Open Mouth. Insert Fork. Smile.

Original flavor with strawberries.* I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. (4.5 if you want to be technical.) I rate it so because of the taste and consistency, not necessarily the price. This particular cheesecake is pretty soft and creamy. I got it because I wanted to taste the original flavor, but not be boring. My tongue told me it was worth what I paid. I even saved 1/3 of it for later. It still retained flavor and form. Out of the quality cheesecake that I've eaten so far, it's up there in the top 3.

*The Cheesecake Factory

Best Way to Defrost a Refrigerator

Before I left the dorm I managed to snap this picture. Somebody decided they just didn't want to mop up the moisture. The folded paper towel on top has ink scrawled on it: "Please do not touch this!" Oh yes, and it's a public shower stall.

Your Grace

Finished Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace last week. I really liked it. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. This book was amazing! (Pun intended.) I really would suggest that any Christian read it, especially those in ministry. My only critique is that he only talked about one aspect of grace, and that is unmerited favor. i.e., God's love and mercy outpoured to undeserving people. (Eph. 2:8-9) He makes no mention or implication of passages such as I Corinthians 15:10 or Titus 2:11-13. What I'm saying is, grace also includes enabling power. i.e., God giving us the power and desire to do His will.

I would re-read this book as well. It's that good. Yancey does an excellent job of pulling illustrations, quotes, and stories from all cultures and time to illustrate his points. He's got a chapter on forgiveness, a chapter on homosexuality, and so much more. Let me just quote extensively. I think that'll suffice:

"We're all bastards and God loves us anyway."

"I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least"

"Romantic love is the closest experience of pure grace."

"The world starves for grace."

"I learn grace by being graced."

"Grace does not depend on what we have done for God but rather what God has done for us."

"God reserves the right to alter the rules of retribution."

"Paul harped on grace because he knew what could happen if we believe we have earned God's love. In the dark times, if perhaps we badly fail God, or if for no good reason we simply feel unloved, we would stand on shaky ground. We would fear that God might stop loving us when he discovers the real truth about us."

"Yes, he's very fond of me."

"Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God loves us more and nothing we can do to make God loves us less."

"Grace alone melts ungrace."

"Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear."

"We're all oddballs but God loves us anyhow."

"I began to understand that every gay person has heard the message of judgment from the church - again and again, nothing but judgment."

"Grace dies when it becomes us versus them."

"Grace has about it a scent of scandal."

"It is the saints who have a sense of sin."

"Christ accepts us as we are, but when he accepts us, we cannot remain as we are...Every call to
conversion, includes a call to discipleship, to Christ-likeness."

"What God wants is not a good performance, but my heart."

"Blue jeans made a person spiritually suspect."

"The solution to sin is not to impose an ever-strict code of behavior. It is to know God."

"Dispensing God's grace is the Christian's main contribution."

"Every word we say or action we take should reflect God's grace."

"The United Nations reports that over ten thousand people starve to death each day, and most of you don't give a sh--. However, what is even more tragic is that most of you are more concerned about the fact that I just said a bad word than you are about the fact that ten thousand people are going to die today." -quoting Tony Campolo


And there's so much more...So just read the book. You'll be a better Christian for it.

Pomp & Circumstances

I like Edward Elgar. He seems to offer something to every graduate. You know - that somewhat annoying Pomp & Circumstance. It kind of represents the slow, agonizing way in which you get your diploma. It even has words! Dah. Duh-duh-dah. Dah-duh. Da. Duh-da-dah-duh. You get the point. And then they filed out to March of the Priests - uplifting, but not motivating. May I suggest something more along the lines of Super Mario Bros. Theme or perhaps something upbeat like, It's Over by Hawk Nelson, or We Shine by Stellar Kart.

My niece Briana, happened to sit with me and wasn't afraid of being happy for a photograph.

Neither, was Krista (Melissa's cousin), who is a closet philosopher if you just give her some Italian food, coffee and a book title.

Speaking of Italian food. I am still full from Buca di Beppo's. I rawther enjoyed the Apple Gorgonzola, Cesar Salad, Ravioli, Spaghetti, and Coconut Cake. Here we are, minus the white tie and black mortarboard.


Right now, I'm distracting myself from packing. Moving out of the dorm for the summer on Monday. Accordingly, I went dumpster diving for cardboard boxes a minute ago.

[Sorry. No photograph there.]

