Christmas Break! (so far)

I cannot believe that we are two weeks into Christmas break! It is so crazy to think about. It has been a restful, busy and fruitful break thus far, I am thankful for all that has happened this break, and am hopeful that it can continue until I am back at school for what Lord willing should be my final semester as an undergraduate!

Here some of the highlights so far:

1. My Church family: Oh my goodness what a blessing it has been to be back and worship once again with them. Sunday mornings, young adult group on sunday night, evening prayer/Bible study on that first wednesday, and a special Christmas Eve service, have all been wonderful. After the bible study on the first wednesday, I had the opportunity to go out to dinner with one of the most influential families on my life that I know, and to be able to fellowship with them once more was so great, and very much needed. At our Christmas Eve service we had a technical mishap and the organ wasn't working, which forced us to do our lessons and carols acappella. It was definitely a blessing in disguise as it ended up being one of the most beautiful services I have ever been a part of, and you were really forced to focus your heart and mind on the words of the hymns being sung.

2. Seeing old friends: I have to admit, it was definitely weird coming back and realizing that most of my friends were not also returning home for Christmas, but have been in the midst of what some would call "real life." As you see, most of the friends that I still have from High School graduated college this past may and are either working full time, or in the midst of the job hunt. But that being said, it was really awesome to see that they all work really hard to keep in touch! On the first monday night of break and the following saturday (because of Christmas) I was able to join a group of them for a weekly dinner that they had been doing. It was really awesome just to catch up with them, and see how they were doing. Hearing them talk about work and life after college, makes me excited to graduate and get out there (though don't get me wrong, I am going to miss school DEARLY). Some of the guys also have a monthly book club that I can't wait to join once I get back out here. Other then that I have been able to grab lunch with a few people, get the inside scoop of what's happening in their life etc, oh and I went to a shooting range with some guys and shot a shotgun for the first time! And of course, I've had plenty of long drives, and deep talks with the good ole Brent, the guy who will forever be a part of my life as we have just gone through too much together for him not to be.

3. Being around family: Moving into my new room because we rented out the basement has proved to be both a challenge and blessing, mostly the latter. The challenge for me has been that because of it, I am around my parents ten times more than I have ever been, which has provided plenty of opportunities to practice (and fail at) patience, on both sides I'm sure! The blessing is very much the same thing as the challenge, I am around them ten times more than I have ever been. It has been wonderful to just be able to hang out with both of them. For example: one of the days leading up to Christmas, my mom and I baked some pies, went shopping, and had dinner together. My dad and I have been able to get some good quality time together as well, hanging out, watching football and we also went to a college basketball game! One special time we all had together happened a few days after Christmas, when my parents and I went down to a theme park called Busch Gardens and visited their ChristmasTown, which was a part of the park that was specifically opened up for this holiday season, and decorated as such.

On Christmas, My dad, mom, uncle and I opened presents in the morning, and then one of my uncles from dad's side and his family all came over for a late lunch early dinner, and then in the afternoon we all went an watched The Hobbit together. Currently my brother and his family are in town celebrating the new year together and it has been such a blessing to have the newly adopted 4 year old nephew in town!!! A bunch of family came over sunday night to watch the Cowboy/Redskin game, which was crazy because my entire family are Cowboy fans except me (since my dad and his brother were born and raised in Texas), and so it was sweet to see the skins take it to them!

4. Reading: So far this break I have been able to complete three books, and would like to try and get to three more! The books I have completed have been Are You Really Listening? Keys to Successful Communication, The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung (highly recommended), and When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric and Leslie Ludy (don't agree with absolutely everything, but the basic principle was fantastic and there was a lot to learn). I'm hoping to complete Holiness by J.C Ryle, (which is one of the best books I have ever read and so I'd like to get through it a second time), John Owen's The Mortification of Sin, and this last one was a change due to a bunch of people recommending it, A serve Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken, which based off reading the description on the back I CANNOT wait to get to it.

This break has been wonderful so far and I only hope that the sweetness can continue. God has blessed me with the will power to be productive and make things happen instead of sleeping in till 2 each day and not really make anything of them, which has sadly happened in the past many times before. He also has given me the grace to be in His word almost every day this break, since really starting again on the 17th and that has been really helpful. I cannot stress enough how important it is for His children to be in His word as often as they can, it is where we learn about our heavenly Father, our Lord, His Spirit, our sin and how to live for Him!

