Good News!

I got a 4.0 again this semester! I'm so stoked right now. Academic success isn't that important to me but it sure leaves me feeling accomplished and like I really gave God all I had for the semester academically! Academic success is possible kids. Study hard and get good grades.

Ok bye.

That is all.

The Year is Almost Over!

Today I played ultimate Frisbee at this park. It’s December in southern California and it’s almost 80 degrees. Love it.
I'm missing Point Loma though! Soon enough we will be reunited :D

Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas vacation!

Aha!

I think I just realized why no one looks at my blog (other than the fact that I'm boring and don't say things that are interesting.) I'm terrible, sorry :P

Anyway, I just noticed that on Point Loma's site where it links to Loma Bloggers, if you were click my name, there would be an error because the link takes you to a profile for "Orin Mozen" who DOES NOT EXIST BECAUSE MY LAST NAME IS MOZON NOT MOZEN... Haha, but really though, it brings you to a page that lets you know it can't be found. Sooooo I let my lovely boss/supervisor know of this error so maybe the comments and pageviews will skyrocket soon!

This makes me wonder... Why am I even writing this? If no one can find my blog on that page, why would they be reading this? Hmm. Guess I'm just talking to myself. Again. Oh well.

Christmas is in 2 days. Sweet. I guess. It's just another day. Although I'm sure many disagree. Decemeber 25th is only a day. Nothing magical happens on the day. People just give it significance based on tradition. I'm not saying it's not special though. We should live in a constant thankfulness of Jesus being born and being Emmanuel - God with us.

Well that was way more than I was planning on writing.

Welp! See ya!

That is all.

Merry Christmas (Almost)

Wooo! Here's some picture of me and Santa to bring you some holiday cheer. I went directly to the North Pole for these shots.

Do You Know How To Pray?

Amidst my busy schedule this week with finals next week and huge projects due all over the place, I've been trying to find more and more time to pray. And as I've been praying for strength and peace and for God to truly be my Sustainer, I was reminded of the realization I came to once a while back that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian, whether they really are or not, doesn’t pray. I think we assume that people pray but they really don't. I can't say why that is, only God and they know why that is, but what if, just what if, it’s because they don’t know how to pray? Can you teach prayer? Is it learned? Is it born in you? I don't know.

Are you the kind of person who doesn’t know how to pray? In fact, the Bible says that we don’t know how to pray and that’s where the Holy Spirit intercedes and helps us.

Maybe you don’t get prayer, why we do it, or how it helps. I understand how you feel. Sometimes I wonder if I know how to pray the right way. I wonder, “does God really hear this prayer? How do I know when or if He answers?” But then I go to Scripture and and encouraged by what the Bible says about prayer.

In Matthew 6, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows His disciples how to pray and says this which people now call The Lord’s Prayer:

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

Here, Jesus gives us an outline of how we can pray. If we analyze it we see that He prays with a pattern like this:

1) Praise God for who He is
2) Ask for His will to be done in our lives
3) Ask for the things we need Him to provide for us
4) Ask for forgiveness for things we have done wrong
5) Ask for help to forgive others
6) Ask for protection and deliverence

Also, I’m reminded of this verse in 1 John that speaks on prayer as well:

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask
anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears
us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Be encouraged and give prayer a chance!

You can pray out loud, in your head silently, or by writing out/journaling your
prayers. They all work and they all have their advantages.

That is all.

Father's Love Letter

Friends,


I hope you're doing well. I found this the other day and I felt it would be appropriate to post it here (as I continue to put off homework and studying for finas :)


Anyway, here you go! Be blessed.

My Child,

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad: Almighty God

This Picture is Messing With Me

No words.

Thanksgiving Break

I'm home right now and it's nice. I've just been relaxing the past couple days and it's been so good. I love Loma but it's always nice to get a break from the people, the institution, and the homework. Stepping away from school is always somewhat sad too though because, at least for me, I see that I don't stay in contact with a lot of the friends I have at school for whatever reason. I saw that during summer too. People who I was close to and talked to all the time all of a sudden were doing their own thing, and so was I, and we just didn't talk.

Honestly, there were so many people that I didn't talk to for a long time that I forgot a lot of people's names and at school, I'm still trying to relearn them. I feel so bad about that! I'm terrible with names and it's really made me upset at myself. I want to know who people I've met are so I can call them by name. It makes the relationship much more authentic when you remember their name instead of just saying, "Hey man!" or "Hey you!" So I've been trying to get better at that. Well that was a fun tangent.

I didn't get any feedback unfortunately about what to write about next :( So here I am... Just writing. Nonsense. Boring. Mundane. Nothing has really happened to me that's been blog worthy. I mean, Thanksgiving was two days ago. I ate a lot of food. A LOT of food. And then yesterday all I ate was leftovers from that dinner. Today, I'll probably do the same.

Then I'll work on a project I was supposed to email to my group members on Tuesday, whoops! Then I'll eat. Nah, I'll probably eat first :D I like food. Okay now I'm just talking about nothing...

Oh! What food did I have on Thanksgiving you ask? Good question! I ate turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, mac & cheese, dressing, spinach, Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, egg nog, broccoli cornbread, rice, and probably one other food. 'Twas yummy!

My mom and sister did the Black Friday shopping thing. Me, not so much. I've never been a big shopper anyway. Especially when women lose their minds for a night and go crazy and mace each other to be first in line (it happened this year, look it up) and I'm not down with the whole waiting in line in the wee hours of the morning and shopping until possibly the wee hours of the night. I have better things to do. Like sleep.

Welp, that's pretty much it. I'll leave you with some of the ways people have stumbled upon this blog by searches.

In the last month, people have found my blog by typing:

i am a child of god - (Because of my Mirror blog!)
brandon heath concert whats it like - (Because of my Brandon Heath/TobyMac concert blog!)
child of god - (same as the first)
children sharing - (they must've gone to page 153 to get to this page. No idea how that happened)
concert stage set up - (Guessing it was the concert one)
god's masterpiece - (Mirror?)
i am god's masterpiece - (same as above)
i've been on the inside for christmas eve - (What does that even mean??)
is it hard to get into plnu - (Idk, I guess just because it's a blog about PLNU)
is plnu really hard to get into - (Same)

Need Some Feedback

Haven't said too much lately but that's mainly because I don't know what write about these days.

So that's where you come in! If you're reading this, I'd love some feedback from you.

Do you have any questions about Point Loma? About me? About random things? About Jesus? The Bible? About anything? I'm just out of things to talk about for the moment! So I need help from whoever is out there! Comment below please :)

May God bless you!

That is all.

God is so good

Today I've just been thinking about God's faithfulness a lot. Man, is He sure faithful! In the little things and the big things.

