Brevity is Nice

So Spring Break is definitely over, and school is absolutely back in session. Tonight and tomorrow I am working frantically on a respondent's brief for Law and Public Policy, but I thought I would give a quick update on the events from the past week.

-The Lady Mustangs ended their playoff run in the Final Four of the NAIA. This was their first ever Final Four appearance.

-In the Big Dance, J.J. and the Blue Devils lost, crushing my heart and my bracket. At least Florida made it, but honestly...who picked George Mason? I'm sure some George Mason alums are looking like geniouses in their office pools right now.

-On Wednesday, the former mayor of Santa Clarita, Cameron Smyth, came and spoke to some students here at TMC. He talked to us about his experiences in politics as well as Kevin Korenthal, who effectlively is the chairman of the Santa Clarita Valley Republican Party. The evening perked my interest for more involvement in local politics.

-Check this out: God's grace not only justifies those who believe in Christ, it sanctifies us, and someday by God's grace we will be glorified. That's amazing grace.

-Dr. Behle has started talking about the Sermon on the Mount in New Testament I. His lectures have helped me realize how important that sermon is. I have also read some of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones's book on that sermon. I highly recommend it.

That's all for now. Back to the brief and then off to bed!

Super Spring Break

Spring Break is over, and the piles of homework already loom over my head. But I think I'll take this blogging opportunity to reflect on what a merry time it was.

Last Wednesday, I headed up with Katie Slusher and Ashley Hall to Bodega Bay to join a group of 8 other TMC students at the beach home of the Stewarts. (Group picture above.) We had a blast. We endured a rainy start of the trip by watching March Madness, enjoying good movies like "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," and going to the mall in Santa Cruz. We especially enjoyed the massaging chairs in the Brookstone store at the mall and even got complimented on being a well-behaved group!











The morning definitely broke bright and fair on Friday morning, so I decided to take a stroll to the beach while most of the others were still asleep. I followed a beautiful path down from the house to a deserted beach and enjoyed the morning. I took about 30 pics on the walk; who knew what fun you could have with a sunny morning and a digital camera?












On Friday afternoon, we headed back to the Stewart's house for the rest of the weekend. One of the highlights of the time there was a tour of the Jelly Belly factory, where I learned that Jelly Belly Beans are almost pure sugar. While this may have bothered some in our group, it only encouraged me to buy more! It has to be a great candy when they describe a key part of the production process when a key part of it is "add(ing) four layers of sugar, and then we add four layers of powdered sugar." I stocked up on those things.











On Sunday, we all attended Grace Church of Napa Valley. Pastor John Fernadez preached a great sermon on missions from Acts 4. He started the sermon by talking about how awesome the gospel is--sharing it should be natural! He also talked about the importance of prayer in evangelism and missions.

After church on Sunday, we all headed back to Santa Clarita. Many of us were reluctant to return. We were wishing for an endless spring. While our spring break was only a week long, it was a good time of fun, refreshment, and fellowship with friends.

That's all for the Spring Break update. Now go listen to the "Renewed Life" sermon at Godsong Music.

And Go Duke!

Off to NorCal...

Spring Break is about to really kick in for me as I'm about to take off for Bodega Bay and Napa Valley for the rest of the week. Here's some recommended reading while I'm gone:

Here'a a Washington Post column on Senator Feingold's resolution to censure the President. This sounds like something Howard Dean would do...YEEEAAAGHHH!

Read about a Beautiful Path at Godsong Music.

Check out how March Madness is taking over Together for the Gospel's blog.

Read Proverbs 3-4.

I'm out. Go Blue Devils.

Spring Time

Spring Break is here, and oh, is it glorious! So far I've been relaxing, listening to Travis, working at baseball games, and catching up on both sleep and homework. Last night, Brain Gee and Kyle Ruggles came over, and we chilled in the hot-tub as we talked about everything from spiritual leadership to the greatness of Tiger Woods. Tomorrow I leave to go up north to Napa Valley and Bodega Bay to hang out with friends for the rest of the week. Wow, life is rough...

But Spring Break also means something else...March Madness is upon us once again, and I will be even more into March Madness this year because it will be J.J. Redick's last dance. I've had a lot of fun watching him over the last four years; hopefully, I can watch him go out on top.

