think. laugh. sing. love.

in between

2008-06-01T08:19:00.002-05:00

When you have a lot to look back on,

and a lot to look forward to,

it can put a lot of pressure on you.

I'm asking myself, how did I get here, and how am I going to get there?

From my bank statement:

2008-05-16T02:04:00.003-05:00

May 16th, 2008

BALLIN!!!!!!

Free money, Thanks President Bush. I will do everything in my power to jump-starterize this struggligated economization.

Larknews.com

2008-05-02T23:53:00.003-05:00

www.larknews.com. There's a lot caster.

White Chedder Cheez Its

2008-03-18T16:07:00.002-05:00

Any side salad from a fast food restaurant + crumpled white chedder cheez its on top = Delicious.

Yup.

Huck and Chuck '08

2008-01-05T03:54:00.000-05:00

My latest MS Paint creation from the Iowa Victory Speech. If Mike Huckabee goes on to run in the main election, I think he should choose Chuck Norris as a running mate- they'd be unstoppable.

My chess set

2007-12-10T22:15:00.001-05:00

I made this a couple of years ago, probably the favorite thing I made, this and the cookie jar.

Buy my shirt!

2007-11-24T00:55:00.000-05:00

So I got accepted in Ramdomshirts.com's T-shirt contest. Soo... if you like this shirt, please buy it, tell others about it, and that might help me a little bit towards winning... although I am afraid I don't stand a chance against "Angelina adopted me". But if you like it, buy it:
http://www.randomshirts.com/store/product.php?productid=16410&cat=272&page=1

tell me what to blog about

2007-11-09T02:01:00.000-05:00

Out of lack of inspiration, I'll blog about any topic that you want. Promise. Just leave a comment and I'll blog about whatever you want, even if it's anonymously given. Sorry I'm a lame blogger now :-/, help me out. :-)

Vintage fun.

2007-10-29T23:24:00.000-05:00

I won this item on eBay.

That is all.

Finding a church

2007-10-28T00:46:00.000-05:00

So I found a church! I was sold when I found out they have a really unique, fun young adults ministry called "Spouse Hunt".

Just kidding, still looking for a church. While google-map searching my area for churches, I found out some interesting things about how I go about finding a church.

1. It's gotta have a cool name. "Countryside", "Touch of love", "St. Anne" are examples of phrases that ruled out any possibility of a visit.

2. Pictures of white people. If the website has a picture of a 15 year old girl with plain hair, overalls, a t-shirt with a large print picture of horses, flowers, or some combination of the two
on it, those white shoes you buy at Kmart, politely smiling while standing next to a stream, I'm not going to that church. Also, I'm looking for at least a few pictures of minorities on the website. Because if you go to a church where you are THE only minority, one of a few things can happen: People don't talk to you because you're a minority, people don't talk to you because they don't want to single you out since you are a minority, or people talk to you because
you're a minority and they want to make an extra effort to greet you. Maybe this is me, but let's face it. If I'm the only minority there, there's also a whole lot more minorites that don't go to the church. They're not there for a reason, am I right? 3 billion people avoiding this church can't be wrong.

3. Female teaching pastors. I'm yet to find one who teaches the bible, and doesn't overemphasize emotion, or use compelling stories she gets from watching Lifetime. Rob Bell may or may not fit in this category- except the female part, or course- yeah.

4. Churches with "Presbyterian", "Baptist", "Methodist", "Lutheran", "Scientology" in the name. I got enough enemies, if I find myself in the wrong theological hood, I might get jacked.

5. Webpages where there are statements made in all capital letters, with more than one exclamation point: "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH JESUS!!!!!!" or "FOLLOW TOM CRUISE TO EMOTIONAL STABILITY!!!!". Yeeaeaahhhh... I'll pass.

6. If all this checks out I'll check the belief statement. Usually it's not too hard to find churches that get the major things right. Then I check the core values, to see what they're about.

7. I avoid Catholic churches. I like to party, and Catholics don't really like to party. Unless they're the Catholics that don't go to church, because those are the ones that party. So it's kind of a lost cause to try and go to Catholic mass, since I want to party. Kind of like how going to synagogue won't get me rich. JKJKJKJKJKJJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJKJK Just Kidding.

8. I need Jesus.

How to have awesome finances

2007-10-02T12:28:00.000-05:00

Step 1: Get out of credit card debt.
Step 2: go to http://firefinance.blogspot.com/
Step 3: Repeat.

That's probably my favorite blog. It talks about how to save/make/manage money. It also has these "free money" deals where you sign up for bank accounts and credit cards and get benefits. And those deals are great, so long as you don't use all the credit and fail to pay it off.

Remember - Money is a harsh and cruel master, but an excellent servant.
Parable of the Talents from Matthew

Notice that the faithful servants "put their money to work", as if the money was their servant- and that this was pleasing to God. DOOOO IT.

howling dogs

2007-09-28T03:01:00.000-05:00

After watching several howling dog videos on youtube, I want a dog that howls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55jl150OfwE

I want ^that dog, and I want to name it Chewbacca.

Weight Lifting

2007-09-18T00:32:00.000-05:00

Now that I am a personal trainer, I've decided to start keeping track of my record high 1 rep max's in weightlifting. I plan on keeping track of:

Power lifts: bench press, deadlift, squat

Olympic lifts: snatch, clean and jerk,

as well as: seated dip, military press, Incline Press, Decline press, and weighted chin-up.

Tonight (my first time doing snatch with more than 45#) I got 115 on the snatch. I also did a set of 3 pull ups with 45 pounds added. I got pretty pumped over that. I wonder what % of the people on earth could do a pull up +45 pounds. anyway... I look forward to seeing how much progress I can make, and how quickly.

Boring blog. Sorry.

Pride and Prejudice

2007-09-08T02:54:00.001-05:00

(Note to self: Begin Step 3)

I've been confronted on the issue of pride before. like- more than once. And it's really a pickle. When somebody tells you, "I think you're struggling with pride", it's tough to find the solution. Because all of the things that come to mind to reinforce your humility before God are- things to take pride in. Perhaps one solution would be to: stop doing anything that could possibly make you prideful. Make a concerted effort to value everyone more than yourself, and to worship God. And then to do as little as possible for selfish gain. <-- but this is a battle you could fight for 200 years and not be done. All the while, your purpose is... selfish. And your idol is humility. And your enemy is pride, so you would much rather embrace false-humility.

It's much more socially acceptable in Christian circles to be falsely-humble than it is to be honest-to-God-persevering... and that's a problem. I'm pretty sure that if Paul were living in our day, a HECKUVALOTTA Christians would 'lovingly' and 'gently' inform him of his pride problem(which really wasn't pride at all, but the outworking of complete faith in God(not that that's me, I'm still fairly prideful)).

So my solution is:
1. Stay humble before God in prayer. Ask Him for His guidance, His help, His forgiveness and grace.
2. Don't stop doing what God calls you to do. No matter what anyone says.
3. Blog about your opinions on Pride and Humility and Faith.

A lot of us see pride as an enemy. And, it is. But pride is a peon compared to satan, sin and death. And those are our enemies if we claim Christ. The Bible says:

(of satan)Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
(of sin)In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
(of death)Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
(and)Fight the good fight of faith.

The prideful person will read these and say, "Yeah! I can do it! YEEHAW!!"

The person with false humility will say, "I am nothing, I can do nothing. All I can do is worship Jesus. I am too sinful, too incapable, and too weak to do anything of value to God. It is only by grace, and not by works, that I get anywhere".

And it's the humble person who says, "I am nothing, I can do nothing apart from you. Although humble before You and Your word, I see that you have called me Your own. You have given me Your spirit. And in humility I seek not my own glory, but Yours, Lord, for you are worthy. I am only your servant, and I do only what you ask. However, I see you have asked much of me. So I will strive to do much. I believe that nothing can separate me from your love(Romans 8:38-39). I believe that there is no fear in love(1 John :18), so I will not be afraid. For it is your perfect love that compels me to follow when you say follow, and to go when you say go. You are the God who works all things out, and You will go before me and fight. You, the only possessor of efficacious grace, will give me that treasure in jars of clay. I humble myself, as I am, before you and you alone. And I will strive to be like Paul who struggled with all Your energy, which worked so powerfully within Him. And though the prideful and the falsely humble say no, I will dare to say yes. You are my strength and my shield. And I long to see Your glory revealed! Give 'em heaven! YEEHAW!!!"

Let's aim for true humility. Pride is bad, but false humility is also bad. And both of those look down on everyone but themselves. But true humility is about God, not about men. The question for me is: is my life about the things of God?

You can do nothing. But God can. And He will, if you'd just get over yourself and start moving. If your "humility" lessens the authority of God and the Holy Spirit in your life, it is not something of God. It is of the flesh, and it is of your desire to be looked upon favorably by men. And if you read Paul's writings, and He sounds prideful to you, that's probably a problem too.

I realize that I'm the "Peter" here. I jump out of the boat and God disciplines me. I claim strength and end up seeing weakness. But i firmly believe and hope that God can sharpen me as He sharpened Peter. If you're a Peter, do likewise, humbly.

But for the rest of you, look to Jesus. And in faith, take a step out of the boat. Don't let your false-humility be the limiting factor in what God will do in this world. Let's go, and let's see what an omnipotent God can do. YEEHAW!

This is why I'm hot.

2007-09-03T18:12:00.000-05:00

How I bought an Adidas backpack, $100 training shoes, 2 tank tops and flip-flops for my girlfriend, and 4 pairs of flip-flops for myself, all for less than the retail price of the shoes. Although this may not do much for many, this gets me very excited.

$290 - retail value of products
$18.00 - shipping
$3.83 - tax

$311.83 - how much someone should pay

**********************

Jon paid
$91.91 - clearance prices
$3.83 - tax
$18.00 - shipping
-$15.00 - coupon code (see slickdeals.net)
-$18.00 - free shipping for orders over $75 (order was $76.91)

$80.74
-4% cash back for using credit card online at finish line

net expense: $77.51

net savings: $234.32

so... $60 backpack + $100 shoes, + a whole lot more stuff < $80.

I saw this deal on http://www.slickdeals.net. Check it out for similar, although not always as awesome, deals.

People ask me, "Jon, why do you still use a hole-y backpack?" and "Jon, aren't you ever going to get new flip-flops?" And I just wait. Until I get such a fantabulisticmegarific deal like this and then I answer...

"This is why."
This is why...
This is why I'm hot.

Linsey doesn't admit it, but she thinks my thriftiness is a major turn-on.

New Horizons / rant

2007-08-29T22:51:00.001-05:00

Hi!

Yeah, it's me. I know... you've missed me.

To those of you who have been faithful blog-followers, sorry. I kind of left you guys hanging like Forrest Gump when he was done running. This may also be one of the last posts I make in a while, we'll see.

I'm doing personal training now, as well as coaching High School boys JV soccer. Although I've shied away from putting personal info on the web before, it's kind of a part of my business now, so I guess it's a necessary evil. Perhaps my self-image is a little distorted, but I'm still under the impression that there may be sex-offenders on the prowl looking for me. I guess I'll have to do my best to thwart their advances.

Here's a website I made regarding personal training:

http://TrainWithJon.blogspot.com

So now I'm coaching, working as an employee of a gym doing personal training, and personal training as a private contractor.

My transition out of the college world is going rather smoothly, although I should start looking for a church. I've honestly been a litle turned off from all things "Christian bubble" lately, and am sad to say that's even included church. I'm sorting things out while praying, listening to Ravi Zacharias, and reading "My Utmost for His Highest" on the john. God's love is still so clear and evident, and his patience and faithfulness as well. And I also hear Him telling me to shape up, and to move forward.

Things have been a little hectic, and I am learning and growing a lot through what I'm undertaking professionally. It's amazing how much God teaches you on the outside of the stained glass windows. Well, that's all for now. I'm moving outward, onward, and by God's grace- upward. Let me know if there's anything you want me to blog about.

I'm learning that the things I say can be taken the wrong way, can be misunderstood, and can hurt people. I guess they say the pen is mightier than the sword. Well I'm not trying to slice and dice anyone- unless it's overly affluent "evangelicals" who spend more money on DVD's than they do on the Lord's work, more money feeding their dogs than feeding starving children, more time worshiping fictitious TV characters than they do worshiping Jesus, and claim faith when they vote yet know nothing of what faith is, and nothing about the purpose of their Jesus who lived, died, and still lives and intercedes for them. Whoops.

Oh yeah, and also when I say that stuff, I realize that I'm almost just as guilty. I spent $600 on a new computer, even though the one I had was still functioning. It's helped me a lot so far, but I could have gotten by with the old one, and given more to missions. So am I giving all to my Lord? no. No, but I'm trying. I fall, and I get up. And that is where grace is important. Not for the spiritual couch potato who had a point-in-time response to the gospel. But to the Christ-like one equipped with the armor of God, filled with the Spirit, with knowledge of God's word, with a heart mind and soul ever conforming to the likeness of Christ- who fails. It is those weary, and those heavy laden who receive the Lord's rest and grace. Grace is of utmost importance. But we are not to forget the words: persevere, press on, take up a cross, follow, train, labor, serve, give, and die. The nation is in trouble when all the prophets say, "peace, peace". And we live in a country where the Christians are more concerned about saving unborn sinners than they are about saving the living ones.

Jesus left His glory in the heavens to become unborn, and then to be born as a human. He came down all this way to connect with us. He came so far so that he could get close enough to say, "follow me". And He took the totality of our sins and made them vanish, through his blood. Jesus paid it all. So now, in everything, in all aspects of life, with all that we are-

we must strive to be like this Jesus, for He has left His work with us, when He called us friends. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you have work to do. And there always is, and always will be: amazing grace.

Phew. Now that I got through that, I must say it feels pretty good. I might rant again real soon, actually.

I'm a creative man.

2007-05-22T20:04:00.000-05:00

Our society, the media, some churches, and lots of other people put forth an idea of manhood that I think is incomplete. Not every guy should grunt, fart, be greasy, and abusive towards the women in their life. I'm not saying we should be softies either. There's gotta be room for different men to live differently, yet not necessarily be more or less masculine. One thing that masculinity means to me is the ability to create something from nothing... or something great from something worthless. This is what captivated me the most about ceramics: that I can take mud from a big pile of mud, shape it, heat it, and create a vessel that was functional and attractive. Whether it's music, art, humor, or anyhting else, I value creativity.

While cleaning out my room I found two free catalogs that I received in the past. One from Taylor Guitars, and one from Black Diamond, a climbing gear company. They had awesome photography in them, so I decided to use about 3 hours of time cutting them up and taping/gluing cut outs onto paper. Below are the pictures... I intend to frame them and hang them up in my room,. I think they're hella tight.

Wanted! Danger in Harford Mall!

2007-05-20T21:55:00.000-05:00

Ok so if you didn't work at the Boardwalk Fun arcade in Harford Mall, this probably isn't funny. I made copies of this sign(which i found when cleaning my room) that I wanted to post around the arcade, as a passive-aggressive jab at my boss... who I can't describe, because I'm a Christian. JK... Joe was alright, we just absolutely didn't get along. So... yeah, that's about it. I'll copy the text below:

WANTED

name: unknown
Age: unknown
Whereabouts: unknown
Last seen wearing fashionable airwalk shoes

This man is considered unarmed, but very dangerous. He is known for impatiently waiting behind people at the change machines. If you see this man, keep at a distance. Then as soon as possible, report the sighting to www.Weinercam.com*. This is not a joke. If you are taking this poster down, then you are this man!! Report yourself to Weiner headquarters immeditately!

*Weiner Distributing was the name of "headquarters". Joe told me about a website where there was a live webcam feed of an arcade... and I remember distinctly that the site called itself weiner-cam. However I don't think it's online. You can, however, check out Weiner D's main site: http://www.weinerd.com/

-------------------------

Ahh... 4 years ago. To all my fellow past-employees, hope you're doing great and making more than $5.40/hr with free break time behind the drum machine.

Stuying Philippians

2007-05-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

http://tiger.towson.edu/~dmitch3/TermProject/index.html

this is my somewhat lame, somewhat useful computer science project i did with Dave Mitchell. It's a tool to help you study the Bible. Enjoy!