Just thinking about where God has taken me in the last two years is amazing. Tomorrow and Friday, there will be a bunch of preview students coming in and it's crazy to think about the fact that two years ago, that was me. I'm not hosting a preview student because I don't think I'd have enough time but I hope I get to meet a few of them and share my story of what it's like to be here. A lot of people give negative reviews about Loma but in reality, you get out of your experience what you put into it. Meaning, if you just mentally check out, don't do your work, sit in chapel and space out and don't pay attention to what's going on on campus, you're probably not going to like your experience here. But if you really get plugged in somewhere, meet people, and pay attention in chapel and other events around campus, God can really start changing your heart. He's been doing it with me. And it's great.

Not much else to report this time around.

Just to let you know, I'm always open for questions for those of you prospective students looking to hear more about life around campus, or about anything in general. Prayer requests, comments, whatever! God bless you!

That is all.

Are you bold enough to pray a prayer like this?

I got this prayer in an email yesterday. It's a prayer that we've prayed as a congregation at Point Loma in chapel I think twice. It's a prayer of refocus, commitment, and devotion to God. They're hard words to pray because in some cases, it could mean losing something we hold dearly. I encourage you to meditate on these words and if you're so bold enough, pray this prayer for your life.

I give myself completely to You, God.
Assign me to my place in Your creation.
Let me suffer for You.
Give me the work You would have me do.
Give me many tasks
Or have me step aside while You call others.
Put me forward or humble me.
Give me riches or let me live in poverty.
I freely give You all that I am
And all that I have to you.
And now, holy God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
You are mine and I am Yours.
Use me for Your glory.

Amen.

Amen. God bless you.

That is all.

It's Not Always Sunny in San Diego

Today was a super mellow day. It was SUPER foggy from early this morning until right now. I literally felt like it was a scene from a movie. I couldn't see the ocean. I'm not sure it was even still there. It might have disappeared for the day and I wouldn't have known. But assuming it's still there, I believe I'll see it tomorrow, if the fog clears up that is.

So yeah, basically, today, the weather was bad, but I remember finding myself still realizing that I'm so blessed to be here, sunny or not. Take time to stop and look around and thank God for what you do have, for how fortunate you are, because you have a lot. If you're reading this online or on a phone, or even on a friend's computer or phone, you're more fortunate than most of the word already. Count your blessings. Even the ones that you wouldn't usually count.

That is all.

Wedding

I went to a wedding today. My good friend got married today in the park up by the Fermanian business center. It was SO cute. I'm so happy for them. I don't really have much to say about it but just thought I'd let you know, LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

Happy October!

I know it's a day late but Happy October. Just thought I'd share a few of this months holidays! Let's celebrate them all!

1 International Frugal Fun Day - first Saturday of the month
1 World Vegetarian Day
2 National Custodial Worker Day
2 Name Your Car Day
3 Oktoberfest in Germany ends, date varies
3 Techies Day
3 Virus Appreciation Day
4 National Golf Day
4 National Frappe Day
5 Do Something Nice Day
5 World Teacher's Day
6 Come and Take it Day
6 Mad Hatter Day
6 Physician Assistant Day
7 Bald and Free Day
7 World Smile Day
8 American Touch Tag Day
9 Curious Events Day
9 Fire Prevention Day
9 Leif Erikson Day
9 Moldy Cheese Day
10 Columbus Day - second Monday of month
10 National Angel Food Cake Day
11 It's My Party Day
11 Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day
12 Cookbook Launch Day
12 Emergency Nurses Day- date varies
12 Old Farmer's Day
12 Moment of Frustration Day
13 International Skeptics Day
14 Be Bald and Free Day
14 National Dessert Day - take an extra helping, or two
14 World Egg Day - second Friday of the month
15 International Newspaper Carrier Day -date varies each year
15 White Cane Safety Day
15 Sweetest Day Third Saturday of month
16 Bosses Day
16 Dictionary Day
17 Wear Something Gaudy Day
18 No Beard Day
19 Evaluate Your Life Day
20 Brandied Fruit Day
21 Babbling Day
21 Count Your Buttons Day
21 National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day find a recipe, too.
22 Make a Difference Day- fourth Saturday of the month, an opportunity for neighbors to help neighbors.
22 National Nut Day
23 Mother-In-Law Day - fourth Sunday in October
23 National Mole Day
23 Tv Talk Show Host Day
24 National Bologna Day
24 United Nations Day
25 Punk for a Day Day
25 World Pasta Day
26 National Mincemeat Day
27 National Tell a Story Day - in Scotland and the U.K.
27 Navy Day
28 Frankenstein Friday - last Friday in October
28 Plush Animal Lover's Day
29 Hermit Day
29 National Frankenstein Day
30 National Candy Corn Day
30 Mischief Night
31 Carve a Pumpkin Day - no surprise here
31 Halloween
31 Increase Your Psychic Powers Day

Just Checking In

To say that I'm alive. As if any of you care. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and that if you have any questions about Loma, feel free to comment, send me an email at orinmozon2010@pointloma.edu, of find me on Facebook and I'll do my best to answer them!

Enjoy a picture of some things.

That is all.

Late Nights

Oh man. Late nights are getting the best of me this week.

I love this place. I can stay out until the late hours of the morning and there are other people who are still up.

On Thursday, I was up until 4:30 AM (which would've been Friday). I did so much that day. I was reading the Bible, reading some books, one about worship and another book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I was memorizing Scripture, journaling, writing letters to my best friend, and just spending a lot of alone time with God. After all that, it was like 2:30 and then I had to finally get around to some homework! That morning, I woke up at 7:45 or so. That's a pretty solid 3 hours of sleep. I'm pretty sure that's the healthy amount right?

Then I made it through the day actually without any struggles to stay awake. So then last night I went on a GYRAD (Get your roommate a date) with a friend of mine. We went to Belmont Park and rode a roller coaster, got some ice cream, and went to a bonfire. We came back to Loma around 11 and I was still wide awake. A couple of my friends from around the halls just hung out for a while and tried to figure out something to do. So we did what most college students do when it hits midnight. LAZER TAG! It was so much fun. I like hanging out with people. It was cool because the people I was with weren't people that I've really hung out with before so it was a new experience. I like them.

After lazer tag, we went and looked at the harbor which is really beautiful late at night. After we were there for a little while, people got hungry so we went to McDonald's! Woo! They didn't have milkshakes which was disappointing. After Micky D's, we came back to campus and eventually by 3:30 AM everyone made their ways to bed. I got 4 hours of sleep in
 24 hours! Yay!

This was kinda just a dump of my last couple nights. I know no one cares. But I do :)

That is all.

Laziness

Lack of motivation to do well... anything. I don't want to do homework. I don't want to do anything. I don't want to leave my bed. School is hard sometimes. But it's worth it. I love being at Point Loma. It's great to be here and I'm so blessed and thankful that God called me here. But it's hard sometimes. For my major, I'm required to learn piano pretty well and it's something that I feel like I can't get a handle of. I can play some stuff when it's just messing around but when you put music in front of me, my brain doesn't want to respond as quick as it really should. I contemplated dropping the major for something else just because it seemed so difficult. But I can do it. I can. And I will. I don't know how. But I can. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even pass a piano proficiency test. I don't have experience with piano but I have Jesus. And I'm trusting that He'll help me out. Somehow. Sometime. Someway.

