Off to Guatemala

On New Years Day a team of 14 or so of us from the Well Community Church are headed down to Guatemala to spend some time serving w/ an organization call Christians in Action. This trip is an interesting one for me, as i feel like i haven't prepared too much for it by myself but have been doing plenty of group activities w/ those who are going. We have a spectacular team going and are looking forward to what lies ahead on this journey. You can check out what we are doing by looking at our blog as we will be updating it frequently. I will miss my lady but the trip will only be for 10 days, God always shows his love and grace in distance such as this. Please pray for us, PEACE

I got myself a future wife!

On December 21st I proposed to Kimberly Urquhart. She said YES and now we are moving towards getting married to each other on May 2nd 2009. Plans are coming together and we are trying to enjoy this even though hiccups come along. She is a very special gal that loves God very much and wants to follow Him all of her days. Because of this i know that God has prepared an amazing future of unknown events in our lives.

Redistribution

I am glad i get to blog again (i originally started this b/c i was subbing a lot and had tons of time on a computer so once again, i am back subbing, thus i am blogging)

Throughout the last few years of my life, I have been very attracted to the idea of Redistribution. There are 3 R's which are used frequently w/ the CCDA they are Relocation (moving into the neighborhood) Reconciliation (between God and each other w/ your neighbors) and Redistribution (of oneself and materials).

Of these three redistribution has caught my attention, partly due to slowing becoming a man of business and of economics. The thrift store that i am a part of is also looked at as a redistrbution of goods to those who our local community. Some middle class some lower class some even upper class. I am reading a book by Robert D. Lupton called "Compassion, Jusice, and the Christian Life - rethinking ministry to the poor." He is one of my favorite urban ministers that really focuses on the thoughts and actions that "relocators" (those moving into the urban neighborhoods w/ an intention to be a part of change) make towards there neighbors. He believes (as many do) that we need to restore human dignity to people and stop w/ the welfare concept. There is much to learn from this book but here are a few things i am taking from it thus far.

1) "Doing for others what they can do for themselves is charity at its worst"

2) "Perhaps the deepest poverty of all is to have nothing of value to offer in exchange. Charity that fosters such poverty much be challenged. We know from 40 years of failed social policy that welfare depletes self-esteem while honorable work produces dignity. We know that reciprocity builds mutual respect while one-way giving brews contempt"

3) "We must come to deeply believe that every person, no matter how destitute or broken, has something of worth to bring to the table"

These are just a few thoughts that are powerful to me that i should be keeping in mind when working w/ those that come into our store on a daily basis. There are a few people that i can think of that seem to be able to offer little to nothing to us but how can i think differently about that? usually it seems impossible especially when someone seems off their rocker for sure. Do we need to start w/ medication for some or forget that and just try to work w/ them for who they are now? Where is the line?






I read a fresh view of the story of John 9 where the disciples ask jesus "who sinned here?" and he answers there question in a way that only Jesus can. By healing this man and responding that it was "for God's power to be displayed"

"Through eyes of faith we recognize that this could be an opportunity for tragedy to be transformed into celebrations so that the power of God may be seen at work in him and in her."

"When Clarity of compassion illuminates our vision we can visualize healin that goes far deeper than physical cure"

AMEN

Ode to Dave

I recently had an unblievable chat w/ my boy davey franz who is currently is Bangladesh. I got to hear his voice for a solid 30 mintues. It was fantastic. As i was looking through some pics on my computer, i couldn't help but really miss him. I hope that you enjoy all of these, b/c this is something that i couldn't resist posting. Some things don't always work out as you have planned but they are always a blast. enjoy the hitch hiking to san fran pics. so full of HOPE.











These pictures were taking at all different times during our trip and all of the them were enjoyable. God Bless Friendships!

Simply

It has been far too long on this deal. i am going to try to make it more frequent from now on. i guess being on the computer just makes me feel like i am working still or something. I just wanted to share w/ you something that makes me feel like i am living the LIFE. here it is



It is just a great juice. My ol' roommate nate turned me on to this stuff but it is usually too dang expensive to buy, however, at Target i found it at an affordable price. I would suggest you go out and give it a shot. i wasn't feeling to good, just having a little sickness, and just wanted to chug some OJ, so this is what i went w/. i drank a large bottle in a day and never looked back. Love

Change and Chocolate

Today i was thinking about how funny/crazy change has been in our lives. We are one person in one season of life and then someone who has changed a bit (maybe for the good maybe not so good). An example of this is when i was in junior college and looking forward to a life of comfort and "success." I think that a lot of factors had played into this season of my life, relationships that i had around me, some male some female. Through changes in my life i realized that God had much more designed for me than that vision that was planted into my heart and mind. As i said, many influences were around mainly being one of the culture that i was plugged into and the lifestyle that i was grown up around. A lifestyle of passion and following God began to stir about in my heart and a search for what i would enjoy spending a majority of my "work" life doing became a desire of mine.
God ultimately brought me down the path of using a bachelor's degree that had been so fortunately bestowed upon me. Through choices that i had made which i knew would ultimately be good (ie the Pink House) he directed my path. All of this to really say and comment on my opening sentence, what i had ultimately wanted to become now becomes hard to not judge against those exact things. What i wanted originally is no what i don't want for anyone yet what happens and belongs to many that i know. Its just a crazy thing that i have recently noticed and am choosing to think about in a more positive way. I hope that this doesn't come of boastful in any way b/c i am not intending it to be, just that i feel that i am content in what i have found to be comfortable for me. God has a way of changin us through seasons of our lives to i think ultimately please him and for him to use us in the most glorifying way for him. Life gets a heck of a lot more exciting when we think about the future in this lense and one that realizes that He is never done w/ our character and w/ our goals/dreams/expectations that are within us. I hope that this is making some sort of sense. What i am doing and living right now may not be where i ultimately land in 15 years but if i have realized a few things in my immature life it is that it will be one great ride.

