California is Diverse

Traffic can be ridiculous around Southern California, but you can go a lot of cool places in a short amount of time.

Last Friday, my friend Joseph McCulley and I left my house (where it was 111 degrees) and drove 45 minutes to the beach (where it was 73 degrees). Later that night we went down to a Bible Study at my church and then with a group to Westwood for some sweet Diddy Reese ice cream sandwiches.

On Saturday, Joe and I went down to San Juan Capistrano for lunch with my cousins, their friends, and Christa and Tyler. After that, we drove out to Corona to spend some time with Billy. That night we returned home to Santa Clarita.

But my craziest day of cruising through SoCal was yesterday. I started the day like normal—working in the fitness center at TMC from 6AM to noon. After work, I took Joe down to LAX for his flight home. We left plenty early, and because traffic was light, we stopped by the beach near the airport. Once again, it felt much nicer at the beach than in Santa Clarita. I dropped Joe off at his terminal and then called my friend Derek Johnson, who is also from Texas. I knew that he was somewhere in LA this week on a missions trip and was hoping to meet up with him at some point. He told me that he was in the “Pico-Union District” at the Evangelical Free Church. I had no idea where that was, so I called my mom. Using Google Maps, she located Derek, and I decided to surprise him by showing up at the church. After sufficiently surprising Derek, I was able to spend the next couple hours hanging out with him and others from his church who are spending the week putting on a VBS for inner-city kids.

Although I live about 45 minutes away, the inner-city was a whole new world for me. A group of us went out in the neighborhood and passed out fliers to parents and kids. We were led by a guy named Frank. Frank lives in the inner-city, is a very good graphitti artist, and works with the Nehemiah House (I think it puts on a lot of after-school programs for kids.) Because he speaks Spanish he did most of the talking for our group. I found that more of the kids in the area speak English than the adults. While Frank was talking to one mom about the VBS, I was able to talk with a few kids about how foolish Zidane was in the World Cup Final. Frank explained to me how most of the older youths in the inner-city are heavily involved in the “underground hip-hop” scene. He was describing a totally different culture from what I knew. I’m excited for Derek and the others from Texas as they get to work with awesome people like Frank and minister to the kids of the inner-city.

I left Derek and the inner-city and immediately found traffic on the way north. When I reached Hollywood, I drove up into the hills to a crest near a dog park. From there you can look out over the whole city and then look behind you to see the hills and the Hollywood sign.

When I finally arrived home, I still had sand on my feet from the beach. It had been a crazy day. If only I had brought my camera…

Summer at the Movies...and on TV

Summertime brings with it more time to enjoy entertainment, so here are some of my thoughts.

MOVIES

X-3: The Last Battle- I thought this movie was comparable to the other two X-Men films. It was enjoyable, action-packed, and suspenseful, but nothing legendary. My only question is this: Was this really the last battle?

Superman Returns- I'll start off by saying this: Superman Returns is my top movie for 2006 thus far. This movie will catch your eye with the awesome visuals it offers. On the second viewing, I noticed how cool the diorama earthquake scene was. Unlike other superhero movies (yeah, I'm talking to you, Spiderman), Superman fought against a villain I had no trouble hating. Kevin Spacey did an excellent job bringing the evil Lex Luther to life. Although the movie runs for two and a half hours, the story keeps moving and keeps you interested. However, the dialogue in this movie struggles at some points. (Not quite Anakin and Padme, but almost.) Also, while Superman was a sweet summer flick, that's gotta be the weirdest lvoe triangle ever.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest- Pirates 2 was all about Pirates 3. The purpose of the plot (which struggled and jumped around a bit) was to get the story from the end of the first movie to the beginning of the third. This installment of Pirates lacked some of the witty dialogue of the first and definitely missed the character of Captain Barbossa. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed Dead Man's Chest and think it's worth seeing, even if just to prepare yourself for the next Pirates. The ending got me excited about the possibilities of the third one.

Movies I still want to see: "Cars" and "Naaaccchhhhooooooooo Libre"

TV

Let me start by saying that I don't really watch any TV shows at their regular time anymore. I take the DVD/iTunes route. This summer I have been watching season 4 of "24" and the second season of "Lost."

I'm impressed by Lost. At the end of the second season, the plot is still interesting and not too weird (but let's face it: the plot has always been weird--polar bears?). The second season dragged a bit in the middle, but definitely finished strong. The events of the last few episodes will provide material they can spend the whole next season exploring.

