NYC here we come!

Brooke and I fly out in the morning for a trip to the Big Apple?  Why do they call it that?  Anyway, this will be Brooke's third visit to New York City and my first and we are both pretty pumped.  I've wanted to visit NYC for awhile and it has just never worked out so I'm excited to do some sight seeing and just soak in the vibe of the city.  The reason we are going is to attend a church planting conference in preparation for the work we'll be doing when we return to Auckland.

just because i needed to smile

This is simply classic. I dare you not to laugh.

consolers of the lonely

This sophomore album from The Raconteurs is an incredibly satisfying and worthwhile purchase.  You should order yourself a copy today.  Here's a video from the album's first single Salute your Solution.  "I found a ridicule that isn't cool for me at all."  Classic.

a 5.2 at 4:37am

Having never experienced an actual earthquake before it was a little unsettling (no pun intended) to wake up at 4:37 this morning because the entire house we are staying in was shaking.  Due to my lack of experience and the sleepiness affecting my thinking I could not for the life of me figure what was going on.  I thought, "Did a tree fall on the house or was it hit by a car?" but when the house continued rattling and shaking away for 20 to 30 seconds I realized that neither of those were viable options (had I not been half asleep I would have realized they weren't viable options to begin with since the house is positioned in such a way that no car could hit it with any significant force and there are no large trees near it either).  It wasn't until Brooke said, "Hey, I think that was an earthquake." that I finally was able to acknowledge that as a possibility.  Sure enough she was right.  There was an earthquake registering about 5.2 on the Richter Scale 130 miles east of St. Louis.  You can read more about it here.  Now I have a new experience to add to the list.  Just F.Y.I., apparently an earthquake of this magnitude releases an amount of energy roughly equivalent to the atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki at the end of WWII.

true christianity - the third option

The following is an excellent summary by John Stott about the calling of Christians to avoid religiosity as well as irreligion:

"Christians are to be different from both Pharisees and pagans, the religious and the irreligious, the church and the world. That Christians are not to conform to the world is a familiar concept of the New Testament. It is not so well known that Jesus also saw (and foresaw) the worldliness of the church itself and called his followers not to conform to the nominal church either, but rather to be a truly Christian community distinct in its life and practice from the religious establishment..."

Basically what Stott is saying is that while the dangers of debauchery are obvious, Jesus was also concerned that his followers not be merely religious (some might say overly religious).  A faith that is nothing more than external practices, no matter how good those practices may be, is not the personal and living faith of true Christianity.  For more on this check out this article by Tim Keller.

more "fun" from the past

I may live to regret this but I thought, at least for the amusement of my friends, that I'd put up a picture of this little gem that my mom found tucked away somewhere. I'm happy to say that by grace my scholastic endeavors have improved with time. Of course actually showing up to class is a step in the right direction. Showing up to class sober helps too. As I've said before, I used to be a little different than I am now (but I still suck at Math!).

different faces of me

I had originally planned on putting up a bunch of pictures of places in Arizona that had significant memories for me. However, after multiple issues trying upload most of those pictures I've decided to abandon that project. Instead I present you with several different pictures of me at various ages. My mom gave these to me while I was out in AZ last week. Man I used to cute. I wonder what happened.















































This last picture has caused me much grief as Brooke is wondering where my trim body went. Frankly, just looking at this picture makes me feel my age. I don't think I could get back to this no matter how much I exercised.

12 years gone

Last Friday I landed at the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport for a ten day support raising trip.  The last six days or so have been very odd for me.  It's not that they haven't been good, they have.  I have had several good meetings with churches and pastors out here and made some new friends.  I was also able to spend last weekend in Buckeye, AZ with my mom which was also good.  However, the time here is still a bit disorienting.  For those of you who don't know I lived in Arizona for eight years from the time I was ten until I was eighteen.  After moving back to Michigan I did two return trips to Arizona but this trip is the first time I have set foot in Arizona in over twelve years.  Many things have changed drastically including me.  The life I lived when I actually lived here was very different then the one I live now.  It's strange for me to drive past places where I have vivid memories of a life that no longer exists.  It's all good though.  These memories are helpful reminders of what God has saved me from and in thinking through all of this I'm fairly convinced that had he not intervened when he did I would either be dead or in jail right now.  

At any rate, I'm here for a few more days and won't have time to blog but I will be putting up a series of pictures that are loaded with memories for me.  I'm not going to explain all the pictures but if you know me and are curious feel free to give me a call or email and I'll fill you in on some of the details.