Thoughts Of a Strange Panda

The Best Worst Date Ever!

2012-02-04T00:45:00.003-06:00

So tonight Celeste and I celebrated one year of dating, and boy was it a disaster! Start off I was trying to figure out what to wear. I wanted to wear this bow tie but I couldn’t find a shirt to wear with it. Below is a pic of what I originally grabbed… I know it’s bad.

Then my sister came home and was like hey wear this straight black shirt. I was like genius… problem was the sleeves were too short like literally barely came below my elbows. So I had to settle with a striped black shirt. Didn't look all that great with my bow tie but hey what the heck.

Then I got in my car and started heading towards Celeste’s house! I was all excited we were planning on going to see the artist and then go out to eat. It was going to be fun and really, really nice. But sadly none of them happened as planned! Just as I’m about a mile from her home my car overheats! Like smoking! I was like, “NOOOOO.”

So I pulled over and called her tell her I need her to come pick me up. She shows up and she looks absolutely stunning. I mean wow. My jaw drops and on the inside my head is screaming, “WHY THE SNAP DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TONIGHT!” so frustrating. As it turns out either my water pump is shot or I have a hose shot. Either way I couldn’t fix it in the dark.

I was so mad, Celeste and I ended up having to change up our entire plans. We missed the movie. Didn’t go out to eat at the restaurant we planned on going to. I was so aggravated. But by the end of the night I realized something… even though tonight didn’t work out at all as we planned, it was still a good night.

Celeste and I ended up going to Olive Garden and just chilled, talked, and laughed. We were calm peaceful, and relaxed. We honestly enjoyed our time there. At one point we were in target looking for coolant for my car and as we walked we made corny Monty Python jokes. By the end of the night we ended up back at my house eating dessert, chilling and laughing with my mom and sister. That was followed by cups of tea and a Rowan Atkinson special.

At one point as we were driving back home “Here Comes the Sun” came on the radio. I felt as if God was saying to me through that song, “Dallas… it’s going to be alright. The Sun is coming soon, so just relax and enjoy the blessings I’ve already given you.”

So while it was one of the worst one year dating anniversary dates, it was pretty darn nice. Why? Because in the end it’s not about how much time you put into making all these plans, the time line of where you’ll be and how you will be doing it. It’s really about if you make the time you spend with the people you love, true quality time. It would had been easy for me to be mad and aggravated the entire time I was with Celeste and my family tonight; but instead we laughed, we talked, we shared. I made the time we had together worth being together.

Adonai,

Thank you for all that you’ve done and will do.

A Club of Heroes and Humility

2012-01-26T23:15:00.010-06:00

So in 1957 the comic book called “World’s Finest Comics” published an issue called “The Club of Heroes.” The basically what happens in the story (don’t worry no spoilers) is that a wealthy man named John Mayhew stared a club called The club of Heroes. It was something he built in honor of all the great heroes of the world. He then in turn decided to give the deed to the building to one of the heroes.

To decide which hero would receive the deed he declared that which ever hear did the greatest work over the next week would be rewarded the deed. However, during this week Superman keeps mysteriously passing out and a mysterious new hero appears. Hmmm interesting….

Now the ending of this story isn’t the reasoning for my blog but rather what happens in the midst of it. You see all the world’s heroes set out to fight crime as they usually did. However, while doing it they purposefully kept low key so not to draw attention to themselves. Batman thought Superman deserved it, Superman thought Batman deserved it, the Musketeer, Knight & Squire, Gaucho, and Legionary all thought Batman & Superman should get it.

As I read this I thought to myself, “wow, isn’t that how the body of Christ is supposed to be?” I know what you’re thinking, “ummm… D…. those are comic book heroes… “ Yes I know that but that’s not what I mean! Goobers.

Check out this scripture

3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
~Philippians 2:3-4

So often we see in the body petty bickering and strife that leads to pain and anguish. But that’s not at all what God expects of us. Rather he wants to be like the Club of Heroes, to have such respect for our brothers and sisters that we long to see what’s best for them be done. Wow what an amazing thought, if we all put the effort to help each other and see them grow to their potential then how much would our Lord be glorified? After all it’s all for His glory.

I want to encourage everyone take to heart this simple scripture illustrated through a comic book, lift your brothers and sisters up so that our Lord may be glorified.

One of the Hard Parts of Ministry

2011-12-13T11:55:00.004-06:00

One of the hardest parts of ministry is funerals. As a young minister whom hasn't had a lot of dealings with death its especially hard.

I've never lost a mother, a father, a brother, a sister, a daughter, a son, a close friend. So

in no way can I say "I know how u feel..."

In truth no one can truely know how each other feels. Every one thinks, sees, experiances differently. There for as a minister I must do one thing. Reflect our Lord the Christ. He is the only one who truly knows how people feel.

Ministers sometimes get the mind set that they have to be some sort of superman of ministry. Truth of matter is we are simply to be willing to be open to God's movement. Be sensitive to His voice of wisdom when speaking to His children. Be willing to be a shoulder to cry upon and be the arms for His hugs. Be the carriers of His peace. Be the carriers of His hope.

