Neuekirche

2006-09-10T12:19:00.000-06:00

So you'll never guess who preached at Lakeridge this morning. Well, I'm gonna brag.

Yeah. That's right. Tony Freakin' Campolo. Well, I'm done bragging. Please resume your regular scheduled nonsense.

Randall

2006-08-25T16:34:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
The House Show
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Welcome Freshmen

So one of my old campers from last year is starting Landscape Architecture at A&M this semester. I'm not entirely sure about their program out there, but I know that at Tech, when I get board working late hours in the Architecture building sometimes I'll walk over to the Landscape building and go talk to those guys and see what they're doing. So I know they've got a pretty crappy schedule, too. Anyway, this guy asked me for any advice, and this is what I told him. (Warning, this is long, but it's worth the read if you're in a hard major.)...(Oh, and it does have a badword at the end, so if you're offended by my spelling out BS, then don't read the end.)...

1. Forget sleep. I know that sounds like a joke, but it's not. I typically sleep every other night during the semester and then every third night during midterms and finals. It's not as bad as it sounds. It will take some getting used to, but it's not to bad once you get going. I'd be willing to bet it may be 2nd or 3rd semester before this happens, but it's probably coming.

2. Take care of yourself. Go buy these three things before you go down there and take them daily. Centrum High Performance, Vitamin-B Complex (Or just vitamin B-12 if you can't find the complex) and Odorless Fish Oil. I know that sounds weird, but it will help you get motivated, keep going, and it will keep your bloodpressure down if you have to start pulling all-nighters.

3. Don't do Rush. In the grand scheme of it all I'd say be friends with the frat daddies but don't waste your time buying beer and driving the drunks home from all the parties. That's all you'll do as a Freshman in a fraternity and all it does is screw up your GPA. In the grand scheme of it all you're paying for their beer and doing all the dirty work so that you can screw up your potential. If you work hard in college you'll have the rest of your life to party. Don't party too hard in college or you'll spend the rest of your life working hard for some other guy who didn't party.

4. Find some kind of ministry where you can get plugged in. You'll need the support. You'll need friends who are willing to bring you a pizza at one in the morning or call you at 8 and make sure you're up. You also need to find one that's a little bigger so that if you can't make it every week they won't be hurt by your absence. This could be a sunday school class or the Wesley or the BSM or CRU or whatever.

5. Start watching HGTV. I know that sounds gay, but that's the best way to get new ideas and it should be a good motivator. I always think about how these people are getting payed out the nose to tell other people how to fix/build their house/garden/yard. Try to imagine how cool it would be to be the designer.

6. Buy a sketchbook and use that as your notebook. I'd imagine this will be required anyway, but if it's not, its a great habbit. If you're bored out of your mind in class, draw. If you see something cool, draw it or take notes on it.

7. Do whatever it takes to be the best. The best get internships. The mediocre spend the rest of their lives drawing up other people's plans and ideas. If this means staying home on a friday night to do your horticulture or biology homework, do it. Like I said earlier, if you work hard in college you can party hard for the rest of your life and afford to do it. Besides there's always that off weekend or spring break, or summer, or Christmas that you'll have freetime to hang out and do whatever. You'll enjoy it more. A's Stay. B's skate by. C's go home. Remember that.

8. You're gonna have to study. Learn to make flash cards out of note cards or make a powerpoint presentation that serves the same purpose. You're gonna have to study. Welcome to college. And by study I mean make a card for everything you can find and memorize all of them word for word. This takes hours but it's how you get an A.

9. Get iTunes. It's your best friend. When you're drafting a yard at 2 in the morning it helps to have hours of music to listen to. Also, there's a program called myTunes redux. Get it. Instead of streaming other music off the server you can download it. It's across the network so it's not illeagal and it can't be traced. I have 100+gigs of music because of this program. There's never a time that I don't have what I want to listen to.

10. Learn to get along with other people. Designers work in teams, not as individuals. That's the one bad thing about HGTV. It's not entirely true to life. While it shows the designer to client relationship it doesn't show everything that happens back at the office. Group work is crucial.

11. Make friends with all the people who are good at what they do. If there's a guy in your intro to Landscape class who is 100 times better than you'll ever be, find something in common with this guy and start hanging out. Do your homework with this guy.

12. Also make friends with your TA's and with people in grades ahead of you. Later on it helps to have someone to look at your work and give you advice who knows more about design and Landscape than you do.

13. Learn to seperate yourself from your work. Your work is going to be insulted torn apart, made fun of, used as "a perfect example of what NOT to do" etc...They are not talking about you. They are talking about your work. This is VERY hard to learn, but if you want to make it you have to learn it quick. You'll be beat up and have your feelings hurt and you'll drop three weeks into the program if you don't learn it.

14. If you have to take any art classes do your best and once again hang out with the really good people. Also always ask your teacher what else you need to do or change. And don't be offended when they tell you. Don't take it personally, just do what they say, try to learn, and do what it takes to get the A.

15. Don't cheat. You will be caught. I'd rather see you get a D because you suck than get kicked out because you cheat.

16. It's hard work and it's more than most people are willing to do. Don't be scared, don't drop, be proud. You can handle it.

17. Take it a day at a time or an assignment at a time. Don't think about the whole big picture or you will go crazy.

18. Look at what everyone else is doing. Find a way to do it, make it your own, and then add something extra that makes it better. That's how you get an A.

19. Learn to talke about what you did. Learn how to tell people how you thought about your project. It takes practice. Listen when other people are talking, and listen when your teacher talks. Pay attention. There's lots of new vocabulary to learn. You learn it by using it and using it well.

20. Get your friends on www.architorture.org I'm on there and lots of my friends are on there, and there's lots of help to be had if you'll just ask. My screen name is your_momma7911. I post more than almost anyone.

22. Find magazines and books about Landscape and design and start looking at the pictures. Take it all in. If something is cool, draw it or read about it or cut it out. Figure out what makes it cool.

23. Don't ever use the words "cool" or "nice" or "beautiful" or anything subjective like that in a critique. You'll look like an idiot.

24. Don't give up.

Well, I know that's a lot, but I'd suggest you read it all and print it out our save it somewhere. You'll need it to get through. There will be bad days where you'll need it. Your first bad critique, your first time to be made fun of in front of everyone, the first time you have a project you don't want to do, the first time you have a project you don't understand, the first time you have a project you can't make a first move on, the first time you have a professor that sucks or a class that you hate, you'll need this list. And whatever you do, think about what it takes to finish strong, and do it. If you have to take a bunch of (pardon my french) bullshit classes to get your degree, take the bullshit classes and get A's. Do what it takes to finish the job.

Good Music

2006-08-07T23:08:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
Be Still My Soul: The Ultimate Hymns Collection
All Creatures of Our God and King
see related

I must confess. My favorite music is old, stuffy church hymns written by the likes of Charles Wesley, et. al. I like it old, traditional, and stuffy, typically performed to an astonishing pipe organ and sung by a well trained chior wearing robes. I'm going to go listen to some hymns now as I drift off to sleep.

2006-08-02T22:12:00.000-06:00

Currently Reading
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
By Gordon D. Fee, Douglas Stuart
see related

Everyone knows John 3:16. At least if you live in the Bible-Belt. But how many people have actually read it from the Bible and not on a bookmark or an "inspirational" coffee mug or a website or any other source? How many people can quote John 3:16 but have never read the following verse? John 3:17 is my favorite verse of the Bible. In the NIV it reads "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

The reason why I bring this up is because Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas is sending a group of protestors to little, old Lubbock, Texas tomorrow to protest the funeral of Andrew Velez. Andrew died in Afghanistan last week only two years after his brother Freddy Velez died in Iraq. So now this family that has lost their two sons, as if that isn't enough, has to endure the inane protests of this fringe group of radical Christo-retards.

I have been fuming all day. I am frustrated and confused and despondent. How could anyone be so evil? How could anyone defame the name of Christ like that? What kind of heretical eisegesis could possibly bring you to the conclusion that you must parade around outside of funerals while families mourn the loss of their loved ones whom they haven't seen in months? Not only that, but they profess that God HATES homosexuals so much that he lead their son to death. Their son wasn't even gay. But their hatred of gays is so strong, is so blinding that all they can do is stand there seething and displaying their hate-filled signs.

And the arrogance is appalling. WHO ARE THEY to say that God hates gays with so much anger that he is killing straight men fighting for their country? WHO ARE THEY to display signs that say that God is our ENEMY?!! WHO ARE THEY to spew so much hate under the banner of God? They have forsaken and defamed the name of the Lord. The have been too busy thumping their Bibles to read them.

And on that note, don't you think that if God "hated fags" so much that he would kill innocents as punishment that he would have put a little more about that in our Bible? Don't get me wrong. I fully understand that homosexuality is a sin. I also know that if you refer back to John 3:17 it plainly states that He "did not send his son into the world to condemn the world."

TD Jakes said that "I don’t believe that there is anything beyond salvation that’s any more important for people to have in their life than leadership. Leadership is critical...