Reflections of a Crazy Semester

Well as I sat down to write out a blog for the first time in awhile and take a chance to reflect on my semester I noticed that my most recent blog was a list of goals that I had for the semester. I had forgotten that I even had a list, let alone posted it here on my blog! Which my initial thought after seeing them was that can’t be a good sign in terms of reaching them if I didn’t even remember the fact I had them (first lesson, not only should one make their goals known, but keep them on you at all times for reminder!). Though now that I know they were there at one point, my effort to reflect and filter my thoughts of such a long semester can be simplified as I can look at it in terms of the goals themselves. Here is a shortened version of the goals (see my last post) and my thoughts about how I did on each one:

1. Set aside time EVERY DAY for scripture reading and prayer.

Sadly I was unable to keep this goal. God was extremely gracious and from the start of the semester through the entire month of October, I only missed one day of devotions during that time. God had really set it on my heart to make this a priority in my life and He really shined through and gave me a love for Him and His word. But once the busyness of life hit, devotion time took a back seat; arguably during the time I needed it most. I was nowhere near the consistency I had those first two months. In fact, in my prayer journal from the time of November 1st to the end of the semester, I only count 3 entries. That’s not to say I only spent that time in prayer as there were definitely times where I just didn’t use the prayer journal, but that does show a lack of consistency, 3 entries in the last month in a half compared to the 79 entries or so of the first two and a half months, (from august 12th to October 31st).

2. Be more intentional about everything: relationships, church, schoolwork, and even rest.

This is a tough goal to evaluate, I definitely feel I did better in some areas, but still came up short a lot, though I would say my over all intentionality did increase. Though sometimes certain aspects of life came to a clash. For example, in my effort to maintain relationships and do well in school, I spent very little time sleeping this semester. Sleep is something I hope to get more of this coming semester, as I know it actually important, and being well rested allows me to make the most of the time I have for fellowship with friends and better conquer my schoolwork.

Relationally, this semester was yet another roller coaster. Which I think relationships are always going to be tough, why wouldn’t they be? Relationships are at very the center of our existence, starting with the relationship that existed in the Trinity from eternity past. “It is not good for man to be alone.” We were created to relate to our creator and to relate to those around us. The greatest commandments, Love God and Love people are relational in nature. That being said, we shouldn’t be shocked that because of our sin nature, they are difficult and take a lot of work. Learning how to relate to others and serve them best is one of the most difficult things we can ever attempt to do. One thing God was gracious enough to show me this year is I struggle with listening to people and learning to understand them. I am quick to relate their struggles to mine making myself the topic of conversation, interrupt and offer my 2 cents, and do various other things that makes it so I am no longer counting others as more important as myself. The funny thing about myself is, I love spending time with people, and I am very loyal to the friendships I do have, so this is clearly something I need to work on if I hope to be an encouragement to others and properly point them to Christ.

Academically this was simultaneously my hardest and best semester. Maybe not in terms of GPA, but in the effort and taking school seriously, by God’s grace I definitely made strives of improvement. I can say without a doubt, I worked my freaking butt off. God was once again gracious and gave me eyes to see getting an education as something we do so that we can be better tools for Gods purposes, either in helping out the church, or being a light to this dark world. I also was able to see the importance of working hard and being diligent about school so that I could make more of the relationships He brought into my life. Of course I had my missteps, see: Thanksgiving break, but this was easily an area that fruit flourished.

Church wise, it was not much different than last year. I love my church family here in Santa Clarita, and being able to worship with them on Sundays and bible study during the week (when I can make it) is always a blessing.

3. Memorize more scripture.

Completely whiffed on this one, definitely need to figure out something to memorize for next semester and maybe somebody to do it with.

4. Work out 3-5 times a week/Eat healthier.

Similar to the state of my devotions, the first 2 and a half months of school I was working out extremely consistently, and even found a new love in Ultimate Frisbee, but as the busyness picked up, taking time to take care of my body went down.

5. Have a senior year that I do not regret.

Though this semester was the toughest one I have gone through, both relationally and academically (18 units of 300 and 400 level classes), I would never change it for the world. God stretched me in almost every aspect of my life, and once again showed me the importance of relying on Him. Interestingly, in times where I wasn’t the most consistent about working on my relationship with the Lord and moved into a mindset where I took control, is where life was the hardest by far. But God has used it to show me how much more I do need Him, and how much more of my life needs to be surrendered to Him completely. It’s not that I have to give Him yet another part of my life and work Him into it, it’s that I need to work my life around Him and His purposes, forsaking myself and trusting that He is going to provide and has the best set out for me.

