It has been a long time coming...

Wow.. I have really slacked when it comes to writing these past two weeks. I really have no excuse. Life has been up and then down lately. I got a unpaid internship called "Coug Guys and Gals". It is pretty sweet. I get some free Wazzu gear and a free sports pass. All I really do is on football and basketball game days I talk with boosters for the school, as well as future students about the athletic department. It is really cool and I am excited about it. I also interviewed for a job at the student rec center but ended up not getting it. It was a real bummer but the lady said she recommended me for another job position so I get another interview with them tomorrow.

This past weekend I got the chance to go on a camping trip with all the guys in the Nu House. It was a trip that was way over due. It was a great time of guy stuff. We sat around and camped in a Farrugut State park. It was great. Made all of our food on the fire and sat around and smoked some stogies and pipes while talking about Jesus. It was awesome.

Our last Young Life club was great. It ended with a bang! We had about 75 students there. I am really excited for what God has in store for next year. The excitement for next year is gonna make college young life huge! Here is a pic of some of us before club... How many Young Life leaders does it take to figure out a power point?



This last week I had some great times with Jesus. Over the camping trip we had about 30 minutes on our own and it was great. We talked about a trio of verses that I have read a bunch of times but I hadn't looked at them as much as I did that day.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for your soul?" Matthew 16:24-26

When it says deny yourself, it really makes me think of the areas in my life that I still hang on to, that I haven't given fully to God still. When God says take up your cross I think he wants us to think about what Jesus did for us and how he carried that cross for us. He wants us to be like Jesus and carry all the brokeness, and heartache and just give it up to him. God wants us to lose our lives for his sake. He wants us to give him love...

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

If we don't fully sacrifice ourselves to God as Jesus did for us, we will never experience what God really intends for us. We will never experience what Love and Life is.

Those three verses in Matthew are just filled with stuff that you can chew on for a while. The word is active and alive that is for sure!

He is Risen!!

Easter was something that some people celebrate only once a year. What does Easter generally consist of? Once a year church visit, brunch, Easter egg baskets.. searching for eggs? a bunny? Easter is a celebration of what God did on the cross for us. It is a time for us to realize that Jesus not only died but also rose for us... for us. He died so that we could have eternal life.. not Easter life.. not temporary life.. eternal. Now that is something that deserves more than just a day of recognition, it deserves a lifetime.

This video has been something that I have gone back to a bunch lately. It reminds me of what Jesus was.. and is.. and is to come.



I have been able to read through the book Sex God by Rob Bell. I really like it. It is about the link between sexuality and Christianity. It is very interesting. In one of the chapters it talks about what love is. It says that love is a risk. Love is putting yourself out there not knowing what the response will be. God is risking His love for us everyday because God gave us a choice. He said we can either love Him back or not. Can you believe that heartache that God must feel everyday because of the way we betray and throw away His love. God gave His one and only Perfect son for us, and we just turn away.

In church the pastor mentioned how in the Bible it says that Light was made before the sun. Read it, its in Genesis. It made me think more into what light really is. Light is more than just what the sun gives off.. its something that we need. We literally receive vitamins from being in the light. The suicide rate in Seattle(always overcast, no light) is much higher than other areas because we need light. God made us to need light. But it doesn't stop there... the light is where God is. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. -Matthew 5:13. God wants us to be a light but also wants to be in His light. We can be a light to one another.

Sometimes the simple things make the most sense.

Wiped

So life as I know it has been a roller-coaster this last week. Last weekend was crazy busy but great. On Friday I got together with a bunch of guys and we had a man night. It was great just hanging with some guys and eating great food and playing some midnight frisbee. It was definitely a good night. The next night I actually went on a date dash. I kind of took one for the team because Andrew had a date and needed a wing man. I went into it thinking it was going to be awkward but it ended up being awesome. I really enjoy getting my groove on.

This week has been nuts. I had something every night until tonight. I had 3 exams this week and didn't know I was gonna do as bad as I did. I had two job interview type things this week as well. Last night there was club and it was great. We didn't have as many students as we wanted but the night was full of fun. Yesterday I was spending some time with Jesus reading through 1 John chapter 4. It really spoke to me. One of the verses that really stuck out to me was verse 18.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

In verse 16 it says that God is love. It makes me think. We are always afraid of love, and guess what.. most people are afraid of God too. Love comes from God. We are afraid of it all. So as I was thinking about how God is love I decided to take verse 18 and replace God with the word love.

"There is no fear in God. But our perfect God drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in God."

If we don't Trust in God, if we live in constant worry, we will never see what God has for our lives. If we don't live in love for each other and for God then we will never have a FULL life.

So, yesterday was april fools day and this is one of the pranks I pulled...