We Aren’t Living in 1969 are We?

This morning when I flipped open my computer I realized that I had let my battery run all the way out without shutting it down. I know it isn’t good for the computer, but I have an Apple so they are pretty much indestructible. But when I flipped it open this window popped up that said “Your computers time and date have been reset and this may be causing some of your applications to run improperly.” I was thinking that maybe it reset them to maybe three days ago, but no… it reset to December 21, 1969 at 7:00 p.m.

Apple’s were not even in existence in 1969. The only apple’s Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were thinking about were the apple’s you eat.

How often do we wish we could go back in time? Maybe we wish we could go back in time to change something. Maybe we wish we could go back and take back the mean words we said to someone, or the thing we stole, or the crime we commited, or the thing we did that we knew went against the core of who we were as a human, but somehow we know that we can’t.

Dave at Kinetic the past month has been going through what it means to be in an EPIC story. What I see is that we aren’t in this story alone.

This story that God is writing for us is an integral, but not defining part of human history.

All I had to do was go to the Date/Time preference and change the date back to today’s date. Life isn’t always that simple, but I wasn’t about to leave my computer in the time of 1969, and so the same goes for me I don’t want to get caught up in the past, but rather to continue my Epic story.

We can’t go back and change things, but we can ask for forgiveness, pick up, and continue the journey.

~Justin

I REALLY Want a Vespa

For almost two years now I have wanted a scooter, a Vespa at that, to ride and to make it my primary vehicle. Vespa’s are flippin’ sweeeet rides. I can remember when I first started dating Jenna I told her that I wanted a scooter and I could just see the fear in her eyes, “What? Is this guy really going to be picking me up on a scooter?” I am sure she is quite grateful for that. However, I did own a sweeeet Jeep Wrangler when we started dating. It was my first vehicle and I miss it now quite often, especially this summer.

The point of all of this rambling is that there seems to be this feeling within all of us of wanting something that we do not have. When I had my Jeep I hated not being able to drive on the highway and have a conversation due to the extremely loud noise that the wind makes when it goes against the soft top. I hated the way water sometimes got in through the top and made my Jeep smell really bad. So after all of the complaning I bought a new car, but now I miss my Jeep eventhough I have a pretty flippin’ sweet ride now. So for the past 30 minutes I have been looking at Vespa’s. Hmmm… something is wrong. I have a new car, money to pay for it, and yet I want a Vespa scooter.

I know me wanting a Vespa is cool and not a complete and utterly selfish wish. But I do think that it goes back to the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had EVERYTHING before them, but it wasn’t enough. They were a perfect image of God, but yet they were not satisfied completely and thus, they acted on this unsatisfactory feeling. This feeling of wanting things has been around from the beginning of time.

Whether it’s Vespa’s, a new wardrobe, an iPhone, or affection we are all searching for something. Paul, a writer in the new testament book to the church at Ephesus, says that God has “lavished on us all wisdom and understanding” and has given us free gifts.

I am not in anyway at all saying that Vespa’s are bad or anything to that nature, but I am just curious as to why there is sometimes a feeling of being unsatisfied within all of us?

~Justin

Faking it is Just to Hard

I think we have all been in a place where we have been someone we are not. Some of us may go to parties where we try to fit in, but the whole time we are there we not we do not really fit or belong there. Others of us put on suits everyday to go to work, but really and truly we wish we could just wear sweats all day and work from home. This is true for those of us trying to live an authentic and real christian life.

I love watching the Discovery Channel! There is this really cool show on their called “Man vs. Wild” and it’s about this guy, Bear Grylls, who is the host of the show. He is CRAZY! Well, today an article was released saying that he isn’t really what he is percieved to be. He actually has a crew build everything for him and stays in “luxurious” hotels while shooting the show.

We all struggle with this issue. Everyday we wake up and we want so bad to be accepted, loved, liked, and just appreciated. We even take on personalities that aren’t ours to try to fit in and be accepted and liked. Where do we draw the line though?

We were created and knit together (Psalm 139) by the Creator of the world in our mother’s womb. Each of us posess a unique and creative personality, we all encompass a wide array of gifts and talents, but somewhere along the way we wish we could be something that we are not?