What a semester it was though... I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me during this break and then (Lord willing) MY FINAL SEMESTER OF MY UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE CAREER!!!

Goals/Resolutions plus some thoughts.

“Tomorrow is the devil's day, but today is God's. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions, if only they are determined to be done tomorrow.” That is the line which stood out to me most as I read J.C Ryle’s Thoughts for Young Men for the second time in my life this past weekend in preparation for the coming semester. It is the quote, that other than Christ and His Word of course, I hope becomes a driving factor for my semester. Procrastination is most definitely the plague of many, and something I have first hand experience in, especially in the realm of education, plus it affects so much more. We procrastinate working out, eating healthy, thinking oh I’ll start next week. As the book talks about, we far too often procrastinate when it comes to our spiritual state. We somehow think that either salvation can be acquired after we have our fun in life (That is, chase after the vain and useless pleasures of sin), or that sanctification and discipline will somehow just happen when we’re older, and we don’t have to put work into it now. We procrastinate investing in others, sitting around waiting for people to invest into us. The sin of procrastination is everywhere, and it is not something I want to be characterized by like I have been in the past.

So as I went through this first week of school, experiencing syllabus shock (on a little side note, I am going to be very busy this year, it’s crazy, 18 units and SLS will do that to you), I thought about things that Lord willing I’d like to accomplish this semester. So here is a list of goals/resolutions I have for this coming year.

1. Set aside time EVERY DAY for scripture reading and prayer. This is where it all begins, this is where I encounter God, this is Gods prescribed medicine to the broken soul, and the word is Gods gift to man as it has everything pertaining to life and Godliness. So if you could pray that I have a desire to read the scriptures, and that God uses that time to further conform me to the Image of Christ. Psalm 1:1-2 “ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

2. Be more intentional about everything: relationships, church, schoolwork, and even rest. This life is not our own, and the time we have been given is meant to be spent for God’s glory. And that means ALL OF IT, not just Sundays and Chapel. I don’t quite know how this goal looks yet practically, but intentionality is something I’d like to learn, and so you can definitely be praying for that. Ephesians 5:15-16 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of time, because the days are evil.”

3. Memorize more scripture. Last year I successfully memorized psalm 139 and that has been very helpful in my spiritual walk. Right now I don’t have anything in mind so if you have some ideas what to tackle send them my way! Psalm 19:7 “ The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

4. Work out 3-5 times a week/Eat healthier. This goal is obviously a little less spiritual than the other three, but at the same time it is still within the realm of living a disciplined and God glorifying life.  

5. Have a senior year that I do not regret. This is kind of a culmination of all the goals that I have set before you. I want to pursue the Lord daily (through devotion and the memorization of His word), pursue others, work hard at school, and become a little bit healthier. All that added up would make one successful fall semester if I may say so myself. 

Have we now reached the end, just to find the beginning again?

It has been far too long since I have last had the time to sit down and write. But I guess in a very real way that is a wonderful thing. For you see, this summer has been quite the busy and productive one filled with joy, stress, love, and trials. Everything that has happened to me is only by the grace of God and for the first time in years, I am not ashamed to talk about my summer.

The final two weeks of June was spent seeing friends and family and helping multiple members of my church family move. Which any time I can be with people of the church family I try to, let alone the opportunity to serve them. And Lord willing, I cannot wait till I graduate and come back out here. Though, it wasn’t until the month of July that my summer really took shape.

During the month of July, God gave me the opportunity to work at a camp for children with special needs. And what an opportunity it was! To have the opportunity to love on these kids who don’t necessarily have the capability to show love in return brought so much joy to my soul. A very wise friend pointed out to me that I was “getting to show these kids an in person example of how Christ loves us despite our inability to fully or properly love him in return.” The camp brought many moments of hardship, but many more moments of joy. Seeing my camper laugh and enjoy himself at any one moment throughout the day was completely worth having to go through any difficult moment, be it a tough transition, or working through his difficulty of expressing himself and communicating. Lord willing, I hope to work this camp again next summer.

