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...