This was really a rant that serves no purpose. I'm not sure what to write about to be honest. I don't know what people who look at my blog would want to read. I don't even know what people look at my blog.

Anyway, I think I might have just written here to try further put off working on homework and learning my piano piece that I have as a test on Wednesday...

I'm going to go try to be productive now.

That is all.

A Letter from Christian Guys

There are a lot of girls on this campus. Like... A lot of girls. So much so that it can be distracting. I found this a few minutes ago and I think there are some girls at Point Loma that should read this. Guys could benefit from it too. And any one who is looking to coming to Point Loma.

Once again, I did not write this. I just thought it was a really good thing to share.

A Letter from Christian Guys

Girls, could we talk to you right out of our hearts for a few minutes? It is awkward for us to talk about something of this nature, in person, so we thought we would write our feelings.

We are young men who have been saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. We desperately want to live for Christ and not follow the ways of the world. Since we have been baptized (immersed) in a “Holy” Spirit, we feel in our hearts that we should live “holy” lives. After all, our bodies are the temple, the sanctuary, the place where the “Holy” Spirit lives and makes His home. We know that guys and girls are affected differently, so since we desperately want to follow hard after God, could we kindly and respectfully ask you to help us with a few things?

We realize that girls are primarily stimulated or turned on by “touch.” Did you know that guys are turned on by “sight?” So when you are “aroused” (sexually awakened) by a guy’s “touch,” we are in the same way aroused by mere “sight.” Let us explain. When we see girls who are dressed in a suggestive, revealing, provocative, teasing, tantalizing manner, our sexual desires are aroused. Our bodies are then affected.

To be absolutely candid, let us give you some examples of what we are referring to. If you are wearing a blouse that barely meets the waist of your slacks and some of your skin shows while you are moving around, or simply while you are walking, sitting, or kneeling, our minds are geared to wonder what more of your body would look like further up… This causes our bodies to respond biologically, and suddenly we are fighting a war in our minds and bodies. And that war of lust is continuing often long, even hours, after you are gone. We hate this, because our “righteous man” wants to think pure thoughts….

When you wear low-cut tops which are in any degree revealing, or when you bend over, and they are revealing, this again causes us big problems in the flesh. Or if the back is out of your top, we automatically think that you do not have the undergarment on, and the Spirit and the flesh begin to fight again. Or when we see any glimpse of your undergarments, such as straps and the like, we have trouble. What we are trying to say is this: If it is not for sale, don’t advertise it. We really feel that the still small voice of the Holy Spirit speaks to you and nudges you when it is too tight, too short, too low, or too revealing. Will you listen to that voice? For the Scripture says, “Quench not the Spirit.” (1 Thess. 5:19)

Girls, do you know what we would really like? We would like to come among our Christian sisters and not have to fight and struggle in the flesh. We do not need to have to wrestle in the flesh at church or at church activities. We men, whether young, old, single or married, are faced with this every day among girls of the “world.” But we would like to have rest in our Spirit man when we come among Christian girls. After all, doesn’t the Scripture tell us to “come out from among the world and be you separate, saith the Lord.” (2 Cor. 6:17) It also tells us that “all that is in the world, the lust of the eye, and the lust of the flesh, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15) We are the church, not the world.

We know that people often use the verse, “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart,” (1 Sam. 16:7) to condone anything they wish to wear. This is one of the most misused/used out-of-context verses in the Bible. Conversely, the fact is, if your heart is pure, your outward appearance will be modest….

Girls can be fashionable and modest at the same time. To be honest, we respect you more when your appearance is modest, as the Scripture commands in 1 Timothy 2:9. We really do not want the kind of girl who dresses provocatively, for we know that if we marry her, she will still be that way in the presence of other men once we are married. We know that we have Christian responsibilities toward girls, too. We must be careful to portray ourselves properly. We must treat you like ladies. If we are really committed Christian guys, we will strive to treat you like Jesus would. After all, you are daughters of God.

Thank you, dear Christian sisters, for hearing our hearts on this subject. Once we have conveyed the truth of the matter to you, you become responsible before God for what you do with the truth. We really are “our brother’s keeper.” (Genesis 4:9.) We know that there is a “cult of conformity” in our generation, but we as Christians “march to the beat of a different drummer.” Please, girls, do not say, “I don’t care,” but help us in these last days to live as close to Jesus as we can. Thank you so much.


Sincerely,
Committed Christian Guys

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

This morning I was blown away yet again by the life of Jesus.

I listened to a sermon by a guy named Craig Groeschel this morning and then did a devotional in my devotional journal which took part of a verse, Matthew 26:40, and unpacked it. I didn't really understand what it was talking about but rather than just moving on with my day I decided to check the context of the verse and read the passage. And like I said, I was blown away by Jesus' actions.

Here's the passage:

Matthew 26:36-46:

[36] Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” [37] And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. [38] Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” [39] And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” [40] And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? [41] Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” [42] Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” [43] And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. [44] So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. [45] Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. [46] Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

I've read and heard this passage before and there are a bunch of things that I read here that have always amazed me about Jesus, from His agony and grief, to His complete surrender to the Father's will over His own. But today, the one thing that stuck out to me much more was in verse 39:

"...he fell on his face and prayed..."

Jesus' posture of prayer was one of complete surrender, humility, and devestation - on His face. Have you ever been so upset to the point where you just want to fall down on your face and cry, feeling so helpless, so lost, so upset? Maybe you have or maybe you haven't, but this is somewhat where Jesus was at in His life right now. He had reached His all time low. He knew He was about to go be crucified on a cross so He begged and pleaded with His Father if "this cup" - to bear the sins of the world - could pass from Him.

Side note: I'm so thankful that God the Father didn't let the cup pass from Jesus because if He didn't die on the cross, well, there goes my salvation! End side note.

Like I said, Jesus must have been at His all time low. He was on His face praying, His closest friends were sleeping and not there for Him, and He was under so much stress that "his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44) Jesus was so overwhelmed that He was sweating blood. That's not normal!

Sweating blood is a condition known as hematidrosis, where extreme anguish or physical strain causes one’s capillary blood vessels to dilate and burst, mixing sweat and blood. The purpose of this verse in Luke's account of the same event is to highlight the intensity of Jesus’ emotional and physical trauma.

After this, Jesus went on to face even more anguish and it culminated with Him dying on a cross.

He did it for me and He did it for you.

Walk today knowing that Jesus went through hell on earth to save you a spot with Him in Heaven. I'm going to go fall on my face and pray now.

That is all.