On a side note b/c i know that everyone likes a great picture, here is one of Kimberly and me at a recent wedding we attended in bakersfield. They had a few chocolate fountains and some fine treats to put them in and she did something very unexpected (at least that is what i thought) with a table of our friends around. Man she is
lovely. This is one of the last days that the stache was at its full length, i recently shaved it down to absolutely nothing, with a razor and everything. i havent felt that in over a year and a half...

life is toooo good

Things are a cooking here in Fresno. I want to just post a little bit about my life currently. This week is exciting for the Thrift Store b/c i recently got the store on Fresno City College's Work Study Program, which means that kids at the college who have financial aid to work can come to the store and work 15 hrs a week and the state will pay them. I posted the job and within 2 days i got a total of 18 applications! God is good, free labor and a chance to free Garth and myself up to get things rolling w/ the community! I am a little anxious about it all b/c now we have to interview people and find jobs for them to do. It is a great step and i am excited to see the new life that we can bring into the store. We have a lot of great community outreach ideas, such as creating our own currency for the local kids programs to promote good behavior/good academics and in the process get our name out there a bit more. Trying to serve the community in new ways is our mindset and i think this is a great step for us.

I also had a spontaneous opportunity to go to Shaver Lake w/ Andrew and Denise for Saturday night. He invited Kim and i up to hang out and enjoy Denises grandmas house that is unbelievable. we played an intense game of monopoly (i missed you dave) and watched too many seinfelds. Life is good. hope that you are all well. love bryan

Well...

So, today is my first day subbing again. it has been quite awhile but it seems like i never really stopped. this is such a great job, i am at hoover high today and the kids have been great. although the most chatty class is coming up next. Life seems really busy lately, after my girl moved up here it seems like i have things going on every single night. although they are not all long things and they are fun things they are still things that i have to be a part of. I enjoy being busy and having things going on that i want to be a part of, but sometimes it is also nice to not have any plans and just come home and see what happens. I am super blessed to be a part of all that i am be it the Thrift Store, dodgeball, Guatemala, The Well Southeast or other various events. I am still learning to balance different things in life and learning how to say no to some. (although thats the tougher lesson) because i want to be a part of those things but need some time to just sit down and read books that i want and watch films every so often. i think its a responsiblity thing but also that life is just a bit busier right now. It is absolutely terrific to have Kim live 4 streets away from me and makes for less long phone calls and a chance to get to have more one on one time w/ her. Thanks for all of your love.

Truth

How can we seek truth in the simple and compilcated? (if you read this leave me your thoughts)

Bryan

Portland...mmmmmm

Well we are a few days down in our portland adventure, seeing and being w/ my friend Chad as he gets married in a few days. We got in to town on saturday evening at about 11:00 pm and went camping sunday afternoon. We went to a place called Canon Beach (where come of the goonies was filmed) and stayed two nights there. To fill you in on a bit of what happened, we made torches out of my jeans shorts and ran around the coast, found an illegal spot to camp on the coast, made a shelter out of ginormous drift wood pieces, ate ravioli and mac and cheese boiled by laying it next to the camp fire, and many many more things. i will upload photos soon of the adventure. the wedding is thursday and there will be a lot of hangin out until then, i hope to hit some sweet thrift stores and discover some pants that are in need of some loving. this city is incredible. the end.

ENJOY THE PICS

just some things in my brain...

well all my friends, i sit on my lawn at 9:43 typing this message under a sweet moon w/ a cool breeze. I got back from a killer weekend at Morro Bay where we had a weekend get away for my Boy Davey, we played a ton of monopoly (which is one of my favorite games to play) and had a few beers while we walked down to the water many a time and watched entirely way toooo much T.V. My girlfriend just left fresno and is headed back to bakersfield. it was fantastic to see her for the afternoon/evening b/c it will be a bit until we get to hang out again. i leave for Portland on saturday as i will be particpating in and enjoying my best friend Chad's wedding. we (friends and family) have been looking forward to this for about eight or so months and it will be the gathering of the year. It is sad when we can only count on getting friends together for weddings even though we are all super close w/ each other. life has a way of taking people to different locations and different time periods. We are going camping on the west coast of Oregon for his bachelor party and will have the time of our lives there i am sure. friends from different walks of his life coming together to form one heck of a week.
Life is great in all aspects of the word. Things with the job are going very swell as the Well Community church keeps expanding and job descriptions keep shifting. The apt is great but i feel the lack of involvement that i have gotten to have yet. It seems like i am going to have to be a heck of a lot more intentional to develop the relationships that i want w/ the neighborhood. it is not going to come easy as i am a white man in a hispanic culture. Ivan and i have had a blast together going through a book together and just sharing more about our lives. here is a few pictures of the area that we live in, the one pic w/ the sun glare is what has been dubbed the "martin park" b/c we live behind the family wtih the last name of the martins. The picture w/ the stairs is where ivan and my studio is located. behind the park and behind the house. it is really a beautiful place to dwell...





