SWAT Video

So I've been learning this new program in school and on my own time called Adobe After Effects. The program itself is great, I think I'm even beginning to like it more than photoshop!

Anyways, I was playin around with it last night and came up with this logo thingy for SWAT. Noone asked me to do it and I don't expect for it to go anywhere but I made it for my personal enjoyment...and I suppose you can enjoy it to. If you want.



Also, the music is arbitrary. Got it from YouTube.

Atheism Summed Up

Pastor Ralph Loved a Lot

News is circulating now and people are just finding out what God already knew, that Pastor Ralph Arthur passed away this morning.

I've always viewed Pastor Ralph as the 'Church doctor.' He would always minister to us, the body, using scripture and love. Joy always emanated from within him and he never kept that joy to himself, he always gave selflessly.

Less than a year ago a tragedy struck our family. A close family friend had been admitted to the hospital suddenly; she was my mom's friend, my friend's mom (mine too) and my sister's friend's mom. She was a 2nd mom to me and the family requested that I try to get a Pastor from Harvest to come out immediately since she was in urgent care. At Day7 I tried to ask Pastor Steve if he could come, but he had a line a mile long. So I went to find another Pastor who could find someone who was available to visit the troubled family. Then I ran into Pastor Ralph coming up from the stage.

I asked him if he could have someone on staff come out the next day and meet with the family and minister to us. Pastor Ralph mentioned that he would try to get someone to come and mentioned he wouldn't be able to come because he had plans and was very busy that day. He asked me to email him the hospital/family info and I thanked him. He prayed for me and I left.

The next day at the hospital, the Pastor arrived. That Pastor was Ralph. He came anyways! I'm not sure what he did, but he came all the way to Upland to minister to the family and to me. It was such a blessing. I always thanked him and the Lord for coming to our aid when we needed it, at his own expense.

I know that many of you have stories of how Pastor Ralph was a blessing to you. I'd personally like to hear them, whether its a comment in this blog, your own blog or in person. Pastor Ralph lived so self-lessly and I can only Praise and Thank the Lord for his life and legacy.

Prayer & Share

The Leaders of the High School Ministry (and the Well) have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the Prayer & Share program that equips Christian leaders with the ability to effectively counsel biblical principles into others' lives. Well at least I know for sure I have been blessed so far, just by being included.

Earlier today we had our first meeting in the new chapter 2 children's ministry building. I was pretty surprised they were equipping us with a binder and two sweet books by Jay E. Adams for free! It was equally "sweet" that Pastor John Collins, John Douthitt and even James MacDonald from Chicago addressed us this morning.

I'm excited about our first homework, reading an entire book! Snap! I thought it was going to be hard but I'm on chapter 5 as we speak. :)

I can't wait to see how the Lord will grow me through this course.

What is Love?

I really, really like the Christian Club we have on campus @ Chaffey. I've written about it in the past semester when I was more active (and able to attend meetings) and how the aim of the club was to increase our knowledge in the Lord and also Evangelize the campus.

During Halloween the club came together and built a giant coffin, filled it with worms and wrote on it "What happens when you die?" and plopped it in the middle of the Quad. There were large blank areas on the coffin where you could write what you believe; Reincarnation, Nothing, Heaven/Hell, etc.

This holiday we are asking the question, "What is Love?" The club created a giant white display with a heart behind it asking the above question. As you can see in the first picture students get to write what they think love is. Throughout the day Christians are posted up there in the Quad with the setup and use the giant prop as a tool to evangelize to various students that come and write their opinions about.

I had classes during the busiest part of the event, but I did get to spend some downtime in the Quad writing my own response (below, which oddly noone wrote) and dialoging with some other students about love and Christianity. It was a blessing today, and I'm looking forward to more opportunities throughout the week.




Love Never Fails. :)

Puppies

I <3 Puppies!

My Finger is on the Button

I am ready to activate this weekend at Winter Camp!! It should be a blessing to retreat from the world and then go straight back to work. :( lol

I'll see you in the mountains!

Digital Media Project 1

Since Allison posted her art projects I'm gonna post mine too!!

Our first project was to create a movie from still pictures, a stop-motion film. So me, Josh and Karen went to In-N-Out by Ontario Mills and filmed this.



I got an A. :)

All Things

This blog is a follow-up blog to my older blog, Scheduling Scare.

So I reported earlier that I got dropped from my math class that I needed to get one of my AAs. So the only option (other than retaking the 1st math class in summer and/or the 2nd in the fall) However, there was another option that I asked a counselor about, and that was retaking the placement test to see if I could place into another math.

I took that class Monday after work and not only did I place well, but I placed beyond where I needed to place! That means I don't have to take any maths to get my AA :)

I'm so stoked! (Rom 8:28) RJ ;)

The Importance of Faith

January 27

"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."
-Mark 11:23

Did Jesus tell us to pray that the problem, obstacle, or mountain which looms menacingly before us might be removed? No. Did He tell us to study the Word that it might be removed? No. He said, ‘Say to the mountain Be thou removed, and it will be cast into the sea.’