Doors

Doors doors doors. In life, there are always doors we can go through. Some doors lead us to roads we don't want to be on while others lead us to growth and experiencing God's goodness in a new way. I'm at a point in my college experience where I've got a bunch of doors I could walk through. The Lord has been good to me over the summer as He's prepared me for this next season but now that I'm this season, I'm waiting on His direction to show me what door I should open and walk through as I figure out what I'm going to be involved with this year on campus.

Here are some of the doors God has been showing me that I could walk through. There are a lot of them which makes choosing a hard thing to do, especially when I'm characteristically indecisive. As I prayed through all these doors, I realized that there could be more doors and that God could actually have me go through more than one door at the same time if He saw fit.

Door #1: Some of you may know that I was the co-leader for the Freshman Band last year at Point Loma for chapels. So my first door would be to be involved again this year but as a worship intern this time around. I can't lead a freshman band again because well, I'm no longer a freshman. But I could lead a band of other musicians if the Lord so wills. So that's an option on my involvement.

Door #2: I could be just a part of the chapel band without being a worship intern. I already lead worship a good amount at my church so it's not like I would be stopping that. There's another option.

Door #3: Not being in chapel band at all. Not the most desirable door. But I've got to keep an open mind knowing that God has plans for me that might not be what I want but I trust that I know they'll be what I need.

Door #4: On my hall this year, we had an interesting situation in which the Cov Group Leader for the hall decided not to have that role any longer so now the position is open. If you didn't know, a Cov Group Leader is basically a small group leader for the hall on which he resides. Since the position is open, it's possible that I could step up and do it and be Cov Group Leader myself.

Door #5: There are two freshmen who live directly across from me who were told that they could do co-Cov Group Leaders if they both do it. An option I have is to let them do it by themselves. Funny story. As I started typing this, I heard them talking in their room about going to talk to the person who would be in charge of it about doing it. Earlier in the day, they talked to one of our two RAs (Resident Assistants) Luke about doing while even earlier in the day I talked to the other RA Jordan about me doing it. So that's really interesting. Maybe this door is a door that just got opened.

Door #6: Still on the same topic, the two freshmen last night asked me about leading worship for the Cov Group if they did it. That's another option.

Door #7: Me being Cov Group Leader and asking the two freshmen to help me out so they get experience and maybe go on to do it next year.

Door #8: Letting them do it and I just attend and not have a leadership role at all.

Door #9: Not even be a part of the Cov Group. I didn't participate last year in my hall's cov group for quite a few reasons so not having a role in cov group at all is an option too.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to this next year because I know that God will be faithful in whatever way He wants to use me this year. All I can do is wait for His guidance and let Him open doors and close doors as He stands beside me and goes before me.

I feel really scatterbrained right now because of all these things I (potentially) have going on. That being said, I think it's time for some homework. Yam.

God bless you. And you. And you too. Yes, even you.

That is all.

I'm Baaaaaack

Well, I moved in to my dorm on PLNU's campus yesterday. At first when I got to my room I thought I liked my room from last year better but now I'm thinking that I like this one more. It's a little bigger. But I guess we'll see if it still feels bigger when my roommate, Jacob gets here on Sunday. I won't be here when he gets here then so I'm going to leave him a lot of post it notes on his stuff for fun :) They'll say things like "This is my chair. You cannot sit here." or "This is a mirror. Every time you look in it, remember that there's always someone watching you. Right now, it's you. But when you look away from the mirror, it will be me." I'm determined to make this room be a happy place and maybe play some pranks every once in a while if he's a good sport about that. I know that we'll have a lot of fun and good talks and I'm sure God will use us to help each other grow.

I've got nothing to do really for the next day or two but it's been cool to see some of my friends that I haven't seen since last school. I also got to see a couple of the preview students I met last year. That was awesome!

Not much else to report.

God bless.

That is all.

The Father's Love

How much do you think God the Father loves His Son? Just try to imagine that for a second.

A pretty good amount maybe? It’s got to be a lot doesn’t it? It’s pretty much a perfect love don’t you think? Now check out Jesus’ words in John 15:9,

“Just as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

Until a few minutes ago this morning as I was listening to a sermon by Francis Chan, I never really grasped this verse completely. And I still can’t quite comprehend it. But let’s unpack this verse and maybe you can find something that blows you away too…

Once again, this is Jesus speaking here and He says,

“Just as the Father has loved me…”

Stop there for a second. I’ll ask again: How much do you think God the Father loves His Son? Can you begin to imagine the love there? I’ll give you an answer. Listen to this truth - God the Father loves Jesus in a perfect, never ending, unfailing love. The Father and the Son have perfect unity.

Now that’s cool and all but what does this have to do with you and me? Well , there’s more.

“…so have I loved you…”

Just as? In the SAME WAY that God the Father loves Jesus? That can’t be possible… But it is! Jesus said it Himself! Jesus loves you in the same way that God the Father loves Him. So then, Jesus loves you and me in a perfect, never ending, unfailing love. That truth blows me away… I can’t even wrap my mind around it.

And there’s still more! We haven’t even reached the last part of this verse!

“…Now, remain in my love.”

This has a whole new meaning to me. “My love,” Jesus says. “Remain in my love.” It’s almost as if Jesus is saying here, “My perfect love. My never ending love. My unfailing love. I want you to remain in it. Sit. Rest. Be still. Abide in and stay close to my love. It never fails. It never gives up. It never runs out on you. In the same way that my Father loves Me, that’s how much I love you. You are My beloved. I died for you. I live in you. I love you.”

Can you hear Jesus speaking this over you today? Have you been remaining in His love?

Jesus loves you; this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

That is all.

Just In Case You Cared

For the summer, and maybe even when the summer is over, I decided to get a tumblr to talk about non Point Loma related things. If you care to read it, you can find my new tumblr here: http://orindiculous.tumblr.com/

That is all.

Better Late Than Never

Well, all that blogging that I had planned to do the past few weeks never happened. And now the school year is over.

Wow. My first year of college is over. What a crazy year it's been. How could I sum it all up? I really couldn't do it adequately, but I'll go for it.

