StrengthsFinder Assessment...

Hey readers, jvdworak of Bethel Seminary and LeadershipVision is profiling me today using my StrengthsFinder results on his blog. Feel free to head over there and add your thoughts on what you think my strengths / challenges are in the comments field. Thanks!

I'll be including my comments there a bit later as well.


Two statements on my mind today...

I started reading Len Sweet's "Out of the Question... into the mystery". Sweet says, "People are losing the art of living with one another. Relationship is the soul of the universe. And the soul is sick."

The other statement that struck me during our sunday gathering this week was when our pastor talked about what it meant to be 'chosen'. While we often have an 'us vs. them' mentality, he described how "being chosen throughout the scriptures was not to the exclusion of others but for the benefit of others". Amazing.

Relationships are everything. That's why i'm glad to find 'includer' in the top five of my strengthsfinder results.

Moved in...

It took 20 people and a whole lot of sweat, but we've moved everything in, moved some things into storage (my parents), gave away couches, ac's and a television, hardwooded most of the floors, and repainted every wall. boxes are still ceiling high, but just in different places now.

Yvonne and I are on around year 4 of our 30 year plan right now. everything seems to be falling into place so far, but we didn't expect to find ourselves owning a condo right now.

I finished Malcom Gladwell's Blink recently. I have to say I did most of while on the can. Excellent bite-size nuggets of thoughts throughout the book, but not as good as Tipping Point if you ask me. More on that later.

I've been in awe of the community of people that have helped us out this past while. This group started out from scratch in January and has grown into such a beautiful community of God. I'm left speechless by their sacrifice, service, and support. They've treated our home as if it were their own, and it certainly is.

"How good and how pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity" (Psalm 133:1).

I'll start posting regularly again, real soon.

Growing up is hard to do...

Greek is over for now. I'll be starting Greek Exegesis in September though.

The packing has begun for the big move. Moving now isn't like all the times I moved as a student. I've got a lot more forms to fill, bills to pay, and boxes to the ceiling of material goods i probably don't really need.

I scrolled back in my journal a year ago, and noticed I had an entry about becoming another big city local and my disappointment with prevailing conversations of materialsm, like what color to paint the walls... well I spent sunday night doing exactly that.

I wonder if i offended anyone when I first wrote that, because I somewhat feel like i just offended myself. I mean there's nothing wrong with having a nice place to come home to right? Adulthood sure can seem lame sometimes.

Here are a couple pictures that mean a lot to me, and remind me of simpler days. The first is my 'lucky sausage'. I got it back in '95 for free in the mail. It's a ham sausage with honey that's been shrinkwrapped, but I never thought it would last this long. For some reason most people I show it off to are disgusted by it. I love it because it reminds me that some of the best things in life really are free, and if you don't indulge in it all at once, it just might last forever.


The second is my cow-poo keychain. It's probably 5-6 years old. When i first got it I couldn't stop squeezing it and pushing my finger in it. But then one summer I left it in the son and the dung just oozed right out next to it. Conversely, it reminds me everytime I passionately get my hands into something, I can't just suddenly leave it out to dry. Some things you need to just keep pushing at, or else it makes a mess of itself.

I'm throwing them both away. It's so hard, but I think it's time to move on...

It's wierd imaginging Bono sharing the gospel with someone... Liam Gallagher of Oasis sounds like he's had enough of it. "I'm f**king God. F**k Bono. I don't need his guidance. He'd talk a glass eye to sleep." I guess even rock stars get shafted.

Google couldn't stop with the earth, it's finally landed on the moon.

Longing for the character of Christ...

This is us with Jeremy and Rochelle, who are a core part of our Discovering God group this past year. Over the long weekend, we hung out at the beaches, had a rooftop bbq, and watched the fireworks. It was completely refreshing.

Waves of busyness have been slamming against us the last while, hence the lack of blog posts. One particular theme that has been rising to the surface in my conversations with God and in our small group study through the book of Philippians is that of character. Particularly my lack of desire for the character of Christ.

My yearnings to have the heart of God formed in me pale in comparison to my endless prayers for more wisdom in my studies, more capabilities in my ministries, and more time to accomplish things. I'm just like the next dude, when you sum it up, who really just wants God to give me his omni's... his omniscience, his omnipotence, and his omnipresence. Yet these are the very things I will never have, which makes me kinda lame. Observing Jesus, it seems these are the very things he emptied himself of when he walked the earth, and still, he lived the most incredible life imaginable.

How often do we get on our knees and beg for humility? or compassion? or thankfulness? In Christ, God passionately longs to forge in us his heart and his character. But do we even really want it?

May we begin to desire God to change our character as much as we desire him to change our circumstances.

There's already a flickr photo group on this morning's London Bomb Blasts.
Tony Morgan, just released his list of the ten most innovative churches in America
Saddleback's officially launched P.E.A.C.E.
A Rollingstone article on christian's and purity - the young and the sexless. Hilarious