With the Big Dance starting this week, I took this morning to fill out my bracket, a challenging annual task. So I set up at the computer with a blank bracket, the LA Times Tournament Preview section, and ESPN.com, and here's the Final Four I came up with.

Atlanta: Duke
Oakland: Kansas
Washington D.C.: UConn
Minneapolis: Florida

Duke and Connecticut are easily the two powerhouse teams in College Hoops this year (comparable to Illinois and North Carolina last year,) and they are the only two teams that have been ranked #1 all year. I think the championship will come down to those two, but that very well may not be the case--we're in for a good tournament.

The Oakland and Minneapolis regions were harder for me to decide. I think that Oakland is the weakest bracket. I have very little respect for Conference-USA, and therefore don't have much hope for Memphis, the #1 seed. (Speaking of smaller conferences, how in the world did the Missouri Valley Conference get 4 teams in the Dance? Ridiculous.) And as much as people like Gonzaga and as cool as a Redick-Morrison showdown would be in the Final Four, I just don't think Gonzaga is that good. They are 1-3 this season against other tournament teams, and they have made early exits the last two years. Hopefully, they'll prove me wrong.

The hard part is over. I've filled in the bracket, so now I can put that one away and get a new blank bracket for what really happens. It should be a great tournament. You don't have to look past this first weekend for what should be some great games.

If you did a bracket, let me know who is in your Final Four, or if you think I'm off my rocker, I probably am. It isn't called March Madness for nothing...

I Love Technology

Last night was an experience in technology for me. It all started with my iPod. My iPod is a pretty nifty gadget. It allows me to carry days of music and movies right in my pocket, to be listened to or watched at my convenience. (Steve Jobs is a genious.)

But technology gets difficult when things break, and last night my iPod would not turn off. This was not good. Instantly, I was thinking, "Why did I spend $300 dollars on this thing?"

So I did what anyone else would do trying with such a technological problem. I went to Google and searched for "my iPod won't turn off." (By the way, the Google guys are geniouses, too.) With seconds I found out that I could reset my iPod by holding down the Menu and Select buttons, and my iPod was working great again in no time.

This experience got me thinking even more about technology. As I was driving home, I thought about how cool a car is. I was operating a machine that travels at 70 mph, while lighting its own way, while serenading me with music I had selected on my iPod. Technology these days...

Last night at church, Pastor MacArthur continued talking about heaven. As I pondered technology last night, my mind also thought about how vastly superior heaven will be to this world. For all the cool technology we have, life is still far from perfect. Things break, people get sick and die, and even some of the technology we have comes at the expense of the environment. And above all this, technology does not have the ability to sanctify us. Steve Jobs and the Google guys aren't going to make us sinless.

However, someday Christians will live in a perfect world. Nothing will break. There will be no sickness, crying, or death. And above all this: we will be like Jesus! We will be perfect and have no sin. That sounds awesome.

Heaven is a wonderful place--I wanna go there...

Wow. It feels good to be posting again. Due to recent events and ponderings, I've decided to try and post a bit more. But because of college and being busy and wanting to do everything and only having time for some things, I'm going to try to keep the posts shorter, while the subjects may be a bit broader and random.

Dr. Jack Simons (a communications Professor at TMC) gave a great chapel message yesterday. The messages in chapel this week are a series on Christians engaging the culture. Simons talked about the importance of Christians knowing what is going on in our world and thinking biblically about it. He gave a plethora of practical tips for how to do this, everywhere from reading magazines to reading blogs. This blog and hopefully blogs to come are a fruit of that encouragement.

He also recommended some more poltical-type blogs, including The Federal Review and Powerline, so I might be reading those a bit more.

Another blog I checked out today for the first time is the Together for the Gospel Blog, where Mark Dever, Al Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, and Ligon Duncan post. (By the way, Mark Dever says that chapel at TMC "was the most impressive Christian college chapel I have seen. Hundreds of students obviously eager to hear God's Word. " How's that for pretty cool?) I'll be sure to be checking out that more.

I also read a great blog today at Godsong Music about prayer by Bradford Smith. Check it out.

That's all for now. "(Wisdom's) ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." -Proverbs 3:17