I've grown so much in my faith and in my character. I've seen a lot of things at Point Loma that excited me and some that upset me. I've made friends and I've lost friends. I've been a part of a great group of friends and I've been a part of not so great groups of friends. I've met people that changed my life just because of who they are. I've met people whose lives I've changed in some way. I've met people that are easy to love. I've met people that are difficult to love. I've had a crush on a girl. No girl had a crush on me though lol. I've thought about the same person every day even though we don't talk any more. I've found things about myself that I love. I've found things about myself that I wish were not a part of who I am and I'm working on them so I can be more like Christ. I've become a better musician. I've met musicians that are extremely better than me. I've been disappointed by people. I've disappointed people. I've learned more and more that there is so much I don't know and so much I'll never know. I've learned that rumors really do spread like wildfire because people just need something to talk about. I've learned that Facebook is a big contributor to this. I've seen how people can surprise you if you give them the chance. I've learned that it's okay to be vulnerable with people. I've learned that sometimes it's not okay to be vulnerable with certain people as well. I've learned that Point Loma is full of people from all different backgrounds, beliefs, and morals. I've learned that Point Loma is a lot like a church when it comes to it's students. Some are there because they want to grow in their faith, some are there to help others grow in their faiths, some are there because they're forced to be, some are there only for the girls (and there are a lot of girls), some are there only to play sports, some are there only for the beach, some are there and aren't sure why they are there. I've met people who I might never see again because they're leaving the school. I've met people who I believe that the Lord placed in my life for a big purpose. I've been hurt by people. I've been comforted by people. I've read though most of the Old Testament and not for a class. I haven't taken a Bible class and still read my Bible more than some students who were in a Bible class. I've had periods of time where I felt and saw God working in my lives and others. I've had periods of time where it didn't seem like God was doing anything.

I've changed in many ways, yet I've remained the same in many ways. I'm still Orin and I still love Jesus, and I think that's the most important thing.

I don't plan on updating much over the summer but if something super noteworthy, or blogworthy happens, I'll probably blog on it. So keep your eyes out for something new if you'd like.

God bless all of you, all 3 of you, that have followed my journey at Point Loma Nazarene University my freshman year. I hope to continue sharing my journey with you in the future.

That is all.

Writer's Block

Let me start by saying sorry for not posting anything for almost a month! For the two of you who read my blog, I've been unfaithful. I hope you can forgive me. I've started and not finished 3 blogs now not knowing how to finish them. Definitely have a bad case of writer's block.

It's almost finals week and this year has definitely been a ride. I've enjoyed every moment. From the fun times to the not so fun times, God has been so good to me through this school. Can't really put into words all that God has done in and through me this school year.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish up my blogs this weekend!

God bless you guys, all two of you :)

That is all.

Crazy Train edition 2

It's 9:55 PM. Currently, I'm sitting at my home in Oceanside watching a Disney movie. It's called 16 WIshes. It's actually pretty good. I'm super into it. Anyway, let's ignore the inner 16 year old girl in me and my love for Disney movies... I'm actually having a hard time writing this blog because I like this movie so much. It's now 10:06 and I've yet to actually start writing what I want to write about. 10:10 - I just got all warm and fuzzy inside because Abby (the main charecter) and Jay (her best friend) are in the friend stage but we all know that Jay has had a crush on her forever but they just had a moment where they looked deep into each other's eyes. Abby doesn't know it yet, but she's gonna fall in love with Jay by the end of the movie. Jay won't have to hide his feelings anymore, he'll be able to tell Abby how he feels and she'll finally realize that she loves him too... Wow. I've gotten too emotionally invested in this movie. It's now 10:33 and I haven't gotten to the topic of this blog yet... Oops. Okay let's do this.

I left campus today at 6:04 on the campus shuttle to catch the 6:45 Coaster train back to Oceanside. Riding the off campus shuttle is a lot of fun by the way. It's fun to see a bunch of your school friends who often are just desperately needing to get off campus for any reason. And it's cool to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while. The off campus shuttle, often called the "fruttle" to mean the "freshman shuttle," is actually pretty convenient. You can get to some pretty convenient pla-- OH MY GOSH ABBY AND JAY JUST KISSED! THAT WAS SO CUTE! Sorry... Well the movie is over now. It was really good. Anyway, as I was saying... You can get to some pretty convenient places including but not limited to Target, Trader Joe's, Starbucks, and the Old Town train station, which was my destination today.

Side note: The Suite Life on Deck is on now. And it's crazy to me how much Dylan and Cole Sprouse have grown since the last time I saw this show. And they have a whole bunch of freckles everywhere. Weird.  But I love this show. End side note.

After I had ridden the train for just under an hour, I was in Oceanside and got off the train. This lady came up to me and asked me about her hair trying to figure out if it looked good or not. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it but she insisted for me to "Be completely honest!" She was really quirky and crazy and outgoing. It's hard to even describe her in words but she was definitely entertaining. I'd guess she was in her late 20s or older 30s.

She got a phone call and I overheard her talking about random things from the person on the train who farted to mentioning her church and talking about how she wanted to ask God why he created poop and farts. It was really funny to listen to so I couldn't help but laugh. After she was off the phone she said that I was going to be her friend for the next hour while we waited for the next train that we both had to take to continue our seperate journeys. It was brought up that I go to Point Loma so she asked, "Oh so are you a Christian?" I said yes and then she said "Oh this is great, I love when I get to meet a brother in the Lord."

It was super funny because she started to talk about how people who grow up in the church are often not serious about their faith. This is often true, as I've seen, but it's definitely not always true. I mentioned that I grew up in the church and that I'm a pastor's kid and she said, "Oh. Well I'm going to go now," and she jokingly turned around and walked away because apparently, I wasn't like other grew-up-in-the-church people that she'd met.

Like I mentioned, she was sorta weird, but fun and she made me walk to Burger King with her so she could get some food. We got to talk about a whole bunch of random things like the Bible and church and other things relating to God.

I guess I don't have all that much to say because I can't detail the whole conversation but I just want to say that it's a cool thing when God brings people together in a place like a train station just for an hour and you can walk away changed. She gave me some nuggets that I'm now able to use in my life and she said that I inspired her. It's just cool to see how God works.

That is all.

:)

Just in case you didn't catch it, my last blog was an April Fool's joke. I have no intention of dropping out of this school.

That is all.

I'm Dropping Out Of Point Loma

I'm dropping out of Point Loma.

That is all.

Questions?

I'm realizing that I've never answered questions here.

So, if you have any questions about Point Loma or anything having to do with campus life, things to do, etc., comment on this blog post and I'll do my best to answer your questions :)

Gospel Choir

So there's this club called VIP (Voices in Praise) Gospel Choir on campus. I'm a part of it. I encourage anyone to do it. It's amazing getting to come into the presence of God with a huge choir and invite others to join. We had our first event last night and it was SO great. I've got another one today in a couple hours. I'm really excited. I don't really have much of a voice left though.... I'll just pray that God gives me my voice back!

That is all.

Friday, Friday, Gotta Get Down On Friday

Yesterday, Friday, the 18th was a GREAT day for me. But, being honest, it had it's ups and downs. But the ups defintiely outweighed the downs this time around. I'll start from the beginning.

7AM woke up in the morning. Had a bowl of cereal.

Had Music Theory class but I had to leave halfway through because the Freshman band was playing in chapel this morning. So I left for the sound check.

Chapel was SO great overall. We played Blessed Be Your Name, Cannons, and then threw in the chorus of Majesty, and closed with the bridge of Jesus Paid It All. I found out afterwards that the sound guy and the head of the worship ministries at Point Loma both thought that this was our best set we've done thus far. And I had multiple people tell me they really enjoyed it. Knowing that God used us to bring people to His throne is such a great feeling.