24's fourth season is off to a better start than the second or third seasons. They jettisoned all the old plotlines that were losing their appeal (like Nina, the Palmers, and Kim Bauer) and focus the new season on what we really want to see--Jack Bauer.

This leads to the inevitable question: Which is better, 24 or Lost? I prefer Lost. The main reason I like Lost more is because of the characters and the character development. When I watched the season premiere of the second season of Lost, I felt like I'd been reunited with old friends. Most of the peripheral characters on 24 (with some exceptions) are annoying.

That's a wrap on my summer entertainement. In sports, the Braves are off to a hot start in the second half. They've won their first five games against two NL division leaders, scoring a total of 65 runs. Remember...it's the land of the free and the home of the Braves.

Read the Book

One reason I love summer is that it usually enables me to do more reading than during the school year. This summer reading opportunities have been bountiful with my time working here in the fitness center. Two books I’ve been working on so far this summer are When People are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch and Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp. Both are exceptional.

As I have read these books, I have been encouraged to read another book more—the Bible. By reading the Bible more, I do not mean simply reading for five more minutes everyday. I mean reading the Bible more systematically, reading the whole of the Bible, not neglecting the Old Testament for the New or vice versa.

In my case, I feel that I often neglect the Old Testament. But anyone who neglects the OT is certainly missing out. The things we learn from the OT are endless. We learn about the character of God and the faith of great men like David and Daniel. From the Old Testament we see all the signs point to Christ. Even these few points do not begin to explore the depths of the richness of the Bible.

You cannot put the Bible into a box. You cannot treat the Bible as an encyclopedia and simply use a concordance or topical index whenever you have a problem. Paul Tripp says, “If I handle Scripture topically, I will miss the overarching themes at the heart of everything else God wants me to say to me.” (pg. 27)

Edward T. Welch talks about how these overarching themes apply to combating the fear of man: “Since the entire Bible teaches that the Holy One of Israel reigns, the entire Bible is a textbook on the fear of the Lord, whether it uses that particular expression or not.” (pg. 103) He then shows how we can learn the fear of the Lord through reading about creation and the examples of the patriarchs and the Exodus.

Read the Bible. Read it cover-to-cover. Read it everyday. Even if you slow down in order to focus on one passage or book, still try to be reading through some part of the Bible at a quicker pace.

Many reading programs exist to aid systematic Bible reading. The Disciple Journal puts out a reading schedule that is very useful. You read from four places each day, and it only schedules 25 days a month to help avoid the seemingly inevitable times we fall behind. Maybe you’re having trouble finding a program that you like. Check out this site, where you can download a program you can use to create your own plan.

"Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."
-Jeremiah 15:16

S'More Sports Stuff

Just yesterday, I blogged about how great it is to be a Braves fan because so many of their games are covered nationally on TBS. This morning, I came across an article on the Braves' website entitled, "Braves' run on TBS to end in '07."

While it may be bad news for Braves fans, it seems that Turner Sports has struck it rich. They will get exclusive rights to all Division Series games (first-round of the playoffs) and a series of Sunday afternoon games that they can select.

To be honest this news is not all that shocking. Even over the past few years, TBS has shown less Braves games and more "Friends" and "Seinfeld" re-runs.

Unfortunately, in sports it all comes down to the bottom line. Turner Sports president David Levy (the article calls him a "staunch Braves fan" said, "Unfortunately, we can't have it all, and some things had to give. Ultimately, it came down to a financial situation." Doesn't it always...

Some Sports Stuff

If you have been reading my blog and not yet realized that I am an Atlanta Braves fan, now you know. Ever since I was a wee-lad of five years old, I have sported the Tomahawk Chop. Being a Braves fan has been great for a few reasons. First, we always win. The Braves have won their division every year since I've been a fan. Second, they are easy to follow. Most of the Braves games are televised on TBS, which makes it easy for me to watch them whether I'm in Texas or California.

If you've been following baseball this year, you will have noticed that the Braves aren't doing so hot. Well, I've got good news for Braves fans: We're gonna win the World Series this year.

For the past several years, the formula for the Braves has been the same: start off slow, peak in the middle of the season, cruise to the end, lose in the first round of the playoffs.

Not so this year.