Jesus came and he came and he came to show Himself in a human form -- God in a human form -- to us. Ultimately, he went to the cross and died for our sins. He could have made a beeline from the cradle to the cross, if all he came to do was to die. If all he came to do was to die, he could have made a beeline from the cradle to the cross, but that wasn’t all he came to do. Before he left, he came to plant a seed of leadership in the lives of twelve men, and that seed was so potent that eleven men carried it into the foundation of the Church, and even after Christ, who, himself was a seed, even after he was buried into the earth, those men continued to bring forth fruit in their lives, because they understood leadership

Christ did not carry around twelve men for three years just so that they might be evangelized. He carried them for three years so that they might be discipled, because discipleship is critical. Discipleship is more then grounding into your heart the foundations and the fundamentals of the doctrine."

How is spewing off hate-filled diatribes showing the world anything about God or Christ? How does that bring glory to God? These ideas aren't even close to acceptable doctrine. In fact they are heretical at best. There is no leadership here. There is no fruit bearing. There is nothing but shallow, empty, uninformed hate.

And what happend to Matthew 22:37 and Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27? Not familiar? 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' Let's not forget the last part there. WITH ALL YOUR MIND. Who in their right mind would buy into this crap? And not only that, but who would drive from Topeka, Kansas all the way to Lubbock, TX to spread this filth? No one bearing the image of God. No part of the Kingdom of God.

I will close this post by posting a story from one of our local news stations. As you read it I want you to consider which group is doing God's work. The "Christian" group from Westboro Baptist in Topeka, Kansas or the secular Patriot Guard.

**And as one quick side note I'd like to mention that Westboro Baptist owns and opporates the website GodHatesFags.com if you want to study up on their Kookery.

8/2/06
Patriot Guard Rallies in Support of Fallen Soldier's Family

Even though a law is in place to keep protestors back, one group is going to make sure the Velez funeral services go off without a hitch. A group formed nation-wide, called the "Patriot Guard," has found their way to Lubbock to honor and protect the Velez family from protestors.

One member of the group, Steve "Shooter" Brooks says, "It's a shame we have to do something like this, but they keep talking about their rights and they do have their rights, but it's the Veterans that gave them their rights."

300-to-500 motorcyclists are planning to line the street to block protestors from causing harm or embarrassment to the Velez family. The Patriot Guard will line up in a single file line across the street, they will each hold a flag and turn their back to the protestors. The reason, they want to put all of the honor toward the fallen solider Andrew Velez. The purpose of the group is to make such a tight line that it will be nearly impossible to see protestors through their bikes, flags, and many supporters. Steve says, "We'll turn our best side to them and just ignore them and if they get loud we can start bikes and drown out anybody."

The Patriot Guard did call Roy Velez, they prayed together and then got the blessing from the family to make the protective line.

Catch Up

2006-07-30T19:15:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
She Must and Shall Go Free
By Derek Webb
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Well, it's been almost a month, so I suppose I'm long over-due for a new entry. This has been a very, VERY busy month. Right after my last entry I went off to be a councilor for my 7th year at OneWay 6/7. This year I got to teach a Biblestudy which was very rewarding.

Then, the next couple of weeks after that have been UBERbusy. I've gone to weddings, I've played golf, I got commissioned for my first real, paying architecture job. I've been in the hospital, my wife has been in the hospital, and I've managed to work full time on top of it all. I know that's a bit of a brief catch up, but that's all the time I want to spend on that. I'm gonna spend the next hour or so writing up a few entries which I will post daily for the next few days, and most of this hectic life crap will be included there with better detail. So be on the lookout. I may even post the first entry tonight as well, so if you're lucky you'll get two entries in your xanga update email. And if your reading this on blogspot, well, just be on the lookout.
Randall <;))><
2 Timothy 2:15

Double Ligero

2006-07-08T14:17:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
By Belle & Sebastian
If She Wants Me
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Today is a good day. I slept in until 11 (ignoring the 5 minutes I was up to let the dogs out at 7 this morning). I got up, and while I was taking my morning leak my wife made the bed by herself...without complaining about doing it herself. I ate some Rosa's beef fajitas for lunch. And here's the part that really made my day. I was able to get a La Flor Dominica Double Ligero Maduro Chisel. Rush Limbaugh's favorite smoke which also is the 3rd strongest cigar in the world. They tell me that I want to smoke it on a full stomach unless I want to risk puking. I'm thrilled about this. Rush said on his show yesterday that he hands them out like candy when he plays golf because they make you dizzy and loopy and a little queazy if you're not used to them. If this is the case, then I just may invest in a few for the next time I play my father-in-law. (Danielle, I'd appreciate you not telling him about my devious scheme.) Well, I"m gonna listen to some Belle and Sebastian and then go to Mountain Hideaway to round out this great day, and who knows, maybe even hit up the driving range just before sunset.

Mmmmmm....Pudding.

2006-07-04T23:44:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
Mockingbird
By Derek Webb
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Sometimes I find myself very guilty of wanting other people's walks. I fall into that trap of "well, Charlie Hall journals his thoughts, so maybe I should get a journal," or "Matt Chandler reads all the time, maybe I should read every chance I get." It's one of the hardest parts of coming home from camp. I get caught up in trying to have the same walk as all these other people, but I don't really try to find my own walk. I often think "if only I could walk down the same path as Scott Keener or Geoff Lynn, then I would have a solid walk." And I spend all this time chasing down these "game paths" or basically these trails that I think might work out for other people. And very rarely has this worked out.

When was the last time I really just prayed about everything? What would God say if I only took the time to listen? Is he trying to feed me in ways that I have already stuck my nose up to? I've never been to Paradigm, but I've talked more crap about the poeple that go to it...I could probably fertalize a 6000 acre ranch for a year with all the crap I've talked about Paradigm and the people who go there.

And what if God called me to a Baptist church one day? Would I be too caught up with all my previous bad experiences? Would God pass me right by because of my personal judgements and predjudices? Don't get me wrong. I think 80% of Baptist Doctorine is sound and Biblical, but I think 99% of what they talk about in their sermons is absolute horse crap. Maybe it's just SouthCrest. I don't know...I'm still dealing with that one.

I'm most affected by listening to powerful sermons on my iPod. And when I have the time to really REALLY listen to Derek Webb's lyrics, and I really focus on what they mean and how they apply to my life, I live my life completely different from the norm. And there's just something about a good Brian McLaren book that get's me pumped up for ministry and conversation...but I always have some sort of scapegoat as to why I never apply this stuff. "Well, no one else is willing to talk." "Well, Candice hasn't read McLaren, so we can't have much of a conversation."

Really, though, I don't apply much of what I read and know to my life. I know that drunkeness is sin. I know that it leads to foolish behavior and sorrow. I've read proverbs. But I also like the way that a few too many Coors Lights make me feel. I just can't say "no". I know that God will provide and that being satisfied with what I need is virtuous, but if I can eat myself into oblivion, I partake. I know that taming the tounge is something that I need to do, but there's always some joke that's funnier if I say "s***" instead of "crap". And who doesn't chuckle at a light-hearted racist joke?...even when I think that racism is one of the most ignorant and deplorable things a human being can sink to.

I have a real problem with application and/or follow-through. I don't know why. I don't know if it's my highly-addictive personality being aimed at the wrong actions or if I'm just weak.

And I'm one of the biggest proponents of social justice and taking care of the poor and the broken and the hurting and the trapped, but how many times have I stood on my soapbox and preached empty, hollow words that I don't back up? How many soup kitchens do we have here in town that my close friends run, but I have never been there to help? How many times have I driven by the guy at the strip with one leg and not given him the spare dollar in my pocket? I always "know" that "he'll just spend it on a fifth of Jack" and I don't want to contribute to his sin...but I have already sinned by judging that man...and there I am with my own booze that I'm about to go drink with my friends, but somehow it's a worse sin for him. How horrible a hypocrite am I?

Like they say, "the proof is in the pudding" and I guess I'm just watching Food Network. I haven't gotten off my lazy butt. I'm still in front of my 60 inch television watching some annoying fat person tell me how to make the perfect italian or french pudding (since only the french and italians know how to cook). But heaven forbid I go to the store and get the ingredients. Far be it from me that I should actually go get out the mixing bowls and the utensils. God forbid I actually make the pudding.

God, I'm sorry. I have been too lazy to do anything. Sure, I go help out at Ceta, but that's just fun for me. I teach sunday school, but I've already fallen back into my old ways before I've even driven out of the parking lot. God, help me start living your word.

Divine Intervention

2006-07-02T21:28:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
She Must and Shall Go Free
By Derek Webb
Awake My Soul
see related

One of the best parts of helping out at church camp is that I get all the camp high for half the price. I've been thinking about it, though. I can either just coast out this camp high for the next week or so, or I can do this a little different this time and make some lasting changes.

I watched this show called "The Intervention" tonight. I don't really remember what channel it was on, but I saw a lot of myself in the girl they featured on the show this week. I've got a lot of crap on my plate that I really need to get rid of. And I think it's gonna take some drastic changes and a ton of pain, but it needs to happen.

