The Life of Taylor Hay

The long way home

2010-06-04T01:07:00.001-07:00

Tonight I took the long way home on my moped, It was hard to do because I was right down the street from my house, but I spent a good amount of time weaving in and out of streets and looking at the street lights.
I was at a party, playing card games and hanging out with friends after our weekly college group. A friend told me that he had something to talk to me about, but he didnt want anyone else to hear, so we walked down a hallway.
He told me that he is changing religions, from Christianity to agnostic or atheist. (He hasn't decided which one yet) He took a long time telling me, you could tell he knew that I wouldnt like it. The first thing I asked is why, and he told me it was because he has been praying for stuff, and God doesnt answer. My friend feels like God isnt there anymore, and he has been wasting time praying and reading his bible. I told him what I thought of the whole situation, that I didnt like it, that I want him to be a Christian. But I also told him that it was his decision to make, that he cant be a Christian because other people want him to be one, because his parents want him to be one. I told him that you cant change religions to atheism, that by definition it is the absence of religion. He was bummed that he wont be able to go to atheist church services... But he stuck to his decision.
I told him that I will be praying for him, that I believe one day God will talk to him and make Himself known to my friend. That we all have to make our faith our own, especially those of us raised in a Christian home, where it came naturally to believe. And that he has to do that still. I explained that God isnt a vending machine and prayer isnt our currency. That God has always been answering his prayers, just not in the way my friend wanted. I wasnt trying to convince him otherwise, I was just making sure he knew these things.
He asked me to come with him, and stand next to him when he told the rest of our friends that he doesn't believe anymore. Because he feels that if I am with him, then other people wont think he is so strange. I told him I would.
He plans on telling his parents about it in 15 years, when he has moved out, and has a girlfriend.

He is taking a spanish class this summer, and is scarred that nobody will help him with homework. He told me that he hopes there arent very many Christians in his spanish class, because Christians never help him with homework. But agnostics and atheists are always willing to help.
His dream is to help people, and from what he has observed, the best way to help people is by not being a Christian.
And that is why I took the long way home tonight. Because I call myself a Christian, and somehow by the grace of God this friend sees me as a different kind of Christian, one who is nice and who helps him. But more often than not I ignore his calls, I tell him my car is full and to find a ride with someone else, I cut off our conversations to talk with someone else. More often than not I am the kind of person who he doesn't want to be. More often than not I am what is making him into an agnostic or atheist (he still hasn't decided)

Purpose

2010-03-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks, even months. I have been trying to figure out my life. where am I going? what am i doing? I am 100% down for anything that God wants me to do, but what do i do when he isnt saying much, when i cant figure out what direction he wants me to go.

So i sat with david seehusen, and discussed these things. We started talking about gifts, and where im gifted. I had been thinking tech, media. thats what i have always done as my ministry, im gifted there and my churches have always needed someone to do those things - so it fit. But something david said really hit me, he said "Taylor, when i think of your gifts i dont think of tech as one of them." he said that my biggest gifts are these things that have nothing to do with clicking a button, with uploading sermons to a website. that my God given gifts all have to do with people, making them feel welcome, relating with them, communicating things to them. and he is right.
why have i always thought that for me ministry = tech, when i know that im gifted much better in other areas!

I have been thinking that i want to go to rock harbor church after my internship, and get involved there (of course - doing media) but i would be so much better suited somewhere else, where i can lead, where i can explain, where i can relate to people.

I just took a spiritual gift test thing online, and this is what it says...

As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.

God show what to do with my gifts! Where to best serve you with my life.

Hunger

2009-10-04T01:49:00.000-07:00

I find fulfilment in life in 2 things right now.

Being in a relationship, having someone to pursue, think about, do things for...
Traveling, being out on my own exploring. (even around LA, just moving)

I know this is wrong... i need to find my fulfillment in God not in my passions. i need to make my passion God! then find fulfillment in that. but how? how do i stop finding my joy, my... i used it alot, but the best word really is fulfillment - in fleshly things, and find it all in Christ alone?

i lay in bed and think of travel. i plan my trips, i think through places. at work i think about the woman God has for me, how it will feel to have someone to share everything with. THESE things are where i feel happy, mature, where i feel like i can satisfy myself.

a friend gave me an amazing piece of wisdom just now

we dont allow ourselves to eat the main course because we are snacking all day

i desire God, but i dont let myself truly desire Him because im filling myself with other things... im snacking on chips, then im bummed when the steak arrives. and im not hungry for it.

i need to fast from the chips, stop being absorbed with travel, with my passions, and let myself truly hunger. let myself get desperate and find my fulfillment in Christ alone.

