community. The key verses are found in James, though i will probably draw from other texts as well. 

Since i've been developing the sermon, i've noticed a couple different things in James. The most apparent thing that i've noticed is how many rhetorical questions James asks. I think in a 20 verse spread he asks 10 rhetorical questions. This intrigued me. I was curious as to why he did this so much. As i pondered, my mind wandered back to my english 100 writing class during my freshman year of college. I had to write a ridiculously extensive paper on epistemology and the study of teaching. To start this off, i had no idea what it was, but i soon came to know that epistemology is just a long fancy way of saying, "when you teach yourself something, you understand it better than when you are taught". 

Applying that back to James, rhetorical questions make a ton of sense. How often does a kid learn how to walk because his parents told him how? How often does a bird learn to fly without first jumping out of the nest? James is giving them guidelines of self discovery, thus solidifying his message more than if he just gave commands. I think it was Thomas Edison who said, "i haven't failed 1,000 times at making a lightbulb, but rather i've found 1,000 ways to not make one." or something like that. :-)

Another thing that i noticed when reading James is his focus on prayer. James gives a section toward the end of his letter that deals with how we as christians are supposed to act within christian community in which he drills prayer into the recipient's heads. "Are you suffering? keep praying about it. Are you sick? have other faithful believers come and pray for you." (James 5:13, 5:14) How much do we as modern day christians saturate things in prayer? When was the last time i spent a day praising God through prayer worship toward Him? Even when he asks who is suffering, he says "keep praying about it", implying the prayer was happening in the first place. its obvious, prayer is the pipeline to correct living.

If you go to this link you can listen to the entire new coldplay album for free. Its not bad, not bad at all. 

well, James calls me once again so i will bid you adieu!