Not ours...

~Selah

woot!

2011-12-12T14:56:00.002-06:00

way too excited about my dr who mug

oooo an app

2011-12-03T19:26:00.001-06:00

thought id give this blogger app a spin.

meh update

2011-12-03T01:08:00.002-06:00

Welp i have 2 say tonight was pretty fun. For those whom don't know i've been dating Celeste for nearly11 months now. I appreciate her so much. How she's there for me when i need her. how she's always so encouraging. I'm also so impressed with how hard she works to always do the right thing. I know it's hard sometimes for her between work, family, and soon school. But even with all that she still finds a way to be simply amazing.

here's a few pics of us

Pouring Out the Purfume

2011-11-29T16:24:00.003-06:00

There are so many people in the church who are talented and have been blessed with so many things. Some are wealthy with finances, some are wealthy with knowledge. Whatever it is they have one thing is sure, it is God’s blessing in their life. So what happens when we use those blessings?

In the twelfth chapter of John we find the story of Mary coming and anointing the feet of Christ. The text reveals to us that what she used to anoint Him was a very expensive pint of perfume, about years’ worth of wages. (vs .3,5) The fragrance of the perfume filled the air. I’m sure that all who had not originally seen her walking in and cracking open the bottle soon turned their heads as they could smell the wonderful fragrance throughout the entirety of the home.

Sadly this moment of humbling worship was interrupted by the Judas who reprimanded the woman for wasting it. He claimed it could had been sold and the money given to the poor! (vs. 4,5) While this true we find in the following verse that his true motives were not so noble, rather he knew if it were sold he’d have control over it and its use.

What can we draw from this?

For starters let’s point out the fact that the scent of the perfume filled the air. When we humble ourselves in worship it leaves a lasting impression. When even though the meeting went south the men left the room with some of that scent on their clothing and they would continue to remember how someone was able to humble themselves and bless the Lord.

Whether it’s through your giving of finances to this project or another, your ability to lead others in worship, your ability to teach the word of God to young child or adult, your ability to simply pray and serve, it will ALWAYS leave a lasting impression. It will impact someone somehow and they will be drawn back to the truth that someone was so willing to humble themselves to bless the Lord, and in turn will be inspired to do the same.

Next, we can take away the fact that when someone is willing to truly humble themselves someone is bound to get offended. “Why are they doing that? That money could be used for better purposes! Their skills could be used in other ways then something as trivial as this. Their time could be better spent in other places!” Are these things true? In a way, however, when we take time to truly honor and bless the Father in heaven then time and energy is never wasted because He honors those whom faithfully serve and bless Him.

Now I’m not saying you need to go out and give all your money to some charity, I’m not saying you need to go out and do something that puts your family in terrible debt or pain. What I’m saying is you should not be afraid to bless Him. After all who is more worthy of praise and blessings? NONE! In his new album “The Attributes of God,” lyrical theologian Shai Linne has a chorus line that simply says “Not to us, not to us! BUT TO GOD BE THE GLORY!” This simple proclamation sums up the reasoning for us to bless and extol Him.

I encourage you dear brothers and sisters of the faith, bless our Lord in whatever fashion you can. If it be through monetary giving, through teaching a Christian Education Class, joining a prayer group, serving in THP Kidz (Nursery Ministry), The Deep (Kids Ministry), or OPEN (Youth Ministry), or whatever it is that the Lord has placed on your heart then do it! Do it gladly.

Go Deep.

The Tardis and God

2011-05-18T16:53:00.002-05:00

As many of you may know I have become quite the Doctor Who fan. For those of you who don’t know, Doctor Who is a BBC show that has been around since the 60’s. It’s about a man known only as the Doctor who travels through time and space and through a series of events ends up helping people everywhere he goes. In the re-launch of the series the Doctor is the only remaining member of his people, The Time Lords. So he travels around in his ship known as the “Tardis,” doing what he knows best.

On twitter I get updates from an account count “DrWhoQuotes.” Today one came to my phone that struck me as interesting. Now before I give you this quote you need to understand that it would appear (I say appear because I haven’t gotten to this part of the series where this quote comes from) that the Tardis is alive, and at some point the living portion of it was separated from it into a human form. So here’s the quote.

The Doctor: You didn't always take me where I wanted to go.
Idris (TARDIS): No, but I always took you where you needed to go.

When I read this I thought “you know it’s kind of like God.” Many of us have been on a journey with the Lord. Through ministry and life he’s lead us and guided us. Sometimes we greatly enjoyed where he lead us, because those places were places we wanted to be. But at times; at times he lead us to places we felt uncomfortable. So we look at Him sometimes and we say

You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go

And He in turn replies to us

NO, but I always took you where you needed to go.

At the moment we didn’t known why he took us there, or it may be that at THIS moment you don’t know why you are where you are. However, by the end of journey you will know why He brought you through it. To make you stronger, wiser, or… to help someone else become stronger, wiser, or even… part of the His flock.

The Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to HIS PURPOSE. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
~Romans 8:28-29

Here we find that God is working all things for good. Doesn’t mean all situations will be good or pleasant. But that by the end of it all, things will be good.

Take a moment and take a deep breathe. In Doctor Who there are many times where the Doctor just grips hold of something and lets the TARDIS go where it will take him. The sense of not knowing where he’s going or what will happen is an adventure for him, it’s exciting. Why? Because he knows that no matter what happens or where he goes, he’ll still be the Doctor and he’ll do what he does as such. Take hold friends and let the Lord take you wherever He wishes to take you.

They call me!!! ... MR.PIG!!

2011-05-13T15:46:00.001-05:00

So I was chilling earlier and a phrase came to mind. Not sure why, completely random. It was a quote from a movie that honestly isn’t even one of my favorites. This quote comes from a fictional character, complex, multi-faceted character. It is a line spoke in the heat of battle! This line was a declaration to everyone around, to his comrades beside him and to his enemy before him. When he shouted out this declaration instantly his enemy began to retreat in fear! What was this line? What was this declaration of strength!?

“They call me…. MR. PIG!!!”

That’s right folks the line is by Pumbaa in the movie “The Lion King.” So what makes this line so great? It’s the recognition that he is something. Pumbaa was declaring to everyone who he was and that he wasn’t ashamed of that.

One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it isthe power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

This scripture was part of Paul’s declaration to everyone. He wasn’t ashamed of the Gospel. He was proud to be known as a Christ Follower! It’s who he was. So let me ask you, are you willing to declare who you are? If not I ask you for two things.

1. 1. Speak it out! Literally outline in your prayer times declare who you are. Declare that you are a follower of Jesus the Messiah! Declare the blessings you have as a co-heir in Christ! Speaking out these things speaks life over yourself, your home, your land, your finances.

2. 2. Walk it out! Don’t walk as a victim anymore and don’t walk as heathen anymore. If you’re declaring that you are a follower of Christ then act like it! Stop speaking doom and gloom over your life, all you’re doing is cursing it! Also don’t do the things you know Christ wouldn’t approve of. James says that he’ll show his faith in Christ THROUGH his works.

Hope I Don’t offend you but...

2010-08-23T21:53:00.002-05:00

So lately I’ve gotten tired of a couple of things. First thing are people being afraid to present truth because they are afraid of offending people. To often Christians miss the chance to speak truth because they are afraid of offending people. We have to realize that the Gospel is offensive to people.

When people are faced with the fact that they are sinful, that they can not in their present state enter into the kingdom of God, it offends them. Why? Because people don’t like to be told they are wrong! It’s human nature. If I came up to you and said ‘Hey what you’ve been doing all your life is completely and utterly wrong,’ you’d be offended.

It happens, it’s part of life, you can’t be worried about it.

Now let’s flip this proverbial coin. One thing that I am highly annoyed with is people who take the excuse “Well the gospel is offensive and I’m just being real,” and use it, either knowingly or un-knowingly, to be a complete jerk. There is such a thing as tact.

I’m not in anyway saying that you should water down the truth; whether it’s the truth of the gospel of you bringing to light something that has been hidden. I’m just saying that there is a way of presenting the uncompromising truth that doesn’t have to make you (who represent Christ) sound like a jerk. (thus making Christ sound like a jerk) Let us not forget the words of Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.”

True sometimes it’s hard to say things in an easy way and in those cases you just need to play it by ear. That being said there is no reason for you to go in and just drop the hammer on everyone just because you think you have the right. Christ did not call us to change the masses. He’s called us to allow the Holy Spirit to use us to change the masses.

I’m just saying there is a balance there. On one hand it’s time for Christians to step up and be what they claim to be. Stop making excuses as to why you sin. Just do it! At the same time, do not be one of those annoying ones who go around condemning everyone to hell even those who are in the trenches with you. Learn to speak the truth in love.

I’m just say’n…

Something to Marvel

2010-07-16T00:41:00.000-05:00

Check these out

This first one was given to me by my friend Caitlin Sattler. She's pretty much awesome. But she gave this to me because she knows i love marvel comics and because she's my friend.

This one was given to me by one of my students, Lizy. She's a pretty awesome kid too! She found this at some random comic shop up north. Needless to say i feel loved :)

lol no showing off these cool posters and talking about how much i feel loved is not the point of this post. This was just a clever way to talk about Marvel comics. Not because i'm a geek but because i have a point to make :)

Check out that last one. It says 70 years. wow. 70 years and idk how many characters and character changes. Over the last several years Marvel comics has become part of our culture and society. Why?

Because they were able to create a legacy. They created timeless stories that were passed from one generation to the next. People have taken these stories and they become part of their lives.

Stories about fictional people with real struggles. Struggles that relate to everyone in some fashion. As a result these fans willingly share their passion for these comics. Telling friends, family, and people they don't even know.