Asian hilarious video

2007-04-13T01:17:00.000-05:00

Asian people like to work together. They like to be a part of something bigger, unlike our culture which is very much individualistic. You could never get a bunch of American guys to do this. However, Asian people, well... they made this video.

I watched/blogged about this at 2:20am, so if you don't find it funny, I'm sorry. I laughed out loud a lot and now my face hurts.

This must be Love

2007-04-10T21:30:00.000-05:00

Me - "This must be Love"

This is a song that I wrote a while ago... although I always felt it was too short, and needed something else. Well, I guess I'm ok with it, and so here it is. It's about faith in the dry times, when your feelings don't point you to faith. But having that faith, in a faithful God, who will always come through.

Thinking about Jesus? Check out MarsHillChurch.org and listen to their Easter Sermon by Mark Driscoll.

The adventures of Sam.

2007-04-08T14:57:00.000-05:00

I'm about to tell you a story, a true story, about Sam. I hope you enjoy it.

Sam Sung was feeling tense and claustrophobic in the pocket of his owner, who was laboring away in the garage. He felt relieved when his owner took him out and let him recline on the hood of a beautiful 1995 Toyota Camry. He felt at ease, comfortable, and free to ring and be heard.

Well the owner soon went inside and Sam began to feel nervous. Until he saw the owner come back... and then he was terrified. He had the keys in his hand! Sam kept thinking to himself, 'there's no way he could forget me... after all I've done for him...' However, he was forgotten. And Sam soon embarked on the most daring, nerve-wracking, painful experience of his electronic life. He clung on tight as the car reversed out of the driveway. He managed to hold on as the car spun and jetted of in first gear. He hung on through a right turn and held on tight for a 60 yard straightaway, until the car quickly decellerated at a stop sign. Sam flew onto the asphalt and tumbled.

The details of the story get shady here, but sometime in the next half hour, Sam was run over by a car at least once. See the picture above for the dents. The pain quickly subsided as the battery was disconnected.

Some time after, Sam awoke in great pain. His owner told him that his battery and battery cover were found in the middle of the road, while he was found on the side of the road, flipped open, face down. Many of his keys were jammed, stuck, or sticking out, but his loving owner told Sam that he'd be alright. The owner used his strong but gentle hands and nursed Sam back to health. The owner and Sam leaped for joy when they discovered that Sam would be just fine.

Well my friends, I am that owner. And Sam Sung is my phone. And it survived getting run over by a car. Sam... I salute you.

Satisfaction - > good relationships

2007-03-29T11:10:00.000-05:00

Satisfaction. For a lot of people this seems like an unreachable end. I recently had a thought: that a person's 'ability to be satisfied' is a great measure of how they'll do in relationships.

Let's talk about men first. Men are frontier adventurers, hard workers, builders, leaders, managers. And with this, there's a lot of room for dissatisfaction. We can become obsessed about things, to the extent that they overpower us. A complaint women have about men is that they don't give themselves to their wives... they don't share their lives. Often we're too busy thinking about the next dollar we'll make, the problems at work, investments, etc. And that stuff is all good, and should be thought about... but are we ever satisfied? Can we just lean back and say, "amongst this chaos and stress, I'm doing ok. I'm fortunate to be where I am, and I am well. I can have some peace, rest, and enjoy what I have: what my hands have made, or what has been given to me".

I'm not saying that men should be passive slackers who do nothing but smoke the joints they're thankful for. But in all our pursuit of happiness let's not fail to be happy. And every once in a while let's pause from being students, artisans, managers, laborers, warriors... and enjoy the God-given delight of being fathers, husbands, and men.

OK, now for the Ladies. Many cunning, sly women have become very good at getting their way. Through persuasion they manipulate people to accommodate their needs. And when they don't get their way they let you know about it. But here's the thing: when you're the center of your own universe, you never find satisfaction. I don't know about other guys, but I'd hate being in a relationship with such a person. One of the things that I want to avoid at all costs is being married to a woman who nags and complains and brings me grief. I'd seriously go nuts.

Are you ladies able to stop stressing about the valid stresses you have in your life? Do you have control over your emotions and attitude? No one's life is perfect, but are you able to accept what you have and have a positive loving attitude? Amongst the pain and heartache, are you able to encourage others, care for them, and be a life-giver? Or maybe we need to back up a bit and remind you that life isn't about you. I don't know Britney Spears' heart... but from her actions it looks like she's convinced that life is all about her. She has the means to do all that you other selfish girls want so badly. Partying, marriage, fame, beauty, having kids, and everything that her heart desires. She's living like solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. And just like Him I think she's dissatisfied... sometimes we need to stop and access. Girls, think of what it is right now that you want the most- what you long for and look for. Will it satisfy you in the way that you think it will? Or are you building up false hopes, while missing the mark?

Men don't marry you in order to make your every wish come true. They want you because you're beautiful, you bring them joy, and because they want to enjoy life with you. OK, and maybe they want to give you stuff and romance you... but if you think that your man should satisfy your every need, and if you try to make that happen, you will suck the life out of that man until he wants to die. I have a picture in my head of Samson in heaven, singing, "if you want to be happy for the rest of your life..."(The problem isn't beauty, it's selfishness. Many pretty girls, through praise from others and lifelong attention, get the idea reinforced over and over again that it's ok to be selfish. "Marry not these", says Yoda.)

So here's the long and short of it. If men can find satisfaction, maybe then they'll be freed up to give themselves to their women in the true partnership they desire. And if women can find satisfaction, maybe then they'll be the pleasant, gentle, kindhearted women their men want to come home to after a stressful day.

Satisfaction is not about how much you have, how much you gain or lose. It's an attitude, it's a choice. And I believe that it's a choice that's a lot easier if you first come to grips with the fact that God loves you, and then begin to walk in that love. I truly think that contentment and healthy relationships are gifts from God... because in all the trying, persevering, and struggling we do towards these things, I think it's something we can't earn... it's grace.

***********

Phew, I could make this a whole lot longer, as I have tons more to say, and a lot more I feel I should explain. If you have questions/comments, just leave a comment... I could write more later.

Credit Card?

2007-03-28T02:37:00.000-05:00

Yeah. It's 3:30 in the morning and I just made an impulse buy. I bought this sweet tee.

...as well as 1 2 3 4 awesome posters from Randomshirts.com, a site clearly run by Christian people. Proceeds from my shirt go to supporting kids through compassion international :-). Yeah... free shipping on cool stuff with reasonable prices until March 31st... act soon.

But if you buy the eve shirt, and we mingle in the same circles... I will fight you.

Spring is in the air

2007-03-14T10:14:00.000-05:00

So here's the forecast for this coming Monday in Panama City Beach, Florida. I'll be there.

The winter would be awesome if it lasted one month. That's just what I think... it seems to drag frigidly onward... for far too long. Well I think it's safe to say that winter is over, and now it's spring. Therefore, I will list below several things that I like about Spring:

1. Wearing shorts so I can flaunt my calf muscles
2. Wearing shorts so I can feel a cooling breeze... in my pants.
3. Cheaper heating bills.
4. Being able to read outside.
5. Seeing squirrels continue in their battle to overwhelm the campus like they were the 11th plague.
6. Soccer.
7. Lacrosse.
8. Being able to walk/live without tensing up my entire back in order to stay warm.
9. Not getting hit in the face by snowballs from seemingly innocent girls.
10. Not having to carry a jacket around.
11. Seeing trees with leaves on them.
12. Not being sick
13. Knowing that I got through another winter with my $6.00 jacket that I bought like 3 years ago.
14. Sleeping in my undies
15. living with the fear of the imminent death, conjured by Al Gore, that is: global warming.
16. Being an Asian person that tans really well. This is crucial because now I won't look green under florescent light.

That is all. Feel free to comment with reasons why you like Spring. Or you can comment on how you think heterosexual men shouldn't have posts like this.

Theology... for ME?!?

2007-03-11T14:06:00.000-05:00

Theology - I'd define it as knowledge of God, and His interaction with the universe. That's probably a terrible definition, but hey, that's what I got. If you don't like it... well... go check out http://marshillchurch.org or something.

So how does theology relate to you?? Well, I believe it's of utmost importance for everyone, since we will all one day be judged by God, and because that judgement is between heaven and hell. And since theology is so crucially important, our goal should be to seek the rights actions and right character that stem from knowing God as He is. And that's pretty much all I have to say.

But I want to make that point within our culture, and point out how messed up things are. We live in an economy based on capitalism... based on choice. We're selfish and we want what we like. We choose what is best for us and our ambitions. Unfortunately, this attitude and mindset flows over into Christianity. But the truth is that we are not consumers of anything when it comes to God.

We are children receiving instruction. We are soldiers taking orders. We are sheep needing direction. We are lost and we need directions. With travel more available, and people becoming more wealthy, I'm assuming that there are more churches available to us than ever. And it gives us the ability to choose which church we attend. We choose which sermons we listen to, and even what portions of our bibles we read.

It's no mystery why people choose Joel Osteen over Jonathan Edwards' sinners in the hands of an angry God. People like good news, and they dislike bad news. People like the idea of a God who is loving and gives blessings, and we dislike the idea of a God who judges, brings forth wrath, and lives for His glory alone. But we cannot bring our consumer mindset into this realm, because there is one God, and He is who He is. He does not change like shifting shadows, He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. And yet people constantly and consistently chase these stupid Christian fads which emphasize anything besides God's glory, the Bible, or the Church being the Church. All because they'd rather make their own imaginary fairy tale god and call him Jesus. Or they contort the God who is into something that drastically misses the mark.

God is God. And our highest goal is not to paint the picture we think He should look like. We are to look to Him, and the Bible He gave us in order to see Him as He truly is. And we should do it humbly, and with fear, knowing that our eternities rest in His hands alone.

So if you're reading books or listening to sermons or attending a church which have the end goal of a happy and fulfilling life, turn that crap off. God's been doing big things for thousands of years through His people. Your 80some odd years are a speck compared to what He's up to. Get your head in the game, and get on board.

I <3 Jesus & Alcohol

2007-03-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

OK, so I used to drink a lot, which was a ridiculous amount of fun, and also came with depression, slothiness, sadness... and wasting my life and money.

Now, I'll drink a little. And it's fun. Drinking makes me feel good, and it does the same for others, which leads to laughter, socializing, and fun. Alcohol, when used in moderation leads to fun. And I don't think it's by mistake that God made alcohol. I don't think it was a mistake when Jesus gave a hundred gallons of wine to people at a wedding party who already were drinking a lot.

I'd venture to say that alcohol is a blessing, and like all good things, too much of it becomes a bad thing. And to the people who are saying in their minds, 'HERESY!', abstaining entirely from alcohol isn't a Christian thing at all, it's an 'American Christian' thing. We look at drinking like it's a bad, terrible heathen thing. And I think it is, because some decades ago, Christians stopped drinking. People who binge drink lack self control... and where does that come from? love, joy, peace, patience... people don't need less alcohol, they need more God. And perhaps uptight Christian-bubblified Christians need more alcohol.

When I'm retired, I have an ambition to open a small bar/pub and be a bartender. It'll be like Cheers. No yelling, no dancing, no tomfoolery, just people being people, enjoying their God-given alcohol, and getting wise advice from the sage bartender that will be moi. And I'd hire some young strong stud like John Eubank to regulate the ridiculousness, and it'd be cool. Everybody'd know you're name, and it'd be a place where you could just let go, and relax. You could leave the worries of your world at the door, and just enjoy your time there. Call me crazy, but I think that bar just might be a wellspring of life, even spiritual life. Let me know if you want to invest :-P.

At this point, I'm going to stop blogging about things where no one agrees with me.

catfish are disgusting.

2007-03-03T12:13:00.001-05:00

Would you eat this?

http://www.carpandcatbussters.com/gallery/catfish-200lb-plus/2019_G

laser'd

2007-03-01T01:51:00.000-05:00

So let me blog real quick about this idea I have. It'll require about 10 dudes, armed with 10 laser pointers... and possibly camo/black clothing. OK, so by our university union there is a pathway that goes through the woods. Around 11pm, when people are scarce, we'll hide in the woods on both sides of the trail with laser pointers. When a lone traveler is in the middle of the trail, we all aim the laser pointers at this guy's chest/head at the same time. Having some gun-cocking sounds would be sweet for effect. Someone can yell out, "Hands where we can see them!"

It's at this point where we shine a flood light in his face, and someone barks out, "It's the wrong guy... ok, you can move along, sir."

And perhaps we can get this on film. Brilliant idea? I think so. lawsuit? jail time? meh... you only live once... eternally.

My dating life and what it has to do with grace

2007-02-26T01:43:00.000-05:00

God saves people by grace, and he shows mankind that we are in need of grace.

And He's doing that for me, in... probably the biggest felt need in my life- which is the area of dating and relationships. It's just the area where I feel the strongest urges, desires... and it is the home of my greatest hopes as well as fears. I'd love to say my highest desire is for the gospel to reach the corners of the earth through the discipleship of God's people towards a heart for evangelism and further discipleship... but then I'd be lying. I like girls. So from square one, was my desire to wait on God in quietness and obedience? Nah... I was going to work, persevere, grow, learn, and figure out for myself how this all works.

I'm going to try and make a long story short here. I learned a lot about girls in high school. A little bit about how they tick... what makes them happy, what turns them off, etc. Well... I got my first real relationship, and it was actually with an awesome Christian girl. Well, I fostered in her a love for me above her love for God, and then I just shattered her heart. And at the time I didn't even know it. But once I got my act together, I looked back on that relationship, and a few others that followed, with disgust and shame. And I made up my mind that I'd learn, I'd grow, and I'd get it right.

So then there was another girl. At this point, I was convinced that I was the man. I'd make this work, due to all the new stuff I'd learned about biblical relationships and manhood. I eventually looked back at those mistakes, blunders, and the overall foolishness with disgust. Wow I was an idiot. I'm not messing up like that again.

Then there was another. Wow I blew that one. It took me over a year to realize the idiot I had been. Before that I was too busy talking about how weird and ridiculous she was when it was really me, being a spiritual preteen buttwipe.

Alright. No dating. Get my ducks in a row. OK. I'm in serious ministry now, and I've heard dozens of sermons, dozens of times, about relationships. I'm becoming a man of God. I'm humble, too... seriously. And wow this girl is awesome. We're dating. This is going well. She's growing, I'm growing... awesome. Then POW! It was like a boxing glove that read "YOU'RE AN IDIOT" knocked me out cold. Don't ask me how long it took to get up. And I learned from those mistakes, and holy crap there were a lot. And I'm still growing. And I've come so far, by the grace of God.

And here I go again. Feeling those same euphoric feelings. Looking in the eyes of a girl who loves the Lord, and knowing that she's looking back at a man who loves Him too. Finding myself thinking, "60 more years with her... I could handle that..." Yet there's this shadow from the past of all the pain that's followed after these thoughts and feelings... not to mention the awkwardness. And I see now something new. That I'm still trying to earn myself an amazing relationship. When all along God was trying to bless me with that. So I'm walking humbly... hoping for the best, preparing for the worst, and totally enjoying the ride. And I don't know what God has planned, but I walk in faith, trying to let my actions be actions that glorify God. But I'm realizing, in the realest way... that the sum of my works will amount to nothing... and that I am in need of grace. In the area of dating, in life, and in eternity.

And in this area of dating, I still have sin in my heart because I still want my will more than God's. Since high school I've been pulling strings with the best intentions... and ending up breaking hearts, confusing myself and others, and just getting offtrack in my walk with the Lord. And metaphorically I have to stop this crap with pulling strings and lift my hands to heaven and cry out, "HELP!" But I'm struggling to do that. I... we all... are in desperate need for the compassionate, unmerited, grace of God. And that is something the humble find... not those who try to earn blessings. And that's not to say that all my efforts were in vain... because God has taught me so much through all of that. But I'm seeing that it's God's grace that has led me here thus far, and it's grace that'll lead me home.

