Off To Hilton Head I Go

I am off to the wonderful beaches of Hilton Head. Expect a post. Give me a call between 9 and 1 to give me some company!

Freaking Awesome

I know I am a dweeb when it comes to science and technology, but this is so cool!

Awkward Moments

1. Greeters who bust you down to give you a bulletin

I am not sure if I am the only one who experienced this on Christmas Eve, but I was nearly chased down when I reentered the church by greeters who wanted to give me a bulletin. A) I think you are wasting paper giving me something that merely tells me what I am about to see. B) I just got finished being chased down by the other lady.

2. Unexplained Scripture

If you choose it use it! God's word needs to be talked through. At the church I went to this eve of Christmas we were read a passage from Isaiah that was full of God's judgment on his people. It was a very different way of hearing God speak, but it was never actually explained. If I were a first time comer I would have been lost in the words of a God who hates the wicked... Granted he does, but an explanation would be nice to have about why God despises the wicked and desires justice and righteousness for the oppressed. I have found that this lesson is one of the most important lessons to teach in the area I grew up in... but that is for a later time.

3) Archaic words without meaning

Define for me: Thither
Why is it that "swaddling" is reserved only for baby Jesus?

4) Hymns that don't go as planned

The generation that is growing up in church today is very distant from hymns. This is sad because many of them are beautiful. Its so awkward through when hymns are sung and the audience isn't sure how to sing it. They are all alone in their mumble.

5) "True God of True God"

What does this mean? I know its in the Nicene Creed, but its very perplexing

All of these things happened in one church service tonight. It also included a nice butt crack in front of me and my mom during Oh Come All Ye Faithful. My mom turned to be and laughed saying... "Oh I didn't come for that!" I am not being critical of this church. I just felt lost in the crazy awkwardness.

Jesus is born today... He came as normal human being, but divine in spirit. He died for me and you so that we may live eternally. God is near... He invites you to his table.

Come and eat the Bread of Life

Christmas Time @ The Bodens

I hope everyone has been having a great holiday season. I have been having a blast. My parents moved into their new house. We now live in Cherokee County, just 15 minutes from the old house. The new house is pretty sweet. I like it a lot more than the old one. The only thing that sucks is that you have to drive 15 minutes to get nearly anywhere.

Lauren and I spent this whole week helping unpack. Her family came down on Friday and stayed the night. It was a lot of fun. You can see the schedule here. It was so much fun. She left with her family yesterday. Last night was a bit lonely without her.

I am really beginning to realize how much she is a part of me. The whole engagement process is so beautiful. I have always heard its supposed to be really tough, but what I have found is that it is just the prologue after the introduction. The book is just getting started. So to all of you out there who are about to get engaged or heading that way, it is whatever you make it. I doesn't stop me from counting down the days.

We went and looked at the church I will probably be working at. The job is being the Creative Programing Director for Cedarcrest Church. Basically I will be running Sunday mornings and thinking of creative ways to market (For a lack of a better word) the church to the community. I won't know until the end of January, but it looks promising.

That same day we went looking for houses. That was just crazy. I am becoming a married man. Wow... who would have thought!?!

Merry Christmas everyone... leave some love....

Google Campus Video

This video is absolutely hilarious! I want to work at Google!

So Close... Yet So Far

I saw this on a friend's away message...

"The city of Los Angeles once named a street after Jack Bauer in gratitude for his saving the city several times. They had to rename it after people kept dying when they tried to cross the street. No one crosses Jack Bauer and lives."

January 14th... Jack is Back

New Bloggers

I have been laughing through every post that my friend Kevin has been putting up on his new blog. You have to know Kevin to get some of the humor. He sometime, a lot of the time, overly sarcastic when it comes to the uses of technology as social constructs. I am not alone in his worry. I think things like Myspace and Facebook are endangering the true meaning of community. That topic is for a later post. On to Kevin...

Kevin is just getting into his blog. He is a construction science major from Greenville, SC. He has a unique Southern accent that is often indistinguishable. He is an off the wall crazy person who loves to pick fun at anything he can get his hands on. And ladies he is in fact single.

All and all Kevin brings a good product to the table. His blogging is very simplistic, yet the sarcasm is extremely witty and complex. So, I raise this post to you Kevin Baynard. Keep up the good work!

Soy Milk... urggghhgghhh

There is that word again... urggghhgghhh. I still don't know how to pronounce it, but its how i felt when I saw this headline:



Soy Makes You Gay...



Nothing makes me more frustrated than freaking stupid Christians who claim things that are so outrageous. There are reasons why people make fun of Christianity, and people like this prove their points. I am being critical of this guy and I wish someone around him would be critical with him.

ClemsonRave

Friends went all out on this crazy event. It was pretty spectacular. I wish i was there to see it live. Watch and have fun laughing at the craziness.

An Ode To German

An Ode To German



I am done with you

I hate you



May the snaps begin

Urguuhhh....

I am not quite sure how to make that sound, but I know I am making it. I am sitting here trying to study. It has been more like trying to stay awake and studying in between. I have an exam this morning. Vietnam History... yuck. Here is what I saw all morning out of the corner of my eye. How in the heck am I supposed to study this this happening?



Well I hope I pass this thing. I have a lot riding on it. How do you regurgitate 10 years of history in detail? I am about the find out. Oh yeah funny pic of me and Lauren. We had a semi-formal last night for Mike Soltys. He is graduating and its sad.

Glad I can carry mine in my pocket...

This is a picture of a 5MB hard drive in 1956... Thank God for technology...

Freaking Awesome Ad

I have been on an ad kick lately. I found this one from Unicef and I thought it was beautiful...