Sins Control

2009-09-24T02:47:00.001-07:00

We are taught not to let sin control us, not to let sin run our lives. What does that mean? up until 3 minutes ago, i believed that to mean we shouldnt be adicted to sin, not to let lust run our thoughts, not to let greed determine what we do for work, not to let selfishness outweigh Gods plan. thats what i was tought, and thats what i believed. Crying out to God, i tell him that i dont want sin to run my life, im distrought when i sin, im torn up inside. I feel like im distanced from God. Somebody somewhere in my life told me that "when you sin, the only thing God will hear from you is a prayer to ask his forgiveness..." that statement tainted my perspective on God for along time. You cant piss off God. his love is uncondititional, human love says that if you wrong me, you need to make it up to me before we can be close again, Gods love isnt like that though. When we wrong God he is crying for us to come back to Him, he is preparing for our return, he misses us like in the story Jesus told about the prodigal son.

I dont want sin to control my life, so when i do sin, i get really hard on myself. to try and stop myself from doing it again, to try and guilt myself out of it. maybe even to make sure God knows how sorry i am. but by doing that, im letting sin control my thoughts and emotions.

When we forget Gods forgiveness, his grace, his mercy, his unconditional love, and allow ourselves to focus on our sin, we are giving it more control.

Now there are times to be broken, and times to be really really torn up about our sin. But when we take that to far, and dont let ourselves enjoy Gods presence, and when we cant see God because we are so occupied worrying about our own sin - it becomes sin in itself.

The Message puts it tis way...

^28-30"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'
^31-32"His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'"

God (the father in this story) didnt yell at his son. he didnt belittle him for wasting all his money on whores. he didnt point out all the things that his son did wrong. His son came home, broken and truly sorry for what he did, and his father threw him a party! "how awesome that my son is sorry for what he did!"

likewise when we sin, and we come back to God, asking his forgiveness he gives it to us freely! without holding a grudge, without expecting us to go live in the barn with the pigs from now on (even when we feel thats what we deserve) no, He has prepared us the best food, he has planned a party, He missed us. and is so happy that we are back.

^20-21"When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'
^22-24"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.

Read the whole story

Misconceptions of Christianity

2008-11-25T23:55:00.000-08:00

i recently stumbled across a webpage that had some hilarious quotes from "The Christian Tee" forum. it prompted me to look deeper into it! and i found this post, by a teenage guy struggling with certain issues (most likely pornography) and this is what he said.

"Im not sure what im doing wrong... my music library is almost 90% christian, and i only hang out with Christians. but im STILL having these temptations... and still struggling. what am i doing wrong?"

i didnt like it. first off, he is treating Christianity like a calculator. you put in the right things, press the right button, and out comes positive results. so many Christians think this way!! but the truth is, we are completely incapable of pushing the button. we can try, we can listen to only christian music, we can separate ourselves from temptation, but we are not able to stop sinning. not able to help ourselves. like a ball rolling down a hill, it can be stopped. but it cannot stop itself. it must have an external force stop it.

the second thing i didnt like, was that he assumed hanging out with only Christians is a positive thing. while in reality i think it can be negative! we need to model our friend groups after Christ. have the close few, who we can share our struggles with, cry with, and hold accountable. but diversify - as long as your not being tempted - do what Jesus did. hang out with prostitutes, inmates, drug addicts, murderers, sex offenders, child pornographers and terrorists. the most hated people in society. THEY are who need Christ, not the people who already have Him.

Christianity is so off track. at least Christianity as the world portrays it. and as alot of Christians do too. if tonight, i decide to become a chicken. im not a chicken... i need to research, observe, learn, understand how they live before i can become one, and convince other people to do the same, otherwise im just making myself, and possibly all chickens look like idiots!
Tyler Durden once said "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken!"
equally so, grabbing a bible does not make you a christian.

its a lifestyle, something we need to observe, research, learn and understand. not just decide to try.

God Is Mighty.

2008-09-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Im finaly realizing this! the feeling that "i need to be here, i want to be here, but i cant make myself go there" is fading! im actuly growing in my faith, in my relationship with Christ. FINALY! its becoming a constant mindset, keeping him first and focusing on Him. im a far cry from where i should be, but im so far from where i was just weeks ago - God is using EBC, Malone - Brooke - Brittany and Alise to show me himself, using the internship at church, using my friends.

last week, we didnt get on spiritual topics. hardly ever, and now? since talking with Malone and the girls? i bring it up in conversations! and it fits so well. it feels like all this time has been wasted, when its SO easy to get focused on Christ.