Now stop for a moment and think about this. what would happen if we had the same passion to tell other people about something actually life changing? An intense passion to tell people about how God came to earth in the form of a man and died on the cross just so that you, me, and everyone else can have a relationship with the Father.

Now that's really something to Marvel.

Hero Academy 2010 Promo

2010-06-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

hey guys here's the Hero Academy Promo for more information check out www.heroacademy.wordpress.com

At least i'll always have memories...

2010-05-23T22:42:00.005-05:00

Sad day my friends. Hollywood Video is closing. ::tear:: I'm sad because i have a lot of fond memories at Hollywood Video.

When I first moved to Louisiana years ago Family would go to Hollywood Video rent movies and then go home. We'd stay home all weekend watching movies together. I know many people don't believe that watching movies is good family time but for us it was. We'd eat dinner in the living room and fire up the VCR (yeah that's how long ago it was) and we'd just have fun. We had a habit of making jokes and commenting on what was going on.

I remember sitting on the floor searching through the "Special Interest" section trying to find new and interesting Anime! Then while checking out i'd check out the assortment of candy. I loved it!

Years later i found myself working there. It was fun for me. I loved movies, i loved finding new movies, I loved helping people find different and interesting things. The people i worked with were always fun and interesting to say the least. Sure there was stressful times but nothing a good taco from the taco bell across the street couldn't fix. I have story after story of interesting customers and employees.

haha i worked there for so long that people ask if they know me all the time because they recognize me from there. haha sadly i can still remember if they had late fees and and if they were decent customers or complete and utter jerks.

::sigh::

Oh well. So long old friend. You shall live on in the memories of people for many years to come.

Day 1 of district council

2010-04-19T23:19:00.002-05:00

So day one of district council was pretty groovy! brother doug brought an AWESOME message!

i didn't know they were going ot make me stand up infront of everyone though... if i had i might have exited out to the restroom for a few minutes haha

afterwards we all wentout to ihop. praise the lord! it was good eating!! quick recap of the conversation.... carafe full of ranch dressing... destroy... jock strap....amen...

yeah you try and fill in the holes haha

welp i'm out peace and love everyone :)

long night

2010-04-18T21:40:00.003-05:00

So we got this groovy speaker here at the moment. Great guy named Dr. Peter Wyns. I strongly recommend you get him to come to your church. :)

One thing... this brother can PRAY!! lol so when he comes make sure you have lots of time. last night we were at church until 11pm haha!

at the moment i'm in the kids church watching princess bride with the kids :) haha fun stuff

Review of Awesome God

2010-04-15T14:37:00.001-05:00

So a few weeks ago Sovereign Grace Ministries had asked me to do a review of their children's worship music. I said sure so they sent me 2 cds. "Awesome God" and "To be like Jesus" I got together with my Kid's Worship leader, Adrian, and we listened to them and did these vids. Because of the restrictions of youtube i had to break it into two parts. so here you go Adrian and I's review of "Awesome God"

So... maybe it wasn't a dinosaur.....

2010-04-09T19:50:00.003-05:00

Ok so i had a rather embarrassing moment the other day. Pastor Scott, Matt, Jenny, KB,Doug, and I were all on our way back from a minister's meeting in Lafayette. We stopped by a raceway for a bathroom break. Matt and KB took up the two working urinal so i went into the stall and closed the door so i could do my business with some privacy.

Well outside i hear KB making this hacking sound he makes. So jokingly i say "dude sounds like a velociraptor out there!"

i then hear Matt walk out of the room singing "jesus jesus"

i shrug and finish my business. I walk out and i suddenly stop.

A heavy feeling of dread comes over my face. I lower my head in immense shame as i look into the mirror before me. You see dear friends the velociraptor roars that i assumed to had come from my wee friend KB had, infact, not come from him at all.

Before me in the mirror was an older gentleman, probably some vet from Vietnam, who had a treak in his throat. it would appear the poor guy was attempting to clear phlegm from out of the hole in his throat...

I then proceeded to walk out of the room.... yeah... red face...

lol if you would like to know about jokes that were told after wards feel free to contact any of my friends who were on the rest of that ride home haha

Blog Suggestion

2010-04-05T22:42:00.001-05:00

hey everyone! i want to highly recommend a really great blog!

http://thpshreveport.wordpress.com/

It belongs to my pastor, Pastor Scott Ethridge.

The Phrase

2010-03-30T22:05:00.004-05:00

I don't really remember the first time i heard it. But it's been part of my life for years. Who knew that three simple words will change the way you thought and saw the world.

I remember very distinctly one instance where i first heard it. I was doing an internship at my church, The Healing Place. Our church had just gone through a remodel and had tons of bricks left over. My friend Stephen and I were tasked with the job of sitting outside, in the wonderful blistering hot July heat, breaking these bricks.

While out doing this Pastor Bagnetto drives up and rolls down his window and says to us the three magical words... "Welcome to Ministry"

It's an interesting phrase. I think a lot of folks don't really understand that ministry really does go beyond the pulpit. Ministry sometimes involves taking care of the day to day stuff. Like mowing the church yard or cleaning up the messes others leave behind.