And lastly I'm just thankful for a totally sweet girl, who has her head on straight and loves the Lord, who doesn't mind spending time with a clown like me.

coolest gift ever

2007-02-22T02:23:00.000-05:00

OK, so I have a webcam now. I may or may not become a youtube junkie.

and since that's a short blog, here's randomness:

I used to think Asian people didn't go to my school. Then I went to the library.

We get all confused talking about religion when we take the focus off of God and we put it on ourselves. We want something more, something deeper, yet we insist that it's all about us. We're our own worst enemies.

My blog got 650 hits in 1 month! That's more than 20 hits a day!

I think I may be in the best physical condition of my life.

And if you haven't heard, I have a girlfriend. She's pretty awesome. She got me the webcam :-D.

Jesus: the conservative

2007-02-16T17:09:00.000-05:00

And now for the other side of the coin- kinda. Would Jesus be pro-life? yes. Would he be pleased by gay marriages? no. But... would he even vote?

The problem isn't "How would Jesus vote?" because I'm not sure if He even would. He says, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's". Jesus never forgot that His kingdom was the Kingdom of Heaven. OK, so maybe Jesus would vote. And I'd say there's a 75% chance he'd vote republican. But that's not the point. The point is that there is SO MUCH MORE TO LIFE THAN POLITICS. We take very seriously the idea of voting how God would want us to vote, yet we give ourselves such lenience and "grace" when we fail to live the life that we're called to.

*Sidenote* We Christians love grace. It's like free life insurance. We have no clue what it means to take up a cross daily and follow Jesus, but we could expound with great fervor the doctrine of eternal security. At the heart of Christ's message and purpose is self sacrifice that others may be blessed... yet we're all about the baby food, and not the solid meat. And we are still... so disgustingly- selfish. Grace is too amazing to be just for you. *sidenote*

I am certain that God is more concerned about His Kingdom than the United States. And if we feel the same way, that doesn't necessarily mean our political stances should change... but there should be more. And some things should be different.

Hold on while I take a deep breath. Phew... ok here we go. Homoesexuals and other alternative lifestyles. It seems like there's more gay people nowadays, and many would argue it's because we live in a gay-friendly society, so people choose to become gay... which is just ridiculous. I believe there are some that actually do "choose" to be gay. However they are the minority. The rest are souls that are brave enough to come out of the closet and face the wrath, prejudice, and hatred directed towards them by a "Christian" culture. And let's say all the republican agendas in this area are successful. Are we going to have less gay people? barely. We'll just have more being shoved back into the closet. But we'd rather have people suffering so that we can be comfortable in our homophobia, right? You see, the problem isn't that there are homosexuals putting on parades and hosting all the shows on HGTV. The problem with this world is not that it is filled with sinners... all 6.2 billion of us. The problem is that so many sinners are not rightly related to God because they haven't heard the gospel, or seen the gospel in people's lives.

And you might say that stopping gay rights will make our culture less sinful... but that's like putting an air freshener on the back of a manure truck. Really all those people want is- comfort in their homophobia. We need a heart check. And we need a wakeup call.

There are bigger travesties and tragedies in this world than the fact that our culture is becoming more liberal. The greatest problem I can think of is this: That so many people don't know that the God of all the universe loves and longs to be in relationship with them so much that He even sent His only son to die on our behalf, in order to cleanse us from our sins. And just as His son Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He offers us full, abundant, joyful, -and even eternal- life... the life that all 6.2 billion of us want. And sometimes that satisfying life seems just inches away... like when you get out of school, or when you get married, or when you get a raise... but it's not close at all. The chasm between the lives we live and the lives we were made for is as wide as the gap between heaven and hell. And the best news you'll ever hear is that God is willing to bridge that gap for you. And the only way that can happen is through the person of Jesus Christ.

**Sorry if you're offended by my blogging. I must say it feels great to get this all off my chest though. Until next time, live abundant life.**

Jesus is more liberal than we think

2007-02-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

*Sorry this is so long, I can't really shorten it.*

First let me say that I don't know everything. And that's it's easier to say what's wrong than what's right. But I see some things that are wrong in our picture of Christianity. It's like the back of that kid's magazine, highlights, where you have this sweet picture with things that just don't fit.

So many of our efforts are to get our God into a box. It's great to understand who you love and serve, but it's another to try to limit Him. Let's hold firm to the commands of our Lord, but let's not add or take away from what He said. And let's take seriously when He says, in Matthew 7, to take the plank out of your own eye before you help your brother with his splinter. Let's heed the word of Paul when he tells us about interacting with others in Romans 14... that certain Christians will do different things, but they do them unto the Lord.

We have this warped picture of the church, or Christianity, and it's like THAT is our goal. And THAT is what we're building. All the while, our world is dying without the love of God, because we fail to be His ambassadors. And here's the worst part:

Those who step out in faith to serve the living God, and who hear from God and move forward in obediance... they are bombarded by "rebuke" or the "wise counsel" of Christians who are unwilling to see and hear from God as He is.

And we forget that God loves people, and he's about rescuing people. And that He pursues the lost recklessly and bravely, and courageously, driven by a love that defies logic. Are we intimately related with God to the point that we agree with Him? Do we recognize the God who leaves the 99 to save the 1 as our God? Or what about the dying saviour who grants eternal life to the dying theif? Or what about the Jesus who amongst all the men of a village, who seek to stone a whore... shows mercy to someone who is desparately lost? Our Lord stood against the political and religious majority of His day, in order to save the vilest of sinners. Think about it... is THAT the God you love and serve? Or is your God more concerned about you personally? Don't forget that it's by grace that you were saved, and it's that same grace that God wants to flow through you into others.

But we still don't get it... and we think that our service to God is voting republican, homeschooling our kids, and staying as far away from this world as possible. And then somewhere we created the dogma that people who kill themselves all go to Hell... so we're left with this mass of people, wanting nothing more than to kill themselves and get to heaven, but they can't do that. And one last thing: all of the evangelical political agendas have nothing to do with the glory of God, but meerly the comfort of Christians, at the expense of others. Is abortion wrong? I'd say yes. But the bible doesn't talk much about picket signs and bumper stickers either. If you hate your neighbor you hate God, and if God loves you, the world will know it because you'll love them. And it's not this Jon that said that, it's the First John. And we wonder why people aren't attracted to the abundant life of forgiveness and mercy and love that is Christianity? It's because we're trying to turn Christiniaty into Amish...ness... Amishness.

*throw all the vegetables you want.*

It is no mistake that Christ hasn't returned yet, and it's no mistake that we are here in a world that disagrees with God and the Bible. God has GIVEN us darkness that we might be of use to Him as light- and He says that we are light- even the light of the world. He has PLACED us where we are as His ambassadors. Ambassadors don't stay at home in comfort, they go in obediance, representing their master.

It might hurt to hear the reason why America's culture is going downhill. It's not because we don't have enough elderly conservatives voting... it's because our nation has failed to instruct our younger generations in wisdom. And we have failed to listen to what God is asking of us as individuals, and have traded a narrow path in exchange for an easier, streamlined path. We sit on our butts in churches full of people who look like great people, and we think we're alright. And we point fingers at the darkness for not letting us be light, as if the darkness has any control over the light. And we believe, subconsciously, that Jesus was lying when He said that He has overcome the world. And we say, it is not my part in God's story to be courageous... how could I? I am surrounded by the troubles of this world.

I'm not crazy, and I don't even know if I'm a liberal... but I believe in God. And I know that He has the power to complete what He asks me to do. So my reaction to God is to trust and obey Him. {sarcasm}Even if it's as extreme and taboo as loving a sinner. {/sarcasm}

A week without bloggging

2007-02-12T00:39:00.000-05:00

AHHHHH!!!

Sorry it's been so long... so foolish of me... living real life. Pssh.

OK, I don't have much to blog about now... mainly because I don't blog about my personal life. There's great stuff, ridiculous stuff, frustrating stuff, RI-FRICKEN-DICULOUS stuff, hopeful stuff, and other stuff. But yeah, nothing to blog about- oh wait.

Socks. Matching socks in the winter is an exercise in futility. It is vanity, it is monotony, it is a waste of your very vitality. Just wear the first two socks you grab in the drawer. Your feet won't be offended. Not that big of a deal. People are dying of cancer, hunger, and genocide. Let's not get hung up on the dumb red stripe that goes across the top of your toe.

"Blessed are those with mitchmatched socks, for they will walk with winners."
-Matthew 5, verse 3.1415927

Climbing past temptation

2007-02-05T23:19:00.000-05:00

So today I went climbing(bouldering), and then I read a page from "My Utmost for His Highest". So naturally, this post will be about both of those things.

OK, so on a climbing wall there will be a bunch of holds, and specific colored tape on holds, mapping out a route. Some are easier, some are more difficult. Well, there was a climb tonight that I tried about 7 times, and never made it to the top. For some people, they'd get discouraged and quit. But for others, we love that feeling, almost in a twisted way. We thrive at that point of failure, of trial. We love to persevere, and focus, and overcome. And I can't wait to get back, once my muscles recover, and give it another shot. The truth is that there are people who live their lives down the path of least resistance, and prefer comfort, and -dare I say- mediocrity. And then there are champions. Warriors. Fighters. And they are not who they are because they never fail... but they get up, and never stay down.

-Topic change-

The page I read in My Utmost was about temptations. How they are part of life, and part of God's plan for us. Old Oswald almost had the attitude that we should enjoy temptations... realizing that God wants us to have them. And I was like... muuhhh??!?! And then, it clicked.

God doesn't want Christians to be the team that gets 5 bye weeks and ends up in the Super Bowl. He wants to put us in situations where there may be failure, as well as victory. And He wants us to be victorious, through Christ. In fact, we are more than conquerers. And it's not that we are winners... we are on the Lord's side, and He Himself goes before us and fights for us. And there is nothing, nothing, nothing that can seperate us from Christ... and Christ is a champion.

Being like Jesus isn't just being friendly, loving, and compassionate. It's being a champion, and understanding temptation- not as an opportunity to fail, but to be victorious. I'm not saying it's easy... but I think it'll be easier when we stop looking at temptation as a precursor to failure, but as a fight where victory is attainable.

----------------------

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

-Teddy Roosevelt

How an idiot blogs...

2007-02-02T03:03:00.000-05:00

Yeah... so every once in a while I'll write out a full blog and just not publish it. Because it's very clear to me that I'm an idiot. And when I'm talking about things like Jesus, and God, and salvation... I'm going to mess up one way or another. Or if I'm just talking about random, dumb stuff... or my firm opinions that may or may not be completely wrong... I just know that I've got a lot to learn.

But on the other hand, I've got a lot to give. I've learned a lot, wisened up a bit through mistakes, and learning. And I want to be able to help other people. And I want to be able to communicate truth and good news. I really just want to have everything figured out... but yeah, I don't think that's happening any time soon. I look back on some of my blogs and realize how wrong or stupid I sounded. But it's cool. Maybe in some crazy way, people will see Jesus in my blog. Not just that he brings joy, strength, confidence, peace, and wisdom... but He's patient. And He chooses to be faithful to me, even in my stupidity.

until next time,

anidiotAZNPRAIZNanAwesomeGod.

College tips from a seasoned veteran

2007-01-29T01:08:00.000-05:00

In about 9 hours I'll have my first class of my (hopefully) last semester at TU. As an senior, I think it would be good to pass on some wisdom to the younger fellows. So here are my tips on how to start a semester on the right foot.

1. Study the syllabus. In many of my classes, I've spent more time looking at the syllabus than at the textbook. Understand, and then make a gameplan towards passing the class by the skin of your teeth. Homework is worth 10% of your grade? Well if you're aiming for a 90%, that HW is really... worth nothing. Think about it...

2. Make a good impression on your profs. They'll probably only see you about 12 times all semeseter, so make those few occasions count. When you actually go to class, they should see you and be pleasantly suprised. This has taken me awhile to master, but I think I've gotten it down to an art.

3. Ask questions. Just ask. Don't sit there wondering if the prof's gonna answer it later, just ask.
A: This will help accomplish goal number 2.
B: You'll understand what you're learning.

4. Don't sit around blockheads. If it's a smaller class, seat location is crucial. You generally want to be around people who go to class all the time, take good notes, and study way too hard. There is an inbalance in the universe when people study too hard. You must bring balance by missing class every once in a while, and having them fill you in.
A. This makes them feel useful, and appreciated.
B. This brings balance to the universe. Seriously... this is very important. Trust me. Think of me as Yoda. Just do it.

...so yeah, don't sit by blockheads who can never answer your questions, and have no idea what's going on. Also, you could possibly be disliked by association, as the professor will have negative feelings towards everyone in that particular room region. So instead of sitting with other mediocre students, like yourself, go sit by the goodie-goods and bring them down.

5. Steadfastly aim towards getting the C. College is for getting a degree. And... the golden C will earn you that degree. Spend the least amount of time possible doing schoolwork, because very soon... school will be something in your past. You have a high B? Nice work, take the week off! This makes college more exciting, and prepares you to deal with stressful situations, as well as failure. People who always made the honor roll kind of flip out when they fail their first class. As for me, I've failed 21 credits, but I'm flyin' high, no lie, you know this... ... BALLIN'! So yeah... live life on the edge. Always aim to be on top- of the bell curve, that is.

6. Lastly, procrastinate well. There are 2 crucial parts of procrastinating. How long to procrastinate, and how to procrastinate. The duration of procrastination is crucial. You want to pace yourself so you don't freak out and lose your mind because you don't have enough time, and you don't want to get done too early, because then you didn't get enough quality procrastinating time. Pace yourself.

How to Procrastinate. Do things that are not pointless. Instead of playing spider solitaire, play spider solitaire while listening to a sermon, or nuclear physics lecture... whatever you're into. Instead of talking on AIM, go hang out with somebody. And instead of playing dumb computer games like Dice Wars, do something that'll be of future benefit, like... training yourself to use finger puppets, practice a musical instrument(even whistling), knit, learn how to do oragami, exercise... something like that.

-------------

Well, that's my list. Take it for what it's worth... it's coming from a guy with a 2.4 GPA. Enjoy college, it's fun. If you aren't enjoying college... you should probably sort some things out before you get into the "real world"... or you'll end up like Milton from Office Space. So enjoy it, but at the same time, prepare socially, economically, physically, mentally, spiritually, and psychologically for the future. College is like LIFE 204... whereas life after college is like LIFE 451... meaning this is preparation and equipping time. So... be good at life. OK, friends. Happy painting, and God Bless.

The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

2007-01-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

I just stumbled across a video of Bob Ross' old show on Youtube. Despite his unfortunate passing in 1995, the man was amazing. Not only was he an expert at what he did, he was also very good at having a conversation with himself. So I listen to this guy talk about happy trees, little stones, and fluffy clouds as if they were people- and I think he might be a little crazy. But when I watch him paint, my jaw just drops. Because it's beautiful. Just Beautiful.

I know he's a person that traveled a lot, not to see stuff like the Eiffel tower or the leaning tower of Pisa... but nature. He spent 20 years with the Air Force(thanks Wikipedia). You watch this guy and you just see an excitement that you rarely see in someone. He is captivated by the breathtaking images that he's seen, and he does his best to recreate them. Maybe I'm weird, but I just love watching the guy paint.

The last thing I noticed is that he cheerfully says, "God Bless" at the end of his shows. Now I don't know if he's Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or none of the above... but I'm pretty sure that he believes in a creator God. Not because he did science experiments, or because he logically deduced it sitting in a circle of intellectuals... but because he's seen the beauty of God's creation. We're surrounded by buildings and roads in our suburbs and cities... and everywhere we look, we see what man has made. It's funny how the more society advances, the more we forget about God. God, however, is not mocked. And no matter how hard people try to diminish him with their thoughts and words, his love, severity, and other aspects of his character do not change. He's not just my God, He's THE God.

Well, it'd be sweet to go somewhere in which all I see is what God has created. Until I do that... I'll probably be watching Joy of Painting every now and then.

Hi, I'm Jon.

2007-01-24T23:14:00.000-05:00

OK, so this is my 146th post on my blog. Wow. Sidenote- blogger is a lot easier to use since it has been bought out by google, since google is amazing- end sidenote. Anyway, after hearing myself talk, and reading myself write...? ...it's become easier and easier for me to think that I'm right, or that I know everything. But the reality of things is that... I'm still pretty confused about a lot of things. And I am wrong, fairly often. However I still maintain that the Rock could beat Muhammed Ali in a street fight.

