IV Scavenger Hunt

Last Friday was my first time to a intervarsity event, and after the message and worship, we did this amazing scavenger hunt all across campus. These guys are awesome. Great time.


They got these weird Hokie bird "art" things all over


We held up a bus.


Yes, that's a 10 man human pyramid.


That's a real cop.


(Grease)


The Hokie Pokie in Lane Stadium. Look at them shoes. Bang.

Amen

So yea Tech is pretty cool. This one goes out to the Rev BK for calling out my spiritual future in college so far by saying, "you'll find a bunch of weird Engineering Christian fiends at college and it'll be a blast". That's exactly what's happening. As far as I can tell, of the kids involved in the 40 Christian organizations here at Tech, most of them are engineers. Not only are they "Christian", but many have extremely deep relationships with Christ. Interesting huh? Something I noticed is that there are ministries here where kids are all Godly one day, then out drinking the next. One leader even offered to buy me beer during a small group. What the Heck! I found two other ministries that I think are going to be freaking awesome. Intervarsity is one. Unlike other ministries around here that meet during the week, IV has their main meeting on Friday nights, which, in a college town, means that these kids are the ones truly trying to live as God is calling them on nights when all hell breaks loose. As far as can tell, these folks have deep spiritual relationships, and though the worship band isn't the best around, the worship that goes on at IV is GENUINE. Another awesome ministry here is New Life Campus Fellowship. Wow. Blows my mind away. Unlike other ministries here, it is a real church that meets Sunday mornings. With pastors and everything. Except its all college kids. Sweet. The pastor seems like a Rob Bell. People wear T-shirts and jeans, they give you the lesson notes as you walk in, they have 5, yes 5, bands that have amazing talent, people sing their hearts out, and there are always more kids than seats in the room. Can you imagine so many people at MLUPC that folks would voluntarily sit in the aisles just to be there? God is at work at V-Tech and its freaking sweet.

Welcome to Tech

So I'm getting ready to go to class for the first time today and a guy stops me at the door to tell me there's a murderer on the loose. Wow. First day on campus, and we're locked down. This dude is nuts. He escaped from a hospital 2 days ago after shooting 2, killing a security guard. He also shot and killed a cop on campus at 7 this morning. They cought him around 4. Pray for Blacksburg.
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2006&itemno=434

Welcome to my Crib

Well the first couple days of college have been pretty cool. My roommate has a bunch of hilarious friends. We have a good bit in common. Walked around campus today trying to learn our way around & stumbled across a few interesting places. We jumped around to different dorms tonight- poker, HALO, and strange hilarious movie clips- it was interesting how much clean fun (and clean folks) there are down here. Meeting lots of cool people- and a bunch of Christians supriseingly. Going to Blacksburg Pres. tomorrow. Hope its cool. Anyway here's some shots of the day.

EO- out.

