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.

Nature and the Church

I went to Eagle Creek Park after dinner tonight, just wanted to get out in nature, use my annual pass that I bought, and get away from what man has made to just spend time marveling at God's creations. I saw the most beautiful flower there, definitely my favorite that I've ever seen. And I heard a bird's call that totally surprised me: it was high-pitched and then immediately low. It was really cool. I saw a woodpecker too (the last time I was there I saw a 2 foot tall woodpecker! It was crazy to see!), and it was banging on trees--fun to watch.

I was looking at the grass all around me, and all the ponds that were flooded, the picnic tables that were submerged that left pond scum on all the grass from the water's gradual recession. Then I began to look at how water, a liquid, was rolling over some of the logs nearby. It's so mind blowing how solids, liquids, gases interact on a daily basis with one another. I love looking at the coast, and where lakes are, because there are two, even three states of matter interacting all at once, but each keeps the energy that they have. The water doesn't transfer its higher energy to the land and make the land like water. Fascinating!

And as I was sitting there, I felt God teaching me through His creation. I was looking at the grass, and the trees, and the branches overhanging the water, and just how beautiful it was. Then I started thinking that nature is the same everywhere; it's like God just created a template for what it would generally look like, a system that would govern it all. I've been thinking about different churches, with my graduation coming near and all, and just wondering if I would fit into one. So then I felt ministered to that churches all across the world are like nature. There's the same basic principles and ideas that govern them, but they're all arranged differently and some are in different climates, etc. Just like different areas of forest are all different--like where the trees are planted, how their branches stretch, the grass that grows around them, etc.--but they all have the same wind blow on them, the same Holy Spirit is at each church and moves according to what God wants. God is the best Gardner I know, He plants the best seeds and knows just when to prune his vines so that they produce the most fruit. And all of nature is beautiful, no matter how it's arranged, because it all has the same essence--just like the churches of the world that form THE CHURCH.

Now, I'm not saying that churches aren't flawed, full of broken people who can mess up perfection, but isn't it wonderful to be able to trust our brothers and sisters everywhere because they have the same Spirit as we do! And God reminded me that no matter where I go in life, He will always be there. Not to mention I went back to where the red-wing'd black birds were and just listened to them.

The Birds and the... Trees

I went on an adventure a week or so ago and discovered my new favorite bird: the red-wing'd black bird. I took some videos of it and have been memorizing its calls so I can know when it's around. It's standard equipped with a very distinct call, so I can acknowledge it quite easily. I've been to a few different skateparks within the last week, and I've heard the bird everywhere I go. I was at the new Noblesville skate park, and I heard a few red-wing'd black birds just trilling it up; it was great! It's a small way of reminding me that God is, in fact, everywhere I go--whether or not I recognize Him. It's been a good reminder as of late.

I sometimes find it hard to understand God's presence. I feel like when God enters a room fireworks should start going on, and trumpets should blast, and confetti should stream from my mouth, and there should be a delicious cake (preferably funfetti), and many other festivious things going on to announce the arrival of our great and glorious King! But alas, these things don't happen, that I'm aware of. I wonder how such a majestic and mighty presence can be so easily forfeited, all because my radar isn't tuned in to the right frequency. I want to know if Jesus shows up, wherever He is that I am too. I'm trying to figure this one out; but maybe there's nothing to figure out. I'm reaching, digging, surveying, preparing, latching, loosing, straightening, mustering, conceding, and grabbing all that I can--that I'm aware of.

I suppose I "expect" those things because that's how I would welcome a great ruler. I know that He doesn't need anything: not us, not possessions, not angels, not demons, nothing. But He freely gives to all that ask. I'm not sure that I'm entirely going to start asking for the fourth of july in my bedroom, but I wouldn't put it past me.

Here's a short video of me and my friend Steve Hill skating at the new Noblesville park (me: f/s noseslide shuv-out; steve: kickflip f/s board to wheelie stall; me: fakie f/s big spin). Steve's a great guy, and he's not a bad skateboarder either.

Word Game

I was in Chick-Fil-A the other day and I was looking at a poster of their Ice Dream desert treat. I was reading all of these descriptive adjectives like "delicious," "tasty," "satisfying," (okay that last one was a joke) and how I thought that it would alter my previous thinking about it. And I decided that, well, if someone wants an ice cream cone while they're at Chick-Fil-A, they're going to get one whether or not they see the sign that says they are delicious. And would a restaurant advertise something that was pungent or uncouthly produced? The safe answer is: probably not, at least they wouldn't describe it that way to prospective clients.

So I started playing mad lib with the advertisement. And I thought, what if each of those food-related terms were replaced with something completely odd. "Yes, I'd like a comfortable Chick-Fil-A sandwich with a side of muscular waffle fries, a moral--yet homely-- Coca-Cola Classic to drink, and a medium, baggy shake." It's my pleasure...

Turtles Schmurtles

Today I went to Eagle Creek Park to spend some quality time with God. I took a trail I've never been on before and headed out with my Bible and a bottle of water. I really wish I would have brought my camera to capture some of the things I saw, but I'm sure they'll still be there in a few days or a week. I was finishing up my quiet time and decided to go ahead further on the trail I was on. So I went and I was taken to a small strip of land that was surrounded by the resevoir on both sides, and people were fishing there. I told God that it would be really sweet if I could see a turtle, because I really like their shells and how they are like a living tank, kind of. I saw some ducks on the way, too. I like them very much, because they're the all-terrain animal: land, air, and water. They're living boats!

So as I was walking, I was stopped suddenly in my tracks by the shrill call of a red-winged blackbird. I have never been so close to one, only five feet away from it perched in a tree. It ruffled its feathers and screamed at me, as if it were nature's fire alarm. I was awe-struck because I loved the contrast of the straight black feathers and the adornment of the red splotch on each wing, undercut by a small stripe of yellow. It was very beautiful. Then it flew away and I followed it for awhile until I lost it.

I was walking back to my car, and I saw two birds "flirting" in the air just to my left. They looked like buzzing, birding flames of energy and immediately captured my attention. They both stopped and perched, and what I saw was a dark counterpart soufflé'd with historically vibrant, electric, deep orange. It resembled the form of a swallow, but with most of the coloring of an oriole or american redstart. Truth-be-told, it reminded me of a descendant of a phoenix, because it just had a glowing presence. 

Needless to say, I never saw a turtle today. But what I saw was much, much better. It really blew me away: how magnificent the animal world is, and fascinating to boot! It reminded me, too, that the things I ask God for usually are temporary and subject to my limited expectations. But the things that God has in store are much greater than I could ever imagine, and in this case, were subject only to the marvelous beauty of His creation.