Yeah, so... as you read my blog, please don't think that I know everything or anything, or think that I think I know everything or anything, because there's a lot that I'm still figuring out. On the other hand... I do want to know everything. I want to have an intellectual grasp on life, what it's all about, and how to live. A fear of pride or arrogance is not a good excuse for being mediocre. ...So if you're reading this, you're probably either a human, or a well trained primate. And I really believe that you should be the best person, or monkey, that you can be. Don't just try... don't just want it... set goals, and live like there can be a better tomorrow. Life comes at you fast, and it flies. Know where you want to go- and get there.

Knowing is not enough,
we must apply.
Willing is not enough,
we must do.

-Bruce Lee

And on your journey, if you find yourself stuck in the same junk over and over... and dealing with situations that seem to keep repeating themselves, you might just find that living the life you truly want isn't possible. And at that point I hope you realize that you need a helper, a savior, and a shepherd. I can tell you this: if God is who he says he is... he is all that we should need. <-- but do I "know-know" that? Nahhh... but I'm getting closer. But do I believe it? Yes.

And it's very cool to look back on the past 4 years of my life and say that God is making me into a man of God. It's awesome to look back at your life and say, "This is providence. This is God making me more like Jesus. This is sanctification". And it's also cool to look forward and believe that 4 more years from now I'll look back and say the same thing. Let's believe that God has more for us than what we see right now. There's hope for us idiots... even me... and I believe that that hope is somewhere in here:

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c98a2yh309v8ay2mtp9cay823ntr9ay23mr9pcy23p9ryap98tya,p9btha9p
v3hjra,cp23m8hcp9283h4vm982ya35c,pa8m5pvyha2098c3hp83n4yca9
2,y34pvay8m239p85ya2,p938y4mpa9v25892p38ymp9a2385p,hkva,23
fgfgh6378sg643JesusChristTheSaviorOfTheWorld7ag09-a2y3rna-ymca
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Minimester is over

2007-01-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

Minimester is over. And I am now playing guitar and rejoicing that it is over. Umm... I redid a bunch of my purevolume songs, so check that out if you want. I've had a cold for about a week now, which has bugged me a lot. So I'm getting better, hence the desire to sing a lot.

I am also going to start making paper cranes. Like... maybe 1000 paper cranes. And... I am about to embark on an 18 credit semester during lacrosse season.

And I hope my last blog didn't come out as being judgemental. I usually like just about anybody... but that's not saying I want to take baths with you... that's reserved for my wife. And Joe Teng, Danny T, and Kelly Cap... when we play sailors.

Bands, Women, and making beautiful music

2007-01-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

Women are like bands. Musical bands, that is... not therapeutic exercise bands, or terry cloth sweat bands... bands. And women- are like- bands. Women are amazing in the fact that they can just make everything in your world stop. Just one joke, one smile, one conversation, one date, and all of a sudden you can't get her out of your head. It's like this new band that you've never heard of comes out with a song- a song that you really connect with. And it's a gooood song. So after hearing a few more songs off of the album, you decide: OK. This is my band. This is going to be my lady. And over time, things may change. Maybe the lead singer moves on, and all of a sudden their sound is different. Or they do like the beatles and start doing all kinds of drugs. And then you realize, this band isn't really my favorite anymore. I think I want to move on.

And you think, 'what was all that stuff just 1 year ago... that first album?' Because I swear, that was some good stuff. Well, there's a lot of bands that can release one decent album. And there's a lot of girls who can make good first impressions. But it makes you wonder... am I looking for what I should be looking for? Maybe the catchy melodies and thumping bass are fun... but I should be looking for something a little more meaningful. Maybe the makeup and the flirtation... sure, that makes me feel alive and exilerated, but maybe those are things that won't last forever. The music industry looks pretty bad at times... I don't hear a lot of BBMak any more. Not to mention Cake, Fuel, Tonic, and Right Said Fred :-P. There's just a lot of young bands looking for what's temporary. Money, fans, and popularity. It makes you wonder sometimes... isn't this supposed to be about the music? About art, creativity?

And there's a lot of girls out there trying their hardest to get fans. Bettering themselves on the outside, and neglecting the music. Music shouldn't be about making money or filling seats. It's about the expression of emotions and truths that are too rich for spoken word alone. There are songs that simply must be sung, songs that absolutely need to be heard. And then there's "Shake your moneymaker" and "Miss new booty". And what's popular, what's cool, and what everybody tries to be... is fake, and temporary, they're lies. And we got girls valuing their bodies over their souls, with all the effects and consequences following after. We're living for the moment and wondering how yesterday's tomorrow got so bad.

Well... I'm a loyal fan. And I'm looking for a band to adore. I'll be at every concert, and try my darndest to learn all the words. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to settle for a one hit wonder. Because there are bands out there that have "it". And I want an "it" girl. I don't want 98* or Ricky Martin. I want Led Zeppelin. Or Snoop Dogg. Or the Beastie Boys. Or Weezer, or Green Day, or Frank Sinatra. A band that knows that they're a band to make music. I want a woman who knows she's a woman because she's meant to make music. It's not about ticket sales or fame or awards. It's not about sex or a husband or attention. It's about tuning your heart to sing that grace. It's about that melodious sonnet of loudest praise. And wow, those bands are hard to find. Bands that won't compromise for this or that. Focus, drive, faith, and having enough toughness to stay gentle and lovely. Beauty. Grace. I'd buy front row seats.

So how can you tell the enduring bands from the one hit wonders? Well I don't really know. A lot of times they look the same at the start. Well, there's something interesting about the woman that I admire the most. She didn't get married until her mid 30's. She had more important things on her mind. Does the idea of waiting until my mid 30's make me happy? Nah. After awhile bands kind of lose their youthfulness, and flare. The fun, idealistic lyrics turn introspective and deeper. Certain physical areas start to fill out as some start to move south. The fanciful bright flames of a woman's heart turn to deeper burning, glowing embers. I envision this: how incredible would it be to share those exciting youthful years with the woman of my dreams? Mmm Mmm mmmm... no doubt that it would be Amazing. But I'll tell you one thing. If 4 years until marriage has to turn into 14... for the right kind of woman, it'd be worth it. My mother is an incredible woman. And when I'm my father's age, if I'm a man like my father- I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sleep soundly. And if I'm sharing my life with a woman like my mother, any amount of struggle or patience would be worth it.

Although it bugs me a little bit- the idea of finding that woman at 24, just to see that she's not about "settling down" just yet. Oh well. So often I have to remind myself what it's all about. It's about the music. I'd say that loving music is much more important than loving a band that understands that just the same. It's about loving the music. And I'll be looking around from time to time, but my one passion, my one purpose, isn't about to change. And as much as I deeply, deeply, long to be singing a duet, singing solo is just alright with me. Because

E'er since by faith I saw the light
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
And it shall be 'til I die

-There is a fountain
Hymn, 1772

------------------------------
We who were called to be Your people
Struggling sinners and thieves
Were lifted up from the ashes
And out came the song of the redeemed

The love we received through salvation
It fills your daughters and your sons

The sound of Your love
The sound of Your love
You've won Your children

-Leeland

Love Heroes: meh...

2007-01-20T00:27:00.000-05:00

OK... I'm bored with this... I think it'd be funnier as a comic strip- of five unlikely heroes with shortcomings and strengths. The 5 Love languages. I think this is tough, simply because I think that real love is a foreign language to us. And it's something that, just like any language, we have to hear before we can speak. Let's not dumb down love into 5 compartments of "things to do". Love is valuing others above yourself- and then acting.

First, I think we need to "hear" love. We need to experience it and know it. And that only comes from God, and maybe, from Christians. And we need to become fluent in it... to be able to grasp the depths of just how deep and wide is the love of Christ. You can only give as much as you've received... and if you think that you don't have a lot to offer, then you just don't understand how much you have been given.

And we love to focus on the idea of love. Let's all try to love our neighbors. Let's love as Christ loved us. But I think that's something that goes straight over our heads because we don't understand just how selfish we are. We are disgustingly selfish. In our world, and especially in our society. And I hate to say it, but somebody's gotta say it. We gotta stop being normal people who do good deeds... and truly try to be like Jesus. It was clear that He loved his father, and he loved this world. And he starved himself, kept himself from rest, allowed himself to be ridiculed, insulted, and murdered. Let's love the Father and His creation, and trust Him with our lives.
Let's be like Jesus.

Love Heroes: Action Sam

2007-01-18T11:15:00.000-05:00

Last time, the Gifter was ready to go to work on Mr. Touch's skull like she was osteoporosis. Then all of a sudden...

*SKKRKRrrrrrrrttttttt!!!*

The tires of the pickup truck squeel to a halt as a voice barks out, "Hey Ma'am, you need a ride to the mall, or something?"

The nervous pair of heroes glance down at the gift certificate, then glare back at each other.

"Yeeahh... that'd be great, actually."

The Gifter, still a little fumed, made her way around the car and got in. Action Sam starts to drive off, with a satisfied grin on his face. He always seems to know how to help people, and he's always willing to move forward in action. That's why his name is: Action Sam. His acts of service speak love and appreciation into the hearts of many. However, just like all of the love heroes, he has his weaknesses. The dude can't carry on a conversation to save his life. He feels that he's really helped his new passenger, and lifted her spirits... but... apparently she isn't feeling the love. In fact, when they get to the mall, she gets out, slams the door, and storms off in to the bath and body works odored sunset.

To be continued...

the Love Heroes: the Gifter

2007-01-17T16:06:00.000-05:00

...last blog, we saw that Mr. Touch was in grave danger of some MAce 2da FAce...

but "the Gifter" showed up just in time! She knew that offering a fruit basket to the lady was the perfect solution. Because nothing can make someone feel more awkward or instantly indebted to someone like a poorly timed gift. The Lady pulled her finger off the trigger and said thanks... holding a strange look to her face as she walked off into the distance.

Ahh, the gifter. Her keen ability to pick the perfect gift never ceases to amaze the rest of the team of heroes. She is so enthusiastic about giving gifts, she got the rest of the heroes gifts for Martin Luther King Day! She thought this was a great idea, especially right before her birthday... just in case anybody forgot.

"Thanks so much, the Gifter!" Mr. Touch continued, "Oh, and you're just the person I wanted to see. I know it's your birthday tomorrow, and I wanted to be the first to say Happy Birthday!" As he said this, he reached in his pocket and gave her a small envelope.

"Awww, thanks Mr. Touch!" She pries the envelope open to see a $20 gift certificate to bath and body works. "You are kidding me. Are you serious?!? You got ME- a gift certificate... for MY BIRTHDAY?!?!"

She cocks back her right hand, which quickly turns into a fist...

...with old man Mr. Touch quivering in his elastic pants...

What will happen next? Tune in tomorrow...

the Love Heroes: Mr. Touch

2007-01-16T17:06:00.000-05:00

OK. This is the first of a series of 5 blogs about superheros. Not just any superheros- love superheros. There is no downtrodden soul that the Love Heroes cannot heal with their fluancy in the 5 languages of love. I haven't taken the time to draw a picture of the fabulous fivesome, so I'll just find pictures to express the general idea of what these heroes will look like.

The first hero is Mr. Touch. He loves others using the love language of physical touch. His hugs, pats, and rubs are always kind and warm, and sometimes unwelcome. But that's ok, because he's a kind-hearted elderly man in a sweater. Although he is a horrible communicater and very unreliable... he has a keen sense of those around him who aren't "feelin' da love". That's where he chimes in with:

"Does someone need a hug?"

or, "You look tense, does someone need a backrub?"

or, "Ma'am, would it be strange it I told you that I would like to touch your face?"

She's reaching for her mace...

UH OH! It looks like Mr. Touch might be getting himself into a little bit of trouble! Perhaps one of the other Love Heroes will save the day?? Tune in next time...

byah...

2007-01-14T01:29:00.000-05:00

*This is in regard to my previous post*

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 4:29-5:2

BiblePwnt. I love myself, but sometimes I'm a real idiot.

BYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

2007-01-14T01:02:00.000-05:00

WOMEN ARE RIDICULOUS!!!!

...ok, I didn't say that.

But I'm now setting down a list, which God, if he's loving, will honor completely, since his purpose in life is to get me married and to allow me to have dozens of babies. Or maybe God's got bigger plans? Like the salvation of billions? I dunno... anyway...

The love of my life will:

1. Be brunette
2. Be really funny
3. Be blonde
4. Be really quiet
5. Always understand when I need to be left alone
6. Be between 5'3" and 5'3 1/4"
7. Cook me delicious food
8. Be half hispanic/quarter black/quarter middle eastern
9. follow the "if it's yellow, leave it mellow" rule
10. Be a redhead

Bachelor 'Til the Rapture!

BYYYAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

How to waste time on the computer

2007-01-13T03:40:00.000-05:00

1. Blog.
2. Read other people's blogs.
3. http://mofunzone.com/onlinegames.shtml
4. The stupid defend the castle game.
5. Price-comparison shopping at froogle.com
6. Listening to music on purevolume.com
7. Mostly... that website... because it has ridiculous games on it.
8. Or... being really bad at AIM conversations because I'm trying to...
9. Play Counterstrike: Source
10. or http://www.stepmania.com/
11. You might say YouTube, but I actually haven't been there in like 2 weeks. But if you do go there, search for "dancing dog", "ball groin", "www.candyrat.com", and "run dmc".

And there you go. All you ever needed in life.

Things you can kick me in the butt if I don't do

2007-01-11T02:39:00.000-05:00

1. I resolve to never again say the phrase: women are ridiculous. (or anything that expresses that same idea)
2. I resolve to never again say a "your mom" joke. ('That's what she said' is the next step...)
3. I resolve to never use the words "gay", "fag", "dyke", or any words like them as negative adjectives.
4. I resolve to never again look at any form of pornography. (Kick me in the face for this one...)
5. I resolve to try and sing everyday, to read my bible everyday, and to think about the gospel everyday. (these are more like goals than resolutions... but I will try.)
6. I resolve to be a man that lives with honor, constitution, and love. To be a man worthy of the title: "Christian".
7. I resolve to never perform the balltap, sack tap, grundle shark, crotch grab, heel to the balls, under hook, penis flick, or any such shannanigans, again.
8. I resolve to give Christ lordship in the area of dating.

God, help me.

 Lead on, O King eternal,
 the day of march has come;
 henceforth in fields of conquest
 thy tents shall be our home.
 Through days of preparation
 thy grace has made us strong;
 and now, O King eternal,
 we lift our battle song.

 Lead on, O King eternal,
 till sin's fierce war shall cease,
 and holiness shall whisper
 the sweet amen of peace.
 For not with swords loud clashing,
 nor roll of stirring drums;
 with deeds of love and mercy
 the heavenly kingdom comes.

 Lead on, O King eternal,
 we follow, not with fears,
 for gladness breaks like morning
 where'er thy face appears.
 Thy cross is lifted o'er us,
 we journey in its light;
 the crown awaits the conquest;
 lead on, O God of might.

Jesus, why do you say stuff like that?

2007-01-09T01:40:00.000-05:00

So a question I've always asked myself is why do the letters of the new testament get so much more attention than the gospels? And as I'm reading through Mark, I think I'm getting an idea as to why. Paul's letters talk a lot about God, and the gospel. Who God is and What God has done... and how we should react. He gives us warm encouragement and nice, fluffy ideas to wrap our heads around. Pray unceasingly... that's cool. Live quiet lives of purity... sweet. Armor of God... awesome. Devote yourselves to God in worship... mmmmm....

Whereas Jesus, well... he's a straight shooter. And to his audience, it quickly becomes clear that the Kingdom of Heaven is something incredible. And if we are to walk in line with the principles and morals of holiness... it will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible. It becomes clear that we fall short of what this man is asking of us. Jesus tells one of the greatest stories ever depicting unconditional, selfless love- and then says,

"Go and do likewise."