I am not really sure what else to include in this blog, i really need to start riding my bike more, awwww, which brings me to something else. last ngiht while playing dodgeball, i was headed for a ball near the center line and locked my ankle in place and moved my body and heard/felt 4 or so loud cracks. i immediately went down b/c of the pain and the inability to move and had to be escorted off of the court and to a hospital near by. i was lucky enough to have my brother there so he took care of me and was super patient w/ my 4 or so hour process of getting x rays and all of that jazz. it turns out that there were no broken bones but they are not sure of the 'soft tissue' around it. so i have crutches and am taking care of it so that i will be good to go this weekend up in portland.
other than all of this i feel like God has been ohh so good to me. he keeps leading in me in paths that i really feel fit me and has put those around me who have much to teach. i love all of you and let me know what else i should write on. love and peace

B

My Plants (organic ;)

Here are some pictures from my cherry tomatoe plants. I got them quite awhile ago and didnt' know if they would make it b/c of the werid weather which was real warm and then cooler and then warm again. I have them in pots b/c of my moving in the last month. I would like to pot them but who knows what will happen. Anyways, i am really excited that they are going to be eaten very soon. i have only had one so far but....soon. click on those pics and see how lucious they are!

New Post!

Hello all of those out in bloggerville. It is a friday evening and i am sitting on my new porch and sweating a bit outside, but enjoying it anyways. Beautiful monarch's flying around and a slight breeze. I am looking down upon my lovely cherry tomatoes that i have had for a while, and they are coming right along. I acutally was messing around w/ my one red tomatoe and i accidently pulled it off of the vine. So....i ate it! and it was awesome. NOt amazing but not bad either, i enjoyed it and look forward to the rest of its fruit. Well anyways, that is all a side note. Life has been great for me recently. Work has been busy but great to have my brother working in the same office. We are having a great time. God is Good.

So ivan and i moved into a little studio in the lowell neighborhood, which is just a half mile or less from the Pink House (which made for an easy move). Although our space is small, i think that it is all we need. I have had fun w/ some kids around the corner and this place feels much different than the PH. Although it was sad to leave my home of the last 10 months, i think that it was time and was needed. I learned a ton about myself and had some great times wrapping up my emotions from the impace of the PH and i am super happy to have had the experience of that community. God is Good. It has been great to see the Lord's hand on our new adventure and even though we arn't sure how long we will be here, we are sure that we have some sort of season to experience here. I will post some pics of the place sometime, next time i whip out the camera.

I have been reading Velvet Elvis recently and probably have about a quarter left to read. It has been a great read so far. People say that he is crazy, some people say that he is wrong, some right, a bit of everything. I just enjoy reading new perspectives and some great insight to passages. One thing that i read today really has stuck in my head. Let me tell you about it.



He is discussing the Jewish tradition of following a rabbi and how powerful it was that he asked the working class people and the youngsters to be his disciples. Since they are fisherman, it means that they didn't make it to study the rabbi and his yoke, thus were sent to learn the family trade. So continually throughout Jesus' ministry, he is continually dissappointed in their lack of faith in themselves. For example, when Peter sees his rabbi walking on water so what does he chose to do? walk on water of course. When he starts to sink he yells for Jesus to save him. Jesus says "you of little faith, why did u doubt?" the point that Bell makes is What does Peter lose faith in? not jesus but himself, he loses the faith that he can do what his rabbi is doing. Rob Bell continues on with the idea that "God has an incredibly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things" (pg 134). It is a powerful message that God knows that we love him and wants us to trust him with our lives, but we chose not to believe and live it out. As Bell ends the chapter

"The rabbi thinks we can be like him."

What do you think about this? it keeps me encouraged, b/c i tend to not count him in on everything.

So what else is new? I am going to bako on sunday to see kimberly and hang out w/ the family for a few days. that will be FUN, and what is my big news for the next week!?!? TPH 2008. what is that you might ask? Tom freaking Petty at the Hollywood Bowl on wednesday! It has been a long time awaiting. I think that we bought our tickets on the superbowl sunday. My life is going to be that more complete i think. It should be a great time w/ Jeremy, Dave, Elliott, and Everett. Anyways, we are super excited. So that is all for now. Love and Peace for now!