The Braves are starting to put the pieces together. They have the best record over their last ten games in the Major Leagues along with the Padres. This just might be the year the Braves get hot at the right time and maybe even reach the Series as a Wild Card. (During the Braves' run of division titles, other teams from their division have won more championships than they have.)

Then again, it might be the year the Braves miss the playoffs, but I doubt it.

In other sports news, the World Cup ended Sunday as Italy beat France on penalty kicks. Probably the most notable event of the game was Zinedine Zidane's ejection. The French legend was red-carded after he headbutted Italian Marco Matterazi. Let me put this into American: Imagine if Micheal Jordan had come out of retirement to play on a US Olympic Team, been the star of the team, lead them to the gold-medal game, then been ejected for headbutting a guy on the other team in overtime. This is huge.

What was Zidane thinking? I doubt anyone will ever know but Zidane. He must have been lead on by Matterazi, but that is still no excuse.

On the other hand, I must admit that the headbutt was legit. When sports stars lose their temper, they usually shout, throw fists, kicks, and tackles. Zidane, without a word, dropped Matterazi to the ground with his head. However, this incident led to one of the saddest images of the World Cup--Zidane leaving the pitch forever, walking right past the trophy that he would not win.

Profoundly Simple...Simply Profound

Just over two weeks ago, three Medford, Oregon teens were tragically killed in a car accident. All three has just graduated from high school. That Sunday, a memorial service was held for them at Applegate Christian Fellowship. Ben Courson, a former classmate of the deceased and a pastor at the church, delivered a message that proclaimed “you must be born again.” At the end of the service, over 100 teens gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized there on the spot.

While waiting in the drive through at In-N-Out on our way home from a golfing outing (a perpetual breeding ground for great conversations), my dad and I talked about these events. We talked about how easy it is to complicate Christianity and to even become critical of what happened.

But to borrow words from Jon Courson, the message of Christianity is profoundly simple and simply profound. However, I know that I often make attempt to make it much more complex. If someone asked me, “What must I do to be saved,” I would probably begin a five-minute discourse that would end who knows where. But the apostle Paul simply answered that question when he told the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” The jailor did believe, “and immediately he and all his family were baptized.”

Do we complicate Christianity? Do we confuse the message that we proclaim to the world? Do we obscure how the gospel is to affect our own lives? The message of Christianity is simple—it’s all about Jesus Christ. That’s why it’s called Christianity.

I was recently encouraged by watching a short talk by Jon Courson as he talked about the simple message of the grace of Christ. He said, “It’s grace…It’s not legalism; it’s love. It’s not responsibility; it’s responding to what He has done for us. It’s not do, do, do; it was done. That on the cross, Jesus cried out ‘te telestai,’ which means ‘it is finished.’ He did not say, ‘To be continued.’”

The whole Christian life is about Christ. Paul says in Colossians, “As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” If we have indeed been born again, we are free to a whole new kind of living as we have become a new creation in Christ. I know that I need to remind myself of this constantly by preaching the gospel to myself every day. Christians need to be faithful to proclaim and live the profoundly simple yet simply profound message of Christ.

Light Up the Sky

Why does today feel like Monday? Because yesterday was the Fourth of July! I enjoyed Independence Day by hanging out with four generations of Blakeys in Santa Barbara--it was a blast.

Fireworks a perennial Fourth of July highlight. My parents and I had to leave SB before the show began there, but this by no means implies that we missed out. As we drove down the coast, many people were shooting off there own fireworks, and we also got to see a pretty good show in Ventura. But none of this prepared us for war-zone that was Fillmore. Colorful explosions filled the horizon in every direction, and people were lighting-up there own sparklers and rockets in every parking lot. I'm sure the town awoke this morning to find itself covered in six inches of ash. We got our own firework finale as we drove down the hill to our house. Fireworks lit up the sky over the Santa Clarita Valley from a school down the street to Magic Mountain.

Fireworks are cool. They make a pretty loud noise. They're colorful. They're especially good when they're at Disneyland. But fireworks don't last very long. After they explode, the newly colorful night sky quickly fades to black again. But if you look at that sky, you will notice that they are many lights that do not fade out.

The stars light up the sky every night. They stand in stark contrast to the transient sparkles of fireworks. The stars are constantly shining brighter than any fireworks. Our planet even revolves around one.

Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God...There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."

The sky is especially spectacular on the Fourth of July, but each and every night the sky is declaring the glory of God as the billions of stars the he made shine forth.

Fireworks are cool. God is awesome.