For one thing I really need to get serious about quitting dipping. Sure, it's not heroine or cocaine, but I still base a lot of my weekends on spending time away from Candice so that I can have a dip. While it may not be as expensive as crack, and while I won't go to jail or whore myself out for a can of Copenhagen, it's still wrecking my marriage.

I also need to get back to the gym. I've really let myself go. I had known that I had let myself go in my mind, but it hadn't really hit home until I had campers making fun of me and asking me "man, you used to be buff, what happened?"

I also need to control my intake. That covers a lot of bases. Food, alcohol, music, television, internet, etc. I'm a hardcore glutton. While that may be relatively easy to type, its a hard, hard realization.

I need to prioritize my life a little better. I'm never going to be a partner at some mega firm that specializes in multi-million dollar hospitals and prisons and Fortune500 office towers. I don't even want that for my life. Maybe a "B" is okay in architecture. Maybe I should spend some more time with my wife. No. There's no maybe. I need to spend more time with my wife. I need to spend an extra couple of hours at work each week, too. I've gotta start getting serious about growing up. I would like to have a month's worth of bills saved up by this time next year so that Candice and I can work 3 camps together.

I need some time away from some of my friends. I need to heal some wounds before I go spend any ammount of time around Tyler or Jack. I really need to spend some time with the people from church until I can re-work some of the patterns and habbits and routines in my life.

Well, I've said too much, and I've gotta get up early tomorrow so I can get started back at the gym. No more lying to myself about walking 9 holes being my "exercise" for the day.

What's on my mind.

2006-06-21T04:58:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
By Billy Bragg & Wilco
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Well, it's been quite a while. So, here's all the stuff that's been on my mind.

1. Well I'm not as worried about getting older for several reasons. I like having enough money left at the end of the month, I like golf, and Rod, our company's oldest employee still laughs at my bathroom humor. If bathroom humor is still funny at nearly 70, then maybe getting old won't be so bad after all.

2. I hate basketball. I'm sick of people talking about the Mavs. This whole "NBA is rigged" business is getting old. I don't know all that much about basketball, so I bought it for like a day. There's some good logic behind it, but it neglects the efforts of the players. I don't buy it anymore. Here is a great blog entry by Mark Cuban on the whole ordeal.

**Update** It kind of sucks that the Mavs lost. But then again I'd have to care. So yeah. I'm glad it's over.

3. These past 4 days have been just kind of off. I don't know how to describe it. This will sound like some kind of sci-fi crap, but it's almost like there is a tear in the fabric of normality in my life. I've been in a perpetual bad mood, my golf game sucks almost as bad as my walk, and I don't know how to turn it around.

4. I still haven't decided if I'm counciling Sr. High next week or not. I really want to, but at the same time I need money. I can't earn money if I'm off playing with a bunch of 17 year old campers in Happy, TX. But running 500 WIC transactions a day and emptying the trash twice a week won't be a fraction as rewarding.

5. I'm ready to start back into the swing of school already. I just want to get it done and get on with my life. I'm not going to do summer school, but I'm still anxious to get done. I can't do this barely skating by financially and never sleeping business forever.

Well, that's already more than most people read. And it's boring. But, hey, it's what's on my mind.

A Wonderful First

2006-06-08T21:18:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
By Belle & Sebastian
The State I Am In
see related

I just want to say that Jim Carey's acceptance of the generation award was the single most sincere "props to God" out of any award show I've ever seen. He set it up so that we all thought he was going to be ASTOUNDINGLY cocky, but he gave credit where credit is due. My hat is off to you Mr. Carey. My heart wells with hope for the rest of the entertainment industry.

My combined answers to the questions you gave me...

2006-05-12T19:47:00.000-06:00

...in a very poorly laid out, very lacking essay.

Don't you love it when things come full circle? There's that moment, when something too complex for you to comprehend finally clicks. Often times we are too busy to notice when this happens. But I wasn't. Not this time. I was paying attention.

Sometimes somebody springs a concept on you so big, so complex, so full of ideas, that in desperation you give up before you even start trying to grasp it. And all you get out of it is typically just a few seeds, a few incomplete pieces that you managed to catch right before you gave up. I'm a pretty smart guy. I don't mean to brag, but I have a documented IQ over 165, I aced the Math on my SAT, I was the only person from my highschool to score a perfect score on the Writing portion of TAAS, (I know, it's TAAS, but I was the only one out of 625). I'm a pretty sharp guy to say the least. So this RARELY happens to me. I can think of 3 or 4 specific instances where I knew this was going on.
1. When we were first learning long division in 4th grade, I was playing with my GAK in the back of the class room and it took me 3 weeks to catch up. I missed the part where you carry over the remainder.
2. The first time I read New Kind of Christian. There's just so much there to think about, and all the concepts were so foreign to me that it took me around 4 years to wrap my mind around it all.
3. The first time I heard about the concepts of morphing a dimension out of a previous dimension. I had already decided to drop Architecture (this was my first attempt several years ago.) and so I didn't really try to grasp what was going on.

Well, that last one was rough, and if you ever want an explination and you have an hour or so I'd be glad to enlighten you. But that actually kind of leads me into number 4. I will do my best to describe this without many of you having a real, firm grasp on what number 3 is about.

4. The thing I love so much about God, the thing that is so great about Christianity, the thing that really excites me about Jesus, is that everything is imbedded in these layers. These dimensions. Here's where it's gonna get wordy. Here's where I will do my best and I will explain number 3 to the best of my ability with my limited space.

Suppose you could only see things in 2 dimensions. You never saw a cube, you could only see a square. Quite obviously this is not really the case, and this is where I can begin to walk you through this. Since you CAN see cubes, AND you can see squares, it's not too hard to see how you could make a cube by extruding a square. I mean, say you had a square, length and width. But now you add height, and you've got a cube. And if you look at a drawing of a square, four straight, black lines on a white back ground, it's not interesting. It's mundane. But when you look at a drawing of a cube, with shading, and the differentiation of surfaces, and highlights, and so forth, it's a much more interesting, more beautiful picture. Now what's interesting, is you can have a basic understanding of what a cube is, if you only could see squares, but you would never really have that knowledge. You could never see the beauty in the square because you couldn't wrap your head around what that third dimension would look like. But once you grasp the third dimension, once your understanding has depth, there is form, there is beauty.

And such are the teachings of Jesus, such is theology, such is Christianity, such is a relationship with God. But, unlike the instance where you can only see a square, a situation where you would be fundamentally stuck only seeing squares, God begins revealing these other dimensions to the picture. The picture of course, could be any thing. But you start adding depth, and the picture goes from mundane, from elementary, to beautiful.

And here's where things get really fun. Do you know what the fourth dimension is? The fourth dimension is Movement, it is duration, it is time. It's that difference from being an object in space to an object moving through space. So now you have this beauty moving through time. And with time, and with movement you have the ability not just for movement, but for change and growth, and transformation. Now don't quit reading yet, because this is where I'm going...

Okay, so what was I talking about earlier? Coming full circle? How does that play into all this rambling? Well, here's what I've come to realize. This is my full circle gaining depth. My circle is turning into a sphere. It's gaining depth. So Jesus came to save the ...?

World. Go read John 3:16-17.

For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the WORLD to condemn the WORLD, but to save the WORLD through him.

There you go. So Jesus came to save the world. What is the world? Well, dictionary.com gives numerous defintions, but my favorites are numbers 4 and 5:

1. The inhabitants of the earth; the human race.
2.
1. Humankind considered as social beings; human society: turned her back on the world.
2. People as a whole; the public: The event amazed the world.

I apologize for the formatting error. If I could figure it out to fix it, I would, but believe me, those are definitions 4 and 5.

So the world is all the inhabitants of the earth or all of Humankind. But what's great here is that the inhabitants of the earth are a very, very large group of INDIVIDUALS. (As I side note I'd like to say that I have figured out my stance on the postmodern idea of saving the world as a whole unit rather than everyone, just on the individual level, but that's an explination that calls for a cup of coffee and a few hours at Daybreak for discussion and argument.)

Anyway, so after reviewing what Jesus said and what Jesus did, which model do you think is more true to His ministry? Did he come to save the world as a whole unit? Or did he come for the individual? Think on that one and then call me. For this outline I'm going with the individual level.

So if Jesus came for the individuals does he want us to turn into one, big, collective robot called "The Church", or does he want us to remain as individuals in our communities? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the latter. While I will acknowledge that the Church does great things and helps lots of people, I'm gonna say that having a machine that acts almost as a world-wide political party of sorts was not Christ's intention. Jesus wants us to remain individuals within the community.

Big deal, right? What does that overly-verbose ramble mean? Well it means WE'VE GOT TO BE INDIVIDUALS. We've become this robot. This group that only listens to Christian music, that dresses really nice or dresses down for church depending on what church you go to, but either way we are dressing for church. We've become this group that doesn't smoke and doesn't drink and doesn't cuss. We can't even like Black Sabbath or Wilco or whoever. We've been told that "if Jesus resides in your heart, you won't even like the things of the world". While this may be true to some degree, we're still a part of the world. And don't give me this "I'm in the world, but not of it" tired argument. We as Christians are functioning, contributing members of society. And excuse me if I'm wrong, but if Jesus came to save the world, what's so wrong with being an active member of it? And I can hear some of you out there thinking, "Wait, so you're advocating sin and debauchery?" No. But I will remind you that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our deeds. Go re-read Hebrews and Galatians.