(haha! its shocking how much worship music is on bittorrent.... pirates love God too!)

so God, thank you. thank you for answering my prayers, for showing me you, for getting me back on track, for bringing about the change that i needed! and wanted deep inside. thank you for Tyler and Malone, sharing themselves lastnight/thismorning and being a final push onto course, thank you for taking the time to "waste" being not close to you, and using it to show me what i was missing. God keep me focused on you, im doing great tonight! i even read my bible for the first itme in months, but let this be more than a good week. let this be a new lifestyle! a perminent change father, thank you for taking me through this spiritual valley, and bringing me back out stronger than ever.

mom just called. and wants me to walk over accross the street, so i can walk back with her. and its really annoying me. why? because she called me, and said "hey! i have a favor to ask you...." and then started talking to someone else for a minute, and laughing. and here i am - pissed she interupted my "God Time" hahahha. how weak i am. using this time to focus on God, and reflect, and to let him change me. and then whenever an oportunity to serve pops up, i get angry because its interfering with letting God teach me.
forgive me Father, i am so selfish. so closed minded to what my goals actuly are. God give me a broad perspective of what you want, of what is important.

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Now playing: Chris Tomlin - God Of This City

How could it be any other way?

2008-05-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

this song is so perfect!
at first he misses her, and wonders why things went bad

then he realizes that things didnt go bad, they went the right way, and all is good :)

As I walk on down
I feel like a clown
In a circus of my own
Oh my cover is blown
Feel like I got a heart made of tin
I thought of you this morning

Well I sleep into a state
As I awake
Well I start to find
That I can't get your smoke out of my eyes
I guess I lose
I guess you win
I thought of you this morning

Well I think about all the other ways I could've played
All the other simple moves I could've made
All the other cards that I could've dealt
All the books I didn't read upon my shelf
All the other ways I could've sung my songs
I've realized that none of it wen't wrong
It was all play
How could it be any other way?

Now that the chains are off
I'm free to roam
Everywhere I go
I feel like I'm home
Nothing hides
Everything is shown
She is always with me
I'm never alone
I guess you lose
I guess I win
I thought of you this morning

How could it be any other way?
How could it be any other way?
How could it be any other way?
It was all play
How could it be any other way?

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Listening to: Trevor Hall - Other Ways

Back Burner

2008-03-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

ohh Taylor. your so confused lately. just when you think you have something figured out, something else comes up. your not going to fulleron this summer, but now other things are driving you mad, other topics confuse you. as soon as your over one, another comes and takes its place. as soon as your ok being single, talking with your neibor, and her obvious intrest floods you with feelings you thought where gone. you LOVE being back at church, working with people, helping out, ministering. but then you realize that your striggling. hard.

my sollace is here, sitting on my patio, with an apple flavored cigar, oversized headphones up all the way, typing out my feelings and thoughts.

this is my vacation.

sometimes i want to just be a different person, i get tired of living with myself, tired of my expressions, my phrases, my way of thinking. my bents, my quirks, my skills and my weaknesses. like a bad roomate, or that feeling when you spend to long with your best friend - you will always love them! but right now you just need to get away.

relient k comes to mind - you know ill always love you, but right now i just dont like you.

what am i doing? God can you change me? nothing spcific, just change me. mix it up, throw in some veriety! im getting bored of myself. maybe this just means im far to self centered that im focusing to much on me. when in reality its not about me, i should be the last person im concerned with! but as usual, thats not the case. as usual im first in my own life. not God, not others. its me again.

Taylor stop! put yourself where you belong. the back burner.

remember your meaning, your purpose, your objective. if something is not furthering the ultimate goal, if something is for selfish gain

you shouldn't be doing it.

God hold me accountable
let me be in the world, but not of this world

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Now playing: Moby - In This World

Blurry

2007-12-16T01:44:00.000-08:00

everything around me is growing increasingly unclear.

promises made arent made anymore, dogmas in my life are no longer dogmas. people arent dependable, people are unpredictabler than usual. whats going on? whats changing.

where do you lean when your castles turn to sand?
what supports you when nothing does?
who can i depend on when the most dependable people in my life ignore me?

when God seems distant, when feelings arent mutual, when best friends arent so best friendish.
what do i do?

pray? lean on the One who i KNOW can support me, who i know will listen, who i know will not ignore me?