...are you serious? Well... the answer is yes. YES. Jesus says, "You wanna follow me? Well, if you want to follow after me, you must deny your own life from youself. Tell yourself that you have no rights. Put yourself on death row for MY sake, and follow me. Because if you're trying to save your life, you've already lost it. You know where life comes from? From me, and from my gospel. And if you are ashamed of me, and of my words... and turn to live in all this wickedness and sin, well... I'm gonna dis you... I'm gonna disown you- in the presence of the God that made you and you'll never know what it's like to know Him. But- ...I'm telling you the truth when I say that some of you, on this earth, are going to see that very God working miracles. Follow me."

-(that's Mark 8:34 - 9:1... the PraiznAznVersion...)

Jesus wasn't trying to fill seats in churches, or make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He didn't come to "encourage". - **side rant** The word encourage means to spur someone on to do something that takes faith, or guts, or determination. It is to urge someone onward to actions they may be fearful of doing. However, when we say encourage, so many times it just means "to make happy". That was encouraging. Thanks for that, I'm encouraged. Jesus' encouragement is less like a butt pat, and more like a butt kick. **end side rant** Jesus was about saving the world. And Christians aren't just the saved. They are messengers, ambassadors, and witnesses who must herald the beautiful message of the gospel to the corners of the globe.

And Jesus knew that this wasn't going to be easy for us. And if we are loved by God, and if we love Him, and if we want to please Him, and live for Him, and learn from Him, and enjoy His rest, and look to Him for strength... well we've gotta take His words seriously.
Becuase they are words that call us to the service of the King of Kings. Of course they wouldn't be easy.

So let's let our bibles read us. Let's let the Christ's teachings read us. Let's watch the word of God precisely display for us the seperation between soul and spirit. Let's realize the difference between our standard of living, and truly living by faith. And let's fill our minds with whatever is pure, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy of praise... and let's think on such things. And then let's obey- not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of the Living God. That's what's up.

Can you fit your body through the eye of a needle? God can. And He's doing it now if you let Him...

Cell Phone!!

2007-01-05T02:54:00.001-05:00

So, my new phone is charging. I will be a cell phone user when I wake up. The world as we know it is... indeed... nearing its end. Yeah, so let me know via facebook or email your number and service provider, and I'll give you my digits... if I know you.

My one complaint is that my phone lacks the little keychain loop for putting cool Asian trinkets. Nothing says, "I'M AWESOME" louder than a tiny plush Winnie the Pooh. But this will remain only a reverie... as my phone lacks the little swidget hole thing.

Anyway, it's free nights and weekends, so holla at ya boi.

The Stone of Faithfulness.

2007-01-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we have to take a step back in order to take a good look at the things that we assume to be normal, or customary. For instance, let's look at the act of getting engaged. When we think of engagement, our minds automatically relate engagement with- a diamond ring.

Diamonds represent firmness, purity, something concrete and unchanging... as a representation of one's love to another. However, with divorce rates way over 50%, it seems that the diamond ring doesn't always reflect true convictions or vows... perhaps only emotions. Here are a few reasons why I personally am not a fan of the diamond ring:

A. It's expensive. This conflicts drastically with the fact that I'm wisely selective in the areas of finance - AKA - CHEAP.
B. I think what the diamond represents has kind of been lost, and now it's only cliche'.
C. The materialistic idea that you can buy someone's affections.
D. The engagement is only a matter of months, while marriage, hopefully, will last decades. If anything, it makes more sense to me to have a diamond wedding ring...
E. ...but all in all, B,C, and D are just reasons I thought of to go along with reason A.

So you're asking, "Well, Jon, if you aren't going to buy a diamond ring when you want to propose to whoever... then what will you do?"

good question.

I will provide her with a Stone of Faithfulness. I will go to a creek or river bed nearby her place of residence, and pick up the largest boulder that I can carry (about 140 lbs, I've been practicing... JK), and carry it on foot for 2 miles, or however far it is, and drop it in her front yard- as if to say, 'I'm willing to get dirty, exhausted, and endure pain and hardship for you. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. And I love you with a love that perseveres through anything, with a love that is true. And I want to spend somewhere around another 137 years with you.'

That's what I'm talking about. Oh, and ladies... if you don't like the idea of the stone of faithfulness... you won't be getting one! kidding, kidding...

OK... this is pretty much a joke, kind of. I'll probably do things the traditional way. Although buying a ring is strictly a cultural thing, and in other cultures in the world, people propose in entirely different ways. I bet in some tribe, somewhere... they use the stone of faithfulness. If not... they should. Because it's awesome.

Cell phone

2007-01-02T01:32:00.000-05:00

Leave a comment about what brand of cell phone I should get, or what service provider. Because I'll be getting one shortly...

*edit*

Ok, so I bought a phone.
http://www4.letstalk.com/product/product.htm?prId=31723

I have verizon. I'll have my phone by the end of the week as it's being shipped. Email me your number and I'll reply with mine. jlimm1@gmail.com

Delicious Holiday Treats

2006-12-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

3 blogs in 3 days? We are banging on all cylinders here. Alright, well first off, Merry Christmas. I hope everyone finds their own way to let this holiday season be a glad one.

And now, I will list 10 foods... 5 of which I have eaten in the past few days, and 5 of which I have not eaten. So again, I did indeed eat 5 of these, and did not eat the other 5. Here they are:

Horse hoof soup
Pig stomach
Pickled pig fetus
Cow intestine
Fish eyes
Duck Tongue
Pureed Eel drink
Jellyfish
Squid tentacle
Tiger Penis

Yup. If you can guess in a comment which 5 I ate, I'll give you a sweet prize. Perhaps BBQ chicken feet? mmmm......

blog filter

2006-12-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

So I was reading over my blog, viewing the month-by-month archives on the right. And I noticed that I used to blog about a lot more stuff. If I thought something was interesting or funny, I'd just write about it. Those random inklings and thoughts still cross my mind, but for some reason they don't make it into my blog quite as often.

"I guess the winter makes you talk a little slower
makes you laugh a little lower..."
-Counting Crows

So, I think from now on I'm going to make an effort to let my blog be as free and laidback as it used to be. For starters:

Korean BBQ, Chinese Dim Sum, and Vietnamese noodles are the 3 most important food groups.

Superman is lame. It would take too long to explain why, so I'll just write that again. Superman is lame.

"Fist of Legend" and "Fearless" are the best martial arts movies... ever.

And lastly, facebook is beginning to become more important than real life. JK.

JustStopAndThink.com

2006-12-23T00:41:00.000-05:00

So I found a link to this website on my friend Carmen's facebook profile. Here's the link:

http://juststopandthink.com/movieextras.php

This website has a 15 minute movie on it, which I think is awesome. In my opinion, it's the best video of its kind.

So if you've got 15 minutes to stop, and think... give it a click.

I mean, I've watched it about 10 times in 2 days. Although, I probably only watch it because I want to be like that dude, when I'm his age. Being in great shape, surfing, and having an authoritative mustache adorn my face.

Let me know what you think of the video, and have a happy holiday.

WWJD? Hold on let's ask him...

2006-12-15T00:42:00.000-05:00

The puppet, that is. I don't know if you all know this about me, but I have moderate-to-decent skills with puppets. So I was thinking, how funny would it be if I carried a puppet around with me?

And then how much funnier would it be, if it was a Jesus puppet?

I would carry it around in my bookbag, and when there was any question as to who Jesus was, or what he said or did, I could just pull Him out. OK, this is all hypothetical, I know... but trust me, it's hilarious. Examples:

Someone stubs their toe, "Jesus Christ!!"
..."yes, my child?"

or...

Cute friend, "Hey Jon, want to get lunch at the glen with me and all the other hot girls that want to date you?"
Jesus, "Jon, if you eat of that food, you'll be hungry again. But if you eat me, you'll be full. Eat me."
Jon, "Jesus, stop this is embarassing."
Jesus, "EAT ME!!!!"
Jon, "You are being RIDICULOUS!"
Jesus, "All your dating experiences will end in awkwardness and failure!"
Jon, "Jesus?? but... .but... ... dang it."

Basically, the only reason I want the Jesus puppet is to throw it back in the faces of the WWJD bracelet wearers that I'm more spiritual than them. Take that, ye of little faith!

Actually... I just think it'd be hilarious. Or maybe this is just another one of my ideas which seem good at first, but serve only to prove that I am an idiot. Like that one time, I tried using the microwave to warm up my pet Hamster. RIP Chubby.

------------------------

"If your left hand causes you to sin, put a Jesus puppet on it. It's better to go to heaven with a graven image, than to go to hell, where there are no puppets."
-my left hand

Romance, Star Wars, and why I'm single.

2006-12-12T05:17:00.000-05:00

I have 2 exams within the next 7 hours... and I'm blogging.

And this blog... is about the womens. So... um, I'm pretty sure romance isn't all it's cracked up to be. And something as important as dating/finding a wife should be made on a basis other than "How do I feeeeeel about this person?", or counting on your fingers how many warm and fuzzy feelings you get per 5 minutes.

Women are tricky... and they'll rope you in like the tractor beam on the death star. The dude is thinking, 'Oh yeah, she's cool... we're just dating'. Then 3 years later, he's falling downhill into marriage... with a woman who's less cute, charming, kind, and skinny as she used to be... saying like Borat, "She is BORing!"... playing slowpitch and golf as much as possible in order to avoid the nag-machine.

Point: Basically, every woman can be equated with 1 or more machines made for chaos and destruction.

Like this one girl, she was like mustard gas. Things were cool, then everything got confusing, and disoriented, then she was gone. And then this other girl... well... she was the cold war. Lots of expectations on both sides... and... wow look at all the time we wasted. And there was definately a death star. I had to hide in storage compartments, then use the force a couple times in order to get away from her. Good thing I had Chewie, AKA Larry. JK... Larry's more like Obi Wan- just better looking, younger, and less of a pansy... kind of like a Obi Wan/Chewie/Han Solo hybrid. Oh, and the millenium falcon plays conservative talk radio.

Onward and onward...

I dunno, I just think the whole thing is kinda dumb, but at the same time it's how we're wired. Through reading and learning about Samson, Prov. 5-7, etc... I've learned I probably want to make wise decisions in who I date. And I've definately seen several couples where the more-spiritually-inclined person is depressed, and unsatisfied due to problems with their partner. And I'm guessing part of the reason for this is a laid-back, follow-your-feelings attitude towards dating. Which I definately don't want to have... but sometimes I don't know.

It is not good for man to be alone. Otherwise I'll just sit around with dudes talking out the Jedi/Empire debate... where something has to be said for Ewoks and a full scale attack on the new and improved Death Star, led by Lando and the mascot from Red Lobster.

The Good Samaritan

2006-12-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

Luke 10(NIV):

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'^[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[d]"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins^[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

-------------------------------------------

Why are we selfish?
Why do we fight so hard to prove non-Christians that the bible is true, and that it's God word...

...and then read this and make excuses?

"Come on, Jesus, let's be reasonable here. This just isn't practical. Well I have more important things to do with my time than obey you. Sorry... thanks for Heaven- can't wait. I love you so much less than you love me... and I'm ok with that."

GDBVBCX15208069

Poem

2006-12-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

I was perusing through my journal, and found a poem I wrote... about a year ago. It's probably better as a poem than it is as a song... so here it is.

12/30/05

you're starving for intimacy
longing for someone to be
so near, so dear, so clearly
in love with you

but you're counting your life more than loss
burning the bridges you've crossed
you're running, and falling, and crawling
towards something less

the loving Lord waits and he cries
even still with his arms open wide
He stayed and He prayed and yet He is saying,
"aren't I enough for thee?"

so turn from the life that you lead
look to the Lord and receive
redmeption, slavation, reconciliation
even today, and believe...

that the cross is enough for your sin
and the spirit of God can come in
can heal you and hold you through the trials that surround you
and lead you until you're home.

Financial Selfishness vs. Being a Christian.

2006-11-23T04:37:00.000-05:00

**this might offend you, and I'm fine with that. If the bible paints a picture of something black and white, I'm not going to make it grey. Just don't change anything you do because I tell you to, do it because God does.**

So I read this article where Derek webb spouts out some sweet dialogue on Christianity and what it has to do with politics and the world. And it got me thinking about a passion point I have. It's kind of a big one...

As Christians it's easy to forget that all our wealth is borrowed.
Most of us probably don't know that we're the part of 20% of the world, that consumes 80% of the resources.
And it's easy to forget that people are dying, and dying... thirsting and starving... dying...

...because we choose convenience, entertainment, and comfort over them. It's just an iPod. It's just some new clothes. It's just eating a nice meal every once in a while. "Why not treat myself, right?" All the while we're spending thousands of dollars on ourselves. We live among the richest and most selfish people in the world. Bad company corrupts character- to the point that "rich and selfish" are attributes of many Christians. We are neglecting the hundreds of verses spent on caring for the less fortunate.

James 1:26 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Deuteronomy 15:7 - If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

I guess, perhaps, these verses aren't as central to our faith. However, the verses telling us to no longer live for the things of this world... are we going to neglect those?

Mark 8:34 - 9:1 - If anyone desires to follow after me he must deny himself...

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

To be Christian is to receive life from God, and then to die until your dead. To receive from God and then give until you have nothing left. Ecclesiastes makes it pretty clear that living for yourself never leads to satisfaction... and it's not fulfilling. OK, so you want to make sure that your family and children are provided for? That's awesome, and that's a good desire... for 1 to 10 great people. Yet we, as American Christians, have the ability to impact the entire world. People are starving, unhealthy, diseased, and naked... isn't that enough to make us care? And much more than that, they do not know Christ. I don't want someone going to hell just because I decided to buy an HDTV. Our money can go a long way to meet the needs of others... let's not prioritize our foolish desires above their needs, above their eternal lives.

Christ came to seek and save the lost, and he did it. He SPENT his entire life listening to God, and obeying Him. He didn't choose comfort, or entertainment. His whole life was spent giving, and dying. All that he gave was so much more than we ever think of giving...

...yet we are commanded to be like him...

...yet we call ourselves by His name.

We call ourselves Christians, literally meaning like-Christ. Yet we are all so far from Christ's standards of selflessness and stewardship. Some of us bash gays and violently protest abortion... yet the bigger injustice is that God's name should be imputed to us. There is a plank in our eye.

---------------------
1 month of average expenses:
Eating out 2 times: 2 x $15 = $30.
Netflix: $18.
Buying 1 CD: $15.
Seeing 1 movie: $9.
Cable TV: $25
Jeans and 2 shirts: $50

Total: $147.00

----------------------
or:
Eating 2 cheap, yet fulfilling meals at home: $4.
Borrowing movies from the library: free.
Radio: free.
I guess watching a movie is ok: $9.
Network television: free. (youtube - free.)
Jeans and 2 shirts at thrift store: $8.

Total: $21.00

Difference = $126.00 per month so you can:

support a missionary - $30.
give to a non-profit group caring for the needy - $30
put into savings - $40 ($480 saved over a year, just from a few minor changes)
buying a McDonalds burger for every homeless person you see - $6
Other money you can hold with an open hand, and give to anyone you know in need - $20.

------------

Benefits:
1. You save money.
2. You have more friends because you give them money liberally.
3. You impact the frickin' world.
4. You accumulate about 4000 heavenly crowns a month.
5. You personally get more opportunities to share about the difference Christ has made in your life, as your selfishness transforms into love. People know what love is... it's a universal language. Few people want religion... but we all want love. Be the branches(John 15:9-17).

Jon is blogging.

2006-11-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, so in the past 2 months I just haven't had the motivation to blog as much. So... I'm gonna try. Actually... I'm gonna play guitar. haha. maybe I'll blog later. CYA!

Romancing the roommate

2006-10-30T00:45:00.000-05:00

There aren't a lot of romance movies that show already-married couples hanging out on a day-to-day basis. Yet most romance movies are filled with a lot of passion, emotion, crazy events, and wild dates. Unfortunately for those of us who have been brainwashed by society to be the hopeless romantics that we are, married life will be a lot of the former, and less of the latter.

I really want to be married... someday. Not now, though... because it's obvious to me that I'm not ready. Think about this: you wouldn't give a diamond necklace to a 5 year old, because she's too young, immature, and irresponsible to handle something as precious and costly as a diamond necklace. And with that, she wouldn't be able to appreciate it for what it is.

