Lessons from the Skatepark

I put that on my skateboard today. In case you didn't notice, the chord Gsus--when pronounced--should sound very similar to Jesus. And it's sweet that the sustained chord has a dominant sounding 4th, which is C... for Christ!

So I went to the skatepark today, my back is doing much better, praise the Lord; I've been praying a lot for it, especially since I'm leading a skate camp in a few weeks. I just read the book Crazy Love, by Francis Chan. I was talking to God when I was at Purdue last week, and I realized that I'd become kinda numb to all of God's immense majesty. When I'd hear about God's breathing of stars, His control of the waves and the wind, His incredible grace... it just kinda slipped past me. In a culture and society where we constantly are one-up'ing each other and working aimlessly to be clever and introspective (not always bad things), I've shuffled the greatest glory of all away as boring and run-of-the-mill. The Lord has helped me, and one way I was blessed was by reading that book. It takes work on my part, especially on some Sundays, to really revel and praise God for the absolutely jaw-dropping list of acclamations. He breathes stars! WOW; and He has stitched every hair into my body--on my arms, feet, head, everywhere!

I enjoy a poetic look into everything God has done every once in a while, but I realize that it does take some work (e.g. breaking down mental barriers that I put up) during worship/praise time in song to really let myself marvel at Jesus.

And so I was at the skatepark today, and it's the same skatepark I've "grown up skating," ever since I started a few years back. I always talk to people about going there, and they're all like,"Naw, I go there all the time, I'm bored." I, on the other hand, love skating it; it has everything I need: transition, quarter pipes, grind boxes, wedge ramps. It might be one of the best parks I've been to, too, I could skate it forever. Plus, it's the closest park to my house. I was practicing my mini ramp skills and I thought about what I had just learned: no matter how many times I hear that God hangs the Earth on nothing, it is no less incredible every time! And just like I go to the same skatepark, I still learn new tricks all the time and it is well-rounded for any skater, really. The same with God's majesty; we can think about it and get bored or just overlook it, or we can really embrace it and just stare in awe at it. Like a little child seeing fireworks for the first time, or a sea turtle.

The Gospel of Mark

I'm back at Purdue to help with some coffee shop stuff. It's coming along nicely, they did a lot of work in the week I was gone! I'm in a computer lab and just saw my friend Ashley Isenberg, and then I got a call from a mysterious 231 area code that two or three times called and didn't leave a message. I picked it up, and it was Spring Hill Camps, telling me that they are understaffed, and need counselors for the summer. I told the guy I didn't know what my availability was, if at all, but that I was semi-interested and told him to put me down as a "yes" so I could get more details about it.

I woke up this morning and read Mark 3-4. I'm trying to better understand why Jesus did the things He did--like how He went about doing things and saying things. There are a couple times in the Gospels when I'm like.... "What? Why did He do that..." But today, I was just flat out flabergasted. In Mark 4:10-12, Jesus tells why He uses stories to speak to the people. Jesus says to the Apostles in verse 11, "You can know the secret about the Kingdom of God. But to other people I tell everything by using stories so that: 'They will look and look, but they will not learn. They will listen and listen, but they will not understand. If they did learn and understand, they would come back to me and be forgiven.'"

The Scripture Jesus is quoting is from Isaiah 6:9-10. I read this passage after reading the quotation in Mark 4. I still do not understand it. I just don't get it. Jesus is basically saying--it would seem--that He speaks in stories so that people will not understand. WHAT? Is this the God that came down to save us? He knows that He is speaking in stories on purpose. This doesn't call my faith into question; it actually makes me love Jesus even more, in light of Isaiah 55:8-9. I want to get a hold on this, if it's possible. Maybe it has something to do with what Jesus said earlier in Mark 2:17, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners."

I don't know. If you have any thoughts at all, please share them with me. I'm trying to get a grasp on how Jesus lived so that I can have a more eternal, Godly perspective on things that happen in my life.

the Train

So I came up to Purdue, and I saw this train resting on a bridge between Lafayette and West Lafayette. I parked my car, battled through dense foliage, and arrived smack in front of the train! The video at the bottom is a documentation of my adventure. I saw some sweet bops (bird-of-prey, for the lay person), and had a good ol' time just running around. I'm having a great time at Purdue seeing some very dear friends, talking, playing guitar, writing a song on piano that I can't wait to record, and I'm about to go get some boba, or bubble, tea. Thank God, life is very good!

Oh, and the song in the background is a song that I wrote this past week, it's called Malachi, and it's about the book Malachi in the Bible--I was inspired to write it after I read it this past weekend.