After we played, we had the guest speaker, Pastor James White. He was a black preacher from North Carolina, my place of dwelling for 11 years. Knowing that and that he was black (like me ;), I knew this would be something special. And it was. He spoke on John 20:24-30 (great passage I recommend reading). The passage is about Thomas and the other disciples seeing Jesus after His resurrection. He spoke about our doubts and that we all have them. But he mentioned that there are good doubts, and this was the type of doubt that Thomas had. He didn't doubt Jesus in a negative way; he wanted to believe, but he just couldn't believe without seeing. And when he saw, he was able to believe again.

Two things that really stuck out to me from his sermon were these things he said:

"Even when you lock the doors of your life, Jesus still finds a way in." - this quote came based off of verse 26 where it says the doors were locked but Jesus appeared inside anyway.
"It's not over even when you think it's over." - Pastor White said this many many times and it was a very key part of his message. Thomas thought it was over. He thought Jesus was gone, but it was not so. Jesus rose from the dead and fulfilled what He said He would do.

After chapel, I had another class, and after that, I was blessed with the opportunity to have great conversations with great people and a really great lunch. Side note: If people ever tell you that the caf food at Point Loma is always bad, they don't know what they're talking about. They have GREAT food sometimes. End side note. After class I got to hang out with more awesome people and I had an awesome time doing it. I love being able to be done with school and then just lounge around and do nothing but fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

So then I went to a student ministry called Beacon of Light. Beacon of Light is a homeless outreach ministry that goes to downtown San Diego and ministers to people by giving them food, Bibles, and sometimes simply just someone they can talk to. This was my first time going to Beacon of Light and actually my first time going to any off campus student ministry. Me finally going may or may not have been because a cute girl asked me to go. Regardless, that wasn't the important factor in me going. I really felt God leading me to go last night.

On the car ride there, I was praying for God to speak through me and I believe that He answered that prayer in a powerful way that I didn't expect. God definitely did far more than I asked or imagined. (Ephesians 3:20). We started off in a parking lot and one homeless man walked up to us right away. I engaged him in conversation and he seemed to be rambling and I almost dismissed him as being cenile or crazy or something but as I listened, I found truth amidst the vague wording. His name was Teddy and he was talking about God's blessings and one thing he said actually stuck with me. He uttered multiple times, "Truth is your greatest ally." and then went on to talk about how truth covers you and God honors those who tell the truth. It was interesting to say the least.

Teddy left, and we prayed as a group and then we split into two groups. We ran into a bunch of different people and some of them were really characters. They were a lot of fun and it was actually really interesting to see how many of them talked about God. One man said, "Well, He's taken care of me this far. I know He will keep me safe until it's my time to go. I'm not done yet." He was I think in his 70s. Having a faith like that, knowing God was the only one sustaining him was inspiring.

One final story about this I want to share was my last experience of the night. I'll make a long story short. As I was talking to one group of people, I saw a younger looking guy sitting by himself and felt the Spirit leading me to talk to him. So I did just that. He was 21, named Alex. It was really crazy talking to him. He actually had weed on his lap when I sat next to him and as we were talking, he started to roll it. I honestly don't remember how the conversation started but I just know that God was speaking through me through the use of Scripture and just trying to tell him that there are better things in life than getting high, that it's only a temporary feeling but God can be a lifelong and permanent feeling. Another girl joined our conversation halfway through and I could tell God used her story to. She was able to relate with Alex and I could tell that he was really listening to the both of us. We didn't end up leading him to Christ or anything like that, he wouldn't even let us pray with him. But, I felt like we brought him close to something that would give his life meaning, something he did not feel. His heart was hard but I could tell that is softened a little bit that night. He has a lot of junk in his life from being homeless to not knowing his parents to things that I didn't even get to hear about, but I know that God loves him and wants to reach him too. I know He has plans for a future and a hope for this man (Jeremiah 29:11).

I definitely think I need to go back and serve in Beacon of Light again next week if I have the opportunity and try to talk to him again.

We drove back to home sweet loma and I played some ultimate frisbee with some of the RAs in Hendricks and other various people. Also my first time doing this, and I'll just say, ultimate frisbee late at night is intense! And a lot of fun.

After we played frisbee, most of us went on a burrito run and I got a CALI BU (if you don't get the reference read this blog). Great times with even more great people.

The Lord definitely blessed me all over the place on Friday.

I love my school.

That is all.

Baggage

Note: this blog is sorta lengthy. If you don't want to read much, I recommend you stop now.

If you didn't stop, congratulations, you're about to read my attempt at tackling a topic we're all familiar with in some way. Here we go.

First of all, how is this blog related to life at Point Loma? It's a loose connection really. It's Spring Break and this springs (pun intended) from my experience away from the school itself but with school friends. I got home from a road trip with some Loma friends a little while ago (blog about the whole trip to come soon) and when I got home, the word "baggage" kept running through my head.

Baggage (noun) - Past history, experiences, or opinions that may have be disadvantageous or have negative effect

We all have baggage. But it comes in many different shapes and forms. Baggage from a dating relationship that maybe didn't end so well, baggage from a tough family life and/or childhood, baggage from a traumatic event, baggage from a past mistake or many past mistakes, even baggage from something that you saw or read that effected you in a dramatic way. I have baggage. And if you're human, odds are - you've got some too. Probably not the same baggage that I have and probably not the baggage that your friends have but it's still baggage.

The beauty of baggage is that we don't always carry it on our own. Tere are moments we experience in which we step away from our bags, if even for a short time. Another beauty is that sometimes, whether we realize it or not, in community with friends, we stop carrying our baggage alone. That's one thing I'm learning about pepole college. I'm just getting back home after a 3 day road trip with some of my friends from Point Loma and I'm seeing how often we help each other carry each other's baggage. It's not always in huge ways but sometimes we'll help someone carry their luggage by walking alongside them. Other times we carry it for them and let them rest from carrying their heavy load. More often, I think, do we watch them carry their bags and their suitcases and feel the burden of their baggage as they carry it. Watching a friend suffer isn't wrong, as a Christian, we're called to suffer with those who suffer. Sometimes that means standing by and just being there, not getting involved. But we never leave them alone.

In 72 hours of being with people, a lot of hours were spent driving. In the car I was in on the way back home, we shared life stories. I can't exactly speak for the other people in the car, but I felt like we shared our baggage. Point Loma students, college students, and people in general come into a friendship already having experienced life apart from one another. If nothing else, we showed one another some of the baggage that we've accumulated over our last 18 or 19 years of life. There is something magical about getting to hear each other's story in an informal manner like a 6 hour car ride. It's not the same as you would share your story in a church small group, or in giving a testimony, it's just you. At least, to the extent that you want to show the real you in that time. As we shared our life stories, I observed of myself and of others that we brought up things from our pasts that hurt us and things that helped us grow. We laughed together at the stupid things in our lives and I could feel that if someone brought up something that hurt them, that we hurt with them. It wasn't necessary to try to fix their problems, because it was in the past for one, and secondly, it's just a part of life.

