The Secret of the Easy Yoke

Listening to: Pedro the Lion- Secret of the Easy Yoke (Live on Summer tour 2004) Yeah. When you buy Pedro's Achilles Heel you get a password that allows you to daily download a show from his concerts in the summer. Over 40 Pedro songs for $25? I think so.

Wow, a week without posting and there is little to say. Um. I love the english language, but hate it too. Cheers to brothers in arms, code. Gotta be what I gotta be, time to fulfill my ministry. (Apologies to everyone who can't follow).

I love conviction. It's such a painfully good thing. And I really don't like it when everything gets messed up and people tell other people to do things that you don't want them to do, for pivotal reasons. And then some.

Spent yesterday drinking coffee, eating pizza and listening to "Songs to Burn Your Bridges By," by Project 86. Happy day. I can't wait for my past to rear its ugly head so I can kick it.

You were smiling (baby)

Listening to: Dead Poetic- Dimmer Light. This song is beautiful.

Barbecue at Paul Gillam's yesterday.

It was nice to see some of the Powerhouse kids again, miss them lots. I really want to get married and have kids. I spent some time observing Paul's eight month old daughter Jenaya, and man, kids are such an awesome gift form God. I can't wait. (Well, I can...but you know)

Today was great at work. Everything went smooth and I was done ON TIME...but stayed behind 20 minutes and talked to Cheryl (Assistant Manager) about 70's rock...rocks!

I love Dead Poetic. And Underoath. Can't get enough of this melodic screamy music. Man...I've gone all modern!

I need to do some running around tomorrow morning...like paying Queeen's U close to $700 for my con-ed. Sucks to my ass-mar. (Read Lord of the Flies)

Oh well. That be life. Rock on!

(Some will seek forgiveness...

Listening to: underoath- Young and Aspiring New Underoath cd. Yum. This cd friggin rocks. So catchy...so full of hooks...yet so much screaming and yelling...oh happy day.

So, last night I had an awesome talk with Sarah...we got together and studied the bible...And I shared my testimony...and the gloroius gospel of Christ...the whole gospel...and the bad news that makes the good news so awesome...I love this so much. I love preaching Christ. I love how it actually reaffirms me...when I hear the words spill forth from my mouth, I realize all the more that Christ died for me, and that I murderered him...my sin. It's so potent, that I know this and it's so powerful, and others need it. The gospel is so important, salvation...Christ's glory...is the most important thing...Why do I lock it up inside me so much? Paul said "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" Lord, may that be true of me.

I love saturday's off. And getting up early. So much accomplished by 2 PM! Got together with Jessica for Breakfast at Smitty's, bought new Underoath, went to all the political candidates offices for propaganda...oops... I mean information, went to mem centre to pick up Alice tickets (by the way, second row centre aisle seats...oh baby!) but the mem centre is closed, and went to Trent to pick up some texts but did not...I'm not gonna pay $90 for a USED copy of the Riverside Milton full of friggin' doodles and braindead notes by some teenybopper girl...That defiles Milton's genius...I'll pay the extra $20 for a new one thanks...

Sorry for this stream of thought, I'm just real happy and hopped up on caffeine. Did I mention the new underoath album is killer? Go buy it.

See ya.

...Other's escape)

When will this end?

Listening to: Vengeance Rising- Can't Get Out "Once Dead" is one of the best metal albums ever conceived. Period.

I apologize
That I divided your arteries
With my tongue
But sometimes you need to bleed

Tonight Shanghai is Burning

Listening to: Angelica- Second Chance Wow. A relatively successful Canadian Christian glam metal band from the early nineties. It's funny, but good. Thanks for the cd's Malcolm, who'll never read this...

Not much to say today...too much work to think.

Prosperous times produce passive wills
Passive wills produce overpowering emotions
Overpowering emotions produce perverse thoughts

Thanks James MacDonald and Walk in the Word.

Oh yeah, I have a poem stuck in my head, by some world war II vet I think:

Tonight Shanghai is burning
And I am dying too
But there's no death that's greater
Than the death inside of you
Some men die by shrapnel
Some men by the sword
Bit most men die
Inch by inch...
While playing little games

And this reminds me that I need to by Dirt's "A War to Restore" album. Rocks.

If you're joking I'll kill you (I'm still alive)

Listening to: The ringing in my ears. Some sound advice: Do not blow up a balloon until it pops from the pressure. The sound is VERY loud. Especially in a small room. My poor eardrums.

So, some good news, I think I may end up being the full time afternoon baker at Timmy's. Bad news is the circumstances under which thew last baker left suck. And that...sucks. However I can't complain about getting steady full time hours at a higher rate of pay (Answer to prayer, much?)