Why? Why do we wish to be something different than the way we were created? Jesus said he came to make all things new, and to give us a new life in him. I just think faking it is just too hard. It’s hard to keep up with the multiple personalities and wardrobes.

Let us be who we were created to be

~Justin

Do Numbers REALLY Matter?

So it has been a pretty good while since I have written and I guess that’s ok. Here are a few things that are going on (in bullet form format):

* 3 more weeks left of camp
* 3 weeks until I am on vacation at the beach
* I spoke at Kinetic on Sunday
* I finally got my cruiser bike so Jenna and I can bike together.
* My car is really dirty on the inside and out
* I got a haircut
* enough of this…

There were a lot of people at Kinetic on Sunday, and a lot of first time Kineticians. It was awesome, and especially for the middle-end of July. It is natural to think “Man, we must be doing something right!”, but I wonder if numbers should really matter?

I got in a conversation yesterday with a guy about this very thing, and it really pushed me to think about it a little deeper. In no way am I saying that I have this question completely mastered. Growing up playing in a band and still considering ourselves more than a band, but a ministry, we are all the time analyzing and judging our “success” on the number of CD’s we sell, the number of people who show up to a show, or just the number of MySpace friends and profile visits we have. There are counters for everything! We have to walk through the turn thingys just to get into Carowinds or Disney World.

So like I always try to do is wonder what Jesus had to say about it. In no way will I probably be able to do what Jesus did and at the magnitude in which he did them, but what I see in his ministry that multitudes of people followed after him and pushed themselves through the crowd just so they could hear his voice more clearly. They obviously did not have PA Systems. In Colossians the writer is giving thanks to the church at Colassae because the “gospel all over the world is growing and bearing fruit.

Simply put, I think numbers do matter. If God is in something the gospel, the good news, should be growing and we as a movement of Christianity trying to propel what Jesus and his disciple began should be bearing bruit. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.

We have more money, more resources, and more freedom to love and to tell the story of Jesus more so than ever in the history of humankind.

I do think there is a warning to us as well. Numbers are not everything, christian cable shows that. We have a responsibility to shepherd our flock. It is a privilege to serve others.

So I leave you with the question:

Do numbers REALLY Matter?

~Justin

I Really Miss Those Blue Sparkles

I really do not have anything profound, deep, or thought provoking to write about today, but I do want to talk about the absence of some blue sparkles in my life.

So since I have been at camp I have been going through major withdrawals from my drums (those are the blue sparkles). Guitarist usually have it pretty easy; they can pretty much play anywhere they want to. Drummers, on the other hand, have a much more difficult time. We are usually forced to play on the steering wheel while driving, play on our knees, play air drums, beat on the table, and all while feeling insane because we aren’t actually playing our kit.

I could vent about missing my drums some more, but I won’t.

Wishing I could be behind some cymbals,

~Justin

Are We Too Caught Up in the Next Phase

I often wonder if I am sometimes too caught up in the next phase of life that I forget the now. This is something I am constantly working on. I am constantly trying to embrace today and not be completely consumed by the future. I am completeley aware of the necesssity in future planning, saving money, and preparing now for the future. So, don’t think that I am completely consumed by today.

The trigger for this post happened over the weekend when I was with the lead worship guy from Kinetic at a show on Saturday night. The church we were at was really nice and new. They had really nice audio stuff, especially for a church. As I was talking with the sound guy about the church he explanied to me the three phases of building that the church went through to get the building they now have.

The biggest part of me is grateful that they have went through these phases, but I often wonder do we put TOO much emphasis on building phases and not enough emphasis on the NOW. I am in no way judging this particular church because they may in fact do a lot for the community.

I think we need to have a vision, but in the process of reaching our vision we need to be aware that today is vital in the completion of our vision.

Enjoying Today,

~Justin

Remembering A Year Ago…

So I just got an email from a good friend of mine, Will, who reminded me of where I was at in my life a year ago. Will and I served on staff with MFUGE last summer in Charleston, SC and throughout the summer we would meet once a week or so to just talk about life: the past, the present, the next day, and the future. I remember a year ago being uncertain of where my future was headed. I knew that I was graduating from Appalachian in December, I knew I wanted to go to seminary but didn’t know where or when, I knew that I had a supportive family, great friends, a loving and supportive girlfriend who makes me think about the decisions I am making and why I am making them, and I had hopes and a vision of where I would like to be.