So next time you find yourself having to throw away the trash that someone else left in the foyer of the church or you end up putting the sanctuary back together after a youth event; take a moment and say to yourself... "Welcome to Ministry"

Easter Egg Hunt Promo

2010-03-23T09:07:00.000-05:00

Great Night

2010-03-19T22:31:00.003-05:00

So tonight was really great. Tonight was our young adult's service. To be honest i almost didn't go. Spent the day filming for different projects and when i finally sat down to eat dinner in a completely exhausted state with my family afterwards my mom asked "so are you going tonight?" That's when it hit me... oh snap... we have young adults in lest then 2 hrs....

But i'm glad i went. Right off the bat God just rocked the world in worship. During it God began to give me a word. He said that his children are bound by small ties. Things that hold their heart to this world. Seemingly small insignificant things but still bondage all the same.

He said they were bound to fleshly things because they were afraid of the unfamiliar, the unknown.

He had given me a vision of a heart suspended in air by a rope. Swinging there. It's a small rope. but still it's holding that heart in place. Suddenly a fire falls from the sky and begins to burn the rope. Finally the fire burns through and the rope and the now inflamed heart begins to fall down this dark tunnel illuminating as it goes.

God began to speak to me and said that if we'd simply let his holy fire burn away and break those ties that we'd finally be free. Sure it's scary going to a place unknown but that if they'd only realized that when they take that freefall they aren't falling into darkness. His burning light will show them where they are going.

So that was cool. then this was cooler...

Pastor Matt gets up and begins to talk about how there are some people who need healing and how they have allowed "strongholds" to come in and it's keeping them from going deeper with God.

Then even cooler...

Pastor Brandon Mitchel (idk if i'm spelling his last name right) gets up and begins to preach about the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. How the man after waiting for 35 years had probably grown to be very comfortable where he was at. Sure he wanted to be healed but he wasn't ready to take on the responsibility that came with that healing.

He couldn't rely on people bring him food. he had to get up and get a job and buy his own food now. It was scary unfamiliar. However with freedom comes blessing. Sure he had to do things wasn't able to do before but he could also go out and be with people. He could go and get married and have children and live a full happy life. But he had to put his trust, his faith, in the healing, then walk in it, and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT. He couldn't hold on to those things from before. Small things that didn't really matter were what kept him in bondage.

Afterwards Pastor Matt got back up and began to pray for people. People who need either Spiritual healing, Physical Healing, or Emotional Healing.

So my encouragement to you today. Let God's holy and purifying fire break those ties that have kept you in bondage. I know you're comfortable in them. But God has Freedom for you and has a plan for you. You just have to let go. Let go and let God.

Through the Music

2010-03-10T14:53:00.000-06:00

Those who know me well know that i really do enjoy music. Take a few minute and scroll through my Zune (cuz itunes aggravates me)and you'll find a vast variety of music.

Quick glance at the genres I have blues, celtic, gospel, goth, hip hop, indie-emo, jazz, jrock, regatone, reggae, and rock(to name a few). And all of it is Christian. While i enjoy the different mainline styles i also rather enjoy worship music. It's great stuff. Misty Edwards, Matt Gillman, Hillsong, etc. all of it great.

However, i'm struggling with Hillsong lately. Right now i'm listening to "This is Our God." with the exception of "Your Name High," "Healer," and With "Everything" I really can't tell when one song ends and the other begins. I don't know if that's due to exceptional musicians who can construct a song list with the right chord progressions so that things are seamless.... or is it because they don't have enough originality to make each song special in of itself.

Don't get me wrong, each song has fantastic lyrics. Lyrics are something that are HIGHLY important to me, however, for me to sit down and enjoy the album all the way through.... gets kind of boring.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Just curious.

by the way the pic at the top came from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1109745

A MIGHTY FIST OF FURY!!

2010-02-27T09:34:00.001-06:00

Random Thought!

2010-02-24T14:37:00.000-06:00

Game Agrivation

2010-02-20T00:28:00.000-06:00

So a couple of months ago i bought this game. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. I started playing it and was stuck on the first real mission, (there were a few prologue like missions in the beginning). I put the game to the side and didn't really give it a second thought. why? because i had more important things to do! that's why! haha plus i had other games i could occupy free time with.

Well i finally sat down today to play it again to try and figure out why i was stuck. I had saved every person on the level there were no more bad guys. why was i stuck!?

So i went online and did some searching. Turns out their is a glitch in the disk and when you hit that level all u have to do is reload it using the original auto save data and plays through.

boy was that agrivating

Valentine Blog-vlog

2010-02-17T13:38:00.000-06:00

Culture & Heritage, Does it Define You?

2010-02-08T01:28:00.000-06:00

One of my secret pleasures is watching “Independent Lens” on Louisiana Public Broadcasting. (LPB) I really do enjoy being able to see how different people view the world. Independent Lens almost never fails to deliver something new and interesting.

