“Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.” - Albert Schweitzer

i’ve decided the purpose of college is not to educate or expand the mind, but to weed out those humans with weak immune systems and organizational skills, following some sort of Darwinian principals. come late afternoon/evening, my body consistently feels fatigued and i will go through a total week of hell and then get a decent week. my teachers don’t really seem to be to concerned with the amounts of homework they assign or whether or not we have any other work in any other class. this week has actually been decent, but i know come next week or the week after, my life will turn back into a living hell. oh well… i guess that’s the price i pay to earn that BA.

i made a grave mistake the other day of which i am mentally still paying the price of today. i made a very important person feel as though she was not good enough, wrongly thorugh my words. although my intent was of concern, the words came out all wrong. in this age where criticism and defamation comes left and right, people need nothing more than be edified for the acts that they have done or been working on. my mistake was not praising all the progress that had been made, but pointing out the distance still to go. THIS IS NOT EDIFYING. i am truly sorry to the person i did this to. my goal now is to start working on edifying those around me. i want to praise them for the things they do, for the more time i spend with my friends, i realize how good of friends they actually are. this will not change my sarcastic nature or the occassional “I hate you,” but more kind words will hopefully be spoken.

maybe i shouldn’t read josh and chris’ journals before mind, because i too wanted to praise the ‘guy time’ last night. a bunch of went bowling at alley katz for Quarter Nights. we had a great time, dispite this fat kid in the next lane who kept telling (pardon the word) ‘nigger jokes.’ the jokes were really offending me, but i found no way to tell a gregarious fat kid to stop, i don’t think you can. other than that, it was a great evening of guy-to-guy jokes, talks about girls, sarcastic clapping, and occasional spouts of “no drive, no five!” i guess i’ll get back to wasting my time on the internet now. here’s my question for today.

“It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” (Philippians 1:29) How have you suffered for Christ today?

i have included a link to the salvation army on the left if anyone feels moved to contact them by email about opportunities. please read the previous post for reference to this action.

well… the academy awards are on, so i figured this was a perfect time to update my blog, since i have no interest in the awards. as most the people who read this know, i played my show at the ox last night with josh doody (whose links is on the left of the page). it was quite a turnout and i thank all who came out. after reading josh’s blog about the show, there’s not much left for me to say. “practice makes perfect. Lots of practice makes for a good show”… this is essential. i felt ill prepared for the show, and i felt that was reflected in our performance. i don’t think i’ve ever walked away from a show with a positive experience, but maybe that’s just the hyper-critical brain talking. i felt my vocals sucked or people were bored with the setlist or whatever. i do appreciate all the kudos given afterwards that helped my confidence some, but it just doesn’t quell the feeling. i am glad josh got to sing, though. all he needs is the opportunity and motivation to keep furthering his music career. other than that, i don’t have much to say about the night until i hear the recording. i will set up a link to it when i have the mp3s.

over a conversation the other day, i really feel led to start volunteering at the local salvation army or other ministry based service group. amongst the people i know or am friends with, there is a total lack of service to the community. James 2:26 states that “faith without works is dead.” I think we have a mindset that if we are involved in a christian group or go to church or even lead a youth group, that we are doing the works. i have a feeling that james was talking about an act of service, likely to the general community, christian and non-christian. just living a good christian life, helping out our roommates, or giving our friends rides when they need them is not quite enough of what god wants out of us, though all those things are great. people want to see christians living out their faith in the real world, offering a service to those that need service, that we “give even a cup of cold water to the least of [his] followers” (Matt 10:42), or that we have the mindset that “if anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). i want to make it clear that we are not saved by our works, just our faith in the christ of the bible, but this idea is important. there are two beams on the cross. the vertical one shows our relationship with god and devotion to his word, will, and spirit. the horizontal beam shows our connection with our world, where we can take the vertical and render it effective in our lives and amongst those around us. it’s time for christians to get back out into the world and get their hands dirty, just as jesus did. he didn’t come just so he could have ‘bible study’ time with the disciples or to hang out with the same crowd that already knew who he was, he come to feed the thousands and to heal the sick and to love on those who lost all knowledge of what love is. it’s time to resuscitate our faith, for it has become dead.

hey… i was just informed by my friend timmy that tom wilson, the star and talent behind Biff from “Back To the Future” is a contemporary christian artist. i have no intention to ridicule or make fun, mostly because i probably fit the same description as he does. anyways… here is his site, in case you need a good chuckle. go to tom wilson’s site.