Well the time is nearing folks. 18 years and 53 days after I was born into this fine city I will pack my bags and head south to begin a new chapter at Virginia Tech. Scary isn't it? For one thing- I've never moved in my life. This is a new place, new people, new challenges- laundry, dorm life, CHEM 1035. Of course there are some perks- VT Football. But it'll defiantly be a critical point in my life. I can probably say that the next 4 or so years (not to mention the next 4 months) will shape who I'll be, how I'll live, and what I'll do. And for the first time ever- I'll be on my own. More or less. It's exciting. There is really only one constant through the whole process. God's gonna be there. Isn't that nuts? Think on this for a minute- God is real big- bigger than you, bigger than your house, bigger than Pittsburgh, bigger than the distance between Pittsburgh and V-Tech, or Florida, or Egypt, or Pluto. He's real big. That blows my mind. But anyway- so I've lived here and gone to MLUPC for the last 18 years and 53 days, and I've seen alot of cool stuff happen- and at the same time I feel that my time here has gotten cut short. Like I said in my testimony, for 2 years in 9th and 10th grade I was in a state of spiritual hibernation and it feels like I've only had 2 of the four years I should have had with you all. What I got instead was 2 years of transition. I was one of the interim youth. So I've been asking God what the heck he left me out to dry for 2 years for. And he replied (through my Mom) that though I may have been here in a time of transition- he was still at work both inside me and around me- I just couldn't see it coming together at the time. During my first 2 years of high school- there was a constant yearning for something- something I could never find. That spiritual yearning turned into an endless hunger to seek an ever more intimate relationship with God- through reading on my own, and heck- actually listening to sermons & talks. That hunger grows every time God reveals something new to me. And so without those two years of spiritual "drought" I would have never been at the point in my faith that I am today. That deep spiritual yearning would have never developed. Who knows where I'd be now? Who knows where I'd be in college? Wow- those two years of "drought" in High School where God "left me out to dry" actually strengthened my faith! Isn't God amazing?
God worked around me in the last two years in the Youth Group too. You all have seen it (especially in the past couple weeks). God has built this group up from the transition crew I was a part of to one of the strongest youth programs in the area. Beyond what I could have ever imagined. If you don't believe me, look through the blogs to the right and read what God did with our kids in Florida. Wow. God is Good.
So here I am. On my way out. And I'm asking God, no no screaming "What the heck! the Youth Group is finally awesome and your plucking me out now! Why now! Its so awesome now! Why couldn't I leave when it sucked! You're not hanging me out to dry again are you?!". And he answered (again, through my Mom- Mom's are awesome) that he'll be just as much at work down in Virginia as he is, and was, and will be, here in Pittsburgh. And just like he grew this youth group into something beyond imagination, he'll do something equally, if not more, amazing down at Tech. And for some unknown reason- he wants me there to see it.
So I'll miss you all, but at the same time I feel that instead of God ripping me away from everything I've ever known, he's calling me forward.
Go Hokies.

Off to the lake.........finally

Going up to the lake- be back Monday.

Out in God's country

I just got back from my trip to New Mexico with my Dad and the Scout troop. Unfortunatly I missed Big Stuf to go to this, but it was something I had to do. It was my last scout trip, but i made the most of hanging with friends. Hopefully it wont be my last trip with my Dad because backpacking is one of the things we both enjoy togeather. It was one of the bast weeks of my life doing the thing I love- being outdoors and away from the noise and confusion of society. We backpacked through 50 miles of the most gorgeus land known to man. It was alot of work too- hiking through a 104 degree desert at 8,600 feet with a 40 pound pack is no easy chore- but it was one of the best weeks of my life.

Racine '06

Well its been a while since I last blogged so I got a lot to catch up on. First off is the Racine trip. This was, sadly, my last big youth group event. We had the opportunity to do a lot of great service work for the people of Racine and I witnessed God at work through the members of my crew and church. The down side was that the program at Racine was very foreign to us. Instead of the usual speaker format, the staff presented a more "sensual program" where the host incorporated the five senses in an interactive workshop environment. Like I said before we all felt out of place because some campers at Racine were real into it. Our crew had a difficult time connecting to because we were so used the usual speaker format, not to mention that we seem to be members of the 'frozen chosen' (presbyterians) and this "sensual education method" is way out there for us.
On the up side, I saw our high school group bond more, something I'd been praying for over the past couple of months since I taught in February. It was really cool to not only get to know the guys better, but the guys and girls were drawn closer together as a youth group simply because they shared a common experience as well as deep spiritual opinions on what they saw happening around them. I rejoice because I have never seen the guys and girls interact like that before in our youth group. We took the vans to Racine as the guys and girls, and (at least to me) came back as one youth group.