Tonight they showed a film called “Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness.” It is the story of anthropologist Melville Herskovits (1895-1963), whom Harvard professor Vincent Brown calls "the Elvis of African-American studies." The son of Jewish immigrants, Herskovits founded the nation's first major African studies program. It was, truly, a very interesting film that posed the question “who had the right to define culture?” Mr. Herskovits believed that 1940’s black culture was not pathological but derived from black roots in Africa.

This then lead me to begin thinking about today’s society. How do the roots of our heritage affect today’s culture? By culture I mean the anthropological view which is: the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another. Those who know me well you know I often make jokes about my Mexican heritage. At times I’ve even made jokes about European heritage and my mysteriously cloaked and unconfirmed Italian heritage.

As I sit back and think about it all I’m not sure if I truly allow either one to affect who I am. Yes I’m trying to learn a little bit of Spanish, in part due to heritage but mostly at the moment due to my relationship with my Imelda, my girlfriend. Yet all together, I don’t really believe my heritage has affected the outcome of who I am. Is that sad? Possibly…

Why is that? I look at many of my friends who are my age and they too seem not to care too much about their ancestral home. Yet, at the same time, have many friends who are deeply submerged in their heritage. We see people who are deeply involved in their African heritage, their Mexican heritage, or their Italian heritage. But let me ask you this, what is American heritage?

Does the region of your past family members dictate who you are and how you act?

Am I saying we shouldn’t honor and respect those who have come before us and where they come from? That we should ignore the struggles early immigrants of today and yesterday have made? To quote the great Apostle, “By no means!”

I whole heartily believe in the honoring of our forefathers. Both American and non American, after all if it were not for immigrants then the only people here would be Native Americans. I love to see the embrace of cultural art, life, and experience! I love to see the crossing and mixing of such things to create and birth new cultural art, life, and experience. In truth I believe if we do not grasp our past we can not truly find our future. I also believe if we do not allow our cultures to collide and mingle then humanity as a whole will become dull, boring, and worthless.

What I struggle with, however, is from my stance as a Christian. Culture is one thing but what happens when culture contradicts scriptural principles and truths; when culture puts you under bondage that God never meant for you to have. Is there room in scripture for culture?

Absolutely, however, when culture contradicts an absolute truth, then something must change.

Couple of examples; let’s take the culture of middle/upper class white American society. (please, take note these are generalizations and not true for the whole) Some work hard and do their very best to provide. Many live in nice houses in fantastic areas. Many believe that if they were able to work their way to the top then everyone should be able to do so too. To a point this is true, however, there is often a slight problem that appears in this society. The concept of elitism comes into play. The idea of I made and if you can’t too bad.

Does having the best shoes, the best car, the best schools, make you superior than the rest? Should you act and think as so? What happens when a person of this class looks out across “poor America?” Do they see themselves as better?

Here is where culture must bow to scripture. Just because you are by appearance more than another, scripture often lifts the humble, the meek, and the poor. In fact in the ultimate example of what we should be like, we see the highest of them all, lowering himself to the lowest of positions.

Is it wrong to be rich and have nice things? By no means! Is it wrong to be rich, have nice things, and think that you are truly better than everyone? YES! Again the Apostle Paul places us all on equal ground stating “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Now lets look at lower class black culture. (again it is stated that this is a generalization of a few not the whole) Here in Louisiana, I’ve noticed, there is an interesting teaching being bread into our children. I remember a conversation with my friend, Tacoya (T.C.), where he remarked on something his grandfather had taught him.

Essentially he was told that if anything is ever not going your way, you should blame it on the fact that you’re black. The black man is poor because the white man doesn’t want blacks to succeed. If things aren’t going your way then it’s not your fault. You’re not to blame, it’s someone else’s.

As sit back and look across the black community around me, I see this concept in many people. What this has brought into the community is the concept of it’s always someone else. I never have to take responsibility. I never need to answer for my actions. I never need to take care of myself.

Again here is where culture must bow to scripture. Scripture says that you can succeed, that God can help you to overcome all obstacles. Scripture also dictates that we are responsible for our own doings. If you don’t put the effort into something then it is your fault if you don’t succeed. The Bible says that God will provide a way out of temptation , but it doesn’t say he’ll force you to make the right choice. You have to make that.

To be fare on both sides of the issues, when I was in collage I had a conversation with a sociologist. Sadly, and to my shame, I can not remember his name; but will happily report back when I remember. In our conversation he state quite simply:

“The problem with racism today is that neither party knows the facts. White people think that everything is on equal ground and that blacks do have the same opportunities as whites. However, the problem is that the average income for a black male still staggeringly lower than the average white male. Blacks are still socially struggling to get up.

The blacks feel that the white man is still trying to hold them down, when the reality is that most white people don’t perceive that there is even a problem. In truth if many black people do try, they will succeed”

Above I’ve shown two example of where culture conflicts with scripture. So again I ask, what do you, me, us, allow to define who you, me, us, are?

