We were meant to eat each other

Listening to: Fear Before the March of Flames- The State of Texas Vs. Fear Before I may be sick...

The more I listen to this band the more I like them. Their lyrics mostly deal with themes of integrity and authenticity, something that I am happy to hear coming from the hardcore scene. Not to mention that this is the most interesting and unique hardcore album I've heard in like, at least 2 years.

Anyway, that aside, I'm going to be working at the Tim Horton's up by Sobey's this week, so if anyone is in the south end stop by and ask for the baker...

The Bridge tonight. I hope that girl who came last week is there again this week. I'd like to follow up with her.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another (Galatians 5:13-15, ESV)

Freedom. Not to avoid the world, but to live in it with self-control. Let me ask you what the better witness is: condemning bars and telling your non-Christian friends that they are havens of sin, and never go out with them to one, or Going with your non-Christian friends to the bar, and being an example of Christ's love and righteousness in that place?

God never tells us to avoid situations in which we may be tempted. If that were the case we would never be able to do anything. Instead of telling us to avoid possibly tempting situations God tells us No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor 10:13, ESV)

Remember this: Jesus hung out with prostitutes. A thirty year-old man who had never had sex in his life hung out with women that would willingly have sex with him at any time, and they would keep quiet about it too. Christ did not avoid them however, he led them to salvation.

Now, I'm not saying that you should blindly rush into a bar if you've been an alcoholic, or that you should start witnessing to prostitutes if you've been a porn-addict in the past. Wisdom is part of our "way to escape." What I am saying is that Christians shouldn't avid possibly seedy places when we were called to preach the gospel to everyone.

Personally, I'd rather go to a bar with my friend and chat it up over a pint than bring them to a church sponsered event.

But that's me.

The last and the first.

Listening to: Starflyer 59- Easy Street New Starflyer. Yum.

Today was my last exam. Tuesday is my first day of summer classes. Yay for one week summers.

Anyway, today I'm supposed to hang out with Chris Smith as well as attend a barbeque for Caroline's birthday. Rocks to barbecues. If Mr. Smith doesn't phone me soon, Mr. Smith might miss out. (Man, I keep putting us getting together off, he might start to get sad soon...)

Ah, he just phoned me. But I missed it, cause I was visiting my good friend the toilet. Anyway, bye-bye.

Simplicity

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love everyone else.

So why do we complicate it so much?

Why did I spend the first three years of my Christian life too focused on not swearing, not having premarital sex, and not listening to "secular" music to actually focus on loving people? And wy have I spent the last year of my Christian life completely abolishing what I thought was "Godly" living? And only to realize that my newfound "freedom" is laced with pride and self-righteousness.

Why is it that after four years of being a Christian I still don't feel like I have the "mind of Christ" (1Cor 2:16) even though I am supposed to have it?

These questions come to my mind after completing the book Simplicity by Mark Salomon. I recommend it to everyone. (Whether or not you have heard of and / or like or dislike The Crucified or Stavesacre).

I've already stopped worrying about the other crap. Now I need to learn how to love God and everyone else.

The Concert, the Bridge, and the true meaning of "Beauty."

Listening to: Fear Before the March of Flames- Hey Kid. I'm A Computer. Stop All the Downloading. Good album. But I'm getting freaking sick of short albums. I know, I know, "quality v. quantity," but there are tons of bands that release stellar records of 40+ minutes. This is the third album that I have purchased in the past three months that is less than 30(!) minutes long. I have eps longer than this record. I have single SONGS longer than this record...

Ok. Concert review:
(Oh yeah, for those of you who don't care about hardcore shows, there is stuff after the review, feel free to skip ahead.)

Fear Before the March of Flames: This band opened the set. They were extremely energetic and got the crowd excited. They played about 25+ minutes, with songs from both records. The standout was the live rendition of "Should have Stayed in the Shallows" that was even slower than the album version, slowing the mid-section to doom territory. Off the strength of their set I bought the album Art Damage. Only complaint was that the clean vocals were way too low in the mix.

These Arms Are Snakes: These guys are awesome live. The crowd went insane. They played about thirty minutes. I am sad that their album has a naked woman in their album sleeve. I would totally buy their record, except I frankly don't want "art" like that in my possession. However I would definitely pay to see them live again.

The Chariot: Jerry and I went to the mosh pit. We led a chant of "Cha! Cha! Chariot!" The band exploded. Josh swung his mike stand around his head. The guitarists flailed. Within 30 seconds I was at least ten feet from Jerry. I also got kicked in the head and knocked to the floor, but the crowd was awesome and I was picked up within seconds of landing. They only played for 16 minutes, and only payed 6 songs. But then again they only have a 10 song 27 minute album. The intensity of that 16 minutes matched and / or exceeded the other bands' 20+ minute sets. Awesome. Got a cool camo t-Shirt and the DVD. "This pistol is my ministry....YEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!"