lack of information

Sorry it has been such a long time, i miss blogging. but w/ new jobs and transisitions, comes a lack of time for such things. here is a brief little update:

moved out of pink house
moved into the lowell neighborhood
shot a wedding at the coast w/ andrew q.
have been working.
not getting enough sleep

thats it for now, love and peace
bryan

Community/Relationships

Relationships are definitely not always the easiest things to deal with. I have realized that very much in the last week or so. Especially living in community with one another when you come in close contact with them. I am sure that the type of person that i am makes it hard for me as well. For instance, i enjoy people very much. Having fun, chatting, catching up, or just lounging around. When things arn't right between me and someone else i usually want to get to the bottom of it and figure things out. And then there are times when i have no idea what to say to them, or how to respond or what i expect to happen. I live in a house with 10 other people. You can imagine how things come up and just with the ups and downs of life sometimes, things arn't always perfect within in the house and outside of the house. We did a catch up on everyone's life this last week and i started us off. All i had to say was really good things are happening in my life. And i feel like they usually are like that. I don't know if that is just my perspective or if it is just that i am super blessed w/ a terrific life. I feel as if God has been laying out my present stage for a while and i think that he is doing a mighty fine job. The other people in the PH shared how they are doing, whats going on and it wasn't always great terrific things. Some people had some pretty crappy things to share and just that life kind of bites right now. Like really bites. It stinks to hear those things and makes me want to jump in and try to solve their problems (if they are even theirs to begin with). Usually this stuff comes as a shock b/c they have been keeping it close to them and not lettign anyone know the disappointments that they are facing. Thats a bummer b/c we live in a "community house" but things are understandable b/c maybe they don't feel open to share w/ everyone or don't really want to. Its great to have these discussions at a later point and be able to just listen and/or speak if that is what they need to. The aftermath of this sharing time has been pretty great, i think that i have learned more about individuals in my house this week and that counts for something. That in turn may open up other conversations with them at a later time.

On to another point of relationships, i have discussed this w/ some people before but it makes sense the more i try to grasp it. As my brother has said to me "you have always been good at having a lot of friends" and i think that he is right. I have really great friends and i think that sometimes there are a lot of them. Their are different groups in different cities and different times of my life. Some are pretty close and some are just still friends that i enjoy keeping up with. Recently i have i guess let the relationships take care of themselves a little bit more. Instead of me having to always keep up the relationship i feel as if putting it into the other persons hands might be better.

I think as i get a bit older i have realized these things and am very appreciative of it. I am not sure if this sounds like a whole lot of rambling or what, but it is a piece of what is inside at the moment. Thanks for reading.

Perkins' Story

This is the current book that i am reading through. I am about 2/3 done with it and i am completely amazed at what i just read. For those of you who know who John Perkins is then you might know some of this story. He is basically hailed as one of the early urban ministers in our generation. He grew up in post war times in Mississippi and dealt w/ a lot of the extreme rascist movements in the south. This book is essentially his autobiography and explains why and how he does the things he does. During the Pink House ministry we have learned much about his three R's of innercity life. Relocation, Reconciliation and Redistribution. in October we went to St. Louis to attend the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference and heard him speak and give bible studies. I wish i would have read this book before i met him and heard him speak. His story is pretty incredible, to listen to the struggle and battle that he had gone through and how God had kept leading him on to establish leaders and those willing to die for their faith. if you are looking for an encouraging read and one that is super interesting. Go for it.

oh Kindergartners

Well today, i subbed for a kindergarten class for the enjoyment of some awesome little kids (and a little bit of cash). So far the day had just been going alright. i forgot about how much work these little kids were but they really just want to have a great time all the time. so i will introduce to this kid nick. so he turned in his practice pages to me and it had his name on the top so i just put the name to the face and asked him how the sheet was.

Nick asked me "how did you know what my name is?" i responded "i can read you mind and i saw that you name was nick" nick said "that is witchcraft, my mom says that that is a type of voodoo magic or something." I asked Nick if his mom knew about that stuff and he said "No she is right with God" so questioned him about that statement and was wondering how he knew that. Nick said "well she goes to church and prays to God" i asked him "well are you right with God too? and how do i become right w/ God?" Nick asked "what church do i go to?" he told me that church that his mom goes to and then asked me what denomination it was and if it was catholic (how does a 5 year old kid know the word denomination????) Nick said that "that way to pray is to either be on your knees or i guess you could be in bed too" i thought that was pretty profound. Then i asked how do i know if i am right with god and he then said this exact statement "do you do outreach??" i responded that i do actually. he contemplated my decision and thought that as long as i pray and do outreach then i might be good with God. This next part blew my mind. Later on the playground i was doing yard duty, i thought that i would prope a little bit more and see what else his theology consists of. Nick said to me that "judgement is going to come at 6pm" my mouth just dropped and i asked him what that means he said that "judgement is part of sin" he didn't know when this will come but it could be any day but would be at 6 pm.

Anyways i think that was most of the conversation that we had, but i thought that it was remarkable. I told the teacher about how interested i was in our conversation and he said that he sometimes says huge words like justify when kids are in trouble but get caught talking or something. I think that we need to teach kids like Nick more often. I couldn't believe this kid. He was awesome, and left me wondering "Am i right with God?" and i think that we could learn a bit from this child. SInce i have this memory, i guess i could share another one from recess.

This kid Israel, had a little pocket paintbrush in his pocket and was chasing a girl around the jungle gym. She was screaming b/c he told her that he was going to paint a mustache on her face if he could. She came up to me scared but having a blast w/ it. They love to have any reason just to run away from each other. Its great. Well that is it today.