So if I'm not advocating drinking in all that this "evil world" offers, then what am I saying? I'm saying that you need to maintain your passions. If you like Eric Clapton, and you can name the song and the album and the year of all of his songs within three notes, then love the hell out of some Eric Clapton, alright? But why? Well, when you have interests from the world then you can share interest with other people. And what happens when you have a group of people with shared interests? Community. (Tip of the hat to Nate. For a good article on that check out this.) Now does that mean you can only have interest embedded in the world? Of course not. Some of my best friends are my friends from the church band. Given you could make the argument that we had interest in music and that we used that community to glorify Christ through our music, but that's neither here, nor there.

So where's my full circle? Well since it's a circle for me I have a hard time saying where it starts and where it ends. Basically I will try to lay it out like this.

1. World full of individuals
2. Individuals with interests
3. Group of individuals with common interest forming a community
4. Communities forming Churches or THE Church
5. Church as part of the world.

I apologize for this terrible, horrible, no-good layout, but I have yet to really find a good starting point and ending point.

I suppose if I were to summarize everything, I'd boil it down to this.

Maintain your individuality. Maintian your passions and interests. Find people with common interests and passions and form communities. Include non-Christians in your communities and live out your faith in front of them. Call me for coffee.

Fallible

2006-05-11T00:33:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
She Must and Shall Go Free
By Derek Webb
Just for Jason
see related

Fallible-capable of making an error. American Heritage Dictionary courtesy of www.dictionary.com

So tonight I spent a pretty good part of the evening with some people I look up to a great deal in my walk, Geoff Lynn and Josh Kirkland. Both really solid Christians, both YWAM alumni, both over-all amzing men. But the thing that inpired me the most was thier fallibility. Both are just regular guys. Both making tons of the same mistakes I make. Both have the same shortcomings that I have. That's encouraging. It's like reading about Peter. If that guy was one of Christ's inner 3, then there's hope for all of us.

You know one of the things I have taken up saying in the past months is that one of my favorite things about Christianity is that God can use you where you are. But these past few weeks I have lost sight of that. And I think its a fundamental truth. Who did Jesus round up for his ministry? The best and brightest out of Duke and Asbury and Bethel and Fuller and Wheaton? No. He picked professional fishermen and a tax collector and this fuster cluck of every-day-Joes. Schlubs, all of them. None of them were great people. None of them held any degrees in theology. None of them were "really swell guys." They were just every day Joes who told dirty jokes about what they'd like to do to good looking women. The drank too much. They farted, and it stunk and they laughed about it. They were regular guys, contrary to what the Catholic church might have you believe.

I don't know exactly WHEN or WHERE it happend, but somewhere in the past month guilt set in and just killed me. It's like I was so worried because I cussed in front of the wrong people, or because my jokes with my buddy Tyler, my current conversion project, have been a little coarse here lately. Or that I was too sick to participate in the Global Night Commute. Maybe it's because I'm just a two-faced bastard on the whole. Whatever it is, I have been trampled by guilt, and it was so uplifting to see these two guys that I have put on pedistals, screwing up just like me. I won't say everything that was going on, for the sake of not fueling anyone's gossip fire, but it was just nice.

Well, it's late again, and I can't sleep. I'm gonna have to try anyway. Y'all have a good one.

2006-05-10T01:12:00.000-06:00

Currently Listening
First Circle
By 100 Portraits and Waterdeep
Once again, best CD ever.
see related

Well, summer's started, and I've got lots of good ideas brewing. Most of them concerning a conversation Keen and I had about McLaren tonight. That coupled with my ever-increasing guilt for posting negative post after negative post after negative post.

Well, I'm gonna try to fall asleep some more.

2006-05-08T11:44:00.000-06:00

It's official. 90% of Americans need to re-take economics. I can't believe how some people really think the world works. It astounds me. Okay people, here's a real quick run down.

1. Oil companies DO NOT SET THE PRICE OF GASOLINE. They couldn't even if they wanted to. It's a commodity. It's traded daily on the world market and the price is set by commodities traders in New York, Berlin, Tokyo, and now Beijing.

2. No one is artificially raising prices. The reason they are going up is MOSTLY based on two things. China finally coming on board with the automotive industry (1 billion people is a lot of people to suddenly start driving), and then lets not forget Iran. Every time that guy in Tehran sneezes the price of crude oil goes up at least a dollar a barrel.

3. Who cares if the former CEO of Exxon Mobile got a $400 million retirement package. Most of it is in defered funds, and lets just do the math on $400 million. In one day in America alone, we use just over 360 million gallons of gasoline. If they applied that retirement package to the price of gasoline, we would get gas discounted a dollar for one day and one day alone. Now then, this doesn't take into account that only 30% of Exxon Mobile's business is in America. So if we were to apply that accross the board, the price would go down just under 50 cents for one day. ONE DAY. Now then, would you have an empty tank that day? Probably not. Most Americans fill up only once a week. So, if he gave back his $400 million, and retired without a pension, there is a one in seven chance that you might save 47 cents on gas on a single occasion. Assuming the average American buys 20 gallons of gasoline at a time, that means that you have a one in seven chance of saving $9.40. Not really significant if you ask me. It costs me $70 to fill up. $60.60 is still more than I want to pay, so it doesn't REALLY help. Especially if theres a one in seven chance of this happening ONE TIME. All it does is encrease that former CEO's misery and I have nothing gained to show for it.

4. For every dollar you spend on gasoline, the oil companies make 9.5 cents profit. 9 .5cents on every dollar. You know how much you pay in taxes for every dollar of gasoline? 18.4. So the government is taking roughly double the cut that the people who actually do the work are getting. Double. That's simply amazing. It's astounding. ABC news has really been sweeping that little tidbit under the rug. So lets do some math. If Exxon Mobile made over $8 billlion with a B last quarter, how much did the government make?

5. While we're on the government, lets look at all the regulations that have helped put us in this situation. How about all the drilling restrictions? We can't drill in ANWAR we can't drill off the coasts. We haven't built new refineries in over 30 YEARS. 30 YEARS! How can we expect to do anything if we have such an huge dependence on foreign oil? And yet left-wing politicians are making it impossilbe to become self-supporting all the while complaining that Bush needs to do something to end our dependence on foreign oil. Well, not all of us are lookng the other way. And what about special gas blends for special cities? Thanks EPA. That one really helps out a ton. That makes gas cheaper when you have to make 14 varieties of something instead of only one. It ups your overhead like crazy. What's sad is most of the people who read this won't even know what overhead is.

6. Crackpot countries. Nigeria and their civil war, Venezuela and their nutcase leader Chavez, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc...all helping drive the price of gas through the roof with their actions. When you'r a major source of gasoline, and your actions make jacking off on a subway with peanut butter in your crack look like a sensible idea, then the world is going to "brace themselves" for your complete melt down. Part of this is preparing to operate without this country's oil.

7. Boycotting isn't going to do anything but hurt our economy. When you pick out one company and boycott them, their price will stay the same and the demand will increase for other companies driving the cost up. Worst case scenario, assuming we did boycott Exxon Mobile, they would just sell their gas to their competetors. Let's also think about the gas station owners. Their not responsible for any of this. They simply have a product they are trying to sell for an increasinly smaller profit. And how about distributors? Think about the companies who transport the gasoline. Little do most people know, it's not the gas companie that distribute their own gas. So now these people are hurt, too.

8. The middle east doesn't account for hardly ANY of our oil supply. Oh, sure, there's a little bit, but Iraq is only 2% of our oil supply. So anyone saying we're going to war with Iraq for oil is ill-informed and/or too lazy to do thier own research. Who's our number one source of oil? It's not us. It's Canada. That's right. Canada. So if we were really going to war for oil, don't you think we would have kicked some canuck ass?

9. And finally, the reason why I wrote this tirade. I got the world's most retarded bulletin from someone on MySpace this weekend talking about how we need to buy our gasoline $10 at a time. Well that's good and all, assuming that you only use $10 of gas a day, but then what happens tomorrow when your tank is empty? You've gotta go buy $10 more dollars. In fact you'll actually spend more on gas because you'll be driving out of your way to the gas station more often. Daily instead of once a week. So that whole argument about eggs is bad math and it doesn't work and it doesn't take into account that you don't just buy $10 of gas and throw out the rest at the end of the week when it "goes bad". It's retarded and whoever wrote that should be punched in the throat. Oh and I especially like the last line "and don't buy anything else but gas when you go to the gas station. Don't let them get any more of your money than they're already getting." WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? That gas station is providing jobs to people who can go out and spend that money on your products or services so that in turn you have enough money to go buy the gas it takes to get to work. And when did it become the gas station owner's fault? Who writes this crap?

Sometimes I find it hard to not hate people.

