s i m p l e

This Blog has moved

2006-08-10T00:31:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog site ( which is still being constructed) and it is at the following:

www.runningbarefoot.wordpress.com

Hope you enjoy it.

....boxes, anyone?

2006-08-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Because of the hour, and the condition of my tired body, I thought that I would not write long, but at least let you faithful readers know that I have arrived back here at TMC safely and in one piece... unforutnately, not the same case as some of my belongings, but that's alright... they're just belongings.

RA Retreat started last night with dinner and proceeded into today with seminars, all of which have been refreshers for me, but still encouraging and good reminders from the Word of God nonetheless. It's nice too to have a roommate for these first three weeks, which would typically be spent alone until everyone arrives. Randy Lundy (who is currently knocked out on the top bunk of Slight 18) is a dear friend and I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us this year. It is also good to have Carley Morgan only a short distance away... the harder part is having the Fonda family a longer distance away. "For everything a season and a time..."

More update to come soon...

The motif for the room you ask? When the boxes move out, it will be plants (courtesy of Mom and a church family), and large black and white pictures of Israel as posters with smatterings of framed pics of family and friends. Should be fun. I'll post pictures when I get the chance... sometime after I get some sleep.

Absent for a while...

2006-08-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

This will be brief....

I have been counselling at Jr. High Camp for the past week, so haven't been around....

This weekend, I am packing myself and helping my family pack for the upcoming move to WA state, and then moving back to TMC on Sunday for a busy week.... I'll write when I get a chance.

2006-07-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

What can I say? The wedding this weekend was amazing.

2006-07-19T17:38:00.000-07:00

I have the great privilege of playing the piano for some dear friends as they join together as one on Saturday in Moorpark, and the greater joy (and fright) of giving them the gift of song. I was asked to play something that I have written for the bridal party's processional, and so I wrote something new. We'll see... maybe someday arranged for orchestra, but nevertheless, still kind of fun to have written official wedding music now. This has been a summer of "experience", let me tell you. It's been good, and amazing to see how the Lord specifically provides in amazing ways to be better equipped for what He is leading me towards in the future. To Him alone be all the glory!

Also, if one has not already done so, one must read War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Our Communication Struggles by Paul Tripp and Not Even a Hint by Joshua Harris. Both are incredibly practical and biblical resources which have challenged me this summer. Be warned, however: they will rock your world.

Dropping Boxes

2006-07-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

Let's just say that I had one of the biggest surprises of my 21 years of existence Friday night. I walked out of work, expecting my Mom to be in the parking lot to pick me up, as we are sharing vehicles right now, and nearly dropped a boxful of a various asundry of items when I certainly did not see my mom in the parking lot, but rather, Carley Elwood. I was astounded, and for once, completely speechless. I had no idea what to say.

Let me tell you, what a blessing it was to have here in Coarsegold again. It was the first time that we had seen one another in two months; it was great fun. Anyhow, normally I don't prefer to drop things, but if given the choice, I'd drop a box coming out of that store any day.

2006-07-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a year already....

....or rather, 1,000 years....

Amazing. May you remember the faithfulness of our God this day....

Wars and Rumors of Wars

2006-07-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

The news is really interesting today....

http://www.foxnews.com/

Return...

2006-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a retreat to Lake Tahoe with our incoming Freshmen from the Jr. High youth group and can say that I am truly and utterly exhausted, but enocuraged nonetheless. May I leave you with a thought that struck me on the shore of the lake two mornings ago; your responses are welcome.

In Daniel 9, we see the prophet Daniel lamenting to God and praying for his people, who are wicked. He prays for mercy, and states the seemingly obvious: "we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly adn rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules..." (v.5). Why is it that we do not, like Daniel, pray to God for the obvious? It was apparent that the people Israel had done wrong and were in dire need of God's mercy and salvation, and yet, Daniel stated such and goes on in his prayer to completely humble himself before his God, and finally requests Him to "pay attention and act".

Do we not ask these things of God in our prayers because we question His ability to respond? Are we afraid of His response, leary of His judgment? Why is it do we not ask for help and the meeting of obvious needs in our lives and the lives of others, if we know our God to be faithful to answer?

The folly of singing

2006-06-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

I was going through a worship folder today to create a songbook for the Youth of chord charts so that we are no longer scrounging up extra copies of what's lying around the Youth Room or borrowing Bryce's so they are lost, and was struck with an interesting thought. We sing mindlessly too often. Too often do we see the words put up on a screen or printed in a bulletin, and so we just sing them simply because we're in church or they are being handed to us on a technological silver platter, complete with moving images and shadowed text (that's another issue for another time). Too often are these songs shallow and without any Biblical Truth (take for example songs such as Every Move I Make, and Fields are White). Why is this? Why do we allow such? Shouldn't we, as worshippers of the most high God be infinetely more acutely aware of what we sing to him than what we say to others? James exhorts us to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to wrath"; this is not just with our fellow brothers and sisters, but with our Lord as well! How much more so should we guard our speech before our God than we do before others, as He is our Creator and worthy of the praise we give (and sometimes which we do not give)?

As a worship leader, I too should be thinking about the content of the songs we ascribe to our God as a congregation. Musically, yes, there is certainly a need to sift and sort for songs with musical integrity for the purpose of singing excellently nad creating a time of worship through music which is easy to follow for those who are less musical, but more importantly, I should be sifting through the content of the text of these songs.

Are they founded on the very words of God? When in doubt, sing scripture. If the choice is given between singing something based on his word and something from his word, take the latter. Why try to craft something that is more than what is already perfect?
Does the song being sung make a clear distinction between the Creator's position as God and ours as mere man, exalting him far above the earth and even the heavens (Psalm 113), as he is in actuality?
Is the song written out of conviction of the reality and the truth of who he is, or simply the emotion of a moment we experience? David wrote out of experience in the Psalms, but each song is still woven with the truth of the character and history of God. One cannot read a Psalm and help but be blatently struck with a more intimate understanding of Yaweh. Is the same said of that which we sing?

If throughout scripture, we see the example of ascribing praise to God in spirit AND in truth, it is therefore folly to sing to the Creator of the Universe if we have not considered the words coming out of our mouths, particularly if they have no grounding in His truth.

I think I may have found my topic for my thesis someday....

2006-06-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I switched to Blogger for the time being, simply because I was getting tired of all the ads that came up on Xanga. The world we live in is frustrating at times, bombarded with images and ideas that are nothing of God. That's my thought for the day... we'll see what's next.

Outlines are more convicting than you realize...

2006-04-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

I am here at Panera Bread (seems to be becoming a traditional Saturday morning routine for Micah and I) working on outlines and finding myself challenged yet again. Paul's command is so simple. "Walk worthy of the calling to which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity in the bond of peace." It's so simple. Live with one another in love and unity. If that's such a simple command, then why is it so stinking hard to follow it. It frustrates me that I am a sinner... I know that's the case, but I wish that I could be more like Christ more often.