My Newest Project

I am working on some cool stuff right now. I have been taking a class called Advanced Writing Composition. I really dreaded this class. I mean realllllly dreaded it. But of course, I get into the class and the subject for the semester is: Creativity.

It has been really great. For our final we have to put together all of our writings into a portfolio. So, I thought it would be cool to create magazine design for the project. It has been a lot of fun. I can't wait to post some pictures for you. I will post just this little teaser!

Procrastination

Oh Boy.... this has been a crazy weekend. I have to do a whole bunch of crap to finish up the semester. I have this 10 page or more paper of death for my Vietnam history course. Yeah, not fun at all. Actually we will just say it... it sucks. The prof wants me to basically give a doctoral thesis on the Buddhist Sect Crisis of 1963. I know I can hear you all cringing now.

Next I have a paper due on Tuesday that I have to write right now. It is about a specific lesson I taught in school. It won't take to long, but its not how I want to spend my Sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow I have to read an entire half of a book. About 220 pages worth of story about an African city called Segu. Its a easy read, but I read really slow.

So lets just say I have my work cut out for me.

This semester has been really hard, but it looks like it is going to turn out just fine. I hope all of you out in the blogosphere are having a great last week of school. Talk to you all soon!

I Love My Family

I Love my family!!!

Whatever you say... Leprechauns are real!

I was surfing the web via NetNewsWire @ digg.com and found this interesting article. Apparently an art student in Portland was expelled from art school for trying to tell a girl that her belief in Leprechauns could not be scientifically proven. The student is an Atheist while Mrs. Four Leaf Clover believes in alternate energy levels of existence. He gets kicked out of school for having a conversation she initiated in the first place. And to top it off the school has a bi-law that disallows any students to talk about spirituality.

What is the world coming to? Why is it so afraid of something bigger? Besides the ridiculousness of expulsion and the nature of the conversation, isn't this against our rights as Americans, to be denied the right to talk about spirituality? It irks me. Anyways, the article was very funny, but it really pained me in the end.

Crap... I hate it when good music comes out

Sufjan Stevens came out with an amazing Christmas Album... dang it...

Fun Links

Grow your own 1 Up-Mushroom from Mario Bros.



Why does music give you the chills?



Myspace is growing... Could it be the devolution of community?

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It Is True

Ladies and gentleman... I am in engaged. Lauren and I got engaged on Sunday night. She was totally surprised and I was the man. Everything went picture perfect. Literally picture perfect. I had three video cameras to prove it. Last night I got no work done and edited the three into one freaking awesome video. Lauren really wants to show all of you. Maybe one day it will be made avaliable online.



We don't know of a date yet, but we have a good idea it will be in June. Its really exciting and strange. A good strange... a really good strange.

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Death Cab...

Holy junk... Death Cab For Cutie freaking amazing. Now I have been told by other people that this was the BEST SHOW THEY HAVE EVER SEEN!!!! Well my friends I am sorry to let you down, but it didn't touch it. I will say however that this band can really rock hard and got into my top 5. They are incredibly talented. Ben Gibbard is one heck of a writer. I guess this was my problem. He is such a good writer, but I couldn't hear much of the words. Anyways... Go see them. They are ridiculous. Until later my friends here are my top 5 shows...



1. U2 - Boston - Vertigo Tour

2. Mae - Tremont - Charlotte, NC

3. Martin Sexton - Eddies Attic

4. Mute Math - Anywhere

5. Death Cab For Cutie - Little John Coliseum - Clemson, SC

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Funny German Moment

I took this picture... well Lauren took it... when I got excited to see the Goethe Institute in San Francisco next to the gate of China Town. German is almost over... to bad I am just getting decent at it.

I thought this was really creative

For Your Reading Pleasure

This is an essay that I wrote, edited by Nathan Elmore. It is basically turning into my thesis about how creativity can be used in reaching the needy.

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgp34g4w_0dhv686

Its been a week...

So this week has been a week of getting back into the rhythms of school. Here is the thing... In San Francisco, I got a taste of what its going to be like when I am married. Now before any of you married types come down on me about a dream vacation in San Francisco, let me explain. I realized that there is something out past college that seems to feel a bit less heavy. For example this week I have started a 10 page Vietnam paper, this upcoming Thursday I have two tests, on Tuesday I have a German essay due... That is a lot of stuff looming over my head. I felt this past weekend what it was liked to have little outside stress and enjoy the one I love. I was a great weekend for relaxing.

I hope all is going well in the soace between Facebook and Cyberspace.

San Francisco :: Day 3

Hello. This is Lauren. Yesterday Trey and I ventured into the neighborhoods of San Francisco. Our first stop was Chinatown.... Unfortunately, we realized that just because we are visiting this lovely city, stores still don't open until 10:00 A.M. So, this is Trey during our 1 hour wait in Starbucks for the Chinese people to come out and play with us...



Here is the funny looking monster on the gate to Chinatown...



And a picture of the main street (Grant) that runs through Chinatown...



Chinatown was interesting....lots of random stores with chopsticks and such and lots of people not speaking English. It was fun.

After Chinatown, we rode the Trolley car again (my favorite) and then we went to Haight Ashbury where I spent way too much money on fun jewelry and some clothes. We ate at a really fun place for lunch called Askew, where they put your food on a stick.....it was quality. This was a seriously cool neighborhood..good shopping and interesting people.



Our afternoon consisted of strolling through Golden Gate Park until we laid in the grass for a while. Once again, this is a very good place to watch interesting people. Then we decided to go and get our Scrabble game and sit in Union Square for a while. It was a lovely afternoon.

The highlight of the day was definelty dinner. For our 2 year anniversary, Trey took me to the Cheesecake Factory....This isn't just an ordinary Cheesecake Factory however. It is located on top of Macy's and has a terrace that overlooks Union Square. We had to wait for a little over an hour to get a seat on the terrace, but It was beautiful and well worth the wait. Here is Trey being silly.....