And this is only an analogy, that may or may not be completely misleading... but it proves my point :-P. Marriage is something that most people want, and it looks appealing. But until we're ready for it, and ready to appreciate it, we probably shouldn't have it, just yet.

I live in an apartment with 3 guys. I'm not going to marry any of them... but if I do marry someone, these guys share a common bond with my possible-wife-to-be: They're my roommate(s). This is something that gets overlooked, probably more than it should. Our spouses become our partners, best friends, cojourners, and our lovers... but also our roommates.

We are foolish to think that "if there's love, then everything will be ok". Is it like that in our families? Our friendships? It's the people that love each other the most that end up hurting each other. Love has to be more than an emotion. True love causes action. And no one is going to measure your love-mobile by what's going on in the engine, not even your spouse. All that people will see is what goes on when the rubber hits the road. That's where things get tough. A car could run all day in neutral. But once you get it moving, that's when things start squeeking, parts need replacing, and the car just gets worn out. But that's love. You never gauge how much someone loves you by how they feel. You gauge it by what they do.

I care a lot about the guys I live with. But do I love them enough to do their dishes? Pull their hairballs out of the shower drain? Do I love them enough to take time to talk to them about what's going on in their lives? Do I encourage them, and comfort them? Do I love them enough to cook for them or buy them stuff? And do I love them enough to clean my room?

For the most part, no. But I'm working on it.

So am I ready to share my house, my room, my bed and my life with someone- in sickness and in health, in richer and in poorer, now and forever, as long as we both shall live?

God help me.*

*And I think God's job would be a lot easier if our hearts stopped asking, "Give me a good spouse" and instead prayed, "Lord, make me a good spouse".

Christian DDR

2006-10-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

Ok... jump into my brain, as I take you down the cognitive trail that has led to this discovery, this question, this fork in the road... that is:

Dance Praise - the Christian DDR*

I woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning, and had no plans until lunch at 12, and physics lab thereafter. I had already eaten a delicious breakfast with my roommate Kelly, and was at my computer thinking...

I really want to buy something online. For some reason, I just really enjoy buying stuff online. I like the idea of getting %1 cash back on my credit card. I like being able to shop at every single online store in order to find the best value, thanks to froogle. Also, I had recently made 2 online purchases, so the idea was still fresh.

So as I'm thinking about what to buy, I check my gmail and find a $10 off coupon for a $30 purchase at Buy.com! Clearly I must buy something.

So I think further and remember the deepest desire within my calloused heart:

to have my own DDR game, so that I can develop the cardiovascular fitness of lance armstrong, while listening to cheesy club mixes in the privacy of my own home.

So I search for DDR software for the computer.

I see a link called Dance Praise. *begin narrating thoughts* Huh? Whatever... wait- are you serious? Who would name their DDR game dance praise? Naahh... ... muh? muhuh? *end narration*

So I click the link to find that it is true.

This is Christian DDR. Now I can develop Ninja-like endurance to the sounds of David Crowder Band and ZOEgirl. I envision a picture on God's refridgerator- of me, sweating purfusely as my feet nimbly skip around in a jamboree of jubilee, with these lyrics blaring in the background:

Here is our king! Here is our love!
Here is our God Who’s come to bring us back to him!
He is the one, he is Jesus!

And I know what you're thinking: pictures don't have sound- but you are mistaken. Pictures on God's fridge come through in dolby surround.

Yeah, so I'm really excited about this. I wanted DDR anyway: because cardiovascular fitness is so important, and cardio machines are so boring. And I love music. However, if I bought the game with a standard pad, with the praise wand worship expansion from the cheepest site possible(thanks froogle), it would cost about $70(retail - $86).

And there's the rub.

In the microeconomic X-Y pricing graph, I don't know if I'm above or below the curve. I would definately enjoy the game... it would help me keep my quiet times spontaneous and fun... I could play with friends... I'd be 2 steps further away from Coronary Artery Disease and 1 step closer to Big Poppa... but seventy dollars?

I don't know. So I didn't make a rash purchase. I think I need to hear other people's thoughts here. Should I get it?

-------------------
*DDR [DEE-DEE-Arr] –noun, -R‧ing, -R‧ed.
1. abbrev. Dance Dance Revolution. def. Popular arcade game where players make dance steps rhythmically.
2. One of the many things that keeps Jon classified as a dork.

Blogger Hoodie

2006-10-24T00:46:00.000-05:00

I bought this today:

http://www.googlestore.com/product.asp?catid=5&code=GO14010

I figure if I wear it, then I'll have to blog. I was also thinking of pasting my URL on the back of it. And then I thought of tattoo-ing my URL to my forehead. And then I stopped thinking about that. Ummm... I had a sweet time with Rico today. we talked about John 15:1-11. Then I had a sweet time at RCC. I pwned 2 V3+'s.

Anyway, I'm a lot less disciplined than I was 1 or 2 years ago. I'm working on it, though. I think I need to play less guitar and counterstrike, and spend more time doing homework and planning stuff out. I also might cut back on lacrosse for the fall, just because of schoolwork... I'm borderline in just about all my classes. So... I'm going to physics tomorrow. I haven't been in class for the last 3 weeks. But I'll be there... in 7 hours. There's about a dozen things I want to be right now... and the last thing I want to be is a college student. Oh well. I suppose that being a personal trainer, mountain man, indie singer/songwriter, taxi driver, garbage man, missionary, ccc staffer, english teacher, and stay-at-home husband will have to wait.

Until then, I guess I'll just have to wait it out.

Joel

2006-10-22T00:11:00.000-05:00

Reading the book of Joel makes me feel like I am helpless, and yet fully equipped to be a man of God. And I like that. For all who call upon the Lord will be saved... and they will be strong.

1:14
2:11
2: 12-13
2:17
2:25
2:27
2:32
3:4
3:10
3:16

Fall retreat

2006-10-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

Fall Retreat was cool. I have a lot of other stuff I'm working on/doing, so sorry I haven't blogged in... 2 weeks. I'm still alive. Hopefully I can give an update soon.

Random news:

High School Musical was suprisingly awesome.
I'm working on songwriting again.
I think I need a cell phone.
It boggles my mind a little bit how a lot of Christians see $40/month for a cell phone as an obvious yes, but $30/month for a missions organization as being infeasible... and a $300 iPod is obviously a yes as well.
It's getting to that time of year when I sleep even more than usual, hopefully I'll pass physics this year.
God's doing sweet stuff at Towson.

I've been blogging for a year now, and it's amazing how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same.

Babies are awesome.

2006-10-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

This is cool.

This is ridiculous. Who makes their 3 year old kids perform classical music? Seriously...

This is cool too.

Comments?

Yeeeaaahhh....

2006-09-26T01:07:00.000-05:00

I don't really blog anymore.

OK, just kidding.

For me, if you think of my life as a cup... the stuff that overflows is the stuff that ends up in my blog. And recently, there hasn't been a lot of overflow. Some frustrations, tough things, and stress... not a lot of overflow.

But it's all good in da hood. I think God is squeezing the laziness and compromise out of me. And I think it's gonna happen... contrary to anything I want to do.

One thing cool about God is that he doesn't just fence you in to life a righteous life, with the grass on the other side always looking greener. No... if we want, and live, and pray for something... he'll allow us to have it. And we soon learn that anything we desire is less than what we thought that it would be. And often it comes with pain, and hardship. And so we turn, with renewed fervor, to a God who is good, and loving, and a strong tower.

* How unfortunate it is that so many don't know Him. *

I don't feel like Romans 8 is true sometimes, but I know that it is. I don't always live like Revelation 21 and 22 are our inevitable hope, but I know that it is.

...because God is faithful. He has always been faithful to me, and I trust that He will remain faithful.

************
I know many people read this and examine it from a logical standpoint. "Well Jon, how do you know that God exists? From what the Bible says? How do you know that is true? etc..."

And that'd be fine, as long as my God was a product of the mind, as opposed to someone real, that the mind does not produce, but examines. I know that he is real because I know Him... kinda like how you know your best friend is real.

And if you're looking for a 'religion' that's going to make you happy and fulfilled, you'll never find it. No set of rules, or beliefs, or no perspective can ever do that. No human is ever going to come up with such a religion that will meet the needs of your heart and your soul. And you aren't going to find it by digging into your own mind either. Be a truth-seeker. Be someone who looks beyond 'what appears to be', in order to see 'what is'. Perhaps you'll find that there are needs in your soul that never seem to be met, no matter how hard you try. Perhaps you'll find doubt, and fear, and guilt... ... and maybe, maybe you'll look and find a savior.

JimmiE + Mitch - I Want it That Way

2006-09-15T11:09:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn3KuLDcj6g

So... the guys in my apartment, and Dave, and intern Dave... made this video. I hope it becomes famous. So... watch it as much as possible, and send the link to all your friends. ENJOY!

comments?

everyday parkour

2006-09-09T17:13:00.000-05:00

So I was walking back to my apartment today, when I saw that my normal route was blocked by fencing, heavy-duty machinery, and hairy men in not enough clothing. There was a gap in the fence, so I walked through it(I was by the back entrance to paws, by the union garage). Then this guy on his lunch break chirps up,

"Hey bud, we're working here, you gotta go around."

First of all, if you're not buds with someone, don't call them bud. Dane Cook makes this pretty clear on one of his albums. I should have said, "Thanks, chief, I'm fine." But instead, I spotted a 10 foot wall with stairs on the other side. I asked,

"Can I go up here?"

He, in a condescending tone replied, "Nope. You're gonna have to go around."

I'm done talking to this guy. So I turn to the wall and do a combination of a wall run and a monkey vault. I'm over the wall in about 2 seconds, then I'm gone. I'm a phantom.

That was pretty much the coolest thing I did all day. 2nd coolest thing was posting a facebook flyer for Ahh Jon Leem. That's $5 I'm never gonna see again.

Who wins in a fight...

2006-09-08T18:16:00.000-05:00

between Muhammad "The Greatest" Ali, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson?

Here's how it would go down. This would be a no rules, no holds barred street fight. It is assumed that both fighters are in their prime, at about age 25, making this the tale of the tape:

Muhammad Ali:
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 pounds
Strengths:
* he was the heavyweight boxing champion 3 times, for a cumulative time of about a decade.
* he has an olympic gold medal for light heavyweight boxing
* floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee

The Rock:
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 260 pounds
Stengths:
* substantial size advantage
* high school all-american football player, who got a free ride to Miami. He played there one year and earned a 0.7 GPA, losing his scholarship. A back injury kept him from going directly to the NFL. Played professionally in the CFL before taking a shot at pro wrestling.
* Professional wrestler in the WWF/WWE for 8 years.
* the people's eyebrow

OK. I bet you're wondering what I think. In this fight, my money would be on The Rock. He's bigger, tougher, stronger, and he'd want to make this a ground fight, unlike his opponent. Now, if these two stood toe-to-toe, I think it's obvious that Ali would win. However, Ali would find himself on his back, or through a store window, in less than 30 seconds. The Rock is a smart guy, which is one of the reasons why he's been so successful in hollywood. And he's smart enough to know that if he's in a fight against "the greatest", he better take the fight to the ground as soon as possible. And I'm confident that he could do so, at least 4 out of 5 times. This would leave our good friend Cassius Clay in an uncomfortable position, prohibitting him from getting any real power behind his punches. Pinned underneath an NFL-caliber defensive tackle, I'm convinced that Ali would go down, and stay down.

Now, Ali is by no means a chump. He was a great boxer, probably the greatest. But being a good boxer doesn't mean you're going to be just as good in a street-fighting situation. The Rock was a defensive lineman. He was strong, quick, and agile. He'd be able to dodge Ali's fists, and even take a few hits on the chin. But once he got on the inside and got a hold of Ali, it'd be over.

The Rock would win this fight at least 75% of the time.

Leave a comment about who you think would win.

Love and Truth

2006-09-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

What do you want from your significant other? What do you want from your parents? What do you want from your God?

If you said checed and 'emeth, you read my mind.

checed - lovingkindess, goodness, kindness, faithfulness
'emeth - firmness, faithfulness, truth

These words are together in the Old Testament very often. In fact, here are all the places where they are together:

Gen 24:27
Gen 32:10
Gen 47:29
Exodus 34:6
Joshua 2:12-14 *Rahab and the spies
2 Sam 2:6
2 Samuel 15:20
1 Kings 3:6
Nehemiah 9:31-38
Psalm 25:10
Psalm 26:3
**Psalm 40:10-11**
Psalm 57:3
Psalm 57:10
Psalm 61:7
Psalm 69:13
Psalm 85:10
Psalm 86:15
Psalm 89:14
Psalm 108:4
Psalm 115:1
Psalm 117:2
Psalm 138:2
**Prov 3:3-4**
Prov 14:22
Prov 16:6
Prov 20:28
Isaiah 16:5
Hosea 4:1
Micah 7:20
Zech 7:9

**side-rant**The internet is a useful thing. But it can be useful for good, bad, or just wasting time. The internet helped me do this crazy fast... but it could also take away your life if you decided to stalk all your friends on facebook with the new "Stalker feeds". So... technology isn't a bad thing, but it's how you use it. "Yes I love technology... but noooot as much as you you see... always and forever...." **end rant**

I think these 2 words sum up the needs of mankind pretty well. And I just think it's wicked cool that God is so benevolent in bestowing them. That he is a God who sticks to his promises, and is true and faithful. And his promises, that he faithfully keeps, are promises of love and of mercy. That if we seek him, we will find him. That if we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. That if we abide in him, he will abide in us. And it's not religion, or morals, or anything within the human psyche. It's knowing God. It's not knowing about God, it's knowing God. And that's pretty sweet.

So, if this blog entry peeked your interest, don't stalk me, or your ex-girlfriend/boyfriends... stalk Jesus...? Jesus is all about love and truth in John 8; he drops it like it's hot. Read it here.

Some of my favorite parts:

1-11: Jesus teaches forgiveness in a unique way. And he, although sinless, doesn't stone her... out of love.
32: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
36: "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Lastly, in this passage, Jesus isn't Mr. Nice Guy. He is devoted to truth, and there is no compromise. He is devoted to bringing glory to God, setting captives free, and calling people to know real truth and real love, through Him.

Praise Him!

you are... who facebook says you are.

2006-08-30T18:00:00.001-05:00

What's cool about the beginning of a new semester is: meeting new people. I've probably met about 20 new people already, which is kinda nuts for 1 week. I realize this is another perk about college that I'll miss once I graduate. I just love being around people, so I'm going to do my best not to take this last year for granted.

I met a bunch of dudes playing ultimate frisbee, I've met the girls that live downstairs in the "brown stinker". Random classmates and lab partners, and 1 or 2 people at QSU. And it's cool to see these people request me as friends, and it's equally cool to find people and request them as friends. And facebook is an awesome way to contact people/stay in touch.

However, facebook is still a little weird. For instance, when people make their personal profiles, they probably don't always think through all the implications like:

Everyone at your school will be able to read everything you write.
People might judge/catagorize you based on who they think you are.
People might poke you if they think you're hot.

So, after thinking about all this stuff, I thought about changing my profile. Then I looked at it, and I like it the way it is. It's full of ridiculous stuff like quotes of yoda and samuel l jackson. But it still is weird that as soon as someone learns my name, they can read all about me. It'd be like shaking someone's hand when you meet them, then handing them a resume', or a family photo album.

My biggest fear is that in the future no one will interact anymore, and we'll all just sit at computers all day and stalk/IM each other... but that'll never happen to me. So if you ever want to arrange a time to talk in real life, just message me on facebook :-).

eavesdropping blog style

2006-08-27T02:05:00.000-05:00

I know that I'm weird, in that I'm a socially uninhibited person.
And I know I probably spend too much time online, including reading blogs and on stuff like facebook.

But what I don't get is why more people don't leave comments on blogs(not specifically mine). If you're reading about this person's thoughts and life experience, you might as well be real with the situation and let them know. And if you have thoughts about someone else's blog(which probably is the purpose for every blog: to get other people thinking about something), then why not share your thoughts?

There's just a disconnect here for me that I guess I don't understand. Maybe it comes from a lack of freedom...

