zoo station

i did it...guilty as charged...

2006-01-23T11:07:00.000-08:00

i joined the xanga cult, but not only that, i am now a card carrying member of the xanga/ipod cult. so, change your links to me to: http://www.xanga.com/quietrhythms

smell you later
pc

on your knees boy...

2006-01-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

another survey entry.

when have had a clear communication with God, and what was so compelling about it that it forced you to make a decision: whether to respond in obedience, or turn the other way and just pretend it wasn't real?

a place...

2006-01-02T04:28:00.001-08:00

logos was pretty much stellar. i forget how much my youth make me laugh. the speakers were awesome, and as a group we made a commitment to each other that we would take the one year bibles that we got and get through the new testament together. oh yeah, by the way.... if anybody wants to stop by my office, i can hook you up with the new testament on your ipod. it'd be a great way to get through the nt like 5 times this year.

what was up with that lady in room 413?
did you hear about the kid who claimed to be jumped in the sky-walk, only to found a liar on the survelance tape later? (uh...oops)
how many of you saw marilyn lazlo come out and then go, "great, an old lady. i'm going to sleep." (admit it, you wanted to cry)
have you cleaned out your bedroom yet?
who started the rumor about me going somewhere? ugh!!!
and not everyone got a visit from "the who-girls" check this...

thanks for a great time everyone.

give me your thoughts.

it's very simple...

2005-12-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

one of the great paradoxes within the church to me, particularly those who claim a fairly conservative philosophy, is the stand against a big federal government (with its social programs that are viewed a crutch to those who could do just fine on their own) and the development of a big church program (with its social programs that are viewed as a necessity to the growth of their loved ones).

i wrestle with this one. obviously, jesus gave us a new definition of family when he said that "those who do what the Father desires are his brothers and sisters."

obviously now we live within the tension of providing ministry for those who are outside of our "family" and for those within our "family".

so, what's your take on a) the role of the church in regards to the family; and b) the role of the family in regards to the church?

person of the year

2005-12-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

it's nearing that time of year again, when we remember the good, and the bad. we'll see pictures, and the year in review. mtv will pickt the video of the year, and we will agree or disagree. in the big picture, your voice might not be heard. so he is your chance. so...

who's your person of the year? and why?

christian music and bloggers

2005-11-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

students and parents alike. if you have been following the david ludwig and kara borden story, lets talk about it.

read this article and then post your comments here.

the space between...

2005-11-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

how does a parent correct a student who is being disruptive at church, while ensuring that students feel comfortable and accepted just the way they are.

i bring to mind the verse that paul gave to timothy in regards to how the young are to be when he said:

and don't let anyone put you down because you're young. teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. (1 timothy 4)

where does the truth lie?

almost better than the real thing...

2005-10-28T04:08:00.000-07:00

here is a pic of u2 doing "love and peace or else" during their 10/25 show in detroit that nicole, nathan, mickey and myself went to see.

got no selfcontrol

2005-10-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

hoping to flip things upside down again. at least the way you think.

no selfcontrol: good thing, or bad?

these things come at the craziest times. the sight of a t-shirt that my man, nate, made for me, brought this one screaming.

anyways...

self
n. pl. selves (slvz)

One's own interests, welfare, or advantage

now...

con·trol
Pronunciation: k&n-'trOl
Function: transitive verb
a : to exercise restraining or directing influence over : REGULATE b : to have power over : RULE c : to reduce the incidence or severity of especially to innocuous levels

put them together and what do you get: self-control

duh!

to have power over my own interests. to do so i guess would suggest that i know what is best for me. but what happens when i don't get my own way? or what happens when the unexpected happens? where is the self-control then?

question is this: isn't it best to realize that giving up self-control right now, in this moment is actually the best way to live? life is going to come along once in a while and yank control away from me anyways. so why don't i just just give it up now.

it's a dizzy place to live, when you reliquish control. a place called vertigo? what's going to happen next? who knows. but what i do know is this:

when i am not so busy trying to maintain control of my life, i am more open to the One who gives me something i can feel, rather than the numbness of holding on to something that isn't even my own creation.

You want to be the song that you hear in your head...

2005-09-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

You ever feel like you'll take what you can get, because that's all you can find? But you know that there's something more. So, you pop on the headphones. Jump on MSN, change your name to the lyrics of some song, and escape into a world where you don't have to look into anybody's eyes. Because the eyes are the window to your soul. If nobody can see them, then what's in your soul becomes the communication that takes place between your fingertips and the keyboard.

All the while the music in your head is the world you settle for. Maybe it's a reflection of how you feel. Maybe it makes you feel that way. Either way, it's all that you can find. You know there's something more, but you'll take what you can get.

all that you fashion...

2005-08-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

bliss is typically not defined in the terms of finding yourself dangling by a thread. happiness is typically not defined in the terms of laying out fully exposed to the grandstands of folks waiting for you to fail so that their insecure soul can get a tempory boost of adrenalin.

whether it's typical or not has nothing to do with the fact, the quite often, it is within those situations that we find ourselves quite open and vulnerable.

if i were to ask you what it is your afraid of, would you tell me. that's like me asking you to describe the scenarion that you play over and over again inside your head, so much so that you think its a reality, because the fear that it may actually plays out, grips you. tight. so tight is this fear around you, that it paralyzes you at times. we've all been there, haven't we.

and as we stand their in the hallway, with all the faces passing by that seem so secure, we feel like an open book, afraid that someone may come up and read the pages, and decide that they don't like it. so we close the book. it's hard cover keeps us inside, with nothing else but the festering of the good times and the bad. the beautiful moments and the ugly.

when someone comes up to us, and wants to know whats written on the inside, we do our best to distract them with our cover. the same hard cover that keeps people from seeing whats inside, is the same hard cover that keeps us from opening up.

what if i told you that within you is a beautiful story. that when you are an open book, people can see the good and the bad, they can see the whole picture. not just the hard cover. what if i told you that the fear in the book that is so gripping that your afraid that it will make the reader close it and stick it on the shelf, is actually just one page of your life.

some day the page will turn...

open the book...

let me see your fear...

your pain...

your laughter...

are you afraid? of what?

don't close up.

i won't judge you by your cover.

i will be disappointed if that is all you let me read.

when all you got is hurt...

2005-08-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

i have been getting to know some incredible people lately who are not content to resolve dealing with their pain with the Linkin Park lyrics blazing through their iPods. though as i read through so many of the blogs, particularly of students in the fremont area, my eyes are opened to the level of depression that is out there.

i would love to know your thoughts on why this is. hope is a word that seems to run like a shallow river through the marshlands of so many fremont students lives. and yet i can't help but wonder as i read through their online confessional's that a vulnerability that they are exposing in their lives. the loneliness seems to temporarily be defused with the promise that maybe, just maybe, someone may come along and read their words and respond with a comment.

do you desire a real connection with another human being? do you desire transcendance with a higher power? or are you content with just sticking your words out in the cyber arena of space and time, hoping that the void will be filled?

i really want to listen. write back.

the ground is giving way

2005-08-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

i think it's better off that way...