That is all for yesterday. Today, we have a few last adventures and then we will hop on our plane back to the east coast....

San Francisco :: Day 2

Mmmm... crossiant



Today started with a day of hills. The hills here are really crazy



They Get you really tired. Here I am with my victory pose at the top



Look how far down it is.



It was really intense to climb up. Next we went to Lombard Street. This street is known for being the most crooked street in the world. Lauren and I got someone to take our picture on it.



My third flagship visit.



After we did this we rode the F-Line down market to our hostel on Taylor and Post. Its pretty sweet. Lauren and I are both nervous about meeting our roomates. I guess it will jsut have to be a surprise. We will have our iPods ready in case snoring insues. Next we rode our first trolley car. It was so much fun. The air here is so cool and the weather started to brightening up. We rode it all the way back to our old hotel newar the Wharf. Here is Lauren being silly.



Mr. Peets told me I had to try a bowl of chowder. Here I am enjoying that bowl.



Of course with Lauren, picture taking has to be part of the day. Here is one of the Golden Gate we took off of the pier.



Late afternoon we braved the public transit system and headed to the Alamo Square to see the victorians. We decided to be a little funny...



After the visit to the Full House row, we went to the neighborhood, Castro, where the gay and lesbian community thrives in San Francisco. It was a really cool experience. Be looking for a special storyline on it. After that we came back to hostel and thats where you find us. This place is beautiful. If you haven't been you ened to go.

San Francisco:: Day 1

Its weird that I am posting this at 5:10, but its almost nine at home. We had a rough start this morning. The plane blew a circuit. I am not sure what that means, but it took a whiel to fix.

I saw the rocky mountains. That was so amazing. Now I really want to stand in front of them instead of flying over them. I told Lauren that maybe we should have went to Denver instead.

We got here and immediately boarded a train to downtown. When we got into the Bay Area we transfer to a street car. It was an interesting experience. Lauren and I had no idea what to do. We looked pretty funny. We made it to the Hilton @ Fisherman's Wharf and left as soon as we got there. Airtran doesn't believe in feeding you as you travel the country. We were starved.

In And Out Burger...

Basically its the Varsity of the West Coast. It doens't hold a candle to the Varsity, but it was nice to be able to think about your order before you get thrown to the back of the line after the second. "What ya' Have!" The rumors are true about this Varsity knock off... they can make a really mean hamburger.

Afterwards, Lauren and I went to tour the Wharf. Its a really cool place. There was a bunch of fog today. After about an hour of walking it began to open up. Lauren took some stellar pictures...





After taking pictures we walked the long way back to the hotel. We saw the old cable car routes and the photographer once again took an amazing picture.



Now we are back at the hotel blogging and waiting for time to go by to justify a good dinner time.

God Jesus Holy Spirit

Who brought you to salavation? Which part of God brought you there? I have never thoguht about this. Dan brought it up tonight. Thoughts?

Freaking Awesome Links

Next time you go have to share a bed with a friend you better ask if they are a Sexsomniac.

Moving Video even though im not sure what i think about it yet.

I want to pee in one of these.

Don't be a sleepy rectum.

No Explaination Needed

LOST go try and find yourself

Kick Ball Sunday!!!

Wow, we had a blast this Sunday kicing the House of the Lofts to the outfield. I am not going to lie, I did have a part to play in it. I did score the game winning RBI from my in the park homerun. This was also known as a single with 3 in field errors, but a home run none the less that scored us 2 points. The final score was 4-2. Church in Heatherwood takes the day.

Here is the winning team...


Here is me receiving the game ball in which I shared with Kevin Baynard because of his mad 3rd basemen skills. He also was quite the 3rd base coach heckler!


Go Heatherwood!!!

The Band Of the Century!

Three weekends ago I got to play with one of the best group of people I have ever played with. We got to play for FCA's Fall Retreat. It was pretty stellar. If you ever need musicians these are the guys to have. Just give me a shout anytime.

A Wonderful Weekend Ahead

I am so excited about this weekend. ESPN's College Game Day is coming to Clemson for the Georgia Tech game. Wow, there were a lot of capitals in that last sentence. I am super pumped about it.

I hope all is doing well with everyone. I have some thoughts brewing, but class is not a place to state them. See you soon.

I love Mike Soltys

I just love him... He pretty much is one of the greatest guys ever and he wants to be able to open a beer with his thumb alone.

Besides that, nothing much new on the home front...

Lost: Season 3

Too many questions... so little time

What A Weekend!

I had one of the most amazing weekends ever...

First was the Sabbath. I have been structuring time out of my week to sit and rest for about six weeks now. It has been very awesoem for Lauren and I's relationship. Also, I have been a lot more relaxed during the week. Last week I decided I would be a bit more intentional with my Sabbath (Fri 12PM to Sat 12PM) instead of just sitting around loafing. I decided this week that Lauren and two of our friends would drive to one of the nearest towns outside of Clemson and drive towards the mountains. We would drive for an entire CD length of time. When the car stopped the music stopped. It was a blast. We actually made it all the way to North Carolina. The CD choice was John Mayer's new album and Nickel Creek's first for the return trip. I was agreat experience.

The rest of my weekend, besides a 4 hour paper writing break, consisted of watching the second season of Lost. It was incredible and best yet it was jsut me and Lauren. Lauren and I have been craving some space to be just by ourselves. It was so nice. Lost is amazing. If you aren't addicted yet, I'm sorry because it is a pain to get through them all. Lauren and I are watching the next two tmorrow and then we will be all caught up.

I hope you all are doing well. Send a comment... How was your weekend?