How to Help Kids Listen

2010-02-06T11:10:00.000-06:00

my very first video blog :)

Signs.... Where do they Point to?

2010-01-27T13:57:00.000-06:00

So I’m sitting here in the church coffee shop going over John 4:43-54. At the moment I’m really just trying to bash out my own thoughts on the selection.

Jesus just spent two days in a town ministering to people who believed first because of the simple testimony of a singular woman. They then believed because of they themselves have gone and heard him. This is a great illustration of the power of our testimony. Your testimony can and will change things.

So now here’s Jesus in Galilee, the place that He had stated that a prophet is not honored in his own country. We see this story in Matthew 13, Mark 6, & Luke 4. It is here that something interesting happens. In verse 45 the people receive him quite well. Not because of the word of a testimony or because of what he’s said directly to them, rather because they had seen the miracles he had done in Jerusalem.

Skip down to verse 46-54 we find the story of a nobleman who came to seek healing for his son. Jesus’ reply….

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe”

Being what I believe to be in distress the man again pleads with Jesus to come with him and heal his son. Jesus told the man to go home because his son was healed. Then something amazing happened. The bible says in verse 50.

“So the man BELIEVED the WORD that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”

He was begging Christ to come with him in person but believed simply on the spoken word of God. The man ran home to find his son had indeed been healed. Then, in an attempt to get rid of thoughts of coincidence, asked when the boy recovered. The servant told him that the boy recovered at the very hour that Jesus had told him that his son was healed.

So what does this mean to us? What can we learn from this passage?

First off I want to point out the people who greeted Christ. They received him because of what they saw. In today’s culture we see spiritual superstars rise and fall. Todd Bentley for example, he rose up a very controversial superstar in the charismatic/Pentecostal circles. Were people touched and healed at his crusades? Sure I can accept that. But I believe the fall of his ministry was due to a misunderstanding of the purposes of those miracles. People began to follow the signs and wonders. They were going to his events to see miracles, to see signs, to see demonstrations… not to see Jesus.

Christ did miracles and signs not just for entertainment or just to be nice but to point back to himself and His Father. So was Bentley wrong for doing miracles? No, but towards the end of his ministry in Florida if you noticed things seemed to become more and more about him and less about Christ. More and more his events turned into what people could get for themselves.

I believe that’s why Christ scolded the man in verse 48. The people in the area were starting to follow him for miracles. For what they could get out of Him instead of what they could do to serve Him. Christ was looking for commitment to the Father.

Notice verse 53, when the man had definite proof of the healing performed by Christ, the man and his entire family believed. The signs and miracles are not meant to build man or ministries, they are meant to build the Kingdom. They are called signs because they are signs that direct to the King of Kings.

Promo Vid

2010-01-20T14:48:00.000-06:00

This is the promo vid for our kids church when we changed the name from Firm Foundation Children's Ministry to The Deep

John 4:1-19

2010-01-13T14:43:00.000-06:00

Ok so right now i'm going through the book of John with my Kids on Wednesday nights. it's been a rough time simply because of holidays. But i'm excited because now the holidays are over so no more weird days missed and what not.

Anyways reading through John 4:1-19 tonight and i decided it might help for me to bash out some thoughts here first before i do it tonight.

So first interesting item up on the table. Jesus sits down at the well and there's this Samaritan woman there grabbing some water. To us no biggie, but then Jesus turns to her and asks for a bit of water

GASP! SCANDAL!!! why? because Jews and kind of thought poorly of Samaritans at the time and to share a cup was inappropriate. So why did Jesus do it? Is it possible he didn't realize who the lady was?

Not likely. first off he was in the middle of a Samaritan area! He could spit and hit one with no problem. Second off and most important HE IS THE SON OF GOD!! HE KIND OF KNOWS THESE THINGS!!

So why do it? Why risk his image of a good respected rabbi to talk to this woman who was clearly beneath him?

To minister to her.

He was willing to face public ridicule just to reach one person. What's cool about it is that he didn't get all up her face and chew her out for doing wrong. He started out with a simple conversation and gradually lead her to the truth.

I think we as Christians need to learn from this. Should the Gospel be presented? Yes. Should we ever water it down? NO! But we should recognize that people respond differently to different things. This lady need to be easily drawn into the truth. Growing up she was probably called all kinds of names and was hurt by many people simply for being who she was. Being the Son of God, Jesus knew this and came to her in love and gentleness.

Don't get me wrong. I do believe there are times for shouting and screaming, but not always. In my humble opinion more people today need a loving guidance than a harsh shove.

Tonight.... was a good night :)

2009-12-30T22:29:00.000-06:00

Ok so as many of you know... at least you should if you read my profile to the right...

I am a children's pastor. For a while now i've been frustrated with my Wednesday night program. I try to do more of a small group thing, and well... it's just not working. It's mad frustrating.