We often hear that prayer changes things. But that’s not entirely true. Faith changes things. Prayer changes us. Jesus didn’t say, ’If you encounter a mountain, pray that it might be gone.’ No, He said, ‘Have faith in God and then verbally, audibly tell the mountain to be removed. Speak faith.’

Why is verbalization so important? Why did Jesus tell us to speak aloud to the mountain? Why does Paul tell us to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10)? Why does the writer of Hebrews tell us that when a promise is given to us we are to boldly speak it out (Hebrews 13:5)?

Because that’s when faith kicks in. It’s easy for me to think quietly or pray inwardly for the mountain to be moved because then if it doesn’t move, no one will know I prayed otherwise. There’s no step of faith, no risk involved if I don’t speak.

What mountain is it which intimidates you? Fear concerning an unsaved child? Depression over a business about to go under? Worry about a diseased body or a broken heart?

Jesus tells you and me to go on record in the ears of our kids, our parents, our peers, our co-workers and to say, ‘Be gone.’ After all, it was as Jesus did so Himself in the ears of His disciples that the stage was set for them to believe (Mark 11:14).

Maybe you’re praying intensely and hoping passionately that a certain problem or a certain situation will somehow be solved. But the fact is, Jesus said it’s not enough to simply hope or even to pray. Rather, to whatever mountain intimidates or discourages you, you must say in faith verbally, ‘Be gone. Be removed. Be cast into the sea.’ And then watch what happens.

This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Days Journey" by Pastor Jon. "A Days Journey" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the New Testatment.

Amen!

Let My People Think

So earlier this Friday KC, Michelle, John and Aaron and myself had the blessing to go see Ravi Zacharias. There are only a few people in the Christian circles that I really look up to and Ravi Zacharias is one of them. He has a radio broadcast called "Let my People Think" and is available for download from iTunes for your listening edification.

So Friday I was very excited to see him in person and hear him teach. The topic of his message was "Need God? What if I don't?" He never opened his Bible but there wasn't anything he said that I remember doubting that it had its roots in right doctrine.

He also had some great quotes, for example:

"The New Atheists are better at smelling rotten eggs than laying good ones."

"Jesus answered the man's question, "Who's image is on the coin?" They replied 'Caesar's.' Jesus said give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's. (Matt 22) What image is on you?" (Imago Dei)

"This generation listens with their eyes and thinks with their hearts."

Such a blessing to hear this man speak with such fervor and tenacity. He was kind enough to let KC and I take pictures with him without getting a book signed. :)

Scheduling Scare

Okay so in one of my last blogs entitled "Semester Fenal" I cataloged what my schedule was for this Spring semester that has just started. But something has skewed that.

I went to my math class to find out I'm not on the roster. So I sit through class and go to admissions and find out my prerequisite wasn't met. D: So now I am in another class called Intro to Multimedia where I get to make videos! That's actually one of the things I really, really like to do but haven't had a chance to do because of the expensive cost of that hobby (video camera, computer, software.)

I'm excited.

Argument against Literal Communion Elements

So I was spending time with the Lord this morning and I opened up today's entry to Jon Courson's devotional A Day's Journey and he made a really good argument against the Catholic belief surrounding communion.

According to the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiaion the bread and the wine actually transform into the actual material blood and body of Christ. Personally I do not believe this and I think there are a number of great arguments against it. However, in this blog I will detail only one of them.

This isn't the only time people have confused Christ's words for something material when they were supposed to be spiritual. Jon Courson writes:

In John 3, Jesus said, "You must be born again."

"How does a man enter into his mother's womb the second time?" asked Nicodemus. Jesus was speaking spiritually, but Nicodemus was trying to figure it out physically.

In John 4, Jesus said, "I have water to give you which if you drink you shall never thirst again."

"Give me this water," said the woman at the well, "so I won't have to keep drawing water from the well." She was thinking materially, but Jesus was speaking about the water of the Spirit internally.

In John 6, Jesus said, "Unless you eat of My body and drink of My blood, you can have no part of Me."

The crowds, thinking He was talking about cannabalism, began to turn away from Him. Again, He was speaking of the spiritual realm, but the people couldn't see past the material realm.

This seems to be our nature to generally not comprehend what Jesus is talking about unless the Holy Spirit tells us.

Semester Fenal

Yes it is the final semester for me. At Chaffey at least.

This semester is going to be a doozy! Me and Liz already talked very briefly about how wack this next semester is going to be. One thing is different already is that I'm taking Tuesday/Thursday classes instead of my normal Monday/Wednesday classes. I have a full load of classes which include:

Tue/Thur
Elementary Algebra - 410
Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communication
Intro to Eastern Philosophy
Sat
Self-Defense/Personal Safety (.5 Units)
Online
Using the Internet

So this semester I will really need to lock down and focus. Ministry might suffer a bit now, but that's so it can flourish in the future. Also, my Philosophy teacher is requiring that we get 5 books. 5!!! He also recommended 5 others. That class is going to be intense.