2006-05-04T22:50:00.000-06:00

So my greatest summer yet has essentially begun. Yeah. Sure. I've still got a final left, but it's Construction 2. While others, or should I say MOST, struggle with Construction, at this point in the game I could show up too drunk to stand, completely naked, and crap on the Dean himself for the final, and still make an A+. Seriously though. I have to get a 3 to make an A. A 3. So that final doesn't count.

So my summer has begun. This weekend I will be WASPing it up in the most extreme manner I can muster up. I have a Tee Time at Lakeridge tomorrow, and a Tee Time at Lubbock on saturday. I plan to spend at least 4-5 hours in the outrageously expensive pool with a waterfall in my inlaws back yard on sunday while sipping mexican beer. I'll make it to sunday school, but I'll probably sleep through church for some reason or another. And I'm only going to work until noon tomorrow and get WAY too much for it because I'm the bosses kid. I'm also going to have to find some time to make it by the Falls, the other country club we're members at and maybe Abercrombie, because Lord knows the weekend wouldn't be WASPtastic to the max without it.

So, for now, I'm going to go to sleep. Reality sets in on Monday, and so I'm going to enjoy my next few days off.

2006-05-04T13:54:00.000-06:00

I am becomming increasingly dismayed by the nature of the events unfolding in the world around us.

2006-05-02T22:41:00.000-06:00

**Update** Well, I'm doing better. I went on a 3 mile walk and thought about it and listened to some old hymns. I know. That sounds pretty cheesy. Maybe it is. But here's what I've got.

1. No one else needs to know about what's going on. It benefits no one, and it's gossip. There are a ton of verses about taming the tounge, and I don't think they're just referring to cussing and dirty jokes.

2. All parties involved need some serious prayer. Especially the main 3 people. Sorry this is vague, but I don't want to spread gossip or rumors.

3. I need to talk to some people and see if we can't get another guy that's involved in this thing plugged back into the church. He doesn't need these parties. He especially doesn't need to go back to BoomBoom. He needs to get plugged in somewhere with a good Christian support group.

4. We need to drop it. It's over. It doesn't need to go any further.

5. I still need your continued prayers.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. I just lost almost 2 hours dealing with this stuff. I've got a major final on Thursday that I need to get back to studying for.

2006-05-02T21:39:00.000-06:00

Mike, you're the only person who reads this blog. Would you just freakin pray for me? I am SUPREMELY pissed off at this guy who used to one of my best friends. I can't think straight I'm so mad. And I know myself well enought to know that if he comes around anytime soon I won't be able to stop myself from seriously injuring him. I know Klay always loved saying "I am not in the business of giving Sneks (snakes) wungs (wings)." But I'm afraid right now that if he came by that would be the case. I would use everything I know as offensively as possible and I would do some serious damage. Please just pray for my anger to subside and this situation to change dramatically. I think I've calmed down enough to pray for the guy, but its gonna take a lot right now to undo the crap that he's done. I'm rambling and shaking with rage. I'm gonna go do something productive.

Randall

2006-04-29T18:06:00.000-06:00

So tomorrow (Sunday) I have to teach sunday school. No big deal, except I'm teaching my least favorite chapter of the Bible. Feel free to try and guess what it is and why. I'll bet at least one person guesses which one it is, but I doubt any one gets the "why". I'm gonna grit my teeth and bear it, and if I come up with anything worth reading I'll put it on here.

2006-04-29T14:59:00.000-06:00

Well, boys and girls, I made it. It's over now. Summer has started. Well, I've got three finals, and I've gotta reprint two or three things before tomorrow, but it's over. I finished on time. I got one of only two good reviews. (There were 23 of us who reviewed today). Not only that, but the guy who reviewed me was the ridiculously hard prof that I had last semester. The guys from Frank Gehery's office cancled on us, so I don't think I'm gonna go tomorrow. I think I'm done with architecture until July. I'm happy. I've got 2 months to read and play golf and ride my bike and play frisbee and hang out with my wife and work have parties and go to lodge and all those other things I've been meaning to do. I'm excited about this.

2006-04-26T22:32:00.001-06:00

You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.

Emergent/Postmodern

79%

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

64%

Neo orthodox

64%

Classical Liberal

57%

Modern Liberal

43%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

39%

Fundamentalist

39%

Reformed Evangelical

36%

Roman Catholic

32%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

2006-04-26T01:52:00.000-06:00

I can't wait until I only have to work 40 hours a week and my nights are spent reading the latest McLaren book, listening to Derek Webb, sipping some kind of coffee drink that is entirely too long to write out at Daybreak. I can't wait to be that smug, annoying, Christian college student that everyone hates because their walk is awesome and life just seems to go their way. That's gonna be me in about 2 weeks. I can't freakin' wait. I can't wait for piety to set in. I can't wait for pride and self-righteousness to be a problem in my life. I can't wait to be that Christian that no one likes because they've got it all together and you don't. I can't wait. I can't wait. I CAN'T WAIT!

Now really, is that so bad? All I want is my comfort zone back. Just for a month.

2006-04-25T03:25:00.000-06:00

I'm pretty much just posting this to keep me on task for the next week.

Things to finish:
2 Plan Drawings
4 Section Drawings (2 Transverse, 2 Longitudinal)
Roof Plan/Site Drawing

Chipboard Model at 1/32" scale
Finished Model at 1/16" scale

Axon Drawing
Renderings
Rendered/Hidden Line Over-Lay
Alternate Transparency Rendering
Animation

Maybe if I see this list I will get back to work.

2006-04-23T21:49:00.000-06:00

Alright everyone. This is it. Global night commute is this saturday! APRIL 29TH IS IT! BE THERE! To find out more visit The invisible children website. Or you can watch the trailer for the movie on my MySpace. Sign up for the global night commute at the website above and then show up around 7ish on the 29th to the appointed place in your city.

For those of you in Lubbock still new to this, there will be a screening Monday night at the Southcrest International Outreach Center at 1407 University @ 9PM and on Tuesday night at J&B Coffee on the corner of 26th & Boston @9PM.

Don't have time for the screenings? (It only takes an hour.) The guys who made the Invisible Children Documentary will be on Oprah Wed. Afternoon. This is one of the few times I suggest you watch Oprah.

If you have any questions reply to this post.

Randall <;))><

America will not forget you, Uganda.

2006-04-21T01:46:00.000-06:00

I need to talk to someone with a working knowledge of Postmodernism. soon. now. If you're up to date with it call me or IM me. If you need my number or screen name call Jason.

2006-04-19T18:07:00.000-06:00

Over the Easter Weekend the Pope declared that, indeed, "Being old is awesome."

2006-04-19T15:59:00.000-06:00

Almost a year ago we had my bachelor party out in the desert near Carlsbad, New Mexico. God, that was a great time. I can't say much about it becuase #1 I don't remember a good portion of it thanks to the Mike Jones Drinking Game and #2 under fear of penalty of state and national laws I don't think its in anyone's best interest to publicly post that sort of stuff.

Anyway, on the way back home, after everyone had left at their appointed times and gone their seperate ways, Brant and Cody followed me and Jason back to Lubbock. I don't know how we came up with this horrible idea, but we invented a game called Excrement Swap, only it wasn't excrement and there was more alliteration. The premise of the game is to pick your worst CD and put it in the other person's CD player while they put their worst CD in yours. Then the challenge is listening to the whole thing beginning to end. It was a pain pulling over every hour or so, but it was satisfying knowing that I made Brant and Cody listen to both the Grease Soundtrack and a Point of Grace album in one car trip. And I didn't have to suffer through it.

Anyway, today, during a quick break, I devised the most sinister Excrement Swap CD ever. After the next time we play, personal compilations may forever be banned for the sake of humanity. I can't begin to tell you how bad this CD is. I mean, it's freaking AWFUL. I could be tried and convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for putting all this horrible music on one CD. I'm pretty sure I have compiled the Soundtrack for Hell. Here's the list:
1. My Maria - B.W. Stevenson (Who would have thought that the original could have been far worse than the piece of crap that Brooks and Dunn put out.)
2. Muslim Chant/Buy Nothing Day Advertisement - AdBusters
3. Holy Water - Big & Rich
4. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm - Crash Test Dummies
5. Boys Don't Cry - The Cure (I'd like to note here that I am a huge fan of The Cure, however even I acknowledge that this song was complete CRAP)
6. Levon - Elton John
7. The FULL version of In-A-Godda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly (All 20 minutes of it baby)
8. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) - James Taylor
9. Two Out of Three Ain't Bad - Meatloaf
10. Entertaining Angels - Newsboys
11. (I can't put the name of this song on here. I'll just say that it involves Sodomy.) - The Outhere Brothers
12. La Nina de Puerta Oscura - Paco de Lucia
13. Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benitar
14. In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
15. Time for Me to Fly - REO Speedwagon

That's all I could fit on one CD. I've already got some great ideas forming for a sequel to this monstrasity of ear rape. I can't wait for someone to have to listen to this crap.