Here are some pictures- Cam is the man










My work crew (Margaret, ally, Jessica, and Leslie) and our resident Mary

Graduation

Well I just graduated! Its a big relief to be done with High School. Don't get me wrong, Lebo High was great, but its time to move on. Anyway, while I was sitting listening to all the speeches people gave telling us to "make them proud", to "constantly work to right injustice", to "always seek to greatness", and to "leave your mark on the world" I started thinking that this is not the attitude of a servant. Most of the messages they gave us last night fueled our pride in our Leboness, and our own selfish ambitions. It just felt wrong, but I seemed to be the only one who noticed. It seemed like from this day on, everyone in my class began their journey to personal success and material wealth. And those folks up on the podium were to be the leaders of this success drive. Most of the folks in my class seemed pretty confident in their future successes, and I'm sure they'll get it, but I often wonder if they'll ever work for something bigger, if they'll ever really get it. Sure Mt. Lebanon's class of 2006 won six WPIAL titles, blew all other schools out of the water in academics, and did more charity work than any other class in recorded history, but in 5 years- or even 5 days, will any of that matter? Nope. "How quickly the glory of the world passes away!" (Thomas a Kempis). So as we begin our adult lives, I really pray that my class, or for that matter my generation, will one day understand that nothing we do in this world will mean anything without the love of God. "Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve him alone" (Tom Kemp). So that brings me to now: this summer, my goal is to work on being humble/or selfless and through that, be drawn closer to God, and maybe figure out what to do with my life. Racine '06!!!

"He is truly great who has great charity. He is truly great who is little in his own eyes and makes nothing of the highest honor. He is truly wise who looks upon all earthly things as folly that he may gain Christ. He who does God's will and renounces his own is truly very learned." -Thomas a Kempis- The Imitation of Christ.

Prom '06

Well I just got back from prom and I can't sleep because I drank about four giant cups of beautifully strong coffee. I'll probably crash in a few hours, but now I'm up. Prom was great. I'm currently flushing all the dance music clutter out my head with heavy doses of Jimi Hendrix, The Who, U2, and Coldplay... it feels really good. We had a great time- dinner at Monterey Bay on Mt. Washington, sweet dance, and all my best friends. Great way to wrap up High School. Here's some sweet pictures.


My date Alysa and I



Our limo driver had the biggest yinzer accent ever


Me with Big Handsome Roy


Me and JJ, best friends since 2nd grade.

The One and only Xiao Dong



This is my boy- Josh. I cant say enough about this guy. We've been great friends since Kindergarden- way back in 1993- Wow I feel old.


Sarah & me.













Well this is where my batteries gave out. I know there's a shot of Steph, Sally, and me out there somewhere- so if you guys can get that to me, I'll put it up too. SENIORS '06!

Call of the Wild

So I'm reading the Imitation of Christ and I'm learning that the author, Thomas a Kempis is really in touch with God. This is a quote that's really been on my mind, "The more recollected a man is, and the more simple of heart he becomes, the easier he understands sublime things, for he receives the light of knowledge from above". I think this could be an answer to prayers, not only mine, but many others in the faith. If you rearrange the words & dumb them down a bit, your get, "If you become simple, you will understand the complex". Stax may be a prophet after all. But anyway, I think there is allot to be learned from this. I've noticed that its really hard to concentrate on God when there are a million distractions around you (noise, light, people). There is no such thing as silence today. That's part of the reason I do my devotionals at midnight or later- everyone else is asleep and its really quiet, well except for the refrigerator humm, the computer sounds, the cars outside, airplanes going overhead, and my cell phone. Ben C told me that when he was in Scotland, he had a lot of quiet reflection time because there wasn't a phone, or tv, or something. Ben K told me that had some time in college that was a time of isolation, reflection and focusing on God, and God's calling for his life. So I want to try this. Since I'm a naturalist, I think the best way for me to simplify my life in order to really focus on God is to get out there in the sticks. Really, really out there in the sticks for some time alone with God. I think it would really help me to connect with God, and he may even reveal some answers to questions I have about my life. I really think this could be a big thing. God has used the wilderness & isolation in powerful ways in the Bible. Moses encountered God in the wilderness before he began his ministry, the Israelites wandered the desert for years and were refined/cleansed/renewed, John the Baptist lived out there, and Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert before he began his ministry. I don't hold a light to any of these great men, but I figure the Spirit might be leading me out there for some time. (Yes I know the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days- that's not my goal). The goal would be simplicity, silence, and intimacy with the Lord in order to renew my mind. Maybe I'd do it alone, maybe with one other Christian friend looking for answers like I am. I don't know. But I definitely think God wants me to do this... soon. So if anyone out there is feeling a similar Godly Call of the Wild, talk to me.