**this is a rant that's about to go on a huge tangent and never come back... mostly because I still don't get why people don't just comment more.**

...freedom. When someone experiences, learns about, and grows in the gospel of Jesus Christ, one of the fruits of that will be freedom. Socially, a Christian is free. Nothing can happen socially which will hurt or help them significantly... and others' thoughts about this person should not sway them, in either direction. Because if you receive God's love, and live your life in that love, there is no need for approval, affection, charity, or love from any other. Concurrently, if you are loved, validated, admired, and adored by every living being on the planet- except the Lord, your life represents that saddest of all things in God's creation.

Now I realize, that I'm speaking 100% idealistically right now. But let's all take a good look at what we believe to be true. And if that includes the belief that God loves you so much that he sent his son to die in your place that you might be restored to a relationship with him... let's all just crack a smile and lighten up. Let's dance. Let's play games where somebody has to write their name in the air with their butt when they lose. Let's live life like this is candyland, where all the shortcomings and failures still lead to victory. J'Mon!

"I just want for people to notice me"
"I just yearn for someone to love me"
"I just wish I could get a little more respect"
"I feel hurt and undervalued"

...just take it to Jesus. Just take it to the God you can read all about in the gospel of John. And this sounds a lot like preaching... because it kind of is... because I'm frustrated that Christians live their lives as if they weren't loved. Lastly, we aren't free to be idiots, we aren't free to be obnoxious, we aren't free to be clingy, stalker-ish, or mean. We are free to do that which was impossible before knowing Christ: to love unconditionally, to obey God's commands, and to live freely from having our identity scarred, because our identity is in Christ, who is a solid rock. Praise Him!

and.........

........

no one's gonna comment on this blog. :-P

Noir Une en la JimmiE

2006-08-25T03:09:00.000-05:00

For you all who don't hablo francais, that title means:

The Jimmie rocks your socks off.

Tonight was good times. My parents read this blog, so... everything I'm about to write is false. Don't believe it. Send more money. :-)

The evening started with 6 dudes hanging out in the apartment thinking, 'hey, what should we do tonight?'. After watching some of the history channel and spending a good 30 minutes playing nutball... we decided to prank 2 girls by writing things on their car like:

"Honk if you're a Senior!" "Go Lady Hawks!" "PHS class of '07!" "I ain't no holla back girl!" (this is funny because they're both over 21).

So, after spending a good hour in walmart and increasing our squad of justice to 8 hooligans, we headed to the girls' apartment complex. After one phrase was written on a car window, the girls showed up, going with their own original plan to do a similar prank to us. So our cars said things like:

"I'm hot! -->" "He's a cutie!" "Just Married!"

Beaten at our own game, the men made a pensive retreat. We then decided it would be a great idea to go back at 3 in the morning, write on their cars, and put suspend their cars in the air on cement blocks. We'd also take off one of each of their tires, and put them on their second story back porch. First, we "borrowed" the cement blocks from a construction site on campus. We got there, and everything was going smoothly. The first car was done, and we were close to finishing the second one. We were about 5 minutes from finishing, at 3:30am, when...

a police car pulled up. and then
a police car pulled up. and then
a police car pulled up. and then
a police car pulled up. and then
a police car pulled up. and then
a police car pulled up. (there is dispute as to whether or not there was a helicopter)

They were real cool, all 8 of them. Great guys. We would have taken a picture, but our camera was out of batteries. After they saw that we weren't doing anything ridiculous, they rolled out. We undid the damage, return the borrowed material, and looked back at a fun night.

Also, a big thanks to Jen for being really forgiving and understanding. We all learned a lot through this. Had a few laughs. I even got to sit in the back of a squad car... for the second time in my life ;-).

In conclusion, this first night sets the par for the degree of awesomeness(not crime) that will be:

the JimmiE.

Why I have a blog.

2006-08-23T01:15:00.000-05:00

My blog exists for many reasons, but mainly these two. There are many other peripheral reasons, but these two MAIN reasons act as pillars to support this blog, and without both of these...
surely...
my blog would crumble. These are the main two reasons why I blog:

1. I want you to be more and more joyful as you continually experience and learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. I want you to see this.

If you are able, you MUST watch this video in its entirity. And then feel free to leave a comment about it... that is, if your eyes didn't explode.

I'm changing my homepage to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6960295146523698319

Yeah...

2006-08-21T02:41:00.000-05:00

My last post was pretty wordy... basically:

Have your mind open to the possibility that there is a God who is real, and who desires to know you.

Someone told me today, regarding my goatee:

"I think it's cool! I think I might try growin' one o' my own"

And this someone just happens to be a world war two veteran from my old church. So since he likes it, I just might keep it. If you disagree, well, you'll have to take it up with him.

Luray Caverns, and the importance of our worldview

2006-08-17T22:26:00.000-05:00

So I went to Luray Caverns in Virginia with a few of my many fun church friends, resulting in good times. Let me recap for those of you who missed that:

(Jon) + (chinese peers in Jesus) / Luray Caverns = good times

I could show you the proof, but that gets a little crazy.

Onward and onward...

At the deepest part of the cavern is an organ with no pipes. The keys attach to electronic hammers which hit stalagtites, which are then amplified. That's why it's called the "Stalagpipe Organ" < - google it. Anyway, the organ can be played manually, however it is programmed to play "A Mighty Fortress is our God". The song played, however the tour guide managed to say nothing about God or religion. From my worldview, it is astonishing that anyone could give the tour of those caverns without acknowledging a wondrous creator God; the place really is amazing.

However, most people do not share my worldview. We live in a society that sees the pious people of our history as being old-fashioned and naive, and judge them without looking at their faith: people like Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln. Our analysis is always man-focused, and most people investigate and criticize religion with a completely atheistic worldview. If there is no god or any higher power, then religion is futile, so why even look?. "Worship" is wasted energy, and faith is insanity. If this was the case, religion should be abolished, with only the moral and ethical things remaining, as they help society(I think this was tried before, and I think it was called Marxism(And it killed more innocent people then religion probably ever did)). So if there is no God, all people of faith are either insane, or unable to face reality, and scared of the truth.

Now, let's assume that God is real. Then it becomes the atheists and the agnostics who are unaware, who are left in the dark. They are the ones who are deceived, and lacking knowledge of their need for God. So, below I made a chart:
As we can see, there are dire consequences on each side for the group of people who are incorrect. However, I think that the fate of non-Christians is the worst, if indeed God is real. So my conclusion to all this is that the following questions are of utmost importance, and must be addressed if we desire to live significant lives:

Is there a higher power?
Is it a god that is accessible by human means?
Is it the God of the bible?

-and-
What actions should I take upon my answers to the previous questions?

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
-Hebrews 11:6, the Bible(NIV)

ridiculous hiccups

2006-08-15T14:01:00.000-05:00

I have had the hiccups since 11am yesterday, and now it is 3pm. They've been on and off... but mostly on. They are really starting to bother me. Things I've tried:

Holding my breath.
Drinking a tablespoon of vinegar.
Drinking soda upsidedown.
Drinking a lot of liquids.

If you can give me a technique or cure for these hiccups, I will be very greatful, and will reward you with earthly treasures.

OK.... I can't stress enough how ridiculous this is. I've had HICCUPS for more than 24 hours. While writing this blog, I have hiccuped about 30 times. HELP ME PLEASE.

---** edit **---

I've had a sore throat for about 3 days, but that beats the heck out of those hiccups. And... they kind of just went away, thankfully. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them next time I have hiccups.

The prodigal can never forget.

2006-08-12T02:39:00.000-05:00

I look at people who have been serving the Lord for decades, and wonder... well, I wonder a lot of things. How many times have they become discouraged? How many times have they failed and gotten back up again? What does their relationship with the Lord look like? . . . and the burning question: How have they remained so steadfast and faithful, for all this time?

And these questions arise because of the things I see in myself. In walking with the Lord for less than 3 years now, I feel a desire to slow down, to coast, to take the easy way out. The gospel is still good news, but sometimes it just feels... like old news. And it's not like God has done super miraculous things in my life recently... everything in my life looks like it's leading me to just... coast. I mean, don't get me wrong... I definately know better. I know about those life verses in Phillipians, in Romans, in Corinthians. It's intellectually there. But when I don't feel like doing something, it usually doesn't get done... that's just the way I am.

Well recently I've had the opportunity to share my testimony. Twice, actually. Both occasions with no real time for preparation. And I started to tell the story of my crazy days of temporary fun, and lasting pain. About depression and failure. Sadness and wandering. Then about a glimmer of faith in a God who was real. Which became a faith in a God who was compassionate. Which became a faith in a God that was love... a love this world couldn't imagine. I thought about the faith of the prodigal son. He moved no mountains with his faith. He never did miraculous things, and he wasn't even commended for anything. His part of the solution was saying,

"I left home to sin. Sin has become my life. My life sucks. Daddy, I'm coming home."

And then there was grace. Not because of what the prodigal had done. But because there was a loving father, who called him a son. And I'm that undeserving prodigal. I can't articulate this any better than I already have. I knew God. I ran away and lived for no one but myself. Yet he saw it fit to die for me, that I could truly live. Such love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called sons of God.

Let me never forget the sin that was at first so enticing, and then consuming, and then overwhelming.
Let me never forget how the Lord found me, and rescued me... in power and in grace.
Let me never forget that he loves every human just as much as he loves me.

...and let me never forget that so many...
so many...
still do not know him.

The prodigal can never forget.

****
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day.
And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away.

'Ere since by faith I saw the stream thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and it shall be 'til I die.

In Jon's perfect world...

2006-08-10T12:59:00.001-05:00

No one drives cars unless there are 2 or more people in them.
Accordians are inexpensive.
My computer doesn't disconnect from the LAN when I boot up CS:S.
People always understand what I mean when I say something.
I enjoy reading books.
Dishes wash themselves.
The high E string is just as easy to string as the low E.
Long distance friendships are just as easy as any other friendships.
It's impossible for Jon to break someone's heart.
No one ever gets hiccups.
Americans stop spending money on ridiculous things they don't need, and starts helping the needs of the world.
Christians read the Bible more than they read Christian books.
People read the old testament more.
Shoes all cost a maximum of $50 a pair.
Bacon is available, in some form, at every restaurant.
People find peace and satisfaction while they are single, so that when they seek a relationship, they are seeking to give, not seeking to take.
Therefore people don't put unrealistic expectations on others.
Christians are not easily offended or hurt, because their identity is hidden in Christ.
There is a Vietnamese noodle restaurant in Towson.
Everyone knows that "Towson Best" is by far the worst Chinese food place in Towson, and they order from "Mandarin Taste".
Christians don't treat other Christians as foreign people who must earn their respect, but as siblings, who can never lose their status as siblings.
And in Jon's perfect world, everyone understands the gospel.

Lazy Summer

2006-08-08T20:58:00.000-05:00

I've felt generally very lazy this summer. I took 6 credits and did a bunch of activities with my church, but besides that, I really haven't done anything. My dad always used to say that I should go into the military to learn some discipline... and I think he has a point. I really have a desire to be a very productive, orderly person, but I think it's kind of like the "Procrastinators unite tomorrow" T-shirt. I'm even too lazy to blog as often as I usually do. I need to look to the ant. Ok, cya.

Rant on Black people... and people.

2006-08-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this kinda bothers me. I grew up around a lot of black people, and now that I live in Howard County, I'm around a lot of people who did not. Also, Towson University is one of the least diverse schools around. So, here we go.

The vast majority of black people are not criminals.
They aren't going to hijack your car as they walk by it, so you really don't have to lock your windows.
They don't all have guns or knives.
The vast majority of them aren't rude people at all.

Oh, and they're people.

This seems really crass to say "black people are people"... as if they're different. People are people. It's simple... but I think many of us don't really get that. And an amazing thing that I've learned is that if you're respectful and kind to everyone, about 99% of your interaction with acquintances/strangers will go really well.

Don't limit someone in your own mind by prejudices, because you'll miss out on a real person, with a life story*. And next time someone does you a favor, say "thank you", instead of internally thinking to yourself, "they must be one of the good ones", while externally showing ingreatfulness and pride.

*Lastly, everyone has a story. Everyone has a life. Every single car in the traffic jam with you is filled with a unique person, who's trying to get somewhere. The grocery store cashier does not exist meerly for your service. The janitor probably has a wife, and cute kids that he takes to the park on sunday, between his 6-day work weeks. That guy that cut you off might be taking his pregnant wife to the hospital -or maybe he's just a jerk-. Anyway, don't walk around like you're the most important thing in the world, beacuse there's over 5 billion people who wouldn't notice if you were gone. So... be nice to people... because they're people, just like you.

And while we're on the subject, here's a random website that does not necessarily reflect the views or interests of praiznazn.blogspot.com:

http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

of a shepherd and his sheep.

2006-08-01T23:47:00.000-05:00

God has a really tough job when it comes to Christians. He is constantly dealing with such questions as:
How do I show myself to people who won't look to me?
How can I give courage to those who love nothing but empathy?
How do I get people to walk with me, when all they want to do is sit on their butts?

I think the majority of us are "sit on our butt" types. Like the disciples, when Jesus was walking on water. They were all like...
"hmmm.... it looks pretty rough out there"
"these sketchers are new!"

We value security, safety, peace, comfort, luxury, and happiness. I think this is natural, but at the same time I think that this isn't what God wants for us. Outside of our designer homes and our SUV's is a world that is hurting, and we are called to be Jesus' hands and feet.

Peter didn't want to be comfortable, he wanted to be near to Jesus. He surely was lacking in other areas, but he had this going for him: he said:
"Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water."
"even if I have to die with [you, Jesus], I will never disown you."
-or-
'Jesus, I am ready to go where you are. I am ready to follow you.'

Peter soon learned that following after Jesus isn't easy. It requires sacrifice, perseverence, and most importantly, a steadfast love for God. Peter got overwhelmed by his circumstances, and lost faith in Jesus. The same happened when Christ was arrested. But both times, Jesus picked him back up, and encouraged him to go on.

God wants us to follow after him. We'll probably fall on our faces, inevitably trying to do things in our own power instead of trusting in God. But Jesus will be there to pick us up.

But are we even willing to get up?

Jesus is asking a tough question: "Do you love me?"
And if our answer is "yes", he will quickly say, "Tend my sheep".

100 Things you didn't know about me

2006-07-26T02:17:00.000-05:00

So, it's ... wow... it's 3am. And I just ate a whole meal of beef ramen, 2 eggs, and some spicy sausage. mmmmmmm. So, before I sleep, I decided to do this. Why are surveys so fun to do?

I don't know.

100 Things You Didn't Know About Me:

1. Full Name: Jonathan -no middle name- my last name
2. Nicknames: Jon Limm, Jon, Limmy, Mr. Limm, Ninja, yodatdudelookslikejackiechan
3. Birthday: 02/21/85
4. Place of Birth: Toronto, CA
5. Zodiac Signs: Ox. that's right, Ox.
6. Male or Female: Email.
8. School: Towson U.
9. Occupation: sleep
10. Residence: home and an apartment
11. Screen Name: SoccerJonL

__Your Appearance__
12. Hair Color: black
13. Hair Length: ranges from business to fob, depending on how long it's been since my last haircut.
14. Eye color: dark brown
15. Best Feature: freckles on my nose
16. Height: 5'8"
17. Braces?: nah
18. Glasses?: nah
19. Piercing: nah
20. Tattoos: this may or may not be no in 6 months
21. Righty or Lefty: righty

___Your 'Firsts'___
22. First best friend: Jeremy Carter
23. First Award: "Underacheiver award" given by my 7th grade math teacher.
24. First Sport You Joined: soccer
25. First pet: hampster
26. First Real Vacation: Canada for awesome chinese food
27. First Concert: Dashboard Confessional
28. First Love: umm... Jesus?

