As some of you may not know, my brother and 3 of his close friends are planting a church in midtown Sacramento next summer. The plans are being made and the prayer team met together for the first time last night. Jacob’s Well is a cell-based model that will focus on community and service. The website is up and I encourage you to check it out. While you are there…please pray for wisdom and direction for Ken, Tyler, Greg, and Sam as they take this next step in their ministry.

http://www.jacobswellsac.org/

I am sitting in Geology class…pretty much bored out of my mind and I am learning all kinds of things that they did not teach in Christian school. For example…did YOU know that the earth is 6.5 BILLION years old? Or did you know that the continents used to be one HUGE mass of land? Did you know that the entire formation of the planets including earth is explained by rotating dirt in the universe? Also, the grand canyon was formed by large amounts of water rapidly pouring into the earth. They say it was the Colorado river when it held a higher volume of water. Hmmm…a large amount of water…that sounds familiar.

I know, I know, this is mostly because Geologists deny the existence of a Creator. But it is interesting to me that people spend years of their life working through this material. They are 100% certain of what they are teaching. Hmm…sad.

hey folks i haven’t been writing because there hasn’t been anything really eventful in my life lately. i work, take one class…and that is about it. i was officially invited to the journeyman conference in virginia at the end of july. that is where they will interview me and i find out what job i will have for the next 2 years. i am sooo excited about conference and i am more than ready to begin this adventure in my life.

for now, i wait.

I finally got a job!!!!!!!! Thanks for the prayers the last month peeps…I was a little stressed. As it turns out, many employers did not like the fact that I will be leaving the country in 6 months. Well…I found a job that said that hiring for the summer was something they did often. It may not be the greatest job, but it is a job. Woohoo! This is me being excited about my new job in Sepia. 

So I have my options for Journeyman narrowed to about 15 places. I will either be a 3 hour plane ride away or on the other side of the world…sweet.

So there is this book. During the 2 months it has taken me to read it, I have had a great array of emotions while chewing on the text. Some parts make me laugh, cry, question, yell, … and I think at one point I got up from where I was sitting to give it a standing ovation. It has made me think outside of the box and look at normal a little differently. Here are some snippets to intrigue you… but if anyone ever reads the book I would love to dialogue with you afterwards.

***”I had a college professor who once said ‘All around you people will be tiptoeing through life just to arrive safely at death. Dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just do not tiptoe’…I’m not sure when we got the notion that Christianity is safe or that Christians should play it cool. Much of us live in such fear of death that it’s as if nobody believes in the resurrection anymore. Sometimes people ask me if I’m scared to live in the inner city. I usually reply, ‘I’m more scared to live in the suburbs’. The Scriptures say that we should not fear the things that destroy the body, but we are to fear what can destroy the soul (Matt 10:28). While the ghettos might have their fare share of violence and crime, the suburbs are home to the more subtle demonic forces- numbness, complacency, comfort-and it is these things that can eat away at our souls.”
***”What I love about Jesus is that He always has an imagination. The familiar “turn the other cheek” verse from the Sermon on the Mount does not suggest that we just let people step all over us. I instead, Jesus is pointing us towards something that imaginatively disarms others. When hit on the cheek, turn and look the person in the eye. Do not cower or punch them back. Make sure they look into your eyes and see a sacred humanity, and it will become increasingly harder for them to hurt you. When a soldier asks you to walk a mile with them…just walk with them two miles instead of one. Talk to them and woo them into our movement by your love. Walter Wink said ‘evil can be opposed without being mirrored. Enemies can be nuetralized without being destroyed.’ Then we can look into the eyes of a centurion and see not a beast but a child, and then walk with that child a few miles. Look into the eyes of the ones who are hardest for you to like, and see the One you love.”

The Irresistible Revolution: Shane Claiborne

scary word? secrets? my friend told me about a website where people send postcards anonymously to share secrets they don’t want to hold in anymore. some are sad, some funny, some vulgar…but these secrets are tearing people apart inside. they have no one to share them with so they put them on a postcard for the world to see? wow. they do this for liberation. they share because deep inside there is a desire to be known. really known. to be found out, share the skeletons, to be transparent.

the interesting part of this to me is that as Christ-followers we are called to this kind of transparency with each other. sharing our pain, our joy, our hopes, our secrets. sharing life with someone…living life with others is what community is all about…

“Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone;
       he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil,
       yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. 
for whom am I toiling,” he asked,
       “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
       This too is meaningless—  a miserable business! Two are better than one,
       because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down,
       his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls
       and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
       But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered,
       two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken”

Ephesians 4:7-12

Thanks community. I love and treasure you.

Well graduation is just around the corner and I am going loco. Apparently they don’t let you just walk down an aisle in a black gown anymore. You actually have to pass your classes, find a new place to live, get a job, have 6 offices sign a paper that says you are eligible to graduate…and the list continues. The nerve of them. I decided to make a list of all school work that needs to be completed in the next 4 weeks: 56 pages of papers, 6 tests, 3 quizes, and a few homework assignmens here and there. Blah. Well, in a few weeks I will be either the happiest person in the world or dead. Happy graduation to all the seniors and may God help us all finish strong.