2006-04-18T00:06:00.000-06:00

Trying too hard

I think one of my biggest faults on this blog thing and in life is that I try WAY too hard. I spend so much of my life going down the wrong paths of thought. I spend way too much of my life pouring myself out into half-thought out ideas. I spend probably 99% of my life working harder and not smarter. All that does is make me worry. Then I start trying to think about things and when you TRY to think about things you never think about the right things, or maybe you think about the right things, you just don't think about them in the right WAY.

Take for example this stupid blog. All this really is, is just an online journal that a few of my friends read. I'm not Michelle Malkin. I'm not any Emergent juggernaut. I'm just plain old Randall missing all of his life high atop the architecture building at Texas Tech. Well, not any more. I'm not going to spend another 2 hours of my life thinking about a blog entry only to re-read it and then delete it before submitting it. I don't care if no one comments. If I put something on here and it's not interesting to a single person in the world, that's okay. Becuase it's important to me.

There's so much that I don't put on here becuase I'm afraid Javanated, some guy I've never even met, will think I'm retarded. There's even more stuff I don't put on here because at times I've got a pretty boring life. No one wants to admit their life sucks. But mine does. My life is boring and it sucks, but it's MY life.

I spent Easter weekend living life. I worked my butt off trying to get caught up at work. I did homework like an "MF". I went to church with my inlaws. I had a huge lunch with my family like it was the old days. I stuck around for hours just getting caught up and hiding easter eggs and telling jokes. I went swimming for hours at my inlaws house. I ate dinner with them. I had a barbeque that only a handful of people came to. I drank some beer. (although I didn't get drunk). I slept in. I spent the day with my wife. I watched two movies in a row. I taught my wife about Blind Melon and BTO and the Rolling Stones and Steve Miller Band. I played my sister in law and my father in law in the game where you see who can name the band first while listening to classic rock on the radio. I listened to Matt Chandler. I listened to a sermon at church that I fundamentally disagreed with and I kept my mouth shut. Okay, later on I clued my inlaws in to the fact that systematic theology would lead you to believe that you can loose your salvation, but biblical theology shows us that Paul was really saying to the Hebrews that unsaved people can experience Holy things (which is equally scary).

I read all the blogs that I had been meaning to read and I commented on them. (I don't mean to gloat, but I think I put some pretty good comments on Javanated and Hensley's blogs). I aced two tests. I listened to Rush Limbaugh without getting angry at liberals. I downloaded and listened to some old favorites that I hadn't heard in a while. Some Jeff Buckley and The Cure. I got in a real life fight for the second time in a month and won again. (more scabs on my knees and elbows, but that's what happens when you're a grappler).

I just lived life. I don't mean this crap where you drop everything and go have a really fun weekend. I mean all of life. I lived it. I lived the good and the bad. I experienced a full range of emotions. I improved my golf swing. I lived a typical white, upper-middle class life for the past 5 days and it was great. You know if this is what growing up looks like, I'm ready. I'm ready for the mundane. I'm ready for the same old boring life that everyone else on your block lives. I'm growing up and I'm okay with that.

90% of the 10 of you who read this thing won't get this far. I'm okay with that.

2006-04-13T15:10:00.000-06:00

It dawned on me today that I REALLY hate it when people spout off without knowing what they're talking about. I also really hate it when people assume that just because they have the right to think about things for themselves that every opinion or point of view or thought is valid and equally as correct as another persons. That may sound like a pretty harsh thing to say, but what happens when you base all of your political views on half-truths and out-right confirmed lies from the driveby media? And what happens when you let your emotions run wild without the slightest hint of logic?

I've got two specific people in mind here.

1. My wife's friend Kim. They call Kim "big hair girl" behind her back. She's a 20 year old version of your typical "I gave birth to my child, and they pulled my brain out with them" Texas Soccer moms. Today she informed her Delineation studio that while she voted for Bush she thinks he's an idiot because he could have fixed the levies in New Orleans. Hmmmmm. Well, since she's so well informed I'd be delighted for her to tell me how. Did she mean by himself with a hammer and some 10 penny nails? Or did she mean funding? Cause if she meant funding, she's got several million dollars which were appropriated to the repair of the levies two years ago to explain. Lets ignore the fact that no such repair work was ever completed although the funds were granted.

2. Steve Wollkind, aka Jew in the Room, aka the OC, aka Jewbacca, etc... Steve's dad is a very powerful executive for Macy's. Steve is also a Jew and from the OC. Steve's hobbies include blaming everything on the Bush Administration, blaming everything on the Republican Congress, blaming everything on white, middle-class America, blaming everything on America in general, and complaining about his sinuses and/or his lack of sleep. Some of Steve's hysterical rants have included the following: "9/11 was America's fault" (funny coming from a Jew. That same line of thought would mean it was the Jews' fault for the holocaust), "The Coal Mine Accidents are all to be blamed on not only the Bush Administration, but more specifically on George W. Bush himself" (I guess George has been moonlighting as Captain Planet and just missed the ball on that one) and my personal favorite "No body in the Architecture Program knows what they are doing besides me."

Anyway, I had to blow some steam. Now I'm off to a construction test. *sigh* If anyone out there wants to take it for me you're more than welcome to. (So long as you have a working knowledge of beam sizing, wind resistance, extreme fiber bending stresses, radii of gyration, etc...

2006-04-13T11:00:00.000-06:00

COWARDS!

2006-04-11T21:04:00.000-06:00

So today, after months and months of putting it off, I cleaned out my truck. A lot of good things came out of it. The biggest news, however, is that it turns out it was my climbing shoes that were making my truck stink so bad. Go figure. Anyway, another awesome thing is that I finally put together a playlist on my iPod of classic rock, country, and pretty much any thing a “good ol’ boy” like myself might want to listen to. Anyway, after spending an hour cleaning out my truck and talking on the phone to Mike, I headed to class.

Something many of you don’t know about me is that I’m not in my element unless there is some classic rock going on in the background. I don’t know why. That’s just the way it is. So for the first time since I ditched the old Creative Zen and upgraded to the iPod, I was finally in my element while driving. Yeah, we’ve got a classic rock station, but they play Van Halen and Rush, and that’s just a risk I’m unwilling to take while driving.

So anyway, I’m driving to school, listening to some Molly Hatchet, I’m in my element, when I see it. Right in front of me was the funniest thing I’ve seen in days. I mean, this is funnier than the flying penis we constructed in my Studio and then glued to Ralph’s desk with the aid of a chicken nugget. (Don’t ask.)

This guy in front of me is not only driving a sun-faded circa 1976 El Camino…HE’S GOT A REAL, LIVE MULLET. Now I know those of you from Texas and New Mexico are wondering what’s so out of the ordinary with a guy in a sun-faded El Camino having a mullet. Well, here’s where it starts to get awesome. You see this was not just any mullet. This mullet was quite obviously bleeched blonde. The wind was blowing like a $2 whore on nickel night, and he had his windows down, so now we’ve got a mullet whipping in the wind. So this reveals his obviously black roots. Score. But it gets better. This mullet was easily shoulder length and looked like the work of several years of dedication. A shaggy mullet if you will.

So this shaggy mullet is whipping in the wind, obviously bleeched blonde, in the sun-faded El Camino in front of me. And it was getting in his face, so he whipped his head like a girl to get the hair out of his face. At this point I’m already laughing hysterically. But then I see the chops. That’s right. To accent his sweet mullet he’s got even sweeter black, porkchop sideburns. I could hardly take it. Then I decided to roll down my windows and mute my stereo to see if I could hear what kind of music this guy is listening to. I kid you not…REO SPEEDWAGON! Oh I was in tears.

So then the light turns green and I start following this guy. I guess the REO Speedwagon wasn’t enough to distract him from seeing me in the rear-view laughing at him because he starts glaring at me in the rear view. Any way, to keep this from getting any longer, as he got in the turn lane to go to Chick-Fil-A or Hobby Lobby (both great mullet gathering places) I drove past and I had to get a good look at the guy. And much to my surprise the guy turned out to be a highschool student. Oh man. It was great. I almost got in so many wrecks on the way to school. It was great. So that was the highlight of my day. I know. It’s one of those “guess you had to be there” things, but I just couldn’t keep it to myself.

2006-04-02T22:46:00.000-06:00

Interesting Article

Yeah, so I don't know what to make of this yet.

2006-03-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

Conversation Anyone?

So, this whole Emergent thing has a lot of root in conversation. I'm not just talking about:

A:"Hey, dude!"

B:"Hey man, what's up?"

A:"Oh, not much. You?"

B:"Oh, same old, same old."

A:"How's your wife?"

B:"She's pretty good."

A:"Cool. Well, hey man, I've gotta get going I've got (homework, Bible study, butt scratching, squirrel stomping, etc...) to get done."

B:"Yeah I know how that is."

A:"Well, tell your wife I said hey. See ya' later!"

B:"Alright man. Will do. Have a good one."