Life hurts people. Regardless of your background, crap happens. But this isn't surprising. When Jesus walked the earth, he confirmed this. He said, "In this world you will have trouble." (John 16:33) So it's not as if it surprised me about the things that some people have gone through but it sometimes is surprising the extent of which people suffer. That verse goes on to say, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." Good thing that Jesus provides hope despite our troubles. Otherwise we'd be screwed.

This may seem random, but bare with me. Do you know what a yoke is? There are actually a bunch of different definitions of the word, but in this context, let's go with what how the word was used back in the day of Jesus. In that day, when a rabbi, otherwise known as a teacher of the Jewish law, would take someone under his wing of knowledge, the rabbi would invite people to learn to keep the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy). This was called taking "the yoke of Torah" or "the yoke of the kingdom of heaven." Different rabbis would have different interpretations of the Torah, called a yoke. Often, a rabbi's yoke consisted of an extraneous amount of rules and guidlines on how to follow what the Torah said and it wasn't easy to keep all the rules. But take a look at what Jesus says. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Let's bring this full circle. If the yoke that Jesus offers to His followers is easy and His burden is light, then shouldn't the only thing that we, as His followers, carry be light and easy on us? The baggage that we carry doesn't have to weigh us down. If we instead take Jesus' yoke, His burden, and stop carrying ours around wherever we go on our own strength, we'll find that we're no longer weighed down by our baggage and we'll find God to be faithful when we do what the Word says in Psalm 55:22. "Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you."

We've all got baggage, but what we do with the baggage we accumulate is what makes us either grow or suffer as we carry it alone. The good news is that we don't have to carry it alone. We have Jesus and as I'm experiencing, we also have our friends.

Sorry if I seemed to be rambling a bit. God just laid the word "baggage" on my heart when I got home and this is what came of it.

That is all.

Oh Hey What's Up?

HI!


It's been a while since I've had the chance to update my blog. Sorry to those of you who have checked and found nothing.

This blog is really just a what's to come blog.

I'm currently in Castro Valley, CA on a trip with some friends from Point Loma and I'm having a blast.
It's currently Spring Break at my school so we all are visiting a couple of our friends at their houses up here. Tomorrow we're planning to go to San Francisco! I've never been there before so I'm excited. And I feel like God has something in store for me and the rest of the group I'm with when we get there. I don't know what exactly, but I just have that feeling. You know that feeling you get when you feel like God is going to move? Maybe you do, but maybe you don't.

Anyway, like I said, this is a set up blog for a couple more to come. I've been trying to think of some creative things to write about so there will hopefully be one of those. And then I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about our little road trip as well!

God bless you all :)

I love you!

That is all.

Powerful Song: Beloved - Tenth Avenue North

Just wanted to share this song with you all that I've always liked but this afternoon, God really led me to get away from everything and really listen to the lyrics. I feel like I heard it for the first time today when I've heard it a bunch of times. This song is about how Jesus sees the Church.

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need

Give me your life
The lust and the lies
And the past you're afraid I might see
You've been running away from me

You're my beloved

Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
My love it unites us and it binds you to me
It's a mystery

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need

I'm the giver of life
I'll clothe you in white
My immaculate bride you will be
Come running home to me

You're my beloved

Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
My love it unites us and it binds you to me
It's a mystery
You've been a mistress, my wife
Chasing lovers that won't satisfy
Won't you let me make you my bride
You will drink of my lips and you'll taste new life

You're my beloved

Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
My love it unites us and it binds you to me
It's a mystery

Something That Tickles My Insides

I know this is the third blog I've posted today, but bear with me. Grr. (That was a dumb joke, sorry)

Blogspot has this nifty thing that tells me how many people view my blog and it can tell me also how they made their way here. That's not the funny part.

It tells me where my blog has a link if people have clicked it. For example, my facebook, and the Point Loma Loma Blogger website, and my Twitter too. Still not the funny part.

The funny part, to me at least, is that it tells you that if people searched something in Google and found your blog because of it, it shows you what they searched for. In the last week, people who have typed the following things have stumbled across my blog.

1. black guys in toby macs band
2. my heart christ's home tagalog
3. plnu cider celebration
4. songs brandon heath played at the toby mac concert
5. toby mac bass player todd lawton

In and of itself, none of these are that funny of search terms. I just kinda find it funny that someone typed in, "black guys in toby macs band" that my blog is the first result.

Maybe I should just find what the top searched item is on Google and make a blog post about it. Then, a bunch of people who are looking for that, will find my blog instead. And then I will become an internet phenomenon right? That's how this works I'm pretty sure.

I need to go write a paper now. And then go to church :) :) :) :)

That is all.

Freshman Chapel Band Takes 4 & 5

I'll keep this one short relative to the last ones about us playing in chapel.

We played twice in two weeks which was really cool to get that much playing time. First we played in Time Out (the Wednesday night service) and it was phenomenal. We played a total of nine songs I think because we were alloted some extended worship time. It went very well and God was definitely glorified that night. This particular night was in the midst of Spiritual Renewal week, so there were a lot more people there than usual and the energy and passion in the room seemed a lot higher too. I know I encountered God being on the team and from what I've heard, other people did too.

Secondly, we played this last Wednesday morning in chapel. A friend of ours actually recorded one of our songs. Haley led this song (link to her blog), called Only You Can Satisfy. You can't really see me, but that's okay.

Anyway, we also played that song that I wrote Reaching For Me and another song called Lord Let Your Glory Fall. Funny story. After we were done, a guy came up to me and said that he really liked that first song (which was my song) and asked me what it was called and said he wanted to learn it. I told him, hoping he wouldn't ask who wrote it, but obviously that's what he was trying to find out. I reluctantly had to tell him that I wrote it to which he complimented me cuz he really liked it and yeah. So there you go.

I'm so humbled and in awe of the fact that people really like the freshman band. Like... they really like us. And they can really worship with us. I think that's the coolest thing. And we'll see what God wants to do through us next time :)

That is all.

Tunneling and Broomball

Hello to you all,

What a crazy week I've had. I've had some major ups as well as some minor downs but God has been good to me this week, as if anything else should be expected.

I really don't have much to say to describe everything that went on this week but some exciting things I did this week included what is called tunneling and playing Broomball / broom hockey.

What is tunneling? Well, what we did is we walked for about, I don't know, a half hour or more I'd say until we got to the entrance of this water pipe and we climbed down undergound into it and then traveled through until we got out the other side which happened to be the harbor.

