Blog Challenge #4: Father Abraham had many sons...

Hey guys,

So this is the last week of the October Blog Challenge (obviously) and the theme for this week is to write about the character in the Bible we feel we relate to and why. I had a lot of trouble with this one because I feel like the answer changes from week to week, depending on what I'm going through or how I'm feeling. But today I was reading the story of Abram and Sarai and something resonated a little bit, so I thought I'd write about that.

In Genesis we read about Abraham, that amazing mystical man who God promised a son and an amazing amount of descendants, but had to wait until way later in life to have that promise fulfilled. Before his name was changed, he was even so desperate (or, arguably, his wife was so desperate) to have kids that he slept with his servant Hagar and had a son through her first! And then, into his old age, God gave him a new identity, a greater promise that not only would he have kids but he would be the ancestor of many nations, and a son to fulfill that! Talk about your amazing covenant!

I think I feel like I can relate with Abram/Abraham at least a little in some ways. I kind of feel like I've been waiting a really long time for some of the things that the Lord has promised me, and I've even made some kind of crazy irrational decisions along the way trying to hurry that along, but He uses those things to help me grow and his promise doesn't become any less true no matter how many times I screw up! Pretty incredible to know that God does come through with His promises, even if it takes a lifetime to realize fully the glory behind that!

That's all I've got to say about that for today. Stay tuned next month as I participate in another one of these weekly blog challenges (not because I feel the need to be challenged, but because it's nice having the extra push to make sure I write something every week!

Exciting Update!

Hey!

So this was kind of a cool night- I hit 1000 views! And I couldn't have gotten here without you (seriously, because I told blogger not to track my own pageviews, so like, all those hits were you guys!)

I'm excited to announce that a new section will be added to my blog in the weeks to come! There'll be a new page popping up soon that will be an archive of posts about superheroes! Specifically, detailing the pros and cons of various superpowers and hero-related phenomena!

And to make things even more exciting, there will be a second writer coming on board! He'll be writing mostly, if not exclusively, about the superhero stuff, but is also a really talented creative writer, so we'll see if some of that comes out a bit too :) His name is Oliver. That's all the information you're getting about him for now, but hopefully you'll be seeing more of him in the next couple of weeks!

That's all folks.

Power, Man?

I went to a lecture yesterday about the morality of superpowers. I know, right? I sometimes feel like I don't do any real work at school ever. Anyways, it was really fascinating- the speaker was talking about utilitarianism and this whole concept of "saving many at the cost of some" and kind of how that relates to superheroes. One example he used was 'The Watchmen' where the alleged villain kills millions of people to save billions from the threat of World War 3. His utilitarian logic was that a million is a lot less than a billion, so it was worth doing. I don't think I could handle making that kind of decision, and I'm kind of glad I won't ever have to.

But the lecture got me thinking about superpowers. Okay, I'll admit, I probably think about this a lot more often than I'm willing to admit, but I don't find myself really regularly considering what kind of powers I would choose if given the option. Suspending disbelief for just a moment, let's say I am suddenly able to choose any power I'd like and get everything that comes with it- the struggle of fitting in with normal people, the government hunting me, the sudden conviction to fight crime, whatever- I hadn't really spent much time thinking about what power I would choose! When the speaker asked the audience what powers they'd want, tons of hands went up, but I really had no idea!

So I was thinking about it, and came to something of a conclusion: I would love to have impenetrable skin. Not invincibility or anything, but just skin that was so tough nothing could cut through it, like Luke Cage. He was just an ordinary guy, framed for drug crimes, who agreed to do some government testing in exchange for a shorter sentence. But then (surprisingly) things went wrong and he was exposed to too much of something and it made his skin really really tough. And when your skin is hard as iron, you can bet you're going to be a really strong guy too (and heavy!). What I appreciate about Luke is that he didn't really feel like he *had* to fight crime- he hired himself out as a hero in order to pay his rent! Inevitably some of his missions became more personal as loved ones and his own arrest got involved, but for the most part, he was just trying to make it in the world.

His power is appealing to me because he's not any stronger than the average bodybuilder in terms of muscular strength. He's not going to live any longer than the average person who doesn't get murdered. He's not invincible either- he feels pain when people shoot him, or stab him, or burn him, but it doesn't leave a mark on anything but his ugly yellow disco shirts. It's great! Superheroes like Superman who have bullets bounce off their eyes don't have nearly as much at stake when fighting armed enemies. Luke manages to be a hero, an average Joe, and a mortal all at the same time! I would love to have his power, because I feel like I could be so helpful without the threat of becoming too strong and corrupt.