This camp also brought some wonderful people into my life. Not only did I meet/re-meet some pretty great people, but I also had the opportunity of working with a long time friend and deepening that friendship even more through the camp experience. Serving along side people brings a different kind of bond that helps expand and grow the Christian life, at least I’m seeing that to be the case in myself. Watching others go through a difficult situation with a smile on their face and still giving all they can for the glory of Christ is just so encouraging, and very infectious. While on the reverse side, watching someone going through a difficult situation, becoming very frustrated and tired because of it all, and then seeing someone minister to him or her is just as encouraging. I pray that I will be able to keep the friendships formed and strengthened through this camp. I thank God daily for the impact that some of the people had on my life, and that God may bless and keep all of you as we go our separate ways for now.

When it comes to reading, I was able to finish three books in the final month and a half of summer. Nowhere near the pace I was at during the start of summer, but as the busyness of life took over, the time for reading dwindled, though I am very thankful for the grace and strength God provided to still make time for reading. The 6th book of my summer and the one I spent most of camp reading, was Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Probably one of the most powerful reads one can get their hands on, Cost of Discipleship is a warning to all Christians that simply because we are saved by grace, it does not mean we can live however we like. We cannot be saved and not be a disciple of Jesus. The calling of Jesus was not mere intellectual assent, but there are very real steps that must be taken if we are to follow and be used by Him. The last two books I read this summer were the 2 books that were prescribed to me to read for Servant Leadership Staff at The Masters College. They were J. Oswald Sanders’ Spiritual Leadership, and One-to-One Bible Reading by David Helm. The latter was a guide on how to go about reading the bible with other people, giving examples of questions to ask when meeting together and providing very practical outlines on how to go about the reading. This was a very helpful read for me as I prepare to lead a small group this coming semester, and will definitely be a resource that I go back to. Spiritual Leadership was a book outlining just that, showing the importance of leadership, setting out the qualifications and traits of a spiritual leader, laying out the downfalls, and providing practical advice on how to go about strengthening your own capability and calling to leadership, all of course hinging on the grace of God.

All in all, this was easily the best summer of recent memory. The most important thing that happened is God filled me with a greater desire to read his word, and provided me the grace and strength to be much more consistent in the daily disciplines of the reading of scripture and setting aside time for prayer than I have ever been. The blessings He has poured out on me this summer are just so overwhelming and humbling. God is far too good to those who are His. Not only has He given me these great positive marks on my summer, be He also allowed me to experience much failure, far more than I’d like to admit and this blog update may lead you to believe, and He used those experiences to further pour more grace onto my life. Sin comes in a variety of forms, and it all starts from the passions within. At some points this summer, I came to great feelings of despair because I was so entangled with my own sin, I felt like there was no way I was ever going to escape the hold it had on my life, but God reached down and pulled me back towards Him. And while I do continue to struggle with it, God has been teaching me how to lean on Him for victory and how to make it a fight. The eternal joy of Christ is SO MUCH greater than the temporal joy and pleasure we can receive when we indulge in the passions of the flesh. And if you’re a Christian, I know you’ve tasted Him before, so I encourage you to draw near once again and even if you find yourself in the midst of extreme failure, remember that our God is full of compassion and mercy, eager to forgive and bring you back. Also take heart in His promises; He WILL sanctify those who are His. The question is are you going to trust Him when He says that? It is a question that I constantly have to ask myself and struggle with. Remember that sin is never going to leave us completely until the return of Jesus Christ, and so it will always be a struggle, but also remember that on our side is the greatest ally we could ever hope for, the God of the universe, and He will be faithful to complete a good work in you.

So through many struggles with sin, much improvement with spiritual disciplines, the reading of 8 books, and the opportunity at Soaring over Seven summer camp, God most definitely provided me with a summer that I am not ashamed of talking about. So as I sit here at SLS retreat preparing for my wowees to come in tomorrow dwelling upon Gods faithfulness to me this summer, I cannot wait to see what He has in store for this coming year.

Amusing Ourselves to Death and The Reason For God (Books 4 and 5)

Amusing ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Showbusiness is the 4th book of the summer that I have read. It is a book by Neil Postman, who is not a Christian, that basically argues that television has become the way in which people of the western American culture interpret the world, and that it has turned things like science, religion, news and other important aspects of culture into nothing but packages of entertainment. Basically television is affecting the way we think about everything, and that way we think, is in the way of entertainment. Gone are the days of serious contemplation.