Also Thursday nights my Eastern Philosophy class @ Chaffey Rancho ends at 7pm which is a problem because I have to be in Orangecrest at 7pm to make it to this Greek class that Dr. Burdett is providing us for basically free. Our first class was last night, I might post another blog detailing how hard my brain hurts.

Prospects of a New Year

So I haven't posted a blog since before Christmas, I didn't want to make a Christmasy one. While I am not fond of what Christmas has become I am fond of new beginnings and that's why I like the New Year.

The New Year is always another chance to get things right and do things they are supposed to be done. Now I don't expect for 2009 to be the year I live sinless, I don't expect that anytime soon! But for me its going to be a new beginning of a focal point in my life where I will try to live a holy life.

I'm just glad I don't have to do it on my own. We are promised in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." I love this fact that we are regenerated and made perfect in Christ's image from the Father's perspective.

Now its time to practically become like Christ in this 2009.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

Gimme Dat!

Freedom is such a great thing. The Lord is so good for giving it to us. I could write probably 5 blogs just on that. But instead, here is a cool reminder of what the Lord has for us and when we put ourselves under the bondage of sin what we get.


The Ambassador - "Gimme Dat!" Official Music Video from Cross Movement Records on Vimeo.

Be unsatisfied with sin.

Truth

Truth is like Water

Water deludes.

Water refreshes.

Water gives/sustains life.

Water erodes.

Water polluted is toxic.

Leadership Christmas Dinner

So every year the high school ministry puts on a Christmas dinner for either the high schoolers or the leadership. This year due to booking issues it was only the leadership. It is definitely refreshing to fellowship with my co-laborers in Christ without dealing with the joys that come with serving.

The food was good, the fellowship was fun, the worship was sweet and the devotion was awesome. The gift exchange was also done differently this year, there wasn't really any stealing. Last year during my turn to pick the gift I prayed and the Lord led me to a grip of re-writable CDs, DVDs and a Joshua Harris book. Score! Then this year during the gift picking I prayed again! Then when it arrived in my hand the Lord confirmed it and I opened my gift of a Spider-man bank! YES! Double Score!! The Lord hooked me up and he gets all the credit! Thank you Jesus!

Also, during the message Jason Powell quoted a short story that I really thought it was cool. So here it is here:

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. Source.

Our God is good!

Spring 2009 is Looming

So I realized that I received a my spring catalog a while back and realized I probably needed to register before all the spots were gone. So I did.

I got all the classes I need too! So I'm taking

1. Philosophy 81 - Intro to Eastern Philosophy
   
2. Math 410 - Intro to Algebra (D:)
   
3. Comstd 4 - Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communication
   
4. CIS 68 (Online) - Using the Internet
   
5. PeAct 31a - Self-Defense/Personal Saftey

The Eastern Philosophy will complete my AA in Philosophy: Religious Studies and Math will complete my General Ed. The Comstd and CIS 4 are courses im retaking because I either forgot to drop the class or I dropped the class lol. The Self defense class is .50 units and without it I have 11.5 units which is .5 short of the 12 full time units. So I figured that would be fun, but its Saturday morning instead of the other Tues/Thurs classes.

I like registering for classes way more than taking them, lol.

That Day of Giving Thanks

I enjoy thanksgiving just like anyone else does. Food and fellowship is always great but this thanksgiving was a little more difficult. The reason why is because the seats around the dinner table weren't filled like they have been the past 22 years of my life.

I didn't realize it fully until my Dad led our family in prayer. As a family we've had 4 significant deaths from people that we loved in 2008 so far. Our friends Corey and Casey Todd lost their father Jerry Todd. Daniel Hooper and I even made a visit to the hospital where he was in critical condition. The Todd's have been close family friends and we labored with them during this time of uncertainty and loss.

We also lost my Grandpa Harry, who was actually my step Grandpa since my Dad's mom was widowed early in his life. He was a sweet old man who had a calm demeanor and understood what it meant to walk by Faith.

Then we unexpectantly lost my best friends mom, Barbara Brown. I lost her too. This woman was my second mom and I love her dearly. She was one of the Godliest women I have ever encountered. She was somehow able to sternly discipline without showing any kind of wavering love. And believe me, I was disciplined without hesitation. She was a prayer warrior of warriors. You cannot even grasp the kind of battles she prayed through by any amount of writing that I could make appear on this page. She prayed. She sacrificially gave her time, suburban gasoline for shuttling us ALL, money, sweat and prayers. I am still so amazed at what Christ had been doing in her and through her. I still shed tears when I think of her and her Godly example.

I also recently lost my mom's mom, my Grandma Alice who I've written about in past blogs. I will probably never know what kind of trials and tribulations I was prayed past and through by this woman. She was faithful to seek her King and longed to see Him more than anything. This woman loved wholeheartedly and she forgave.

All these things rushed through my mind during my Dad's 3 minute prayer and our family Amened with teary eyes.

This year, I'm thankful for my family staying resolute in their commitments to the Lord. I'm thankful for the Godly examples the Lord has given me in my life. These people turned my life upside down for Jesus. Now I want a better legacy. Thank you Jesus. Maranatha.