A Funny Thought

Grammar is the anti-creativity
Turning ramble and messy into form and structure

A New Look And Some Friction

Welcome to the new tboden.blogspot.com. Leave your coats at the door and stay awhile.

I ran across an article that was on the front of the New York Times today. If I were to ask you how many homeless people lived in the United States how many would you say? The number that came to my head was 8 million. I was surprised to find out that there are only 600,000 homeless in the US. This surprised me. The article goes on to talk about the rise of homelessness in rural areas, which compromise 9% of the total.

This produced friction...
And the wheels began to turn...

Why doesn't someone do something about this? There are 280 million people in the United States and 279.4 live with something over their heads. Why don't we find a way to put something over the heads of people. Why can't we find a job somewhere, anywhere to get these people on their feet. Why doesn't someone develope a community near large cities for homelss people where they can have housing and food in exchange for working for chain stores and/or corporate production facilities that allow advancement in leadership. Maybe upper leadership can have a choice to move somewhere else after they gt off their feet. 600,000 is a very insignificant number compared to 279.4 million.

We can be selfish bastards...
And I am not afraid to admit it like it is...

Film and Web Sites

Came across a new website. Its called Church Marketing Sucks. It is a really interesting website with funny polls and great articles. It is especially great for the creative artist in ministry. It gives a couple of great ideas

ATM - Automative Tithing Machine???

I think Jesus would not be happy when he saw this...

Finally...

Also lately I have actually been enjoying German. I know its strange. I am actually enjoying my class. Today we started to watch a movie that was really good for a German film. It was called The Edukators: Fretten Jahre Sind Vorbei. Totally check it out.

Old Friends And Things

This morning went great. I know that I told you all about the practice. It wasn't worth he worry. It was so much fun. Jesus is so huge when he shows up that way. I love me church and all the people that go to it.

Today was a big day. I lead music this morning, came back and read about John Paul Vann in Vietnam, then went and practiced for a retreat I am playing at in Atlanta. I am super stoked about it. I played with some crazy cool people. They are some of the greatest and most talented musicians I have ever played with. Practice was so much fun. I was also very relaxed and chill. The music just flowed out of us. I can't wait to see how God is going to use us this weekend.

Kyle stayed the night with me. He is probably one of my favorite people ever. We ahve been friends since tiger cubs. Those were the days. We hung out while he enjoyed a RockStar while Lauren and I downed a nice Sunkist. We then sat around and talke about Lost for a while. I realized that I need to finish the second season. Thanks to TiVo I wont be missing anything. It was a glorious evening which ended with Kyle and Dan going to go and smoke the hooka.

Well I will talk to you all soon. This week is hell week when it comes to school. Be thinking of me.

Pregnacy

Today I had my first student tell us she was pregnate. It was heart wrenching. What do we have to tell kids inorder for them to be not so stupid? I mean I am the last person to preach about this, but why is physical intimacy so important that you would ruin your youth doing. The risks are so huge.

It is in moments lie these that I want to ask some one... anyone... to stop the madness

It is in these moments I know I need a savior...

Yuck

I am leading at DCF this week and I am really excited about it. I thought practice was going to go better tahn it did. It is a hard thing you know leading people. The band is full of talented musicians. There is however a blend of personalities that one must pay attention to in order to be successful. It was a hard night and my title is how I feel right now. I love all the guys in the band. Its jsut hard to get a set together in 3 hours. I am way excited about sunday though. I know the band is going to work hard at learning the music. I need to work hard at remembering the words. Anyways... I'll Forest Gump out by saying... thats all I gotta say about that.

Bugged

I think I may just be bugged tonight...

I for some reason feel really lonely. I think it's just becasue my parents weren't here today. I miss them. I understand they have a lot on their plate, but sometimes I just want more than what is practical.

Im just bugged. I have a lot to change in my life... I need to get serious about changing it.

Funny New Video I did...

Why I Love My Church

So I was up at seven thirty this morning in a meeting for our service programming. Basically its a place were friends and I get to be creative early in the morning. Well, I am leading worship in two weeks, and we were brainstorming a song that would point us to the lament of God through Amos (Chapter 5). I love my church because the song we chose was a Smashing Pumpkins song called Stand Inside My Love. Its amazing check it out. Here are the lyrics:

You and me
Meant to be
Immutable
Impossible
It's destiny
Pure lunacy
Incalculable
Insufferable
But for the last time
You're everything that I want and ask for
You're all that I'd dreamed
Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love
Protected and the lover of
A pure soul and beautiful you
Don't understand
Don't feel me now
I will breathe
For the both of us
Travel the world
Traverse the skies
Your home is here
Within my heart
And for the first time
I feel as though I am reborn
In my mind
Recast as child and mystic sage
Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love
And for the first time
I'm telling you how much I need and bleed for
Your every move and waking sound
In my time
I'll wrap my wire around your heart and your mind
You're mine forevaaaa.. now
Who wouldn't be the one you love and live for
Who wouldn't stand inside your love and die for
Who wouldn't be the one you love

So Far Away

Have you ever ahd those moments were you just feel so far away from the heart of God? I am in one of those times. I am having at the same time a huge creativity spurt. I am trying to understand how I feel so far away yet I am so connected to my spiritual talent, gift, heart, mind, soul. I have not been forcing myself into the word. This is the week I am going to do it. I am going to try and scratch and dig for something. I am going toward the book of James. If you ahve any insight or thought let me know. Pray that i become connected again.

Glam Rock and Internet Video

So my roommate Dan came out of his room this morning saying he wanted to be a glam rocker. For those of you who don't know what a glam rocker is check out these pics...





I think he can pull the Zoolander off really well.

Well here are some cool videos that I have seen online lately check them out...