Underoath: The headliner. They played for 50+ minutes, with awesome renditions of about half their new album, plus a new 7+ minute song and a really old 10+ minute song. I totally didn't expect the old song. The crowd was ridiculous during this set. At any given time there was at least 3+ audience members on the stage, giving the band members hugs, singing along, and stage-diving. I have never seen anyone CANNONBALL into the crowd before this show. WHAT?! I swear, some of the fans were out to kill the other ones. Sick. Their set got cut short due to a ridiculous club curfew of 8:00pm(!) We don't want to cut into the club dancers time now do we? Oh well, it rocked anyway. The vocals were too low in the mix though. Got a cool t-shirt.

Other Stuff:
At the Bridge on Saturday I met a cool girl (who will remain nameless for the sake of confidence). She is suicidal, and Mike Vyn and I spent a good two hours talking to her about the value of human life, and telling her how God created her with a purpose. I think she's not used to people telling her that she is valuable and important. Anyway, Pray for her. Pray that she will be able to come back to the Bridge. (She lives in Campbellford). Also pray that the seeds that we planted will not be snatched up by Satan. He has no right to her. This girl needs to know Jesus. Pray for her salvation.

I showed her this passage (I think we all must be reminded that all human life is sacred at times):

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
(Psalm 139: 13-16, English Standard Version.)

Society sucks we are told that human beauty is based upon our physical appearance. People who are not the exact body type that our society deems attractive are constantly left feeling that they are ugly, inadequate, and will never have a relationship. (Trust we, I have been there). I wish people would realize that beauty does not come from our physical appearance, but from the fact that God has designed us with a purpose, and that we are created in his likeness. Everyone is beautiful.

I hate the fact that I have been brainwashed into thinking that only a certain body type on a girl is attractive. I am still working to destroy this lie that I have been fed. Of course, Sarah has made this easier. She is not at all "society's ideal," however, her kind gentle spirit, her loving nature, and her love of Jesus makes her one of the most beutiful girls I have ever met, emotionally and physically. (Because the two are joined).

Challenge yourself, along with me, to see everyone as a beautiful, unique, and valuable creation of God.

Oh yeah, also check out some killer hardcore shows.

Today is the Day, My friends

Today is the day.

Underoath, The Chariot, Fear Before the March of Flames, and These Arms Are Snakes. Live. Toronto.

Oh yeah, I hate to break Caleb's bubble, but .hopesfall. will not be playing at this show. They got off the tour a week ago. Poor Caleb.

Anyway, everyone in the world is getting married this year except me. Way to make a guy feel inadequate. Gosh.

I am now going to go to sleep (it is 12 am after all), and I shall dream of sweet rock and roll.

The man wants an 11 dollar bill but you only got 10

Listening to: Bob Dylan- If Not For You Yeah. You've gotta hand it to Bob Dylan for writing so many awesome songs. And I like his versions better than the endless covers. But I'm a sucker for eccentric singers with weird voices.

No sir, I do not understand your logic. My name is a lie, 'cause I don't think I've brought any comfort recently. My body is fallling apart. I cannot see you without a filtered lens. You've said a few things that just don't sit right. Do you know which ones? Probably the part about "all the kingdoms" being mine, and all those naked women laying at my feet. But I must say I did like the taste. Except I still know that you don't love me. Maybe that's the catch. And all those naked women? Well, they're just empty bodies after a while. And I never wanted to be king.

I don't want to be their king.
All their empty bodies.
All those naked women.
With their broken glassy eyes.

Feeling v. Knowledge

Tonight I wrote my Milton Exam. For those of you who don't know, Milton is a famous 16th century poet. He wrote the epic poem Paradise Lost which is based on the fall of man in Genesis. He was a protestant of the puritan tradition but he was a bit of a heretic. (Denying the deity of the Holy Spirit and such).

Anyway, Biblical allusions abound in Milton, and that is one of the reasons I took the course. Before the exam one of my classmates asked me, "How do you know the Bible so well?" I responded simply, "I'm a Christian." Her response to this was profound. She said, "Oh. Well, I know a bunch of people who are Christians, or at least they profess to be, and they don't know the Bible at all. If I ever have any Biblical questions I'll come to you." Now, I will attempt to make some generalizations based on this conversation:

1. Non-Christians expect Christians to know the Bible.
2. Non-Christians can see through people who claim to be Christians but do not know the Bible
3. Non-Christians will respect Christians who have knowledge of the Bible (and therefore, actually know what they're talking about...)

There is a prevailing trend in certain evangelical circles to focus on "experiential" Christianity. In other words, these people focus on feeling the love of God, Hearing the Spirit, enjoying God's presence. Now, these are not bad things. They are very good things that we should all strive for. However, "experiential" Christians who focus on these things tend to know nothing at all about theology (or, alternately, to have heretical theology). This can be contrasted with "theological" Christians, who know the Bible really well, but unfortunately shun anything that may appear remotely charismatic. (And that means emotion).

Both of these approaches are bad, and make one look fake. There is balance in the middle. Listen: if you're a Christian, you must know the Bible and theology, and you must experience a deep emotional relationship with God. If either of those is missing people will see through your faith and see it as a facade. Let's strive for authenticity, both in our brain and our heart.

Because Jesus said to worship God with all our mind, body, soul and strength.

Drunk people do dumb things...

