This is my next guitar.

It is a cheap Epiphone Les Paul Jr. but the paint makes it.

Only $99 on GuitarCenter.com for all of those thinking of Christmas ideas. :)

I am off to my birthplace, Monrovia, to forget about this life for a while and all of the stuff that comes along with it.

Take care.

Faith and Basketball

Tonight I decided to spend some of my free time shooting hoops. It is has been a while since I played basketball, a sport that at one point my life literally revolved around. Although I am still better than the average joe, it is obvious that my skills are deteriorating with every passing day. Not because I am getting older, rather because of my lack of practice.

I laughed at a particular moment tonight. I squared my shoulders to the basket bent my legs and released the ball that floated through the air with a perfect arch only to hear a loud, "CLANK."

Brick...

I thought it was interesting how a shot could feel so perfect and yet look so bad.

I though back to some of the decisions in my life; One's that happened fifteen months ago, or one month ago and how they felt so right at the time. It was only until after the decisions when I looked back and saw what I did wrong, just like with the jump shot. Without practice, spiritually and athletically, one will never know wether what they are doing is right or wrong. If one is not practicing basketball, they will never know whether their jump shot was a good one. And if one doesn't practice his faith, live it out, daily and have an active, vibrant relationship with the living God, he will constantly be guessing about God's direction for their life.

Interesting Things...

There is a lot to blog about.
My Guys:
I am so thankful for this small group of guys that I have been blessed with in my small group. We used to have a mixed group that had sometimes over 15 people at a time. Now it is only three or four of us at each group but I can tell you that it is surely amazing what I have been learning from these fine young men. Never have I learned so much and been challenged so much in one two hour meeting. I feel that we are really building a solid community and a group that will surely reflect how God's kingdom should be. I have to admit that they are all extremely funny guys too. My cheeks were hurting from all of the laughter. Thanks Gentlemen.
God, please continue to bless this group.
The Rain:
I was very thankful to look out the window and see rain this morning. Finally, a reason to wear winter clothes! These pics are from Tyler Hoehne's blog: www.tylerhoehne.blogspot.com
World Aids Day:
Please tak a minute to recognize this pandemic that has stricken our culture. So many people die and are affected in some way by this disease every day.

OMG ITS GB!!!!

OMG OMG Garth Brooks is coming to play a show at Staples Center. I have to have front row ticktets no matter what!
Garth is the biggest selling artist of all time only second to the Beatles and in my opinion he is the best entertainer that has ever set foot on a stage. Everything I want to be as an artist directly spurs from my years of watching his concerts every every chance I got.
I have to go to this show. My career depends on it. I have only seen Garth once when I was about 14 and this will bring it full circle. I dub it as my last show as a civilian.

Instant Gratification

I was watching a special on CNN about the young voters in our country. When asked a reason why the younger generation has such a problem voting she replied, "I can't make a difference." It immeiately cut away to a shot of Richard Dryfuss and he says, "That's because you are addicted to instant gratification."
How true this actor's words are. Our generation, our culture and sadly even Christianity is addicted to instant gratification. If this decision can't benefit me within the next 24 hours then it is pointless; That is the worldview we have now. How sad.
Much of this problem is due to the technological age and the ability to get things faster and more efficient. But the saddest part of this problem is the fact that I see it in Christians.
One way I see this plagueing Christians is our relationships. American Christians suck at relationships. Plain and simple. We constantly ask ourselves, subconsiously, "What can I get out of this relationship?" rather than, "What can I put in this reationship?" This is the reason I see about 90% of the relaitonshiips in the CBU campus become pitifully superficial and most die wthin months and even weeks. This also affects our relationship with God. My friend Andrew said that this is the main reason for people not praying enough. It is because we aren't patient enough with God, and His plan. We want answers now, Now, NOW and God doesn't work in our timing.
We innately are bad with relaionships and it is something we need to work on desperatley.
Let me know what you think. I will be posting more ways Instant Gratification is affecting our Kingdom.
Blessings.
-age


Artwork above courtesy of Trevor Romain. Check out his blog: http://www.trevorromain.com/blog/

Tell Me...

Why does God give and why does God take away?

Let me know your thoughts...

-age

More Concerns

As some of you may know, I am an avid CNN watcher. I enjoy their comprehensive and unbiased presentation of the news. However, for some unknown reason I was watching Fox News the other day and I finally know why I don't watch it. I had always heard that CNN was stereotypically liberal, leaning to the left, and Fox News is on the right and conservative. I found that I really have to look hard to see any liberal undertones in the news that CNN presents. However, Fox News comes right out and says that they are conservative, giving the viewers proper perspective on their bias. This could be good, but I can't see how.

What bothers me the most, however, was the special that I saw run by Fox called Perspective in Peril, making fun of the name of a current CNN special Planet in Peril. Fox News, instead of doing thier own investigation of the planet's current state, decided to attack CNN personally, asking students at a University what they thought of the special. Their answers were obviously thought out and had the same worldview as the station.

This is not journalism folks. I have never seen CNN, instead of taking time to investigate and present the news, attack another news station. Not only does Fox News come at the news with a bias, THEY DELIBERATELY STATE IT in most of their programs. If you are a journalist, you know that your job is to present the news in an unbiased AS POSSIBLE version. I know that some programs lean a little more than others but this was obviously not Bill O'reily, it was just news.

Sad

Even though most of my views may fall under the conservative realm, I still want to have an open mind and hear both sides.

Currently watching CNN and, oh my, coming up next: Civilian and U.S. troops deaths are down: A Safer Iraq?

Yea, sounds like CNN is real biased.

Still more concerns to come.

Concerns

Blogs perturb me.
I recently took a small seminar on the origination and the idea of blogging and I will never look at it the same. The point of blogging is to give normal people a chance to post up their ideas or thoughts without having to put up with publishing, advertisements or web design issues. The original bloggers were and are, in at least some way, journalists, and blogging was away for them to publish without having to put up with money hungry publishers or cranky editors in the newsroom. I have to consider myself a journalist since that is my concentration, however, I find that I am much different than most of the journalists I come across. However, somewhere along the line, blogging became about people just posting whatever they were feeling. Blogs are now filled with annoying, pointless ramblings about everyday life that no one really reads anyways. Here are some pointers for you bloggers that may help with this hindrance.
-People don't want to hear about your boring everyday life or your thoughts unless you are doing something or are someone of particular intrigue. This includes celebrity blogs or blogs where family and friends can keep track of you if you are on a trip of some kind. An example is my trip to Turkey, which is exactly why this blog was originally created. Carly and Sarah's blogs are also popular right now while they are in Thailand.
-You have to post something that will catch peoples attention. This includes current news, social injustices, etc. However, in order for you to acquire readers, you must have credibility on what you are writing about. For example, someone would rather read an opinion on the exegesis of John from a theology professor, than from a self-absorbed, know-it-all college student sitting in their dorm. Although pure interest sometimes helps people with credibility, very seldom do they know how to put their thoughts in concise, readable formats.
As I was looking at my list of other bloggers I was saddened at the amount of blogs I have that 1. I really don't read and 2. Teach me nothing at all about anything. I want more blogs that inform me about things I don't know! I think that is what they are originally for.
Sorry to all of you who have a blog, titled: "Life", I don't mean to be such an ass but most likely you will get bored with your blog and no one will ever know it existed, unless you give them a good reason to read it. If my blog ever falls victim to any of the faux pas I have listed above, please, please, please let me know, asap.
Keep an eye out for more concerns.