Invisible Children Global Night Commute Highlight
Zefrank's thoughts on his 9/11 experience
What do you want to be when you grow up?
The beginnings of a documentary me and a friend are doing

Have Fun!

Why did I take a freaking 400 level class. And why do they grade me on grammar and disregard content? Dumb PHD's! Anyay I thought I would vent.

New Perspective

I have been really hit by the message of this quote today. It pretty much summarizes my spiritual jouney in the past few weeks. My life with Jesus has been stale. I mean really stale. I have not gotten into the Word at all since I have been back at school. I have however been in the idea in the quote above...

My friend Nathan and I have been putting together a series of videos that will eventually form into my first documentary. It is about the rural and not so rural areas of Clemson. SPecifically its about those people who live on the other side of the margin. Nathan has begun to put questios into my mind about the so called "margins" of socioeconomic/racial classes that society places on us. Who put the barriers there? How did they get them there? What happens if I go in and out of them freely? Can I even do that?

I have foudn the the quote above summerizes my heart. Its basically the focus of the very blurry picture I have now. I want to come to know what it means to truely care about someone else more than myself.

A Taste of Something New

I am here at my church for my first band practice.... I am a little nervous. I have never played in a "church" band. In other words I have only been apart of a band that played for a ministry. The church dynamic kinda scares me. There are so many emotions when it comes to not sucking and letting people know when they are. I am glad I am not leading completely the first week I play. It will be good to see Dave in action a practice. I am going to be playing a song by delirious called Our God Reigns. Its a great song for our current series on Amos. If you haven't read that book... try to. Its a hard book to read.

Anyways I will leave you on a final note... Check out this guy's portfolio. It freaking rocks. And also if you know any churches who are looking for a video guy next summer let me know...

A Musing On Learning To Read

Mrs. Cox - She was an odd pear shaped woman
With a voice of a lion who could also sound like a mouse at will.

I remember my pillow fort
It guarded the land of imagination within
I didn't care about my studdering phonetics.
The curious monkey who accomanied me didn't either

I read a lot in grammar school
When the scholastic fair would come to town I remember getting lost in its booths

Each one had their own colors
The Hardy Boys had mystery
While the box car children had adventure

Space and science too my breath
Reading never was better when it came to pictures

Words became useless, My parents especially
Books were no more than babble; boring, dry, ink

Harry came late and conjured a new love for creativity
Often I found myself lost in a world of paragraphs
At a loss for words

Pacesetter set the... stride to writing in college
However it did not pace my time

I was unready for college
I wished I was still a jugler back in the scholatic fair
Tossing around Space, Adventure, and Mystery

Good Midday To You...

Well ladies and gents I am writing from Firehouse Subs about to enjoy the greatest meatball sub on earth. Its kind of funny. I have been sitting here for 30 minutes with out getting food. I think I look like and internet mouch. Anyways... Fun stuff today. I started class. My classes seem like they are going to be a lot of fun. I do believe that the bookstore is completely ripping anyone off who eats there. I have found most of my books significantly cheaper on Amazon.com. I am enrolled in an Advanced Composition course and the subject for the semester is creativity. BLING! I am super excited. Well... The line is getting small I'm going to gets me some food. Much love...

A Long Awaited Post

Welcome back all my friends in Clemson. I haven't been updating because I have been crazy busy moving back up to Clemson, out of my house in which I will never live again, and spending time with my wonderful girlfriend. So what have I been doing the past couple of weeks? Well...

I am not currently unemployed. I have finished my tour at North Point. I was an interesting summer. I really enjoyed working there with the team I was along side of. It changed my prosepctive on a lot of things concerning church. Does the size of the church coorelated with its inability to create real community? Do sixth graders really notice two moving lights? Is God found in the rubble of creative chaos, NTSC monitors, and The All American Rejects' greatest hit Move Along. All in all it was an amazing experience.

Soon after, I went to Litchfield, SC to spend a relaxing week at the beach with Lauren, Aj(sister), and their mom. It was awesome... Although I am a bigger fan of Sea Side and Sea Grove on the Gulf Coast, it was a lot of fun to hang out as a family.

When we got back home Lauren headed back to the beach for another week of tanning and girl talk. Which is good. I am glad she could spend some good time with her friends. It gave me time to do my favorite thing to do in the world... nothing. Also, I had time to work on my first attempt at screen play writing. Its been alot of fun.

Now I am back at school. Most of you who read this know this, but for those I leave behind I love you and miss you all. Be looking for more posts on a regular basis. Talk to you soon...

Good Listening...

Listening to some good tunes from Edwin McCain this morning... Check out these lyrics!

I'm just coming down from this cloudy head
World was spinning around the voices echo things that she said
I'm just coming down from this starry sky
I'm just glad to be here and most of all I'm thankful I'm alive

Sing it Edwin... I am just glad to be here and I am soooo thankful for the gift of life.

Being a Video Guy Sucks Sometimes

Sometimes being a video guy just sucks. Most of the time its one of the best jobs in the world, but this is just one of those times. I am sitting here burning DVDs for a last minute project. Phillip came up here and asked us to get some videos together on a DVD. I would do anything for Phillip. He has been so respectable of our time. He is an incredible person to work for. So, we thought no prob its a DVD... no sweat. Now that I am on my 6th DVD with 5 that don't work... its getting a little annoying. Doing projects and getting them done are alot of fun. The hard part about the job is the trouble shooting. Often times the fix takes a lot of extra time.

Anyways... I have some down time while these things are burning. I have been having such a good summer. God is beginning to crack open doors for me to look in. Its so ahrd for me though because I am so forward looking. I just want the door to swing open quickly so I can run in. I have to trust God mroe when it comes to my future. I believe he is preparing me for being in ministry in the Atlanta area... but where? Sometimes I just want to know where I am going to be next year.