the simple answer is yes. the not simple answer is how

I couldn't sleep last night
My ears were ringing in my head
Best friends with the boogey man
I may be better off here dead
I'm running on empty once again
Too tired for tears I dread
Sink deep into those magic dreams
While I blast off in my bed

Three hours later and I'm staring at the ceiling still
Xanax does nothing more than calm the sleeping thrill
Turning the pillows round and round to find the cold spot for my head
Ah, bless my only friend

And you know I've played it all in here
Where everyone hides their darkest shades of fears
And I threw my whole night down the drain
You know 'cause everyone says that I'm not the same
And everyone turns tricks for fickle fame

Everything’s so blurry
And everyone’s so fake
And everybody’s so empty
And everything is so messed up
Pre-occupied without you
I cannot live at all
My whole world surrounds you
I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone
You could be my scene
You know that I’ll protect you
From all of the obscene
I wonder what your doing
Imagine where you are
There’s oceans in between us
But that’s not very far

Can you take it all away
Can you take it all away
When you shoved it in my face
This pain you gave to me

Everyone is changing
There’s noone left that’s real
To make up your own ending
And let me know just how you feel
Cause I am lost without you

Nobody told me what you thought
Nobody told me what to say
Everyone showed you where to turn
Told you where to runaway

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Listening to: Kings Of Convenience - Homesick

Losing all hope is freedom.

2007-10-24T22:55:00.000-07:00

We where much more than dating. we where completely and utterly in love. not that highschool love, that everyone claims, but no. for real. in love. i honestly could marry this girl, and i planned on it. and so did she. we had the most amazing conversations! about God, philosophy, life, love, family, people, everything! she was truly my best friend who i could tell anything. and i was hers.

we always struggled with keeping God first in our relationship, something everyone deals with. and then she felt God telling her that He needed to be first, not me. and i certainly was first in her life. i on the other hand didnt feel the same way, i felt i was balancing God, and her fine! we took a break, just no phone, no myspace, no eachother - so we could focus on God. at the end of a very long, very hard week, i knew something was up. and that night, she ended our relationship. she broke my heart. completly and utterly. i was a mess for a week, i just got in my car, got on some random freeway and would drive. i would go to the beach and just look at the ocean, where we used to walk and just cry. i was mad! not at her, not at God. but just mad.
her feelings didnt change, and neither did mine. but she knew that in order to keep God first we couldnt be together, and we arent. but we still are.. in love, in a way. nothing changed there, i dont want anyone else, nor does she. i refused to move on for a long time, i looked at her pictures, knowing that somehow, if we where good and proved ourselves to God He would put us back together. but i have had to move on, had to sever the ties.
it was the hardest thing i have ever done.

losing all hope is freedom.

and now? im single. she is single. i dont want anyone else, and i dont think she does.
but God knows best in everything, and if anything, this has made me so much closer to Him. made me realize that its not about me, not about my pleasure on this earth. its about Him, and His glory. and perhaps this time was for Him to show me that i can rely in HIM, and in my hardest times, to always see hope. see that He is there. i have moved on, but i still know i will never have what we had. but its time to move on. its time to continue.
there are often times that hurt so bad, there are times when i cant believe what i had. but there are always times when i remember the memories, and know that they where a gift from God, and being selfish enough to want more? its just selfish.

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Listening to: Death Cab For Cutie - Title and Registration

Our War

2007-10-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

its long, read it slowly and think about every line.

We as humans are made for conflict resolution, we need a mission, a task. and we don't have one. are we being utilized? a big part of me wants to grab everything that's wrong in our culture, and kick it in the face. i want to start a revolution, become the rebel throwing molotov cocktails at police! but if you think about it, our society is so well defined, its so laid out for us, there is no adventure left, no discovery. did you want to work at Best Buy? did you want to be a banker? a lawyer? when you where a kid. i didn't, i wanted to find a new continent, discover a new people group! Magellan, Einstein, Thomas Edison, Robert Fulton, Columbus - those where my heroes, not Bill Gates, not Brad Pitt. i didn't want to be rich, be famous. i wanted to invent, discover, think, and build. i venture to say many of you are the same way, when you where 5 did you dream of going to high school, dating the quarterback, getting a good grade on your SAT so you could get into Stanford and become the popularsorority ruler, graduate, and marry a beautiful man? NO! and if you did when you where a kid you may need to reevaluate your existence... i dreamed of being a firefighter, nurse, policeman, someone who can help people or change the world! but so many kids these days, that's not what they want, and most other people have changed what they want, they want what other people have. they want the structure, the predefined lifestyle of "school - work - retirement." and somewhere fit in love, family, and God.
do we do anything original? no. we wake up stressing over the exact same stuff as everyone else does. we do the exact same thing all day as everyone else. we sit in traffic - just like everyone else. we see flashing lights in our mirror and panic just like everyone else. we hear gunfire down the street and lock our doors just like everyone else. we keep our music at a reasonable volume just like everyone else, we go to the mall just like everyone else, we take standardized tests just like everyone else, we change ourselves to be just like everyone else. self expression for our generation is wearing different colored socks, or getting tattoos. self expression is changing the world! self expression is painting your house and your car and your dog with hot pink paint. who gave us all these boundary's? all these lines? why is different wrong? being the same is wrong! conforming is wrong! are we that insecure? are we that desperate for meaning that we find it from people just like us? people who are looking for it just like us? we are a star-craving, sick, sad little world. (to quote Incubus) we are blind to the force overtaking us, blind to the blatant attack. national security is in the hands of the trendsetters. we are oblivious to the attack on our generation, and it is way more deadly than any attack that we could see.