I tend to agree with everything that was presented in the book and the argument that was made. As a Christian the book has also helped me in my thinking about the importance of time. Television can be a waste of time, especially if watched too much. It basically comes down to the fact that most shows are designed to distract us from reality, and then the shows that say something serious and real, such as the news, are presented in a way that is entertaining. This is not to say never watch television, but watch your heart when you do so. See if it affects the way you think, see if it affects the things you value. It is perfectly acceptable to find enjoyment in things like television or video games, but if they begin to have a negative effect on your relationships with people, and most importantly your relationship with God, something is wrong.

The next book I was able to read this summer is The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller. Keller offers a very well researched, well written, and well thought apologetic of the Christian Faith specifically for this modern age where skepticism and science rule the day. I think Keller does an excellent job in understanding the times and providing a defense for the hope that we have.

You know not only did the book help me in being ready to provide a defense for the faith, but it also did a wonderful job of reminding me what the Gospel really is. Which as Christians, the Gospel is something that we should be preaching to ourselves daily. The book really helped clarify some of my own thinking about sin and other matters of the faith. It was able to show me some tendencies that I have in my life that are a wrong way to go about Christianity, such as sometimes catching my self thinking and living in such a way that somehow the things I do and who I am merit Gods grace.

So I highly recommend both books. Amusing Ourselves to Death will help you rethink how to go about entertainment, while The Reason For God will help you in your ability to defend the faith while preaching the Gospel to your own heart and soul.

Gilead (Book 3)

Gilead, being my 3rd book of the summer, is a wonderful novel written by Marilynne Robinson. It is written as a series of fictional letters/journal entries from the dying Pastor John Ames to his 7 year old son who is never going to grow up with an earthly father in the last year or so of his life. The time frame of the story is mid 20th century, just after the 2nd World War. The letters include stories of the pastors grandfather, father, family friends and others. The pastor spends a great deal of time honestly reflecting on his life finding beauty in certain areas and admitting the difficulty of others. This 246 page letter covers all sorts of things, from dealing with anger, seeing the wonder in the small things of life, having an appreciation of Creation itself, the great question of belief, the beauty of forgiveness, thoughts on war, to the fact of existence.

Gilead is one of those books that the content is just a stepping stone to your own thoughts about life, love and the like. But at the same time, the story it portrays is told beautifully, as Marilynne Robinson offers some of the best use of language I have encountered in a very long time. Some of the theology found in the book could cause you to raise some eyebrows, but don't let that discourage you from reading it. This book does an amazing job of showing us the ups and downs of life, through the eyes of this brutally honest minister, asking questions lots of people today still have all the time. "Gilead is a quiet, deep celebration of life that you must not miss." (The Christian Science Monitor)

On The Incarnation. (Book 2)

This is the 2nd book I have read this summer. On The Incarnation is a 4th century apologetic by St. Athanasius explaining the many reasons why Christ had to become man, be fully God and fully man, why he had to die by the cross, be resurrected and so on. The book starts with creation and the fall moving its way to the resurrection and it has brief sections of refuting the jews who say Jesus is not the Christ, and refuting Gentiles. This quick and amazing read tackles an issue that is still talked about and written on today, and can I repeat, it was written in the 4th Century! One reason to read this book is to follow Peters command in the second half of 1st peter 3:15, that we are to always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in us. Another reason is by way of reading about why Christ had to do these things, we remind ourselves of the Gospel and all that Christ has accomplished for us. Which that is then in turn an encouragement and calling to continue living for Him.

I encourage you to pick up the translation with the introduction by C.S Lewis. That introduction entitled On The Reading of Old Books is an article that is a wonderful read within itself, and is linked here. In this article, Lewis makes an argument for why people should not only read books from their own day and age, but the books of old as well. I am doing my best to stay as close to his 1 old book for every 3 new ones as I can. Here is my reasoning, Christianity is 2000 years old and the authors of today are not the only ones who have things to say about it, also newer is not always better. Christianity has been passed on from generation to generation, so I would like to do my best to learn from the generations that have come before (which is also the third reason to read this book).

The Preciousness of Time

The Preciousness of time and The Importance of Redeeming it, a sermon based on Ephesians 5:15-16, by Jonathan Edwards.

Those verses read (in the ESV): Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

This sermon may be the most important thing I read (or have read) this entire summer, outside of the Bible of course. We all know that how we use our time as Christians is important, but simultaneously time management and preventing time from being wasted is one of the greatest struggles in the Christian life. So the question is, do we truly have a sense of just how precious the time God has allotted for each one of us to live on this earth is? Jonathan Edwards helps us answer and think through that question. You can read the entire sermon here but below I have posted an outline of his main points:

SECTION 1
Why time is precious.
1. Because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it.
2. Time is very short, which is another thing that renders it very precious.
3. Time ought to be esteemed by us very precious, because we are uncertain of its continuance.
4. Time is very precious, because when it is past, it cannot be recovered.