I am in a creative drive right now, but I feel like I can't be that creative. Its like the water is flowing, but I dont have a way to contain it to use it. I don't have anything to pour it into. We are starting to plan a new series at DCF on the book of Amos, but the first chapter is so crazy that I just have know idea how its going to relate or preach. So, I am just waiting to figure out when i will have something I can pour into creativly.

There is an update... Leave some love if you want.

Just A Thought

I heard this on the radio this morning...

"Which one is more important revenge or pride"

Interesting... Talk amongst yourselves

The Great Romance

I have been reading a book called Red by Ted Dekker. It is the second book in the Circle series. The first one is really hard to get into, but if you hang in there for the first hundred pages you will be hooked.

The Great Romance is a crucial part in the books. I have learned much from Thomas Hunter's encounters with it. It is the story and truth that binds us together.

Sacrifice... is the key to love. I was driving home from a camp a few weeks ago and had this experience with God. I was driving past Roswell High School. My music was blarring. Then suddenly it was like God opened up a direct channel to my heart. I heard in the deepest of my being this: "Its a game. Its about sacrificing yourself more and more until you have nothing left." I realized in that moment that when I truely love someone is when I am giving them all of me. This works in a relationship because when I pour out all of my self and my significant other pours out all of themselves we fill each other up. Its another example of two becoming one.

I want to play in the Great Romance. The ancient game that is played by Elohim; the God who poured out himself to in order to bring more Glory to himself. Its a circle. God, Spirit, Jesus = Glory. Man, Woman = Love. God, Mankind = Glorious Love. A recipricating love. Come play in the story of God and his divine cooperation, between God and Man, and His glory. It comes full circle.

Life Update

I'm just hanging out at work enjoying some good tunes awaiting the infamous Ryan Shove to come into work. I just thought I would fill you all in on whats been going on with life. I will jot it down a few short lines in list form.

1. Work

Its amazaing. I have the best job in the world. I get to make my imagination come alive through video and graphics. Can you show someone your imagination? I can... I also see a future for myself at this church, so keep your fingers crossed.

2. The Beautiful Girlfriend

Note to the wise... You are not supposed to be seperated from those you love. Its not natural and it should be avoided at all cost. Lauren and I have had two interesting summers with jobs that have been very time consuming. It definately puts a strain on things. I love her and she is the most beautiful thing in the world. Christie Knockels ain't got nothing compared to her. I am so lucky.

3. Spiritual Leadership

I have been trying to really pour into my friends this summer about my experiences at North Point. I have been trying to give my advice into the happenings of FCA @ Clemson. Its going to be a great year there because of the amzing leadership that is building.

4. Lost

Straight up... One of the best shows I have ever seen. John Locke is my hero

5. Playing guitar

Haven't done much of it. I want to do more.


So thats life... Hope to hear from all of you soon...
Shalom

Kev' B-Day

Kev's cake came complete with constructio vehicles and his favorite saying. Love ya' Kev!

I need Chloe O'Brian

I just got a new Treo 650...
First person to send me a schematic wins a prize...

Send Here: 4044056718@mms.mycingular.com

Developing Community

I have been thinking about next semester. Most of my thoughts have come to me in the car. Driving Meditation. Both Moving and Agressive. The way I want to respond to people in general has been heavy on my mind. Sometime I just feel awkward around people I don't know. Its really strange because normally when I know you I am a pretty outgoing person, but when it comes to a group of people I don't know I clam up. Its really weird and I haven't always been that way.

It could be my interests. I figured out that my favorite topics of conversation has to do with relventing (verb to make something relevent; not sure if its real) church to modern culture. If its not that, its probably apple computers with a dual layer and a gigabit here and there. Actually my typical conversation is not a typical one. Its probably pretty dull to the normal peeps. I don't play sports and trust me its for my own safety. Basically I am a wannabe pastor-computer geek that is tired of talking about iEVERYTHING and a man who is struggling to find a way to feel more like the world with out being a part of it.

So that is one of my goals next semester. I talk a lot about making church relevant, but I need to be more relevent. I need to learn about pop-culture. I need to keep up with sports scores and big games. I need to make my conversation purposefull.

If any of you who read this are prayer warriors please do me a favor. Pray for University Ridge in Clemson. Its a place that has been on my heart. I want to see Christians begin to live in a community with lost people where they connect with each other.

We Got Carrrrrrrazzzzzy

So... there is a TV show on GAS. Its one of the greats of my youth. Guts was a show about kids being awesome. I remember the days of elementary school getting caught in the moment screaming for my favorite contestant. Well, we still react the same way. Jill Frazee we salute you on a job well done!!!

The Scorz


The Win


Video of the final moments can be found here:
The Aggro Crag
The Winning Results

P.S. We are looking for a piece of the Aggro Crag

One of those days

Soooooo its been just one of those video days. Nothing worked right this morning. We rocked out the second time around in Studio 6, but first hour things played on their own, went out of order, and spawned satan bugs all over the place. I dont know what a satan bug is, but it spawned them.

Good thing God is big... and I am glad he can show me that I am not

Multimedia message

My super sweet girlfriend colored me a picture! She loves me!

Life Of Video

I have been having some amazing talks with some people lately about worship and why we do it. As a tech guy it is always hard to take away something from worship. I always have a hard time concentrating on the speaker. I hardly ever get anything from the message the first time around because I am so worried about what video element is next or when to put up the speaker's computer graphics he wants to use. Most of the time I get my teacing in the car when I am by myself and can listen intently while driving.

I had a conversation today with a friend I had met here at the church. His name is Marcello. He is from Equador. He is the director of lighting for the creative department. You want to talk about a guy who has a gift... this is the man. He is incredibly talented. We talked about our purpose during worship. Why is it we do what we do? What does it enhance?