___ Favorites___
29. Movie: Karate Kid
30. TV Show: Star Trek: the next generation
31. Colors: Black and Yellow
32. Rapper: Run DMC
33. Band: I guess Dashboard Confessional
34. Song Right Now: "So long, So long" -DC, and this whole album
35. Best Friend: can't narrow it down to one
36. Candy: snickers or dots
37. Sport to Play: LACROSSE!
38. Restaurant: Jon's Kitchen... every meal $1.50 or less
39. Favorite brand to wear: Goodwill or salvation army
40. Store: ^above
41. School Subject: for me, having a favorite school subject is like picking your favorite toenail to clip.
42. Animal: Squirrels or tigers
43. Book: the Bible
44. Magazine: the quarterly magazine from Gospel for Asia.
45. Shoes: my Diadoras, or my Adidas' from 2002 which are awesome.

___Currently___
46. Feeling: great
47. Single or Taken?: single
48. Have a crush: Until I talk to you personally about my feelings for you, assume no. Expecially you, Matt Geisler.
49. Eating: that sweet ramen/sausage/egg concoction good for about 30 G's of protein. Eat it and like it.
50. Drinking: dilute powdered gatorade
51. Typing: the word "moose" < - dumb question
52. Online?: hello? Mcfly? Anybody in there?
53. Listening To: Duncan Sheik
54. Thinking About: sleep soon
55. Wanting to: spoon
56. Watching: I recently watched some of the Simpsons: season 4
57. Wearing: pajama pants from an ex girlfriend in 2003, and a shirt I got from hampton beach in 2004. New clothes are so 90's.

__________Future__________
58. Want Kids?: heck yeah. at least 2, and at least 1 boy.
59. Want to be Married?: no. jk. jk. What would Jesus do? I mean... what would Peter do...?
60. Careers in Mind: Campus Ministryin the states or overseas, personal training, house renovating, professional poker player...
61. Where do you want to live: Maryland... it's sweet.
62. Car: a 8 year old small 4 door sedan... with spinner rims.

__Which is Better With The Opposite Sex___
63. Hair color: doesn't matter
64. Hair length: long enough for some variation
65. Eye color: meh
66. Measurements: I feel like if I put anything here I'll be a shallow jerk... so I won't write "small waist"
67. Cute or Sexy: sexy won't last more than 20 years... I'll go for cute here.
68. Lips or Eyes: lips
69. Hugs or Kisses: kisses
70. Short or Tall: I've always wanted to date a girl taller than me
71. Easygoing or serious: i need someone who's marginally serious for some balance
72. Romantic or Spontaneous: i think i need someone practical, who still appreciates romance and spontaneity
73. Fatty or Skinny: athletic/healthy
74. Sensitive or Loud: Sensitive/graceful
75. Hook-up or Relationship: after I'm married, I'm still gonna call it "hooking up"
76. Sweet or Caring: both
77. Trouble Maker or Hesitant One: maybe not hesitant, maybe cautious

___Have you ever___
78. Kissed a Stranger: 15 minutes makes a stranger at least an acquintance, right?
81. Ran Away From Home: yup... 3 days... took a family car.
82. Broken a bone: nope
83. Gotten an X-ray: yeah... pinky finger, and twice for my neck
84. Been rushed to the E.R.: yes
85. Broken Someone's Heart: ya, I think so...
86. Broke Up With Someone: yeah
87. Cried When Someone Died: thankfully not yet
88. Cried At School: 3rd grade - Aladdin - "Al... you'll always be a prince to me" - ...tear...

___Do You Believe In___
89. God: yes
90. Miracles: yes
91. Love: yes
92. Ghosts: dunno
93. Aliens: dunno, but I'm gonna say no.
94. Soulmates: no... because there's no way 2 inherently selfish people can get together and magically everything is perfect. People grow into loving each other, or into "soul mates"
95. Heaven: yes
96. Hell: yes, an eternal hell. Which logically means that 1 day lived out for the gospel of Jesus Christ is more influencial than a lifetime or prosperity and happiness.
97. Angels: yes
98. Kissing on The First Date: nah
99. Horoscopes: nah

100. Is There Someone You Want But You Know You Can't Have? It'll all get worked out in 100 years, tops. No biggie.

Day 7: 89 years of manhood, millions yet to come

2006-07-23T22:54:00.000-05:00

Day 7. On Friday I can't remember doing much besides going to a retirement home and bible study. It's ok that I forgot things, because forgetting things is definitive of the male existence.

I went to the retirement home with a group of teens and college kids from my church, which was really cool. We sang them hymns and got to hang out and get to know them. I then met a totally awesome gentleman named Rich.

Rich has been establishing dominance for 89 years and counting. Rich served in the Navy during world war 2, working at a hospital. He didn't believe in fighting, and didn't want to take people's lives, so that's why he worked there. They named his hospital "Bethesda" after the pool where Jesus healed the blind and the lame. After he got out, he worked as a physical therapist. We spent some time talking about anatomy, bones and muscle tissue stuff, which was cool. Because that's what I'm studying in school. He studies his bible very much, especially the book of Romans. Which inspired me to take a look back at the sweetness in Romans 3,5,8 etc. Also, within our conversation, Rich just burst out into song.

Oh Lord my God,
When I in awesome splendor
Consider all
The worlds thy hands hath made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout
The Universe displayed

Then sings my soul!
My Saviour God, to thee!
How great thou art,
How great thou art!

It's a little awkward when you're having a conversation with an old man and he randomly starts singing, so I joined in. We sang the second verse as well. Rich has probably forgot more of his bible than I've ever known. And yet he remembers songs like this distinctly(He also sang "In the Garden" and another one I forgot). Through experiencing such a full life walking with God, worshiping has become his priority. It hurt a little bit to watch him take his shallow gasps for air between mumbling out those beautiful words. His vocal range was probably less than an octave, and it's no performance that anyone would pay to see. But his song isn't his boast. It is in his God, who by grace has led him thus far, and that grace that will lead him home.

I held back a tear when I thought about that day when Rich's outward song will once again match up with his internal joy. When he'll see God for all that He is, and look back on all that God has done, and his soul will sing so fervently, with a perfect pitch, tone, and tamber, "My God, how great Thou art!"

-------

Dear Jesus,
Your grace, unlike any other gift, is inescapable.
And if all those other blessings evade me,
I will still have this song in my heart,
And you will still have my heart in your hands.
And if I am poor, and hungry and dying,
Left only with this song,
Even then I will sing to you.
Forever I will sing to you.
-Amen

Manliness: Day 6

2006-07-21T23:42:00.000-05:00

Mmmmm.... how refreshing it is to wake up to the scent of my own manly musk. Day 6 involved several masculine activities, including: Watching "A Scanner Darkly", yelling things out of a moving vehicle, going to a ridiculously loud bar, eating taco bell- twice, and showering and conditioning my hair... twice.

The manliest of all of these is obviously showering twice.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness,
and godliness is pretty darn close to burly manliness."
-Plato

Men establish dominance by being able to get themselves dirty, and then get clean. For instance, there is nothing more manly than going to the gym and getting disgustingly sweaty, and then washing off with your tangerine-mango scented soap and your Pantene Pro-V "soft and smooth" shampoo and matching conditioner. Not that I do that or anything...

The best example of this is seen in the hit 80's movie, Top Gun. Perfect example. Tom Cruise flies a jet plane around and ends up smelling like a mule's diaper. He showers and then puts on a clean white towel and struts around the locker room to show all the other guys how clean he got. This of course, was done to establish dominance. Then, just as soon as he establishes how clean he is, he goes and plays volleyball wearing nothing but jeans and dogtags. So after establishing dominance over Iceman and Cougar with his manly ability to groom himself, he established dominance again in sandpit volleyball! OWNEDD!!!!! Oh, but that's not all.

He then drives a motorcycle (which screams at everyone else on the road, "I OWN YOU!!!!") to his new girlfriend's house, where he shows up over an hour late. Showing up late to stuff establishes major dominance, especially when you're late for dinner for 2. This clearly shows that dinner for 2 cannot happen without you, and therefore, you are dominant. And THEN! On top of all that, he walks right in, and the first thing he says is:

"If you don't mind, I'm just gonna take a quick shower."

The dominance meter is off the charts. OH SNAP! I've read about people establishing dominance nonstop, 24/7, but I never believed it was possible. Tom Cruise has the nerve to show up late, smelling like a burning fungus patch, just so he can shower and show his girl how clean he can get! No wonder he ends up with the girl in the end. Maverick, I salute you.

And you're still dangerous, but you can be my wingman anytime.

Journal of manliness - Day #5

2006-07-20T07:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday oozed with manliness beyond any perceptions I had to the limits of masculinity. As I was walking back from the gym, I made eye contact with some womens, and all of them fainted.

When a man goes to the gym, he establishes dominance. Nothing is more meaningful and significant than to pick up large weights, push them up and down several times, and then put them back. I did this to the max yesterday.

Last friday I tried to lift 185 pounds and couldn't even do one. I immediately heard Arnold's tender voice in my ear, "Stop slumping around like a girly man!" My intense regimen of push-ups and daily exercises of establishing dominance helped me to get 4 reps of 185 yesterday.

Lastly, if you go to the gym and don't do bench press, wear a hat, and talk about sex and beer, you aren't getting a maximum workout in establishing dominance.

Manly Journal #4

2006-07-19T01:09:00.000-05:00

Today I burped really loud. that's about it. cya tomorrow.

the 3rd journal of manliness

2006-07-18T01:55:00.000-05:00

Today, wow. I hung from and jumped down from one story platforms, climbed back up them, and in the process, skinned my knee. Blood is a sign of manliness.

Then, I climbed walls.

Then, I ate a ham and swiss sandiwch on rye bread. This is THE most manliest sandwich. The first person ever to have eaten one and survived was Samson. And he could kill lions with his bare hands.

Lastly, I played counterstrike for 6 hours. 6 hours. no food, no bathroom break. Just boom headshots.

And now, I'm eating dumplings.

Arrrrrggggghhh.

Jon's quest for manhood: journal entry #2

2006-07-16T16:33:00.000-05:00

Today, I played soccer with kids from the age of 8-30. However most of them were middle school or younger. This allowed for me to establish physical dominance.

This is important, because establishing dominance is something that a man does at least 15 times a day. I learned this on Animal Planet.

There was a big kid who made a save when I shot, establishing dominance. After he through the ball, I headbutted him like Zidane. Zidane did this as a second effort to establish dominance, so I followed suit.

Now I am going to nap, which is also a manly thing. Bears nap, and bears are very manly, except for the females... but they are hairy and large as well. And being hairy and large helps establish dominance... which as we learned before, is something that a man does... like 32 times a day.

Jon's quest for manhood: journal entry #1

2006-07-15T13:16:00.000-05:00

I am seeking to become a man in every sense fo the word. And everyday I will do a feat of manliness until there is no doubt that my goal is accomplished. This week will be my week... of manliness. Today, I turned on Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo, and started a new game. I then proceeded to get to bowser and defeat him. Despite dying 3 times in the process, I beat the game in only 19 minutes.

I owned Super Mario World... in 19 minutes. I am all that is man.

New Song

2006-07-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

So... I couldn't sleep the other night, and I was thinking about a lot of stuff, so I started playing guitar. I wanted to write a fun, upbeat song, and about 30 minutes later I was done. It's called "butterflies inside". I posted it on my purevolume site, so feel free to check it out. It's dedicated to the prettiest girl in the world... who I may or may not have met yet. psssh.

At the pool with friends

2006-07-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

This is me not being able to float. I can't float. It's sad, because in case I am a castaway at sea, I won't be able to survive. That's why whenever I go out on a boat, I bring balloons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2K--cZhdjg

And this is our version of whack-a-mole. I'm the one with black hair, kinda short, not too skinny, not too fat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDanYFrp3s

motivation

2006-07-05T18:08:00.000-05:00

I'm learning about myself this summer. It's clear that I'm not a great self-starter. I can see a vision, set a plan, and set goals... but going through with that stuff is difficult for me. Since I have a lot of free time, I really want to use it wisely, and make this summer a summer of growth, deepening, character-building, all that kind of stuff. The only problem is that I haven't gotten a lot done so far...

so...

how do I get my butt moving?

A Prayer

2006-07-02T01:48:00.000-05:00

Lord, I ask you to walk with me,
not as if I was worthy,
but becase I am in need.

Lord, I seek to abide in thee,
not because I seek higher ground,
but because I am lost without thee.

God, I ask for your strength,
not that I may be mightier,
rather that I'd find any strength at all.

Father, look mercifully unto me,
deal gracefully with me,
and lead me,

For without thee,
I am wasted on this world.

Save me from the sorrow, of a lengthly life that's lived
with everything but Jesus, being all that I could give.

Funny video

2006-06-29T20:46:00.000-05:00

So, here's a video my friend Peter showed me. This is my understanding of it:

These Japanese students think they are in an english class. They are told not to laugh, otherwise they get smacked on the butt. And today, they will be watching an instructional video on English. Make sure you get to the part where the instructor on the TV counts to 100.

ten ten one.

Pent-up RaNdOmNeSs

2006-06-28T01:57:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's been about 2 weeks since I made my last post... and that hasn't happened ever... since October or whatever. So, I apologize to those of you who check my blog religiously... you pious blog-checkers you... I've been busy with summer class/video games/cooking myself incredible omelettes and korean food.

You know how you feel stressed out after a semester and you need a break? Yeah, I did. And instead I took summer classes. And you know how stressful finals are? Yeah, I've gotten that twice within 5 weeks. Ridiculous.

Also, I just found out that I can track who visits my Xanga site (Http://www.xanga.com/praiznazn). This is very interesting to me. It's kinda messed up, because sometimes it's just fun to stalk people you've never met. Now, without my anonimity(sp?), I will find other ways to waste my time. Don't worry, there's no way I can track who visits this blog, so come by as often as you like. Even if you're that ex-girlfriend who stole all my underwear.

Underwear isn't cheap you know.

I'm done classes this Thursday and will be in constant pursuit of fun, chill, adventurous or interesting things to do. so, if you want to hang:

Call on me
Call on me
Call on me
Call on me
I'm the same boy I used to be.

-Eric Prydz

Taco Bell and what it has to do with GRACE.

2006-06-15T14:52:00.000-05:00

When you're in a hurry, you know how it's easy to forget about the things that matter most? This morning I woke up with about 10 minutes to get ready and then... take the 10 minute walk to class. Not a prayer, not even a thought of God. Just 'brush my teeth... go number 1... don't wash my hands, no time... nah, I gotta wash my hands, that'd be gross... out the door...'

My first class was fairly typical, other than the fact that it got out 30 minutes early. This gave me time to eat(since I hadn't eaten yet today), and what better place to eat than Taco Bell. I got to the drive thru and said I'll have a Crunch Wrap Supreme. The voice kindly told me to pull around ready to pay my $1.99.

Manager: "How are you doing today?"
Me, while shuffling around, "I'm doing well, could I have some fire sauce?"

After continued shuffling I realized... I didn't have my wallet(I have two wallets, so don't worry, I had my driver's license... just no money or credit card). In regret that I could not pay for the crunch wrap supreme and disappointed in myself, I said, "I... forgot my wallet..."

The manager replied, "don't worry, I got it."

Another girl handed me my bag of food, saying, "Have a nice day"

I took the bag, and with my arm still out the window, I looked at the manager who said, "Go ahead."

"Thank you."

I drove off. I was completely surprised. It no longer mattered that I messed up. My disappointment in myself was replaced... with thankfulness. The rest of my day would be affected by this grace, this gift that I didn't deserve.

They say it's better to give than to receive, and I suppose that's why we say that God is good. In the drive thru of eternity we order the super-sized Heaven value meal, many of us without realizing the price. The price for a sinful soul to get to Heaven is: the death and seperation of that person from God... meaning that Heaven is unattainable, unless you're perfect. And none of us are perfect... we're just left looking stupid saying, "uhhh.... I can't pay". But there is a God who sent His perfect son, whom He loved, to pay that price for us. God basically gave me $2 today, and I was thankful. How much more thankful should I be for His gift of eternal value- to live forever with Him?

Amazing how much $2 made a difference in my day. And how that put eternity in perspective. When I ate that crunch wrap, I truly said grace. "Thanks God- for the crunch wrap, for putting up with my sin, for forgiveness, for eternal life, but mostly Father... for your love."

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it–
Prone to leave the God I love–
Here's my heart, oh take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.