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

This is the first of many books I hope to read this summer. Thomas a Kempis was a 15th century monk and he wrote this amazingly powerful book. Read it. Its just as powerful today as it was 500 years ago. I'll post quotes I think are awesome.

Chapter 1
"Vanity of vanities and all is vanity except to love God and serve Him alone".
"It is vanity to wish for a long life and to care little about a well spent life"
"Turn your heart from the love of things visible and bring yourself to things invisible".

Chapter 2
"The more you know and the better you understand, the more severely you will be judged, unless your life is also the more holy"
"Shun too great a desire for knowledge, for in it there is much fretting and dilusion"
"He who concerns himself about other things than those which lead to salvation is very unwise"
"If you wish to learn and appriciate something worthwile, then love to be unknown and considered as nothing"
"All men are frail, but you must admit that none is more frail than yourself"

That's all I have so far. It took me almost 2 hours to read the first 4 pages of this book because it is so dense. I'm going to nibble at it rather than blow through. I highlighted and marked the whole 4 pages up as well. Its really great when you can read without a schedule like in school. This 2nd chapter was really tough for me. Its rough. It sounds somwhat depressing. Regardless, this book is powerful. Wow.

I'm Dying Here!

Here's a question: What were you doung at 2:00 AM last night? Hopefully you were asleep. We'll since you asked, Last night at 2:00 AM, I was working on my Computer Science group project. AAAHHHHHHH. How can everyone else in my grade slack, yet I'm still working like a mailman (Bob for Pres). It wouldn't be that big of a deal if I wasn't a second semester senior, yesterday wasn't June 1, and Computer Science wasn't an elective, but I am, it was, and it is. After today I have three days left in this building, yet I still have over 7 hours of finals and a 15 minute speech to do. Great Thor's Hammer! Its June yo! Why am I working!!?? I'm so done with High School, so done.

On Anonymous.....

This is for all those folks who post offensive or challenging comments under the name "Anonymous": You are cowards. I think of you as a person who wears a paper bag on your head and walks around pointing out faults in people. No one knows who you are- but they don't like you. If you have something to say. SAY IT. And leave you name. And if you think that the comment is so taboo that you don't have the guts to say it- YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T SAY IT ANYWAY. A pretty accurate parallel would be for you to insult someone to their back, then run away when they ask- "who said that?". So stop, because you're accomplishing nothing.

Youth Sunday, Being a Pastor, & Deep Fried Cheeseburgers

Well it’s been a while since I last blogged. I've been spending all my time getting ready for youth Sunday, which finally went down yesterday. It was awesome. Genuine worship, powerful testimonies, awesome witnessing. A pretty sweet weekend overall. We went to Claypools for British deep fried cheeseburgers...ohhhh, they taste better then cookie dough, mountain dew, and bacon combined. Speaking of bacon, Bob Madden is back on the meat- Amen. In other news, spiritual warfare broke out at my house Saturday night. As I was putting the finishing touches on my testimony, I read through it- and it sucked. I got really depressed & doubted if I could give my testimony at church the next day. I was going to forget it completely, because it seemed so stupid. I thought, "How could I ever be a pastor, if I couldn’t even write a 10 minute testimony?". Basically the devil put all these thoughts of doubt into my head, and it was really really depressing. So I shut all the lights off, went to bed, & prayed. But I tried something new, praying with my hands open. It’s really sweet. It just seems that there is a physical contact with the Spirit that way. Anyway I prayed that God would speak through me, and the others on Sunday, and that our names would fade away so that only Christ would shine through. All this time I still had some doubt. And then it happened. It felt like a finger touched the palm of my hand. It was if an angel touched me or something, and instantly I felt this awesome affirmation as if God said- I chose you to speak tomorrow- so do it. Instant spiritual high! All my doubt fell away. It kinda reminds me of when the bleeding woman touched Jesus' robe & was immediately healed. That's pretty much what I felt. It was SO COOL. Sunday morning, I gave the testimony at the 8:30 service & was really nervous up there. My legs shook behind the podium and I thought I'd pass out. The only thing I can think to compare it to is how a groom must feel when the bride comes down the aisle. Anyway the 8:30 service was an awesome crowd. They actually interrupted me with an applause when I told them I was considering ministry. That was a real nice warm feeling of affirmation up there. It was the first time I'd ever seen life out of a Presbyterian congregation during a talk, sad but true. Anyway it felt real good. So thanks to everybody who worked to make the service happen, Ben, Ben, Bob, Cam, Gu, Phil, Stax, Sarah, Steph, and everybody else who spoke or ushered or whatevered, God worked through us yesterday, and it was real good.