... like throwing lawn chairs around the street at 2 in the freaking morning on Saturday nights. I do not like my neighbours. Shouldn't they be studying or something.

Which is what I should be doing now...

I bought three new pairs of shorts today, and took my mom out for lunch at Lee-Ho Chinese Buffet. It was swell. I like reading poetry. So should you.

The Chariot and Underoath in 3 days (!)

Rock.

I am going to finish reading the Bible this summer.

Make your leaving quick

Listening to: 16 Horsepower- South Pennsylvania Waltz (Live in 1998) Just picked up the Hoarse live album at Bluestreak. What a deal. You know a band is freaking good when they are consistantly better live than in the studio... Speaking of 16HP, they recently broke up due to "political and religious differences..." Hmmm... Wonder what those were? (HA!)

So today I wrote my HIS 312 exam... then proceeded to run around all over town, trying to figure out how to pay for my summer class. (You'd think the University would make it easy for people to give them $1000.00...) Anyway, it was all fun stuff. Two more exams and a kick ass concert to go...

The Best and Worst of the 2004-2005 Academic Year

Listening to: Violent Femmes- Look Like That The last time I bought three cds by one artist in three days it was 16 Horsepower, and we all know how much I love them. VF is awesome.

Self explanatory, the best and worst of this school year.

THE BEST (in no particular order):

• Sarah becoming a Christian
• Discovering linguistics
• Meeting new friends: Amber, Robbie, Daniel, etc.
• Leading an awesome small group
• Getting an honour roll average (so far...)
• New Church: Riverside Community Church
• Getting in contact with my biological Dad again
• Discovering new awesome music (as always)
• Upcoming Underoath and The Chariot concert
• Receiving a FREE John MacArthur Study Bible
• Borrowing Jerry's theology textbook for more time than he has even seen it
• Doing well on 3000 word essays
• Receiving $7000.00 for free...
  

THE WORST (in a kind of particular order):

• Breaking my promise with myself to not date anyone
• An ill-fated relationship with an otherwise nice girl. (Sorry to you)
• An even more ill-fated relationship with another nice girl. (It was an interesting 5 minutes, I must confess...)
• My computer breaking in every possible way
• all-nighters
• Girl troubles (up my ass, as Gordon Gano would say)
• Lack of knowledge (for which God's people are destroyed...)

Hmm... That's all I can think of for now. Overall, the past eight months have been swell. Here's to an awesome 4-month summer(ish) period containing much work and linguistics.

Keep rocking. And read your bible. "People should be pissed off by lack of knowledge"- GG (Hosea 4:6)

Why can't I get just one...

Listening to: Violent Femmes- Blister in the Sun Hey girls, wanna know what's goingg on in the mind of all those geeky unpopular guys you made fun of in high school? Buy the Violent Femmes debut album. Be warned: the content is explicit, and there are expletives. Of course, most of Gano's frustration came from the fact that he was a Christian who knew that his lust was damaging to him... but he was a hormone-ridden teenager after all. By the way, everyone has heard this song before. Oh yes you have. You just don't know it.

Just got back from a lecture by Joe Boot of Ravi Zacharias ministries. Pretty solid stuff. I bought his book, so I guess my haircut'll have to wait another week.

I have exactly 500 words left to write for my last essay, for my last class, for my last day of second year university.

I'm gonna take "Modern languages 100" in the summer session this year. I'm going to get an "emphasis in Linguistics." I am also considering getting a Master of Linguistics and going into Bible translation.

Pray for me in this.

Anyway. Time to write those 500 words.

How to survive on nothing but Christ for 4 years (and counting)

So the craziest thing just happened. A woman named Dana just phoned me. I met Dana 4 years ago when I was part of an Alpha program. She was instrumental in my early days as a believer.

Anyway, a lot has clearly happened n 4 years. I mean, she's got two kids now. And I'm in university. And 4 years old. We had an interesting talk in regards to the gifts of tongues (she brought it up.) Apparently making off-hand comments such as "I'm not a charismatic by any means." fosters conversation. Anyway, I'm a cessationist. She's a charismatic. But the awesome thing is that she said "What is important is focusing on God's will and if you need to be corrected, he'll do that, and if I do, he'll do that." Yay for humility. I should learn.

She phoned cause last night when she was praying I came to her mind, and apparently the Lord told her that I am "confused" and need to "return to him." Sounds like my own personal Old Testament life. She's bang on though, or should I say, God is bang on. Prayer and Bible study is needed, and God, I need you to show me where I need to go and what I need to do with my life.

Hallelujah. Let that resonate. Praise the Lord for old friends who speak words of wisdom.

"Oh Christ when You're ready to come back
I think I'm ready for You to come back.
But if You want to stay wherever exactly it is You are,
that's okay too - it's really none of my business."-
aaron jonathan weiss, mewithoutYo

I need more grace than I thought

I have the ability to turn the purest of human intention into a travesty. I am jealous and self-centred and I have no right to be. I believe that my opinions and beliefs are better and more accurate than those of others, yet I constantly ignore what I profess and do the opposite of what I say I will. I am a liar. I care more about me than you. I am writing this as a self-centred attempt to make you all marvel at my humility, of which of I have none.

I apologize.