I mean, that's probably 90% of the conversations I have on a daily basis. No, the kind of conversation I'm talking about is one where the people grow. Where both parties walk away with something to ponder. Or preferably, multiple parties. I want a conversation like I used to have with my old College pastor, Derek. We'd go ride mountain bikes, or just head over to Sonic for a Coke and then drink them at the park or in his office. Sure, we'd talk about how his wife and kid were doing and how work was going for both of us, but the real conversation was MUCH deeper than that. We got into what a church completely stripped of all things added in the past 20 years would look like. Then we talked about how that could be combined with some of today's ministry tools, and how we might fit that into today's culture. (That's a stripped down definition of Postmodernism for those of you in Rio Linda). We'd talk about what books we were reading. Derek helped guide me into a real, live Emergent conversation.

It seems like no one else around these parts is interested. It seems to me that rather than growing or thinking for ourselves a lot (not all) of Lubbockites would rather live out the lyrics of Derek Webb's New Law. Quite frankly I'm chomping at the bit and I just don't know if I need to shoot of some sort of Emergent flare or if I just need to be patient and wait for someone to come along. Anyway, I guess this is a bit of a flare, so if anyone ever wants to go get some coffee and just talk about Theology and social issues and their life, and just do life together, then drop me a line. Other wise, if this falls on deaf ears, or rather blind eyes, then I will continue to wait.

2006-03-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

I wish I lived in San Fransisco. I don't do enough protesting. I'm pretty sure they just have like 2-300 city employees who do nothing but protest. It seems like it's always the same handful of socialist lesbians and burned out hippies and rastafarians wearing tie dye and pot-leaf sunglasses. This weekend they protested the Teen Mania confrence. While I agree with them that Ron Luce is not my favorite person, I don't think I've EVER heard of someone genuinely protesting morality. What's going through their heads?

"You know what we need? We need more rape. That's what we need."

Or how about, "The world would be a lot better off if there was more anger and violence."

I doubt that most of them have thought much about it. They just heard there was some confrence and that there might be a republican or two there, so they all gathered with their signs. Most of them don't even make new signs for each rally. They just make generalized signs that work for all occasions. "FACISTS!" or "HATE MONGERERS!" Your standard fare name-calling is all that it ammounts to. Anyway, I guess all I wanted to say is this, WHO CAN HONESTLY PROTEST MORALITY AND PEOPLE STANDING FOR A FUTURE FREE FROM VIOLENCE?!!! How do you do that? I'm gonna go be facist and pray to my vengeful God who hates any non-middle-class, white republicans. Whatever.

2006-03-23T03:19:00.000-07:00

Following tonights program of Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, self-restraint is becoming increasingly difficult. It does raise a question for my self, though. What does it mean to live like Jesus is coming back at any time? He's coming back. That's what we know. What does that mean for us? How should that affect our behavior, thoughts, relationships, etc...? Hopefully I can turn this into a positive introspection.

2006-03-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

2006-03-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys. This is a long one, but well worth the read.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Matthew 7:3

Call it what you will. Projection. Evangelical Sleight of Hand. No matter how you "pretty up" the name, it's a problem that Jesus addressed early on. I think King Solomon was right. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

So why is it so easy to fall into this? I have seen this spreading through the ranks of a lot of Theological and/or Emergent Blogs including my own. But it existed WELL before the invention of the Blogosphere. In fact it existed well before the Birth of Christ. So why is this such an inescapable blunder for Christian writers, thinker, ministers, etc...?

I think that for Lent we as Christian thinkers need to give up addressing Christian pandemics. I already made this point in the comments of several of my friends' blogs and have mentioned it in countless emails and in conversation. Don't get me wrong. I am in NO WAY claiming to have some sort of divine revelation or claiming to be outside of this. I just wanted to put it in words.

I think I want to address two things.

1. Why do we fall prey to this? – I know that in my own life I have a hard time doing anything I don’t feel passionate about. It’s a fault of mine. I can’t help but avoid boring work. I can’t do it. I can’t make myself do it. I just can’t. I think that’s just human nature. I can think of very few people in this world who say, “Oh man! That’s gonna’ SUCK! Let’s do it, dude!” I guess there’s always the Polar Bear clubs and other people doing endurance type activities, but you get a sense of accomplishment out of it. I rarely get a sense of accomplishment out of filing the VISA bills for the company I work for. There’s little sense of accomplishment in cleaning a spilled Dr. Pepper out of grocery store scanner.

So what do I feel passionate about? I feel passionate about putting an end to discrimination. I feel passionate about ridding the world or ignorance. And I am often times driven to heated passion by my emotions, specifically anger.

So how does this all tie together? Well, basically I can’t write about things I don’t feel passionate about. But the problem lies in where I draw my influences from. When I lay awake and turn on the Televangelist at 3 in the morning to put myself to sleep, that sets me up for failure. When I drive by an Assemblies of God church known for it’s hateful and judgmental signs that sets me up for failure. BUT when I read encouraging books, when I read a good blog entry, when I spend time in prayer I begin to see the world (more specifically the church) in a different light. So this sets me up for my second point.

2. What do we do about it? When we surround ourselves with encouragement rather than failures and bad examples we’re more prone to become good examples ourselves. Am I saying block out the world? No. Am I telling you to pay attention only to your little corner of the Christian world? No. What I am saying is that you have to balance your exposures.

I have to make a confession here. I’m gonna go ahead and apologize to Mike for this comment ahead of time. I have an addiction to Conservative Talk Radio. I love listening to Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Michael Reagan. In fact, you could lock me in a room with an AM radio, a bucket to relieve myself in, and enough food for a week, and I’d be happy.

Now then, when I’m at work or at school there’s no AM radio nearby. So I have my iPod Nano loaded to the gills with sermons and the audio Bible as well as the entire Caedmon’s Call library and a few other Christian CD’s. It’s more of an iPod Righteous or maybe an iPod Little Light. I’d say on any given day I listen to at least 5-10 sermons and probably Share the Well at least once or twice.

Which will help me maintain my “salinity” if you will? Which of these will produce more Light? Which helps my words and thoughts focus on and convey Christ?

So basically in this long, overly-wordy entry I’m calling everyone to begin focusing on the essential Christian core values. Read your Bibles. Pray. Focus your thoughts on the Eternal. Focus your hearts on the heart of Christ. We all know that the Chruch needs to alter its stance on lots of things. We all know the same arguments on maintaining our stance on Homosexuality as a sin while softening our treatment of gays. We all know that the Televangelists are a thorn in our sides and don’t represent the Church as a whole. We are all sick and tired of bad Sunday Schools with someone’s dad who’s trying to pin down a date on the Second Coming by pinning current events into revelation. We’ve got a lot of problems. But Christ had it right. While it’s easy to see the sawdust in our Brothers’ eyes, first we need to focus on the planks in our own eyes. Hopefully this Lent can be a time of personal reflection and growth for all of us. Hopefully that will be the focus of our Blogs and conversations.

2006-03-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

So I came up with this idea from a few places. I don't know how good it is, though. I want to put really hard verses on T-Shirts. You always see these really encouraging or really witty T-Shirts or really bad knock-off Christian T-Shirts, but you never really see any with the verses that will make you question your salvation or keep you up all night considering the ramifications. So, here are a few verses I'm considering:

Okay, so not all of those are earth shattering, but they certainly aren't Psalms 118. Anyway, let me know how good/bad this idea is, and give me some more weighty verses if you've got 'em.

2006-03-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Strongly considering putting this down either for good or until I get back from camp. If anyone cares at all about reading this, let me know. Otherwise don't expect much if anything for a very long time.

Randall

2006-03-11T02:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it's spring break. I'm tired, worn out, beat down, and ready for some sleep. This should tide you over until I feel like turning on my computer again.

2006-03-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

So last week I was so happy I couldn't think. Well, I finally have gotten some things to think about courtesy of Mike, which is a big help. But now, for the past three days, I have had the weirdest feeling yet. I'm physically restless...non-stop. I feel like a kid with ADHD and some sort of anxiety disorder. Nothing is satisfying. Music, which always helps, hasn't worked. Matt Chandler didn't work. There's nothing happening on the internet (exept the fact that I can't get themcpassion movies to work). Sigh. It's like my body knows I'm missing something, or maybe there's something desperately wrong. I don't know. I'm kind of getting sick of just sharing feelings in my blogs. Feelings, often times, are just soooo arbirtrary. But it's like here lately I've been having all these strange feelings that I can't label. I know. I know. It sounds like one of those, "and I'm growing hair in weird places" pamphlets you got in the sixth grade. But I don't know. I'm gonna go be restelss some more. I'm rambling now, and I feel like I need to be doing something else.

2006-03-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

So this is what I've been working on. So yeah.

It's a collage of all the work I've been doing on this Gowanus Canal Project. Just a note, all those lines of text are actually the Lord's prayer in 30 or so languages. Just click on the picture for a bigger shot.

2006-03-08T01:05:00.000-07:00

A Quick Tour of Paris

Here's the link
So, you can take Architectural History 2, or you can just watch this movie. You decide. Either way it hits like 80% of the significant buildings. Oh yeah. It's taken from a Ferrari doing an average of 160 mph through Paris.

2006-03-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

The Rut

Intellectual rut continues. No questions. I'm so out of my element I can't function. Developing...