But tonight... tonight was good. Why you ask? Because for once my small group night was a small group. I had a grand total of 3 kids that i taught personally and it went GREAT! Hopefully i can get some more help in the kids church so i can break things up. after all 15-20 kids to 1 adult... that's a challenge and not really a small group haha!

But tonight went really well. I had fun with kids. We got through the lesson, we got to talk about how things are in their lives. it was just really groovy. :)

yay happy panda!

Grr to Apple! Grr I say!!

2009-12-29T11:41:00.001-06:00

I am rather annoyed with Apple. First off when i switched over to Windows 7 ALL the songs i downloaded off of Itunes got messed up causing the titles of each song to be "Download"

To top it off Itunes has no idea how to do a simple fix. I have to go into each individual file and go to it's properties and change the songs... one... by one.

To top it all off because Itunes is owned by the Taliban they have made the new downloads annoying. Turns out that with every album you buy there will be one or two random songs of their choosing that they will stash away from the rest of your music and rename it "download' so that you can't put it on phone manually.

So my friends... Grr to Apple! Grr I say!!

HAPPY PANDA!!

2009-12-28T16:42:00.001-06:00

HECK YES!! i just finished fixing up the coding on this page!! haha i'm pretty happy now :)

Christmas Weekend Conclusion

2009-12-27T22:03:00.000-06:00

Welp folks the Christmas weekend is almost to a close. Actually kind of came to a close for me today considering i work on Sundays haha.

That said it's been pretty nice. Got to spend some time with my family. We exchanged gifts, had some laughs, saw a few good movies. It was nice. Today was really cool though.

Pastor wanted to do something a little different so we did this great illustrated sermon using the book "A Tale of Three Trees" It's a really neat story about three trees that were originally planted on a mountain side.

The first tree wanted to be made into a treasure box and hold the most precious jewels of all.

The second wanted to become a might ship that carried kings!

The third tree simply wanted to sit there and point to God for all time.

Then a few lumberjacks showed up and cut them all down and the three trees fell into despair as they came to realize that they would not be made into what they had planned on.

The first tree had become a simple feed box for animals.

The second became a boat for fisher men.

The third was simply cut into pieces of lumber and throne into a pile.

Have you ever been there? You had all these great ideas and plans on what you wanted to do. They were fantastic and even glorifying to God! Yet something happens, your plans are shot and thrown to side. You're not doing at all what you had originally planned on doing. Like the trees in the story you find yourself asking,

Why!? Why God am i here? I've been faithful, all my plans were for you! Why am i here at this point in my life! why!

The three trees felt this way too, yet one by one they had something special happen to them. The first tree found it self one special starlit night in a simple stable. A new mother and father resting exhausted from the day's events. The mother rests her newborn son in the feed box, she looked up at her loving husband, "isn't he beautiful? isn't our son, Jesus, so beautiful?" It was then that the first tree realized that he didn't hold the riches of the world but rather the most precious jewel in all of Heaven and Earth.

The second tree was one day cast out in the waters of the simple sea. Suddenly a massive storm arose and begin to toss the boat and it's travelers back and forth. lighting striking the water right near the bow of the ship! The travelers turned to each other and one finally went over and woke one of their companions. This man stood and walked to the edge of the boat and simply said

Peace, Be Still

And the raging storm stopped. It was then that the second tree realized that while he was not carrying mighty kings of this world, he was carrying the King of Kings.

The third tree one day found itself being dragged out of the wood pile by some soldiers. It didn't understand why the soldiers formed it into the shape of a cross. It didn't understand why they made a simple carpenter who had been beaten beyond recognition carry it so far. It didn't understand why the crowds seemed to hate this man so much. Finally when it heard the man pleading to God to forgive the people it understood, that every time people looked to it's cross shaped form, it would be pointing them straight to God.

See God has a plan for you. He sees things in a entirely different light then we do. While we see things in one direction God is able to step back out of time and see the beginning and the end.

Perhaps you were like the first try and u had plans for holding great riches. But suddenly, be it due to poor economic times or poor financial judgment, you find yourself in place where you feel as low as you could be. You've gone from 5 star to Denny's breakfast bar.

Perhaps you were like the second tree and you had plans of part of that upper class. The guy who calls the shots. You thought for sure you were up for that big promotion but suddenly BAM!! You get pushed to the side and now you're a no body.

Then again maybe you were like the third tree who had great plans that were all meant to honor God and glorify him... but sadly for one reason or another all those dreams seemed to be cut down and thrown away. You feel as though you can't serve Him anymore. That you've wasted your time trying to honor God and serve him.

Doesn't matter the situation fact remains, GOD IS IN CONTROL.

He loves you has a plan for your life. You simply need to be willing to be used by him. If you're down have faith that he will take car of you in the end.

Didn't mean to go into all that. in all honesty i was just trying to tell you about my day.

New Blog

2009-12-22T15:17:00.000-06:00

So this is my newest blog site of ... idk how many haha I'm using this as a personal blog and keeping my other one ( www.sirxroam.wordpress.com ) strickly for ministry purposes.

So how's it go'n world?