Love and Peace, Bryan

Boo for wisdom teeth

So wednesday the 7th i will be getting my wisdom teeth removed. i am really really really not looking forward to this. it seems like everyone has their own story of how painful or just how awful the whole process is. you know what i mean? like one of my housemates said that it took her 2 weeks to recover. now that seems a little crazy to me but everyone is different i guess. My procedure is going to be one of no anastesia. so i won't be put to sleep for the process. they will just numb the area and then rip em' out. it is just not something that i am looking forward to. but...the lady that i talked to said that i could bring my ipod so that i don't have to listen to them pulling that crap out of my teeth. i know who i will be listening to and will make it allllllll better...drum roll......mewithoutYou! it should be marvelous. i am pretty sure that they can make the best out of any situation. so please keep me in your prayers if you get the opportunity. the procedure will be at 4:00 pm. blessing to all. i need to start putting up some more posts on here. so for the negligence i apologize.

on other news, life is great. the job is fantastic, a true blessing to be around those who i get to. it really matches up w/ where my heart is so i can't ask for anything more. there is a really terrific girl that is hanging around me which is a blessing and i get to go to the beach to spend time w/ the family. my brother is moving up here shortly which can't come any sooner for me, and ivan and i got a studio apartment in the Martin's house in the Lowell neighborhood which will be a great time as well. there are a lot of fantastic events happening except for tomorrow. well love and peace to you all. bryan

St. Francis

The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis

"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, harmony.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sorrow, joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

New Stuff

Just a little update, i feel as if i dont have much to report than stuff about myself and what is new w/ me. As of May 1st i will be fully employed by the Well Community church and Every Neighborhood Partnership. I will be working full time split between two different areas, the first is 3 days a week at The Neighborhood Thrift Store helping to push it forward and increase profits in order to fully engage in the community by hiring residents in the susan b. anthony 'hood. We are going to develop a job training program to increase their work experience and skills and transfer them to other employers to continue their work. The other two days i will be doing admin work for ENP (Every Neighborhood Partnership) and participating in the economic development area of their process. I am super excited to start this and will be done subbing as of next week. I have had a good run at that and have enjoyed doing it the last 8 or so months. I am super stoked about the opportunity that God has placed before me and all the great people that i will be in touch and contact with. That is all for now. Thanks

Bryan

Random Thoughts 4-15

Here is a little update on my life.

Today i will cover a sorts of topics, thoughts and musings. First of all, if you want to hear the gospel preached around soly who Jesus is what significance his death/resurrection/life is check out Mark Driscoll speaking. You don't have to watch all, or any but if you desire to.

The Pink House is ending in exactly 2 months from today which means several things for my life. First it means that i will have no place to live after we move out of the house and that my environment will be changing. Secondly, it is a fork in the road to determine where i want to live, Ivan (my roommate) and myself have had many discussions about what and where we want to live. We are sticking together, wherever that may be. Right now we have a few options and whichever way it turns out, we will hpefully be in a neighborhood in which we feel that we can be a part of.
He posed the question to me last night and it is one that i think that we forget to ask way too often he. He asked me "what do you think that God is trying to tell us through all of these opportunities and options?" God has something planned for us and feel as though he has given us a heart for something to is contrary at least to what i use to always desire and feel for. The question that he asked is great b/c it leaves it up for us to try to understand how we feel God in what is currently happening in our lives. No matter where that may be. It is easy for me though to get too connected w/ everything else but reaching towards God. Although i know that it is ultimately because of what he has done in my life and with his sons sinless life i need to focus on showing that to those who don't know what that is about. The social gospel and action sometimes over runs what the story of each of our lives are about when we get to the heart. Anyways, that is just a little update about what is going on with the future. There are some great things happening now in the Pink House and dont' want to miss out on what that will be. IN two weeks there is going to be another block party that i am going to be a part of. Bounce House, food, maybe slip and slide, music, games, cakewalk, and many other awesome activities.

This weekend i am going to play with Stepsonday for just two shows, one in upland, and the other in bakersfield. I am really looking forward to it, hanging out w/ Jason and Chad. Going to bako to see friends and family. I really appreciate the opportunity to play music a little bit and be able to enjoy a weekend outside of Fresno every once in a while. On another note, i am trying to finish the game of James Bond 007 Goldeneye. I use to be pretty dang good at the game back in late middle school early high school, and i picked it up again recently and it has probably become an obsession. I will try to complete a level and sit there for like 40 min and then i slap myself in the face b/c i hate video games and the whole concept of them. But maybe i will just indulge a bit more. i think i have 4 or 5 levels left! I am out. Peace and Love

Bryan

Amish

Well in class today, we are talking about immigration of those from around the world to the US. we had a great discussion and the kids enjoyed the discussion as well. we started asking questions about how the amish live and what we thought about it. it all stemmed from now knowing whether they use friges or not. so i did some wikipedia and thought that all of this was very interesting. i really want to go hang w/ them for summer or sometime. maybe a weekend would suffice. these are some counter cultural communities.



