Observation of the Day.....

Somehow, with about 6 pieces of buttered toast and 2 whole pots of coffee under your belt, and with dramatic bagpipe music playing as you march off to certain doom, going to take a midterm you're not prepared for can actually be kinda fun.

More than Useless.....

I have a sign above my bed in my dorm room that says "Coffee: you can sleep when you're dead!". While it's funny, it's actually not a good motto.

I didn't get much sleep last night, and consequently, I spent most of today in a very self-centered mindset. And I'm pretty sure I wasn't effective for the Kingdom. And I'm pretty sure I took comments more personally than I should have and I was probably ruder than I should have been.

All because I didn't get sleep.


It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

--Psalm 127:2

I saved this one for a rainy day....

A few people have commented that I haven't posted too much over the past few months. Incidentally, a few people have recently asked me what books I enjoy reading and am currently reading. Fortunately for all you lucky people, this post should help rectify both these situations:

So I’ve been meaning to this book survey for a while… not that any of you care what books I read, but I did this more for myself… I’d like a bird’s-eye survey of what books have influenced me. Maybe it might help explain why I’m the whacked-out weirdo I am. Enjoy. (By the way, I know it says “one book…”, but come on, who can answer with just one book?)


1. One book that changed your life: Ooo… there's a few: The Cross-Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney (it helped me identify my sinful tendencies of subjectivism), The Minister as Shepherd by Charles Jefferson (it helped me realize that I am not meant to be a pastor by any means), The Book on Leadership by John MacArthur (it showed me I’ve got a lot to learn about being a leader), and Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper (it helped me put what I’m doing in the perspective of Eternity—I’m going to stand before God and give an account for what I’ve done with my life).

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: I’ve read many books more than once, because I’ve found that I get much more out of them the second time around, but a couple I’ve re-read recently would be Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Umm… the nature of this question implies that I can only have one book on said island, and that being the case, the answer would of course be the Bible (and if I had to narrow it down to one specific book, I would say the Gospel of John… and Ecclesiastes). If you’re not satisfied with that bland, predictably Christian answer, I’d also say The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis… and then maybe Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. And I definitely would want Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Lord of the Flies by William Golding with me to remind me to maintain my human dignity.

4. One book that made you laugh: Bleachers by John Grisham, The Princess Bride by William Goldman (the movie’s great, but the book’s better by far), My Life as an Afterthought Astronaut by Bill Meyers, and every single Calvin and Hobbes book.

5. One book that made you cry: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, When I don’t Desire God by John Piper, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and I will admit that I cried just a little at the end of Harry Potter book 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (who expected that ending… I mean really expected it?!? Wow!).

6. One book you wish had been written: An ESV Translation of The MacArthur Study Bible and My Personal Statement of Faith and Beliefs by Bob Dylan.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Both of these make me gag. Also, Animal Farm by George Orwell annoys me more and more every time I re-read it.

8. One book you’re currently reading: I’m kinda reading a bunch right now… a few I’m reading for school would include American Constitutional Law: The Structure of Government, Volume 1 by Ralph A. Rossum, The Republic by Plato, and Yesterday, Today, and Forever: the Continuing Relevance of the Old Testament by Larry R. Helyer; for devotions I’m reading the books of Isaiah and Romans; and for my own personal enrichment, I’m reading Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God by C.J. Mahaney and Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, God is the Gospel by John Piper, King Lear by William Shakespeare, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.




Ok, your turn. You do the book survey.

Dinkin' Flicka

So I skipped Bible Study tonight for the specific reason of doing homework. You've got to understand, I LOVE my bible study-- it wasn't easy to skip. But I have so much homework! Subsequently, I feel kind guilty that I am taking a break to blog, but I want to say a couple things:



First, when did Java N' Jazz get so.... crappy? This place used to be one of my favorite place to go and study... then last year, I hung out with a bunch of people who like to study at Starbucks or Panera.... now that I realize that I am one who should not, under any circumstances, go do homework in groups ('cuz I can't resist talking)... so I'm back to studying by myself, which is fine, but I thought I'd try out Java N' Jazz again.... and well, it sucks. The atmosphere is gone, the quality of the coffee and pastries have gone way down, and every table, floor, and counter has a distinct and unnerving amount of stickiness to it. All I would like to see is a little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in which I can do homework into the wee hours of the night.... anybody out there got any suggestions (don't say Starbucks).



Secondly, here are the lyrics to a song I really, really like:

"Mirrors and Smoke" by Jars of Clay, from their album "Good Monsters"

I'm feeling older than my years
I'm feeling pain inside my chest
It's love that keeps me silent
It's my silence that you detest
Rivers flow into the oceans
And oceans never fill
I want to kiss your lips, but I know I never will

Love's a hard decision to risk impending choke
But love will keep you wishing
And my heart will keep me broke

I blew flowers, gave you candy to even out the guilt
I sent you greeting cards with messages that I could never write
Rivers flow into the oceans
And oceans never fill
I want to let you know me
But I know I never will

Love's a contradiction
Many mirrors and smoke
Love will keep you wishing
My heart will keep me broke

You will always want me
And I'll always want to leave
Even though I cut your wounds
You still deny they're real
Rivers flow into the ocean
Oceans never fill
I want to lay my life down
But I know you never will

Love's a strange condition
With all the doubts it can invoke
Your love keeps me wishing
And my heart keeps me broke

Baby, don't you cry, 'cause I got it all figured out
You always make me sad
But that's what true love is all about
Rivers never fill the oceans
But oceans always feel
The waters reaching deep inside them
I guess they always will

Love's a constant mission to a world you never spoke
Love, it keeps you wishing
My heart, it keeps me broke...




Third, here is a quote from Macbeth (my favorite Shakespearean play) that describes how I feel about my homework:

"If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly..."

--Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7, lines 1-2

The Arche

Funny how the Lord breaks us, isn't it?

I wept tonight for people. My heart broke for a dozen kids lying in a hospital in Sun Valley... near-comatose kids each under a slow death sentence. I got to spend almost four hours with them yesterday, holding their hands, singing to them and reading to them. It broke again for a friend who's been hurt-- bad. It broke again for someone who doesn't know they're living wrong; and I'm absolutely dumbfounded as how to help them.

Most of all, I broke because I realize how much I don't love God.

The things that seem so important just fade away next to the truly deep things.

Someday, God's going to make all things new. The lion will lie down with the lamb. We will see Jesus as He is. Until then, my heart aches for those around me.


All I once held dear, built my life upon;
all this world reveres and wars to own-
what I once thought gain, I have counted lost
spent and worthless now compared to this:

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You-
there is no greater thing!
You're my all, You're my rest,
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love You, Lord.