Church really rules. I totally dig the testimony sharings a WBC. The floor is always opened, and there is always a word of edification. It's truly awesome. And it's super cool that Sarah's coming out.

I realized something crazy yesterday. I used to work with a youth group, and now I volunteer at the Bridge. It's a crazy transition. I can literally feel a difference between the kids that have been shown love, and feel secure (in the youthgroup) and the kids that do not know love and are desperate for ANY attention (at the Bridge). It's a painful difference. It's painful.

Also...I realize now that NOTHING shows love better than rules that are fair and enforced. Rules are not bad. Fair rules show that the rule maker cares. Enforced rules show that the rule maker is not apathetic. We ask the kids not to swear. That's not a big deal. But it's a rule. A fair rule. One that is enforced. We care about the results...and so do the kids. And they care a lot that we actually care about their conduct. It shows love. A simple rule...which is the love they crave so much.

The Christian faith is so logical and true...yet so impossibe to understand or even believe at times. God is somewhat understandable...I mean...I get that he loves me and hates my sin...I get that he's the beginning of everything...the ultimate judge...the ultimate lover...the ultimate sacrifice and Lord. I get it. But don't. Not like I should. But I can't. His ways are not mine. What I do see, what I do understand is the most beautiful I could ever see or understand. I just need to wait for the rest.

Sleeping Wide Awake

Listening to: TransAtlantic- Stranger in Your Soul I've been really digging the TransAtlantic disc for a few days now.

Picked up a shift...worked it...GOT TICKETS TO ALICE COOPER!! ROCKS!!!

So next week I get to work five 8 hour baking shifts, which rocks, cause its better money and full time. Killer.

So I'm at work and Tony from Ancient Expressions comes in and I'm like "Dude, I had to take out my nostril piercing for work, but I want to get a septum piercing cause I can hide that."
And he was like, "Yeah man, come in and I'll give it to you at cost of jewellery." So guess who's getting a $25 septum? Man, today rocks.

Yeah,so read 2 Peter 2 today, and it's all about false teachers and prophets, check it out:

"17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." (NIV Translation from http://bible.gospelcom.net)

Wow man, that's heavy. It would be better to NEVER KNOW God's truths than to know them and live a disobedient life. This is a message for me alright. I CANNOT tolerate any sin in my life. Not even for a short time, Faithfulness to God is so much more important than anything else I colud ever do or want anyway.

Anyway, gotta go now.

Standing on the edge

Listening to: Pedro the Lion- Rejoice. The lyrics follow

Wouldn't it be nice if everything were meaningless
But everything is so meaningful
And most everything turns to (excrement)

Rejoice.

Sometimes some depressing pedro is what I need. It never ceases to amaze me how everyday happenings can destroy everything I hold dear in a second. Rejoice.

24 dropouts at the end of the day

Listening to: Switchfoot- Meant to Live I bet you all didn't see me as a Switchfoot kinda guy, eh? This album is so darn catchy and tight that I can't resist it. And don't forget the oh so EMOtional croonings. *tear*

Got a new portable cd player today. It's one of those new-fangled ones that is only as thick as a cd case, and can play MP3 cds with like, 300 songs on them. (drool)

Oh yeah, but the BEST news today is that ALICE COOPER IS PLAYING IN PETERBOROUGH ON OCTOBER 3 2004!!! This makes me such a happy kid that it's not funny. Like, I almost peed my pants when I heard about it. If Alice Cooper were a girl and thirty years younger, I'd want his number. Heck, I still want his number. I'd like to chill with the guy for an afternoon and chat about his lyrics and his faith (He became a Christian in 1989). Anyway, the cd player and the Alice news made my day. TOTALLY.

Yeah so, just chillin' for the afternoon, waiting for my batteries to charge so I can try out my cd player.

Rockin' it.

They are screaming at me desperately...

Listening to: Lengsel- Hours Lengsel is one of those bands I wish was around long enough to put out more than one album. They feature members of Extol and play sickly fast black metal. Every song on the album "Solace" is a highlight, and the only crappy part is the poor production with vocals WAY low in the mix. This song features song sick sounding screams in the middle that actually made me feel uneasy the first time I heard it.

So. Werked 8.5 hours today. yip yip. I need to get me cleaned up and buy a new ink cartridge for my worse than crappy printer so that I can actually go to school next year. What a day.

There are so many people in the world that don't give a crap about God. Yet God has put Christians (and that means me...) in charge of "preaching the gospel to all nations." Wow. Talk about being inadequate for a job. And just to rub it in he tells us that we may plant, water and harvest seeds, but can't make them grow.

Sometimes I feel like God uses us to do specifically what we find impossible to do, so that we don't do it on our strength but his, so that we can't claim any responsibility for things happening, so that it humbles us and all the glory goes to him. (My english professor would kill me for that run on sentence.)