a while ago, before this school year started my cousin posted a bulletin on Myspace. it was a warning for all freshman, not to talk to juniors or seniors, and to remember that they where the bottom of the shit-heap. i was disgusted. how can people be so incredibly selfish and rude? treating people horrible because they aren't as old as you? high school is leading the attack against us as a people. and it wont ever stop because when that freshman gets to Sr high, he will do the exact same thing that was done to him. and it will continue.

there is so much more to life than you.

by the time your done with education, you have been shaped, molded, standardized, compared, compartmentalized, divided, assigned, graded into the same autonomous blob as everyone else sorry enough to be subjected to the same treatment, and guess what? you function perfectly to your programming. you work your 9-5, you don't question the pointless laws you follow and defend. you have become a star citizen. you now put down the people that still have the dreams you once did. you make fun of people who broke out of the system, who are even the smallest shred different.
ill be damned if that ever becomes me.
the Matrix is more real than you may think.
wake up Neo

Fight Club:
an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

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Listening to: Rage Against The Machine - Down Rodeo

Privilege

2007-09-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech. - Soren Kierkegaard

Soren Kierkegaard said that in the early 1800's, when freedom of speach didnt exist yet :) but what a quote... what a mindset. as people, we are never satisfied, never fulfilled, never happy. things like SuperSize, premium gas, energy drinks, supermodels, carpool lanes, Martha Stewert. we somehow seem to forget that we can function on so much less than we do, we can go a week without sleep easy, but if we miss our latte enema every morning we cant function right. there is nothing wrong with living our normals lives, with driving in the carpool lane, with drinking redbull, with getting the venti. but we need to remember that it isnt a right to have it so easy, its a privilege.

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Listening to: Something Corporate - Ruthless

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Listening to: Something Corporate - Drunk Girl

Pleasures Are Meaningless.

2007-09-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem [a] as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king's successor do
than what has already been done?

I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.

The wise man has eyes in his head,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.

Then I thought in my heart,
"The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?"
I said in my heart,
"This too is meaningless."

For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
in days to come both will be forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise man too must die!
Toil Is Meaningless
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2.
most amazing chapter in the bible.

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Listening to: Red - Already Over

Patience. Diligence.

2007-09-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

im so tired of it all. im especially tired of being half bad-ass. (i decided thats what im being.) my greatest influences are people i dont want to be like. the traits i hate the most are visible in the people who im with the most. and are therefore starting to show up in MY life.
what am i thinking?
im tired of being irresponsible. being a kid is great. but honestly?, im not one anymore.
im tired of being selfish. there are so many people i love, and currently im number one.
im tired of caring. about what people that i dont care about - think about me.

some very large part about me wants to be the guy in the picture, from the movie Knocked Up. someone who lives with some guys, has no money but doesnt care, watches movies all day, does... nothing really. just lives, and doesnt care about other things, he doesnt have a purpose.
it sounds amazing.
but, by the end of this movie he is thrust into the hardest, most commited situation ever. where he has to provide for a family, that he didnt even want. but he does. he quits smoking pot, he stops hanging out with his friends. he actuly gets a job, and does an awesome job!
i guess in this sense i respect his character. the transformation between nothing, and being a responsible man.

im fed up with the stuff i do. im done being a half badass, half man, half kid, mixture. but its so impossibly hard to just change, i want a catalyst. but thats not the right way.
i refuse to be like my 20 year old friends though. i will not be working a dead-end job (or no job), living at home, no real responsibilities. as much as i dont, i want to skip over what they are all doing. and i want to go right to being the MAN that God made me. but maybe just maybe, the man that God made me, is actually a irresponsible kid. for now. and its part motivation, part acceptance, and part patience.