** Single Amish men are clean-shaven; if they are available to court women, they will put a dent in their hat. Married men grow a beard. In some more traditional communities, a man will grow a beard after he is baptized

** Moustaches are not allowed, because they are associated with the military, and because they give opportunity for vanity

** Rather than immediately taking up housekeeping, the newlywed couple will spend several weekends visiting the homes of friends and relatives who attended the wedding.

** The marriage ceremony itself may take several hours, followed by a community reception that includes a banquet, singing and storytelling

** There are Old Order communities in 21 states; Ohio has the largest population (55,000), followed by Pennsylvania (39,000) and Indiana (37,000).

** It is also the proximate cause for rejecting education beyond the eighth grade, especially speculative study that has little practical use for farm life but may awaken personal and materialistic ambitions

** The Amish dislike the telephone because it interferes with their separation from the world: it brings the outside world into the home, it is an intrusion into the privacy and sanctity of the family, and it interferes with social community by eliminating face-to-face communication (but some use it for out going calls...)

** Church members do not join the military, apply for Social Security benefits, take out insurance or accept any form of financial assistance from the government.

PAPA festival/MCC

I stumbled upon this festival/conference that is happening this summer. It is just a really exciting idea and concept of community getting together to learn from each other and work together. Each person that goes to the event participates in some way or another so that it can all happen. Someone created a type of currency for it so that their own system is in place. If someone has knowledge in one specific field they help out and teach it whether it be bicycle repair or cooking food, each individual contributes to the whole. I wonder if there is any way to go, who knows...Watch the video and tell me what you think. I just thought that i would share this b/c it is very exciting that stuff like this is happening. (not to mention mewithoutYou is going to be performing!)

One a different but similar note, this weekend is the MCC sale!!! if you are not coming you should! great food, great people, great stuff, great cause! sweet mennonite women spend all year making quilts to sell here and some go for 7000 dollars! incredible stuff. there are a lot of great items from overseas that can be purchased from those who create in order to have sustain living. please come.

Guilty Pleasures

So i am subbing at roosevelt high and the last time i was here there were some girls who were wearing "senses fail" t shirts. i was talking to them about how i liked that song 'buried alive' and i just saw them walking around and they asked me if i ever got the song again because it has been so long since i had heard it. so i came back to my room and found this sweeeeet video. tell me if you enjoy it as much as me!!! good stuff...my life is full of a lot of 'guilt pleasures' but i love it. i can't help but post this one as well. listen to it and tell me you don't think its super catchy and great. if you don't like it, we may have to talk later and there will probably be a punch coming from me!

Ideas

So, you should all know that ENP is a future partner of mine in employment. The Neighborhood Thrift just opened its doors a week ago and has been an amazing adventure. I will be working tomorrow all day if any of you want to come by to get some sweet jems and say hello to me. there is a lot going on and i cannot WAIT to see how God is/will be using this venture in the upcoming times.
Another exciting idea that a friend of mind opened up my eyes to was the idea of a 'community garden.' I had never really thought of the potential of that and all that it could entail until i have recently been researching it. Come to find out in Fresno there have been many ideas and possiblities of it but nothing that has really been put to the plow (nice pun huh?). Having a plot of land in a neighborhood that would serve as a connecting point to grow fruit, veggies, flowers and herbs and yet would bring in revenue is exciting. There are so many directions of this whether it is self sustaining agriculture or to produce income, all of the above is possible. There are so many connections in Fresno and so much knowledge in these neighborhoods that just needs to be put together. Just imagining all of this gets me really excited and ready to move on it. Little by little the garden shall overtake the world!

check out resources such as these community gardens

Religiousity

lately, i have been dealing, contemplating, and discussing different religious views and ideas and practices. things like war and its biblical view and all the postmodern mumbo jumbo as well as the biblically conservative point of view on issues. it just seems as though i have been a little too heavy into those themes and ideas than just talking/praying and figuring out who God is an what he means to me. I know that some or most of those things can help us learn who he is and shows us the character of God but lately i feel as if it is doing the opposite. There are so many issues and arguments to have about what the bible says about particular ideas and theories and i need a break from it. I know that God is a beautiful creator and that he cares about our world and wants us to love each other. I also know that we need to learn to put others in front of ourselves and that he has things for us to learn in all different circumstances. But much more than that i feels as if i am not sure of things and don't really know how important they are. What do you think? How important is it to study and know every little detail about what i think and what you think and how they are different and which one is wrong and which one is right. Maybe its important and maybe its not as. I hope that this time will pass and that i can dive into some ideas later but for now i need to just figure out how to love those around me and God himself not the theories and ideas. I hope that you are all doing well.

Spring Break!