Anyways, I'm getting tired, and the more tired I get, the less interesting I'm going to become, so I'll end this here with a question: What power would you choose?

Monday Night Shout-Outs!

Hey Ladies,

So I kind of just feel like doing a shout-out post to a bunch of people you should totally follow on Twitter and/or check out their blogs! In the last few months since I started getting involved in social media, I've kind of become more aware of just how many cool people are out there writing things and also of how many of them are fellow believers with interesting and insightful stuff to say! So take a look at some of these heroes as I shout out to them in tonight's post! I will aim to do a post like this once or twice a month, depending on how many outstanding people I find at any given time :) So, without further ado, here we go!

The first person I'm going to shout out to is Carl Jones! This guy has quickly become one of my favorite people on Twitter! He's a really cool, open, honest former youth pastor with lots of great stories and insights on his blog. I interviewed him briefly in my last blog post, and he'll probably be doing a guest post here in the near future! You can find his blog by clicking his name above, and follow him on Twitter @Youthguy07!

The next person I'm going to shout out to is Sierra Nichole! She's a great blogger and Twitterer with a heart for Jesus and a great story! She put together the blog challenge I've been participating in this month (and the one I'll be taking part in next month!) and has been a real blessing by organizing all of it and putting in so much of her time into social networking! @iSierraNichole is her Twitter name, go follow her!

Next up is an old friend of mine, Erin Pressner! We worked together at a day camp years ago and now her little sister is one of the teens at my youth group! She's a wonderful girl with a great heart and a fun food blog, with a bit of a twist- it's all food she can eat, and with the dietary restrictions her health situation places on her, there's a lot of creative ideas there! You can find her on Twitter @rinrinjii!

Last, but certainly not least, PAULO GONZALES! A member of my acapella band, the Brovertones, and a wonderful guy, Pow is an up-and-coming filmmaker and a close friend of mine. Right now he's doing a social experiment for which he's given up Twitter and Facebook and such, and is doing a lot of video blogs on Youtube (linked in his name above). He'll be back on Twitter eventually, and you can follow him @PowLoTheOddMan!

So that's it for tonight's shout-outs! More posts coming later this week, probably! :)

Blog Challenge #3: Interview with Carl Jones!

This is the third week of the October Blog Challenge, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Carl Jones, an awesome former youth pastor with a fantastic blog! My questions are in this font, his are in the bold! :)

Yours is a pretty unique situation, a tale about a guy who made an honest mistake that changed his life forever, what I'd like to know is how that affected your view of the church? How did it change your perception of the church as an institution, as a body, and as a place of ministry?

My sin and losing my ministry has changed my perception of the church in both positive and negative ways.  The love forgiveness and grace I have received from so many Christians has been a blessing, and to some extent, a surprise.  I have not felt that grace from much of the institutional church and many of its leaders.  My failures have opened my eyes wide to the fact that the church talks about grace much more often than it puts the teaching into practice.  But I would not have survived these past 5 years without the love and forgiveness of my Christian friends.

Have you done anything to stay involved in ministry in some way?

My blog.  I started as just an outlet for stories and remembrances; it has become a ministry in many ways.  God has blessed my efforts there by giving me opportunities to write some curriculum and for a few other publications.  Writing has become my ministry.  I also love answering questions and sharing ideas with my many youth ministry friends on Twitter (@Youthguy07).

You've mentioned a few times in your blog that you have a passion for music and lead worship from time to time, are you still involved with worship music at all? If not, would you like to be?

At this point only as a participant.  I would love to be more involved, but feel like because of my circumstances I need to wait for an invitation before I go charging in.  I'd love to do some simple worship leading again- just me and my guitar.

Blogger to blogger, do you have any tips about dealing with writer's block, and committing to writing more often?

I'm a big proponent of scheduling my writing.  I am committed to writing every day; I think it's a good idea to pick a frequency and stick with it.  I also think that it's good to plan out topics in advance.  That way your mind can be working on them before you write- and you can always change if inspiration comes from a new area.  I also read as many blogs as I can.  Keeps me fired up and wanting to write!

Would you like to do a guest post on my blog sometime? :)

I would love to!  And would love to have your write for my blog as well.  I love the cross-sharing of ideas!