2006-03-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Well, It's now almost 6 in the AM. I'm sitting here in the Architecture building. For once I'm here all alone. That's one of the things I like so much about the Architecture program at Tech. While it sucks having to pull all-nighters at least twice a week, you at least have company. My friend Lauren was the last to leave. I've been alone for about 3 hours now. I finished my homework about 30 minutes ago and I went around looking for anyone I knew. No one else is here with the exception of a couple of very rude grad students and the guard lady who smokes like a train.

I've kind of been in a slump lately. I mean, don't get me wrong. More stuff has gone my way (or rather God's way) in the past two weeks than any other time in recent memory. But I'm so busy enjoying everything that I quit thinking. I don't know. It's good and it's bad.

It's good because for once God has piled blessing upon blessing on me to the point where I can do nothing but enjoy it. I needed it. My spirit needed it. Down-trodden doesn't begin to describe where I was. It's almost...ALMOST...like God owed me one. I know God doesn't owe anyone anything, but it's like I just kept waiting for some kind of mountain top to come along. Finally it's here.

It's bad because all these friends I have caught up with started reading my blogs, and quite frankly, you have to go back quite a ways to find anything remotely intellegent. I've ranted here and there, but on the whole, there's nothing of any substance here. Not really. And it's embarrassing. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to read some more, and if I'm lucky, something will come up for me to actually think/write about. Until then, I'm going to keep on with my semi-unintentional mental break, and just kind of promise everyone, especially Mike and Javanated, that I'll be writing something worth reading and think about sometime soon. Anyway, I hope you all have a great day.

Randall <;))><

Oh. PS. The Braves lost...to the Dodgers. *sigh* this may be a long season.

2006-03-02T10:58:00.000-07:00

THE WAIT IS OVER

Okay, so I wake up today, and the first thing I do is head straight to Foxsports. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not let the dog out to pee, do not check the ever important email. And to my GREAT dismay, they will NOT be gamecasting spring training. Oh was I ever bummed. (hahahaha. I said bum.) Anyway, I got up, let the dog out, took my blood pressure medicine and calcium as per doctor's orders, and decided I'd go about my no-good, terrible, awful day. So while buster's droppin a deuce, I decide to check my email. And now onto the titile of this entry...

I have been finding EVERYONE I wanted to get ahold of for a very long time via MySpace. Mike Hensley, Sylas Polite, Josh Parker, Stephen Couch, Chris Earnst, and finally Derek Joyce. The only problem was Derek didn't sign on to his MySpace like EVER. (Derek is the former College Pastor from LakeRidge for those of you not in the Know. We lost Duke Underwood, Jim Cox, Jeff Baker, and then Derek Joyce all in roughly a two or three year span.) ANYWAY, Derek finally emailed me back. I won't trouble you with any details of our conversation, but let me just say, God has turned around another HORRIBLE day via MySpace yet again. (I know that makes me Uber-dork but I don't care.) So thanks God. Thanks Tom. You guys make quite a team.

The only reason why I thought I'd post this is because for about a year Derek was my best friend. Jason was at College Station, Chase was an absolute BOOZE HOUND, I just broke up with my girlfriend of almost 2 1/2 years, and Derek got me through it. In fact, Neuekirche would not exist if it weren't for Derek. Derek got me going on Candidacy for Ordination, he was the first to tell me about and then walk me through New Kind of Christian, Derek got me mountain biking again (although that's not relevent to this site YET) and he showed me that baseball isn't the only sport worth watching. (GO STARS!) Anyway, so that's why I'm so excited.

Oh, and for those of you (Brant) who are interested in the conversation Derek and I had, I'll be more than glad to email it to you.

Randall

PS, this is for Landspeed Lacy - Who is Logan? This is clearly Randall. And don't forget - Chuck Norris once rode a nine foot grizzly bear through an automatic car wash, instead of taking a shower.

2006-03-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

Nothing too profound today. In fact nothing at all. I'm still digesting a lot of things. I just want to encourage everyone who has iTunes to click on Podcasts, type in "village Matt Chandler" and click on the only podcast that comes up. Subscribe and download all of them. Then listen to them all. This man is profound. Be warned. He preaches often times for 45 minutes to an hour, and it's all captivating. It's a goodway to loose an hour.

I think the best way to summarize Matt Chandler for those of you who've never heard him is to imagine Dane Cook as the Camp Preacher at One-Way Senior High. He's got the humor, and voice and the mannerisms of Dane Cook, but the passion and theology and the love for Christ of the most passionate Camp Preachers. Actually he has far superior theology to a lot of the camp preachers. I listen to usually 2 or 3 sermons a day. That man is amazing. Go sign up for the podcast now. If you don't have iTunes, go get iTunes and then go sign up for the podcasts. They are free. Get them. Now.

2006-02-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a story about one of my favorite Profs in the New York Times this week. This guy is one of the reasons I kept going. He's one of the most inspiring architects I have ever met.

2006-02-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Isn't it ironic that one of the largest purveyors or smut on a daily basis (BET) is the ONLY channel where you can find any kind of Christianity after 2 a.m.?

I did a run-down of what's on all the channels. I'll spare you.

You know. I think that's a somewhat unfair summary. You can't forget the Trinity Network or those two or three local Christian Broadcasting networks.

Why is it that the Charismatic fringe has so much control of televangelism? Have their embarrassments and misjudgements scared off the rest of Christianity? Or are they the only ones who see the potential? Maybe they're the only ones worth watching.

I had this gay boss once. His name was Virgil. He and his partner Aaron would sit in their mansion (a $2 million, 2 bedroom 2 bath, 5 car garage masterpiece) and watch the Trinity Network. One night I turned it on, and I'll be honest. For someone who was raised in the church, the Trinity Network has got to be one of the funniest things on TV. It provided hours of unending humor for these two guys. They would pick the Trinity Network over Will and Grace, foodnetwork, What Not to Wear, HGTV, and pretty much anything else the typical Lubbock, TX homosexuals watch. Their favorite was "that lady with the Purple Hair". I believe they were talking about Jan Crouch, founder and president of the Trinity Broadcasting Network seen here with her husband Paul

*sigh*
My problem is this: If we as Christians are going to complain about what's on TV, and what our children are watching, do we leave things the way they are so that we have something to complain about? And if not...if we really want to begin to shap and change our public entertainment, do we leave it up to these folks to do all the ministry for us? How on EARTH do we expect anyone to take us seriously when this (Tammy Faye Bakker) is what the world sees. Am I the only sick of being represented by these people and their junk theology and un-filled promises of Health and Wealth?

When will Matt Chandler get his own show? How about Rob Bell? Brian McLaren? Anyone worth listening to? Anyone who has read their Bible? Anyone who doesn't drive a Rolls on the way to work so they can tell us about the starving children in Africa?

2006-02-23T00:35:00.000-07:00

SPRING TRAINING STARTS IN A WEEK!

2006-02-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I mentioned a booklist somewhere. I don’t know. But if you get on my blogspot this will be on the sidebar in the next week. So be on the look out for that.

Anyway, here are the first two books you must read if you want to engage me in conversation:

A New Kind of Christian by Brian D. McLaren

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Past that, I think these are all great ways to help you understand

A. What’s happening in the Church as a whole

B. How the Bible fits together as a whole

C. Church Vocabulary. The “Jesus” words you already use that are above your non-Christian friends’ heads like “grace” and “omniscient” are like degree zero words.

I’ll be honest. I dumb down a lot of my posts or absolutely dodge mentioning a lot of topics on here because I know a lot of you haven’t been exposed to things like Eschatology. I know you’ve been exposed to parts of it, but on the whole I doubt more than one or two of the high school students reading this have heard or seen that word.

Anyways, back to the list. I thought about breaking this thing down into subjects and main ideas, but I don’t want to do that. I think I’m just gonna throw it out there in a way so that you shouldn’t read a book more than say 5 books down the list from the last one you read.

1. Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis

2. New Kind of Christian – Brian D. McLaren

3. Adventures in Missing the Point – Brian D. McLaren and Tony Campolo

4. The Story We Find Ourselves In – Brian D. McLaren

5. The Last Word and the Word After That – Brian D. McLaren

6. The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis

7. Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton

8. Wild at Heart – John Eldridge

9. The Velvet Elvis – Rob Bell

10. Blue Like Jazz – Donald Miller

11. Searching for God Knows What – Donald Miller

12. Ragamuffin Gospel – Brennan Manning

13. Messy Spirituality – Mike Yaconelli

14. The Divine Conspiracy – Dallas Willard

15. A Generous Orthodoxy – Brian D. McLaren

If you make it through all these by August, I’m gonna beat you up. There’s no way you can really absorb them that fast. But I strongly suggest that you read the first two in either order and then come join the conversation.

Randall <;))><

2006-02-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

2006-02-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

Today will be kind of a light day. I don't have much of my own stuff to say, however, for any of you who know about any kind of current church movements with the prefix Post-, then read this site: http://www.robbymac.org/charismatic/
It's like the longest site ever, but for dorks like me who are interested in things like ecclesiology and cessationism, it's a pretty good read.

Now then, on another note, I will be posting this blog on blogspot now. I'm still working on setting that up, but it should be up in the next day or so.

2006-02-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we're on.