The point of all this rambling is that it is so amazing how in one year I have seen a lot of prayers, dreams, and visions be revealed and they are still being unveiled at this very moment. God promises that he has these amazing plans for us, but we have to seek him.

What I have learned is this, We may have to walk in a period of what seems like uncertainty and blindness, but we must know for certain there is a strategically and wonderfully designed plan for our lives.

…I remember a year ago…
~Justin

The Things That Go Unnoticed

Have you ever felt like the things you do sometimes go unnoticed?

I am sitting on the front of porch of the dining hall at Camp and I am watching a guy mow the lawn, and I just thought that most everything he does on a daily basis probably goes unnoticed by most unless you are into landscaping and all that. What would happen though if all of sudden the maintenance crew stopped working one day for an entire week? Maybe they all decide to go fishing instead of weedeat or mow the lawn. Would there job go unnoticed then? Probably not! A lot of people would start complaning about how high the grass was and I would probably be the one complaining.

It seems like we always notice when things are not going the way they are supposed to be or look the way we think they should. If the bathrooms are clean we hardly ever say “Man, those bathrooms are clean”, but if they are dirty and have pee-pee on the seats we complain. It’s sorta like the mom who cleans up after everyone in the house, but if mom stops cleaning for one day the whole house is a mess.

I wonder if Jesus felt unnoticed at times? Jesus would go around making the blind see and the deaf hear, but turn around and tell the people he healed not to tell anyone. Why? I think he wanted to stay unnoticed, to stay humble, and to make his mark without attracting attention to himself. However, he did make his mark and he definitely didn’t go unnoticed!

That is the way I want to be…to go unnoticed at times, to serve others, and like the guy mowing the lawn, I just want to mow the lawn because I enjoy mowing the lawn not to have someone say I love your lawn.

Wishing I could be mowing the lawn,

~Justin

Shouldn’t We All Just Wear Popped Collars and Boat Shoes?

One thing I have learned while being at Camp Harrison is that everyone, no matter how young or old, is unique and different.

Everyone is different!

We like different flavors of ice cream, music, and food. Some of us like to stay up late at night and sleep late the next day. Others of us like to go to bed early so we can wake-up earlier. Some of us are tall, short, and some of us have black hair, brown hair, red and blonde hair. We all have unique personalities that make us who we are. We can’t change much of who we are. Yet, in our differences we are put on the same earth, in the same camp, and even in the same cabins for some reason.

I feel, and I think Paul would agree as well, we were created to be different parts that make up one body, to be someone great and to do even greater things.

Life would be easier, I guess, if all we had were collars to pop and boat shoes to wear, but I am glad there is more! I don’t really like popped collars or boat shoes.

Find Yourself,
~Justin

It’s Good To Get Back to Feelin’ Like a Kid Again

I remember being an 11 year old kid just waiting to be a teenager. Then, when I was finally a teenager I could not wait to be 16 so I could drive a car, and then it was turning 18, then turning 21, and now I just wish sometimes that I could be a kid again.

Saturday was Jenna’s birthday, and we had a blast! I won’t bore you with all the details of what I got her and all that jazz, but I do think it was pretty cool her birthday was 7/7/07!

Anyways, what hit me this weekend is that the older we get the more we wish to revisit our childhood. So this weekend Jenna did revisit her childhood for a little bit. We had a pool party for her at her grandmother’s house just like she did when she was a kid. She had cake just like she did when she was a kid, and the finale was she got a bike that was hidden down the hall and she had to go look for it like it was Christmas morning. It was awesome!

It made me wonder why we want to be a kid again?

Children in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ time were not held in high esteem. They had very little significance or importance in the eyes of adults. There is this beautiful, but yet humbling story in the Gospel of Mark where these children are trying to get to Jesus, but the disciples are trying to keep them from getting to Jesus. Jesus responded by saying “let these children come to me”. Jesus then took the children in his arms and blessed them. Jesus was making a point!

I think sometimes we just need to get back to being a kid. I get tired of trying to figure out things, debating creation vs. evolution, paying bills, and analyzing the hermenutics of a passage. I love doing this stuff sometimes, but sometimes, like Jenna, I just need a pool party, some cake, and a bike.

Rockin’ it like a kid not kidrock,

~Justin