SECTION 2
Reflections on time past.

SECTION 3
Who are chiefly deserving of reproof from the subject
of the preciousness of time.
1. Those who spend a great part of their time in idleness, or in doing nothing that turns to any virtuous account 

2. They are reproved by this doctrine who spend their time in wickedness
3. Those are reproved by his doctrine, who spend their time only in worldly pursuits, neglecting their souls.

SECTION 4
An exhortation to improve time.
1. That you are accountable to God for your time.
2. Consider how much time you have lost already.
(1.) As your opportunity is so much the shorter.
(2.) You have the same work to do that you had at first, and that under greater difficulties.
(3.) That is the best of your time which you have lost.
3. Consider how time is sometimes valued by those who are come near to the end of it.
4. Consider what a value we may conclude is set upon time by those who are past the end of it.

SECTION 5
Advice respecting the improvement of time.
1. Improve the present time without any delay.
2. Be especially careful to improve those parts of time which are most precious.
3. Improve well your time of leisure from worldly business. 

For me, laziness is the one of the most plaguing sins in my life. If left alone to my own devices, I know I could easily waste this entire summer (as I did so last summer, and the one before). Graciously God has been showing me the folly of my ways, and I know that a good portion of the 21 years that I have been alive has been wasted. This summer I hope to do more than just recognize that time is valuable (though that is a huge step in itself), but also make better use of the time I have been given. Hence the summer reading and the blog. We live in a world full of distractions, and it is very easy to get caught in them, but our time is meant to be spent for the glorifying of God (which can be done in may ways). So the question is not simply how are you spending your time, but also ask yourself why are you spending your time doing the things that you are. This is something that needs to be done daily, and there is so much more I could talk about (such as what are things that can be deemed a waste of time, or how we are to go about making good use), but the heart of the matter is this, time has been given to us by God, the days we live in are evil, and so we are called to redeem that time. So I ask that you please be praying for me this summer, that I learn the value of time, and that I make use of it in a way that is glorifying to God. 

Unbroken (Book 1)

This summer I have quite the reading list I am looking to conquer. And as I read these books (or article, sermon, w/e), I hope to blog about each posting my thoughts on the material, things like what I've learned, what I hope to apply, etc. So here goes the start of something that I hope to be a reoccurring event.

The first book I've read is Unbroken: A WWII story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Unbroken is the story of Louis Zamperini, an American lieutenant serving on the pacific side of WWII. The story traces his entire life but it mainly focuses on the story of his survival from a plane crash out on the pacific. It is written as a narrative, presenting the facts of history in a gripping and engaging way. Not only did this man endure weeks out on the pacific, but he ended up being captured as a POW by the Japanese and experienced extreme amounts of torture. Once he returned home, he succumbed to drinking trying to run away from his post traumatic stress, mostly the haunting memories of the day in and day out beatings given to him by "The Bird."It was while he was in this state, that in an attempt to save their marriage, his wife brought him to hear the great evangelist Billy Graham. After  hearing him a few times, he eventually became a Christian. Through his Christian faith he was no longer haunted by his memories of the war, and even came to a point of forgiving the Japanese soldiers who took part in belittling and beating him and others in his time as a POW. He then spent the rest of his life sharing his story and the faith that he came to know through it all.

I can almost guarantee, go through that much physical and psychological suffering and the average human would think twice before spending the rest of their life praising God because of it. That is the amazing capability of the Gospel though, someone who by most standards should be cursing God for all that has happened to Him is now able to see the hand of God through it all, and give Him glory. This story is yet another reminder that God uses all sorts of ways to draw His people near to Him. It is also a reminder that all that God has given to me in my life is an amazing blessing. There's not a day that goes by in which I have to wonder where my next meal is going to come from (even if it's from the caf, haha). It is very easy to take that for granted and sadly at times push God out of my life. You see the opposite should be true though, since everything in my life is a blessing, it is also a calling to live for Christ all the more, a calling that I sometimes fail at.