I came to this conclusion with my friend Ryan this weekend. My purpose is recall. Recall is the brain's ability to store and revisit information learned way past the time it was first introduced. Many people have trouble with this. It is the reason why we have to study or repeat a certain task. Often times we have to use devices inorder to enhance our ability to recall information. This devices include mnemonics, classical conditioning, and word association. Everyone knows the order to do math problems because the remembered to "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally."

In the past few decades our culture has become very vision oriented. We have discovered that certain colors establish certain moods. Images can recall feelings, time periods, even smells. This is where I found my purpose. My purpose is to associate images to a speaker's message. A message that relates the hope of Glory to middle schoolers, college kids, and lost people. If I can display a picture during a worship experience that will assist in the recalling of a state of woship or particular information, then I have achieved a win.

This is my form of worship. Establishing a connection between the mind and God's message through the use of media and I love it. I live for it.

Pictures From Route 78

Here you all go! CHeck out the lights and video!!!

Day Two of Camp

Wow... I have never ever seen creativity like that from such a rag tag team of people. God is so amazing that he can take 30 of us and produce something like I saw tonight. I am going to be posting a pics and maybe some video. Really God is good... he provides and he takes care of the little things that get you when you are a producing a room like this.

I had to run jumpbacks this morning. For all you non-tech folks, those are the back grounds with all of the color they put behind words. It was a little bit of a challenge. I am not the biggest fan of them. I am a black screen/white words type of guy. It was tough trying to match colors and know when to put the next one up. Not to mention I had to be concerned with 3 independent screens...

Really guys, this is a sight to see... Be looking for some pictures! Peace

A bit of an update (belated post)

Things are going to start rolling again here. As many of you know my girlfriend's dad passed away and my family is going through some tough things as of late. This is why the blog has been abandoned. But it is time again to start typing and writting.

I talked to David Crowder last night. He called me from stage at North Point Community Church. It was flipping sweet. I have been tryign to find out how to get in touch with him for months now to tell him thanks for promoting growyourcrowder.com and to see if he could help us with a look-a-like contest. The contest is still up in the air. Someone gave him my contact info, so I hope to be hearing from them again soon.

I am currently in Cleveland, TN working at a middle school camp for my internship. It has been a blast so far. There is a storm approaching... Its goign to be awesome!!!

A Long Three Weeks

These past few weeks have been very sparatic in posting. Mainly because I am starting my new job at North Point Community Church. I have also been been having just a crazy personal life lately...

Something I have learned is that I cannot take things for granted. Much of my personal life has been bombarded with God taking. Its an interesting period of life. God is always known as the God who performs miracles, often leaves people speechless in his presence, and a being that knows all while being the end all. He is seldom ever the one first looked at when something is taken away... Things like property, business, and even life.

Please hear me people. Take the things you have and understand that you are on borrowed time. Do everything to the max. Put your heart into everything. You could lose it at any time. Love all of you and be looking for more consistant updates.

Redefine :: Part II

An Introduction

From a long break I have emerged to continue this blogging series. I just recently came back from Florida where I spent the weekend with Lauren's grandparents and mother. It was one of the greatest weekends I had ever had. I got to do my favorite thing in the whole world. I got to do absolutely nothing. It was an unbelieveable feeling. Anywho... Patience...

Going throught the abstract nouns that are found in the passasage at the end of the "Love Chapter" and the "Fruits of the Spirit" located in Galations, I found a word that stood out to me. Patience. Lauren tells me sometimes that its one of my ticks that I have trouble with. When I am ready to do something... I am ready. I even have very specific body language that shows I am done with what ever I was doing and ready to go on to the next action of life. Sometimes this bothers the heck out of her. I admit it. Patience is a tough thing to learn, but even harder if we look at the whole definition.

Suffering Capacity

A true test of patience is not waiting quietly and eagerly for an event to happen. Often I think that patience is confused with reverance. There is much more to patience than obidence. It is looking at a situation and deciding that what God desires for you is better. I always wondered how Jesus portrayed patience. It wasn't until I read this definition. Patience is saying "Your will be done." Patience is saying to yourself that God is better. A true test of patience is exemplified in Psalm 63:3: "Because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you."

Patience is not merely a virtue it is a capacity. It has volume and weight. It isn't something that can be found on the page of the massive book your grandmother gave you when you were a kid. It is something that can only be given in its full definition by the Spirit of God with in you. My patience is going to be tested this summer. My family is going to be going through some major life changes. We will come closer to Christ through more than just trust, but a patience that believes that God is better than anything in this world. Because of this we should praise him with our lips, tounge, actions, words, and lives.

Finals... Eww

I promise there will be more to this discussion... I have finished finals. I am not working on getting some rest and relaxation. Look for a post sometime tomorrow. Peace

Redefine :: Part 1

An Introduction

Hope. I have been musing on the meaning of this word a lot. e tend to hope in a lot of things. We hope that we graduate. We hope that the love of our life will find us in college. We hope our parents get back together. We hope our mothers disease can be healed. We put hope into a lot things trivial and eternal.

But was is real hope? In Colossians Paul calls the mystery of Christ in us (Which by the transitive property we are then part of the mystery) the hope of Glory. How can we be the "hope" of glory?

I was in a conversation with Lauren the other night about the idea of hope. I put forth the idea that hope cannot be disconnected from expectancy. Lauren gave her rebuttle by saying that in situations where the odds are against your favor you tend to hope, but you do not expect the inprobable outcome. I argued that expectancy is the foundation of hope. With much deliboration, we decided to consult our dear friend Apple Dictionary. I will admit. I had an advantage because I had been thinking on this a while and had recently visited this specific entry, but we did find that in fact expectancy is the foundation of the word. Also, after further research (BibleGateway) we found that it is the only noun I will be discussing in these entries that have a future connotation.