So, on sunday i left fresno to stay the night in bako and then had a dentist appointment on monday morning. It appears that i will have to have my wisdom teeth out soon. great....So i made it down here to San Diego on Monday afternoon, Kim and I drove and made it in great time. I have been especially blessed to get to spend some great time w/ my long time buddy Kyle Kuhlmann. One of the most gentle genuine humans that i know, he takes care of everyone and doesnt accept anything else. We have been friends since 3rd grade!!! nuts. Yesterday we went to some beautiful cliffs off of La Jolla and then had dinner w/ my buddy Joey. That evening we went downtown for ST. Pattys which i knew would be an adventure, for the best or the worst.
It definitely turned out to be for the worst. Just a really sad sight to see as people are wearing just crazy slutty clothes. I was with a bunch of people whom i wouldn't usually spend time w/ but they befriended me. Needless to say it just wasn't my bag, if you get my drift or if you know anything about me. However, i did have fun w/ Kyle and we enjoyed each other, i did get to see Dieter from Laguna Beach. that was pretty exciting as i am a long time fan of such a shallow and dumb show. However, i enjoyed that.
This evening, i had dinner w/ a second (or maybe third) cousin of mine whom i barely know. It was a blast, he had some beautiful daughters, Rashmee and Pria. My cousin Eric married an east Indian lady and thus they have very ethnic babies who are absolutely darling. We got to catch up w/ our lives and he is a very admirable man. We hadn't seen each other in probably 6 or 7 years, but it was terrific. i love being able to develop relationships w/ those who i know but don't really know, much less family. God is good.
So i will be here for the next 2 days and then i am back up to fresno to help out w/ the "neighborhood thrift store" and am excited for that ministry. Hope all is well w/ you guys out there. Easter is coming...the day that makes our faith what it is.

Jesus for President

By the way, i picked this up this last weekend while in Santa Barbara. I had been looking forward to this for a bit and am enjoying it so far. It has set up a lot of the Jewish culture in the Old Testament. It has really put a lot more of the bible in the context to understand that when Jesus arrived what he was really walking into. You may have remember a post that i did on some parables in Luke. 19 and 20 i think, and in this book they discuss them briefly. It is the parable of the 10 minas and how at the end of the passage he says

27But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."

They write about in the book that the Kings of the time were Herod's three sons Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip and they were pretty power hungry kids. (these kids are remaining after he killed his other sons that were threatning) Some of the jesish people didn't want these sons in power and went to protest and later got murdered. So all to say that this is most likely the kind of story that Jesus is referencing and he uses his political satire. His character doesn't represent the charachter of God which is why he doesn't start the parable out "The Kingdom of God is like..."

So i got my question answered in a different way that i had thought and am thankful for those who know a lot more that me! Go pick up the book and read through it as well. it is pretty exciting.

Newt Hunting

Jenny and I went on a hunt for newts last weekend at Pine Flat Lake. I realized that it is little over a half and hour away and so we made it a short little sunday trip. It was super beautiful and we had success out at the lake. At first we went down to the dock and then followed a river up and after 15 min or walking up it, Jenny spotted the bright orange specimen. I got pretty excited and went further up and saw like 8 more! it was spectacular. She wanted a playmate for her current newt Hector. And since she is a biologist she loves to study the creatures. So here are a few pictures. We had a blast and are inspired to go Backpacking in Yosemite soon. If any of you are interested we would love for you to come along!!!

Homeless

Well i dont' feel like i know too much about the homeless and if i will ever figure it all out. But living in the Pink House has risen the ideas for me and last night was one of those nights. As a house we discussed the issues of giving cash to men, judging them or not judging them, being a hindrance to them, and just being there for them. Ivan and i had learned a lot of Jay the other night and it has been on my heart ever since. Later in the evening, Ivan and i were talking out on the balcony and he said something that really struck home. To sum it up it was basically saying how in homeless and the poor and marginalized we are called to be a presence, not just some people. That we kinda write 'gods gifts' off as if that person over there is called to it and i am not. we are all called to compassion on each other, no partiality as Paul and John and James state. In the poor we have connection w/ them wether rich or not, because there is something lacking in us all, but society covers it up w/ material things or appearance or whatever it is. But in each soul of ours we need to be made whole and complete in Christ. I will end this with a very blunt statement from James

17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

let us set apart time to be w/ each other and get moved by God and see his love in all.

ummm....