100 Simple Pleasures of Life

This is a list of 100 things in life that I love in no particular order. It only scratches the surface so maybe more will come later. I encourage everyone to make their own list because when I look at mine, I realize how blessed I truly am.

1. Steelers
2. Backpacking
3. Black Coffee in the morning
4. Mountains
5. The Honda Civic
6. Sailing with the wind at your back
7. Sailing so fast that the boat tips over and you go for a swim
8. Swimming
9. Lake Chautauqua
10. MLUPC
11. Kayaking
12. Dr. Pepper
13. Manual cars
14. Rock music
15. Retreats
16. Family
17. Christmas
18. Snow
19. July
20. Stars
21. Driving
22. Toddlers
23. Mechanical Pencils
24. Doing well on Math tests
25. Ham barbecue
26. Manual Labor
27. Fixing stuff
28. Tinkering
29. Sleeping in
30. Airplanes
31. Chocolate
32. The smell of gunpowder in the morning
33. Reading
34. The Nalgene Bottle
35. Praying in the woods
36. Praying in secret
37. Hot Showers
38. The Holy Spirit at work
39. Funny people
40. Walking home after school
41. The Kitchen
42. Fire
43. Bacon
44. The Who
45. U2
46. Genesis- the band
47. Yes- the band
48. Coldplay
49. Mellow tunes
50. The Bible
51. Naps
52. Thursday Night Football
53. Friday Night Football
54. Sunday Night Football
55. Monday Night Football
56. Football
57. Baseball
58. The Winter Olympics
59. ESPN
60. Saturday
61. Couches
62. Short Hair
63. Ice cream
64. Shade
65. Mowing the lawn
66. Sunrise
67. Sunset
68. Pramanti's
69. Oasis
70. Rockets
71. Mint Gum
72. Garlic
73. Spaghetti
74. New car smell
75. Diesel
76. USB sticks
77. Worship
78. Finding peace in God's presence
79. Fresh air
80. Nature in general
81. Mullets
82. Running downhill
83. Rain
84. 5:00 A.M.
85. Bathroom fans
86. Cookies
87. C.S. Lewis
88. Oswald Chambers
88. Servant minded people
89. The Well
90. MLUPC Youth Group
91. Cooking
92. Humble People
93. Eating Doritos off your chest
94. Honest, Straitforward people
95. Grandma's cooking
96. Relaxing
97. Christian friends
98. A Job Well Done
99. People who love the Lord with all their heart
100. Laughing

What Happened?

This is kind of a depressing & frustrating topic for me, and its been on my mind a lot in the past weeks. As I've grown up at MLUPC, I've noticed that... well I'm one of the few left from my grade. From what I see, I've met a bunch of people my age through the church, from the dozens of kids I went to preschool with, my Sunday school classes in elementary school, all my friends from middle school youth group, the 15 or so kids in my conformation class, and the kids that stuck with it through high school. If you total them all up, it probably adds to around 50 of my peers that have walked along with me to this point in my faith at MLUPC. Of those 50 or so folks, I can only count four people who are still strong in their faith. Four. Sarah Haddad, Stephanie Smith, Phil Swaney, and Me. Its so sad. What happened to the other 46? Where are they now? Why have they turned their backs on God, even after some seemed to have grown so deep in their faith? Ahhh! Did they ever get it in the first place? Did they build their house on sand? Some of them have even become mockers & slanderers of the faith. Nothing breaks my heart more. Ahhh! Cant they see what's happening in their spiritual lives? Wake up guys! Sigh. Well, for the ones that have kept their faith solid all these years: I thank God for you. You are awesome. So pray with me for those folks struggling to find Christ, that they might find him and that he use them in awesome ways.