I think we have lost the definition of hope. We say that we hope that something we happen, but we often jsut mean desire. But even then have we lost the true meaning of desire. Do we not expect our desires to be fullfilled? I believe we pray too much in disbelief. We don't think God is as big as he is. We fail to hope. We fail to be a mystery. We fail to be the hope of glory that we are. We are a hope to the world. We represent an expectant glory, but we seldom live like it.

I challenge you to join with me. Pray expectantly that what is to be in heaven it be done on Earth. Hope in the fact God is infinite. Be expectant in your thoughts. Hope in you desires. Hope in the faith you believe in. If we have hope we will be more urgent in our purpose. We will understand what it means to expect Glory.

Redefine :: Hope

This is a conversation not a sermon. Please leave your thoughts...

Redefine :: An Adventure Through Language

I was hanging out with Lauren tonight enoying the company of some friends for 24. Afterwards we hung out with her sister AJ and talked church/seminary for a while. When Aj left Lauren and I got into an interesting dicussion about our words. I am not sure how we got on to the topic but we started to tlak about it and we found ourselves deep in the pit of language. Why do we use the words that we do. Could Satan infect our language?

I have been compiling a list of sins that I believe that we do not pay as much attention to in our lives because they are not the four most discussed ones: Alcohol Abuse, Lust, Homosexuality, Drugs. Sins like idolatry, greed, and selfishness (to name a few) are often overlooked and not widly talked about. Our failure to acknowledge the truth of the language God has given us might be another one that we have stumbled upon...

This brings me to a first that I know of... A series of meditations on our daily language. Over the next few days or weeks I am going to be personally debunking the abstract nouns found in Galations 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 13:13. I am not saying anything I write is correct. These are my personal thoughts. A spontaneous commentary with the hope of interaction with anyone who dares to venture with me.

Join with me... Redefine

One... Two... Three... Strikes....

I just got back from Turner Field. I was a grand experience hanging out with the gentlemen from my house church plus an Ed. It was an interesting time sitting around eating chips, salsa, burgers, and the always favorite bratwursts.

There is something about a baseball game that just seems stoic. Sitting in the stands. Hearing to sounds of vendors screaming loudly their pled for you to purchase a "cold one" or a nice bag of Georgia peanuts. There is an interesting unity found with those who play on the grass and the thousands who watch. There is an odd unity even between the opposing sides. The love of baseball. Its full of sights, sounds, tastes, smells.

I am not a sports fan at all. In fact I would encourage many not to bother with them, but there is something about a baseball game that brings out the peewee player in me. Is it a distant hope of overcoming a handicap to play? Is it the desire to belong to something? Is it pure pride in wanting to be good at something that thousands of people wish they could be good at?

There is an intersting relationship between baseball and people. When the certain music plays or when the pitcher has a full count, people know when to make a noise. Often when they do its a big noise. One with hope, faith, urgency.

A sound that I believe dreams are made of.

How can we mimic this in Christ-like culture? How can we yell at the top of our lungs when Jesus "takes one for his team"? How do we shout with hope, faith, and urgency? How do we learn to recognize when it is time to praise, dance, sing, worship?

I simple ball game unites us Americans deeply.

Christ unites all humanity eternally...

NEWS ALERT!!!

In to ultimate combination of cultures and musical flavor, I bring to you a story of epic proportions that will change the world of music for ever...

Michael Jackson and 50 Cent collaboration possiblity

Where will the world of music lead us now? This could very well be the end of music. Indie bands unite and show the world that there is still good music in the world.

Could 50 Cent really be a "lover not a fighter"?

Not an update... Just some stuff to read

Hey guys... I have some funny and interesting articles to read. I find some of these at Joshua Blankenship's Blog. He is an awesome graphic designer and has a really interesting blog.

Something Lauren showed me last night is an article about Jesus' IQ. Apparently it was pretty high. Also see the note on top about the Internet Church of Christ. It will cause them to praise God if you visit.

David Copperfield put his magic to use the other day. He was robbed at gunpoint on the street after a show in Miami. Despite he a wallet, cellphone, and passport in his pocket he used one of his illusions, Reverse-Pocketing, to make it look like he had nothing in his pockets.

Yet another link from Joshua Blankenship's Blog is letting people know that Jesus is coming back in a UFO. Apparently, this June 6th is going to be 6/6/6. I didn't think about it, but it may be an interesting day. So "look religious" everyone because Jesus is comin'

Lastly... Someone has way too much time on their hand...

Being looking for a real post soon! Leave a comment you don't have to be a blogger to do it!

Bombed and Beaten

If you look very closely at the picture you will find a man standing in the midst of the rubble. This city is Koln, a bombed out town in Germany, after World War II. This how I often view my life in the midst of sin. My life is bombed out. It is trashed and torn. I am that man sitting there observing and looking at the mess. I constantly go back to the same thing. I am the dog that returns to his vomit. Why do we do this? What is it about the grace of Christ that our mind and body cannot execpt? Why can we not just sit in praise for hours on in? Why can't we just see that we are free from the chains that bind us?

How do we respond to this? I have fought the battle for grace for a while now. I have learned to embrace it. I have learned to try and understand the cost of the cross. Just recently compared myself to a soilder at war. If you get wounded in the field you don't jsut drop dead and wait for the enemy. You apply pressure and run to safety. Too often we lay down and bleed to death on the battle field. We are infected with guilt and shame. We need to learn to boast and live in grace. We have been set free from the bondages of sin. When we sin we should run towards Jesus wounded and bloodied. Torn and broken. Weak and weary...