Another random thing that stuck out to me that I would like to mention is the clarity thought that Louie and Phil experienced when they were adrift on the Pacific. Not only is it amazing they were able to keep their minds on anything that was not food when they were on the brink of starvation, but the depth and detail they had while recreating memories was also astounding. A lot of that depth came from the fact that while on the pacific, they were free from distraction when it came to their thoughts. Just something to think about since we live in a world where distraction from reality is the goal of just about everything we interact with, be it television, video games, the internet, w/e. Though it goes without saying, I am not condemning those things, as I watch television, have played video games, and use the internet quite often. I am just inviting people to think about how those things are being used in our lives (especially my own), and also, how much. Distraction is interesting topic that I will be looking into deeper this summer when I read a book entitled: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.

With all that said, if you have any interest in WWII history, or just love good story telling, pick up and read Unbroken. It is a wonderful story of Gods providence and protection over a young man who saw and experienced far worse in that short period of time than most of us will ever experience in a lifetime.

The Start of Summer

Well, we're almost two weeks into summer and I thought I would take some time to reflect a little bit over the school year and my hopes for the summer.

Academically this semester was both a success and a failure. The success is the fact that I was able to complete 18 units of course work, doing pretty well grade wise, 12 units being business courses, and not drop a class, when a year ago this was not the case. As 6 weeks into the spring semester of 2011, I was forced to drop my American Lit class. Thankfully the Lord grew me in that year, showing me the immaturity of my ways and my lack of discipline, though that did continue somewhat this past spring. The failure of this semester is that procrastination controlled almost every assignment I completed. I continually put assignments off to the last minute to do other things, and the worst part about it is, the other things I usually did were completely unproductive in and of themselves. Yes, I can shamefully admit that many times throughout the semester I would put off homework to play a video game with roommates.

Emotionally I think it has been a much better year this time around than years past. The two areas emotionally where I believe I grew the most this school year were in the realm of girls and social awareness. When it comes to girls, this year I only had one DTR talk as compared to the ridiculous and unhealthy amount that took place last year due to my immature mindset about finding a wife. And even more than the pure amount, the way the DTR came about was much different compared to the past. I was the one that brought it up and let the girl know of my feelings, instead of letting the relationship get to a point where she was forced to ask what is going on here, which is something I did countless times in the past. The cool thing about it is this girl and I have become better friends because of it, while in the past that friendship would of just faded away and she would have become nothing more than an acquaintance. When it comes to social awareness, it has come to my attention that I can be a very loud and completely unaware of how my actions affect those around me. So these are things I have began working on, realizing that there are appropriate times and places to act certain ways.

Spiritually it was yet another roller coaster of a year. Going along side what is written above, I feel I grew in the way I treat women, finally seeing them as sisters in Christ, and learning to guard my heart and protect theirs when interacting with them. I realized that the secret is not to avoid woman, which I tended to do in the fall semester, but to interact with them in an appropriate and God honoring manner realizing that since they are sisters in Christ, they can be an encouragement to me and me to them. There can be good friendships between brothers and sisters in Christ, but precautions must be taken, and it is the role of the guy that when feelings do develop, he made them known instead of playing games with her heart and his. Although if the guy does not do his job and make feelings known, before either is dragged too far in to an inappropriate emotional attachment the girl should most definitely speak up. Sadly there is a downside to my spiritual development this school year, and it came in the way of reoccurring sin and laziness. Laziness in completing work, laziness in building relationships, just laziness all around plagued my entire school year. I made it to about spring break working out on a regular bases, and then it just seemed to die. My fight against other sins, was weakened by this laziness to a point where it got very ugly at times. In a setting where holiness is the "cool way to live", it was hard to share my struggles with those around me and that pushed me further into a black hole to a point where personal devotions had died and I was beginning to enjoy my sin. Thankfully through reading portions of John Owen's Mortification of Sin (during the semester) and getting back on track with devotions this summer, God is helping me climb back out of that hole and drawing me nearer to Him showing me what sin really is, and how much of life is destroyed when you openly live in it. Also during the last month of school I was able to make more new friends than I had the entire school year, and I thank God for that.

So this summer I hope to recapture the spiritual discipline of reading my Bible daily and setting aside time for prayer. I have a fair amount of books I'd like to read, but understand that no book will help me unless it is supplemented and superseded by time in the word and my relationship with my Lord. I'd ask that those who ever take the time to read this would pray for me this summer, asking that God would "create in me a new heart, and renew a right spirit within me" as the psalmist says. Pray that I learn the value of time, and learn to use it wisely and make the most of it with my life. And finally, pray that every day, I grow closer to and more in love with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.