Here's me and a couple friends as we started to head out to the tunnel. I had a little head flashlight that came in handy as I volunteered myself to lead the way through the tunnel even though I had never been before. Needless to say, I was very afraid because I didn't know what was in that tunnel. I may or may not have been holding someone's hand pretty much the whole way cuz I was scared. It didn't help my fear to hear everyone once in a while a car drive over the pipe which made an extremely loud noise while we were down there. It startled me quite a few times and I actually hit the floor a couple times. I must've been imagining that there was someone headed towards us in the tunnel with a gun. Obviously that didn't happen, but when you're scared, you don't think logically. Why would a crazy murderer jump in to the harbor, swim to the water pipe and begin walking through with gun drawn ready to kill a bunch of college students for no apparent purpose? Well, I guess there are plenty of reasons if you're crazy. But I digress.

As you can see, there have been many a people that came before us and tagged up the place. We were informed by our "guide," Ally Beardsley, that some years back, some Lomans came down with face masks and tagged the tunnel. This was back in a time when the Young dorm was cool and called themselves the Young Empire. "Young Empire" was tagged all along the tunnel walls.

Side note: Ally is also a Loma Blogger and you can find her blog here (beardsfest). End side note.

So basically, it was an awesome time with awesome people. Great fellowship :)

The next night, I went to the ice rink and played broomball. Broomball (or broom hockey) is a game you play on an ice rink while wearing tennis shoes and a bunch of people just hit a ball around trying to score a goal. Not much to say about that except that it was a whole lot of fun and there were massive amounts of people. It was so cramped but so awesome. I think that I scored about 5 goals and knocked over a couple people. I take more credit in knocking people over.

So that's about it for now. I haven't had many blog worthy things come up lately. Leave comments on my posts and I'll try to respond to them as quick as possible!

That is all.

Crazy Train

"Is that a guitar?"

I look up and see a girl probably in her twenties smiling at me and right at that moment, I knew she was a little off. She wasn't normal and I could see it and I felt something strange going to take place.

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at a train station in Oceanside after taking the Coaster from Old Town there. The Coaster ride was a very interesting ride. It turns out that I and two other people from Point Loma were taking the Coaster this day and we were all going to Oceanside. None of us knew the others were going and I didn't even know one of the girls that I rode with was from Oceanside but nonetheless, we were all going to ride the train together. Definitely a God thing. I'm sure we were all prepared for a train ride alone but we were brought together instead. Small world. Big God.

I had a good time on the Coaster with my old friend and my new friend and after we got off the Coaster we all parted ways. I had to take another train, the Sprinter, over near my house. I sat down at a bench to wait for the Sprinter to arrive and that's where I'll pick up the story again.

"Yeah. It is."
"That's cool. I play bass. What type of music do you like to play?"
"I really only play worship music. I work at a church."
"Oh, so you're a Christian?"
"Yes."

She smiled oddly. There was something in her eyes that I could read that made me think she wasn't well.
I knew at this point that I wasn't in for a normal relaxing train ride. My mind was immediately led to Ephesians 6:11-12

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places"

I wasn't going to be wrestling with this girl. There was something inside of her that was not right. I just knew it.

She replied, "That's cool. I believe in Jesus. But I'm not a Christian."
"Oh? How does that work?"

I can't recall exactly what she said here, but she went on to mention that she believed in the other people like Buddha and Mohammed, reasoning that Jesus is just one of many of God's chosen people.
"How did you reach those conclusions?"
She replied, once again with an odd smile, "God told me. I pray to Him all the time. I speak directly to Him."

"Oh really? God wouldn't tell you all that."

Then I continued to speak as God brought me words about how Jesus is the only one of those people who is truly the Son of God. The Bible also came up and she talked about how she doesn't believe in all the Bible because it's written by man. I don't remember exactly what was said after that but I knew that God was taking over and I was in for an interesting ride.

The Sprinter arrived and she turned to see it and then looked back at me and said, "Have a nice day!" with the same smile that she had had from the beginning.

She boarded the train as did I and God led me to sit in the same section as her but not too close. I sat for a while and prayed about what I should do and God directed me towards Scripture. Specifically, to the book of Romans. I'm not exactly sure why that book but what I do know is that God spoke to me in that moment and told me that I needed to pass on His message to her. He wanted me to tell her that she was being tricked by many evil spirits and to read the book of Romans. I knew that wouldn't be an easy thing to say to someone and how would I bring that up?

No sooner than I had thought about that, she came and sat a row across from me and wanted to keep talking. I knew I had to tell her that message but God said wait until you get off the train. She tried to make small talk with me and asked me my name. Her's was Jessica. She tried to give me a CS Lewis book claiming that God told her to give it to me and I hesitantly accepted it.

Seconds later, a man who stenched of alcohol came on the train and sat directly beside me. Now, I had my Bible in my lap from when I was looking up Scripture to show Jessica and this saw the Bible.

"You have your sword! And [pointing to my guitar] the axe!"

He was delusional and not right in the head either. That was obvious. He started to rant about random things and asked me 4 different times, "How are you doing my brother?" He also had a glazed look in his eyes and I knew it was more than him simply being drunk. And I knew that these two people weren't just randomly placed in my life. I just didn't know what to do. I was physically corned because I was sitting in a window seat. But I wasn't afraid, I knew God was with me in these moments.

Jessica asked the drunk man his name and he tried to tell me his name was Artemis something at one point and then Lazareth at another point. Then I think he pulled out an ID that said he was mentally handicapped I believe. His name was Tom Warner.

So there I was, with Tom and Jessica on the train and my stop was coming up soon. My words now, I'm sure, aren't adequately describing what I was going through at the time. I really believe that I was sensing that I was "wrestling" with "spiritual forces of evil" and that Satan had Jessica and Tom in a bind of which they could not set themselves free.

My stop arrived and I knew I had one last moment to say something. I gathered my things and then boldly declared as if I was talking directly to their souls which appeared to contain evil spirits.

I spoke with authority and conviction; my speech was direct, blunt, and cutting in this moment. They were not my words. I didn't think them. They just came out. And I looked them directly in the eyes and I felt this compassion running through me as words came to my lips. I was speaking with love because I had been given a compassion for their souls.

"I want you both to listen to me. You [pointing to Jessica], you are being tricked by many evil spirits. Jesus is the only way. You need to read the book of Romans and learn to believe it. You're being tricked by many evil spirits. And you, [now point at Tom] you are an alcoholic. That is sinful. Seek help and actually keep with it. You need help. I'll pray for both of you."

Then I left the train and continued to pray. I have no idea if my words will do something in either of their lives or if my words will enable them to be set free. I have no idea what they would have talked about once I left or any clue what their interaction would be. All I know is that I was obedient.

I am now reminded of something my youth pastor once preached, "God is more concerned with your obedience that your impact." It doesn't matter what takes place now as much as it matters that I was responsive to His Spirit's leading. I don't know what exactly took place yesterday evening on that train, but I know I did what I was supposed to do.

That is all.