And I guess that's the whole point. I feel like a pretty crappy witness of God's glory. And it's like, "Hey God. I suck. Please somehow reach some people through me."

And God's all like, "Hey, man, you don't suck any more 'cause of my grace in Christ, and I'll help you out tons."

God's all cool like that.

So Vanity's got this new gun that she wants to try on you...

Listening to: Dead Poetic- Vanus Empty So Jer lends me some DP, proving to me I HAVE to buy their records....

Wow. Super busy past few days. Not gonna get into it, cause it's the usual work-sleep-music-volunteer-etc...

One interesting side note: My supervisor at Timmy Ho's signed me up for a dragon boat race on Saturday... I didn't have much choice in the matter, and it should prove to be interesting.

Prayer is an essential thing. I got together with Jer yesterday, and frankly all I really wanted to do was pray. I've been really busy lately and let my time with God slip. That sucks. And the whole time all I want
to do is read my bible and pray, cause I realize that I'm totally missing it.

God doesn't tolerate mediocrity...and neither shuold I...

The Great Golden Gate Disaster

Listening to: Project 86- A Text Message to the So-Called Emperor This is interesting...

So, I'm NOT going to be in the coffeehouse, but you should go anyway cause it'll rock. And roll.

Goin' to werk soon...

Anyway, 'tis all for now.

The hero, truthless is lying prostrate (And this is our redemption)...I know that in myself I'm nothing, nothing, nothing...

Listening to: Project 86- Oblivion This album is MINE. Cathartic. It describes what I'm going through in my head right now...perfect.

Wow. God is really revealing stuff to me right now. He's definitely in the business of change. It's like, he's totally not satisfied with me KNOWING a truth...He pounds it into my pathetic shallow self-centred brain...until I live it.

God heals me through me healing others. So profound. God gives me information...So I can pass it along to others that are struggling...so that they can be healed. Through this, God challenges me SO MUCH to be pure and to truly live that which I know to be THE TRUTH.

ROCK ON!

Oh yeah, did I mention that Project 86 rules enough yet today. This is the ONLY album I need right now, and I have, like, 200 albums.

I Am the Words on the Page

Listening to: Project 86- The Spy Hunter Oh yeah. New P86. I know I'm not supposed to be frivolously spending money, but this can't wait. This is my second time through. So far stand out cuts are: The Spy Hunter, Safe Haven, Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy..., Breakdown in 3/4, The Great Golden Gate Disaster...and well...the whole album kicks so go buy it. Now.

Just mowed the lawn. That was fun. I'm just sort of chillin' now. No work today...so... not much to say. Wow. I am so ordinary. Check out http://www.walkintheword.com. Listen to today's (June 02 2004) message.

Do it.

Thrash It

Listening to: Testament- Into the Pit Yeah, I know, Testament are evil and blah, blah. This song is killer thrash, and give the lyrics a chance too..."Join the insanity or die as you fall...INTO...THE...PIT!" Ha, Man! That's just so metal it's not funny.

Wow. I can't really remember the last time I've been awake this early OF MY OWN ACCORD... So today I need to go to Emmaus and buy some books for some people (Yay for vagueness...)

I also need to get a phone list of Bridge volunteers so that I can get my shift on Saturday covered so I can be in Burky's coffee house. (If you're in the P-Town, it's at 7:00pm at the Market Hall theatre...under the clocktower.)

So. Busy week. Thursday is going to see Rochelle's play. Friday is...something?! And Saturday of course. Lotsa fun. Keep rockin' it.

"The Mass production and the killing of all...INTO THE PIT!!!" HA HA, That's good man. Thrash a happy me makes.

Raining Chunks of Bloody Ice

Listening to: Alice Cooper- School's Out On a big Alice binge. "We got no class, we got not principles, we got no innocence, we can't even think of a word that rhymes." I think Alice's intelligent and witty lyrics are often overlooked because of who he is. Do yourself a favour. Go buy an Alice Cooper album. Today.

Yeah, so got called into work today...After had lunch and coffee with Rachel. Super fun. Got stuck in Taco Bell for an hour do to crazy weather. We're talkin' pouring rain and BIG hail that doesn't melt. And hurts. Alot.

Had a great conversation with one of my old powerhouse students last night on MSN. Wow, man. Ministering to young people, even when it's frustrating, gives me a ridiculous amount of joy. I've been happy all day. This is something I've missed the past month I haven't been able to do it. I'm looking forward to developing closer relationships with some of the Bridge kids. This is something I NEED to do. It's like, my purpose is not truly being fulfilled when I'm not ministering to teens on a regular basis. Dude.

Yeah. You have fun now.