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Listening to: Haste The Day - Servant ties

The "Not So Purpose Driven life"

2007-09-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

why so much emphasis on purpose?
why do we all need to know everything.
the biggest questions ever are...
Who am I?
Where did I come from?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?

in fact The Used put it at the begging of one of their songs!

"Take It Away"
Life's greatest questions have always been: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? You are about to see and hear one of the most significant messages given to us from God.

Listen!

the answers to these questions is simple! its God! (to all of them)
but us as humans, as Christians, we seek purpose.
in our jobs, in ourselves, in our friends, in our lives.
but do we not realize that we have purpose?
tonight was Phinehas's last show with their guitarist mike. at the last song, his last song with the band, he was laying on the ground, screaming out to God, thanking him for his experiences with Phinehas, for the fans, but more importantly, thanking God for a purpose, for Him... have you ever thanked God for God? cuz He made Him :)
it was touching. i know touching is a weird word to use about a hardcore show... but these guys are SO sold out for God! its amazing. after crying out to on the concrete, mike started singing Be Thou My Vision, and the crowd joined in. they where saying between songs, its not about the music. (ya, screw you Hot-Topic!) they said if you go to our myspace, dont listen to our songs. read our lyrics. they knew what their purpose is. its not to make cool music, its not to sell out, its not to have tons of fans. its to glorify God and God alone.
so often we get caught up in finding purpose in life, that we lose sight of our purpose in life. we are driven to find goals, missions, challenges. but the only goal we need, our mission in life, our great challenge is to be Gods. you may say "thats no challenge..." try it :) its harder than you might think.

being a sellout for God is not an easy task
but who said goals should be attainable?

one thing that Sean (the lead singer) said tonight between two songs,
was

"If your seeking anything other than God, its in vain."

what are you seeking?

Love. whywhatwho?

2007-08-31T02:02:00.000-07:00

im thinking alot about love lately.
here is a letter i wrote to grace. kinda just talking myself through stuff :) it shares some of my opinions, and struggles with and about love.

tonights lesson was on Love.
and all of its meanings.

1what is love?
2who is love?
3why is it so complex?

answer

1God is love.
2God is love.
3God is love, there fore love is confusing and complicated.

we cannot grasp God, thereofore we cannot grasp love.
we can wrap our feeble minds around one, maybe two meanings of love, we maybe can pull some examples out of our heads. but to fully grasp it? to understand it?

never

there are two flavors of love

1human love
2Godly love

human love we invented. we made it. by being humans, we understand it because it was made by us, the concepts where designed by humans.

but Godly love? not even close. its so all inclusive and vast, we cant begin to get a handle on it, let alone show it to eachother.

but
we can feel it. we feel it all the time. and like we both have said about saying "i love you" to eachother
we become imune.

it doesnt mean quite so much.

it isnt new and exiting.

amazing? heck yes! but we become immune.
that feeling people get when they first accept Christ into their lives? why dont we as Christians feel it the same way right now?

the feeling the first time you told me you loved me? why dont i feel it the same way when you say it now?

the law of diminishing returns???
i dont think so.

i think its the ~~law~~ phenomenon of chincy humans. we are selfish, and weak, and self serving. it means just as much as it did then! but we dont feel it as much.

i dont think the frequency of i love yous makes any difference.

i think the emotions, and the feelings behind both people are what make the differnece.

saying it more should only make it MORE meaningfull!
but it doesnt....
experiencing Gods love 24/7, instead of for the first time should make it better! more fulfilling.
but it doesnt....

why?

because we are humans. and we respond to a concept that we cant respond to the best we can. we try and take something as pure, and amazingly beautiful as true love. and understand it or experience it, instead of fearing it.

look what we did to sex
to money

our culture is doing/has done the same thing to love.
and i dont like it.
but i too am human. and so are you grace marie russell.

we cannot understand it, we cannot grasp it.
but i know its there. love is lurking just around the corner. we are always knowing, always experiencing... something. a nameless faceless... something.
but we can never catch it, never find it out. we can catch a glance, a feeling. we can find our earthly interpertation of love. but we can never understand the real love. the God-like love.

at least not until we get to heaven.
when we will see it, we will experience it. we will love like Christ loves us. and we will know for a fact, that THIS is true love.