Well, life has been very busy lately but amazing. This weekend has
been great, on Friday evening we had a Pink House Fundraiser which was
a black tie bunko night. With a lot of work it turned out to be a
success, over 50 people showed up to it and all said that it was an
enjoyable evening. I will post some pictures soon, we emptied the top
two apts and the ladies of the house decorated it beautifully. People
in the house gathered up gifts for the prizes and many people left
satisified. We had some incredible desserts made by Jazz and Nate,
cheesecakes, peanut butter balls, creme puffs and italian sodas. It
was great Saturday was another terrific day full of many great people
and events. Started the morning w/ Habitat doing some roofing, then
went to do some sorting at the wherehouse of the future thrift store,
and then had lunch at doghouse for Ashley's b-day. It was terrific to
hang out w/ friends and then continue to hang w/ dave and paul at a
little football match w/ Travis, Ryan and Austin. After about 35 min,
we were huffing and puffing and way out of shape. I ended the night
watching Planet Earth with some housemates, which had never seen it or
heard of it before. I couldn't hardly believe it so i put it in the
DVD player w/o hesitation.
Sunday came and it was nice to sleep in until about 11am. Jenny
(lives under my apt) had talked about going hunting for newt's at Pine
Flat so i thought that what better day to do on a beautiful Sunday
afternoon. WE made the 30 mile drive or so (which was so incredibly
gorgeous) and found a little streaming coming up out of the lake. She
decided to follow it and we walked up it for about 15 or so minutes,
and low and behold, she spotted a bright orange belley newt. I got
pretty excited and walked up stream to see if there were any others
b/c she said they usually travel in hoards. So i saw like 5 or 6 more
and wanted to grab them but it wasn't needed.
Later sunday evening, ivan (my roommate) and i were sitting around and
didn't have much to do. Well actually he was doing homework and i
didn't have anything to do. He proposed the idea of grabbing our
guitars and playing down on G street. On G is where the 'tent' city is
and where ivan and his buddies go down and skate and hang out w/ the
homeless at. I thought that it sounded like a great idea, so off we
went. we started playing on the street across from tent city. There we
were playing some guitar and a lady across the street from us started
grooving to the music. It was beautiful, she then came over to us and
wanted a cigarette, and offerred some misc. services to us, ivan asked
her if she thought it would be possible for us to go and hang out w/
the guys who had some sweet bonfires and play some music for them. She
heavily advised otherwise so and said they woudl most likely charge us
rent and probably steal from us because we were outsiders. So we moved
down the street a bit, (watched some drug deals happen) and met
another guy who sat down and introduced himself as Jay. So we ended up
spending quite a bit of time w/ him. He enjoyed listening to some
music and i played some AC/DC that he rocked out to. Ivan was pretty
hungrey and so was Jay so we decided to go to Rallys for a bit to eat.
In the truck Jay explained his story of homelessness and how is wife
had cheated on him and it was all downhill from there. He was a super
brillant guy and understand a lot of the systematic issues w/
homelessness and how there is a lot of scandel in it all. He informed
me of a lot that i had no idea about. He was very driven to pick
himself up and was waiting on a check from the gov't for the two
tourrs of wars that he served in. He definitely knew the gospel and
said some pretty profound biblical messages, said he attended
'cornerstone' church and the fact that the preacher was an ex ganger
member and could help those like them and relate to them. He discussed
miracles that he had seen God perform and explained how he prayer in
'cuss words' because he was so over joyed w/ how much God loved him.
We never mentioned much about God but agreed a lot w/ him about how
lovely he is. This happened to be his birthday and he felt truely
blessed that we crossed each others paths. He explained to me in the
car that he just wanted to talk about some stuff that was on his mind.
I haven't stopped thinking about Jay since and he shows me why we need
to seek justice for men like him. I dropped him off at his area of
tents and as i feel asleep in my warm bed i wondered how he was doing
in the cold in his tent w/ his buddy Gino. He said next time maybe him
and i could jam together on guitars...

New Project of Tulips

After thinking and talking i finally did it! i planted my very own flowers. i thought that i would show you all the process of these beautiful plants. I wanted to plant them as seeds but i guess it is too early for that. So after some help from the OSH lady she directed me to this wonderful flowers. Everyday they seem to change, which is pretty dang exciting if you ask me. check em'. I also have a plant of cilantro that i haven't even used yet but is growing marvelously. The last picture of the three is the tulip before it started showing any color and the top picture is them getting ready to break through.

Shaver Lake

So because i work for the man....the school system....the state. I was forced to not work on Monday b/c they were closed so, i went on a little journey up to Shaver Lake. I discovered that it was only 45 miles a way and just thought i would hike around a bit (which made it very difficult in several feet of snow) and just chill. So here are a couple of pictures that i took. The beauty was unbelievable. All of the snow along side of the lake was simply breath taking. I hope that you enjoy a few of them. I listened to God for a bit and it was amazing. He seems to be on pretty good terms w/ me lately and i Love Him.

Harsh words?

So currently i am reading through the book of Luke and am in chapters 19,20,21. As i read some of jesus's words and the stories that he tells, they are not very comforting and peaceful all the time. I know that this is something that we hear quite often about how Jesus's words weren't always reader friendly but it is totally true. Especially to the culture that we are in where we don't want to offend people or not being 'loving' in the way that we think of (acceptance). I am not sure if this makes sense but check out the passages:

***His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

24"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'

25" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'

26"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 27But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."*** Luke 19.

This has a bit of a twist from my usual interpretation of the parable of the Ten Minas. The master is requiring that when he gives his servants money that interest is made from it, and that we should not fear him to the point of being afraid of having to deal w/ the authority. He wants us to deal well w/ what is around us and move forward to him and to others. But the end seems super harsh "bring them here and kill them in front of me" wow that is intense. It seems like he could have ended the parable much earlier but this is here for a specific reason. Any ideas?

The second parable is such:

***14"But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!"

17Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone[a]'[b]? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

19The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.*** Luke 20:9

Another twist as Jesus says, they what they will do is kill the tenants and give the vineyard to others. I think that my reaction was the same as the Chief Priests. But he brings the heat again. This is something that has been on my mind since i read it. "i need more grace than i thought"

Verrrrtex

Here are some pictures taken by David Rickett of Stepsonday at the Vertex in Arroyo Grande.

Brilliant Rock Album

Nada Surf

New Album "Lucky" i recently got it up in seattle and haven't stopped listening to it. Well occasionally, but not too much. It is really great.

The Road