My Day in Pictures

First, I had my Junior Interview with the Ministerial Faculty this morning. Here's me with my Bible and Portfolio. Notice the tie. I employed color psychology on this one.

After the Concert on the Carpet, (which included an incredible song from "The Incredibles") we went across the river...

and partook of smoothies.

...and searched for books, and coincidentally, good book titles.


My favorite part of the day? I'll leave you to decide.

Postscript: I avoided a minefield of duck poop to take the skyline picture.

IT'S OVER! It's Over! It's over. It's over.

My 5" stack of paperwork for Spring 2010 semester. (Classes include: Daniel/Revelation, Systematic Theology II, History & Literature of the American Holiness Movement, Choir, Greek IIB, Romans & Galatians, Wisdom Literature, Practicum in Drama Ministry)


Comments:

Ryan: That, my friend, is pretty serious
Cortney: Oh my word! I have no idea how big mine is
Chelsea: Nice...That's a lot of paper...That's pretty powerful.
Brennan: Wow. Is that all from this semester?
Jon: That looks humongous
Melissa: Wow. Blog-worthy picture. I believe GBS professors are single-handedly destroying the enviroment.

Hug!

Sam: Good afternoon. I see the assassins have failed.

Rose: Yes, we had a long talk over coffee. They feel under appreciated and want more hugs.

Sam: Tell them I'd be willing to negotiate some increase in PDA's.

Rose: They said they want a Build-a-Bear and four tickets to Barbara Streisand

Sam: What?!? Who do you think I am? The queen of America?

And I've been thinkin a lot...

I feel like a pregnant woman in these last 3 weeks of school. "Push! Push! PUSH."

This Catchphrase

I would like to talk about a whiny catchphrase that seems to have caught on even among Christians, particularly my generation. Many seem to talk about how their life sucks. (Dictionary: informal "be very bad, disagreeable, or disgusting") While I want to balance my response between something like, "Grow up" and "Aw...Let me give you a hug," it seems that such comments are made by people who do not necessarily have a strong biblical perspective. And I say that carefully. I readily admit my tendency to react against something and hold too strong of an opinion [which is immunity to being told you're wrong/paper, rock and scissors they all have their pros and cons]. I also think that it's wrong to compare ourselves to starving kids in Africa (to borrow a cliche) and tell ourselves to buck up because we have it so much better than so many people! (Which is why I kinda get annoyed when people term Nick Vujicic's story as "inspiring.")

Irregardless, nevertheless, notwithstanding, I would like to proclaim a dehortative on the phrase, "My life sucks," and place it against the cohortative, "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." It's a tough balance. Sometimes there is the gritting of teeth. I leave room for sympathy. I exclude all "giddy happy-go-luckiness." But there is something at stake here - our attitude. Prayer is important. I have found that Psalm 34:1 is not a cure all, but it is a proper focus. And if we want excellent, Spirit-led lives...then why not?

Just So You Know

I'm running away and getting married. We're going to the Islands and hiring her roommate as our maid. Probably going over winter break. Just to let you know.

Pre-Pay, Diverse, Tangerine, Cocoa, Car Door

Methinks that my scarf smells too strongly of Ocean Breeze that the bottle accidentally expelled while I was being the test sniffer

Due to the events here at college two high-schoolers stayed in my room. If you can call it that. They went to bed after I did and were packing up when I awoke. When one asked where the bathroom was I offered to give him a quarter which I said he would need to get in. He believed me. I smiled and told him I was joking and that he didn't need the change. He smiled back and told me that I had really gotten him. Took some flack for it online. Some found it hilarious, others found it insensitive. I trust he wasn't emotionally wounded. I'm not bringing out sackcloth and ashes. I would've offered room service, but it's a college dorm.

Made no-bakes without the proper amount of oatmeal. They tasted amazing and most of them looked like pancakes.

Had an amazing evening.

Loves to play guitar.

Is so excited he can work out again.

Thinks he's addicted to abrazos.

There's An Ox In My Ditch

Pulitzer prize winning photos are depressing.

There is no 'E' sound in Louisville.

I'm addicted to mint chapstick.

Naked Death

The Memory Keeper's Daughter. The Heretic's Daughter. The Storyteller's Daughter. The Mistress's Daughter. The Alchemist's Daughter. The Tailor's Daughter. The Calligrapher's Daughter. The Abortionist's Daughter. Fortune's Daughter. Eve's Daughter. The General's Daughter. The Hummingbird's Daughter. The Optimist's Daughter. The Preacher's Daughter. Fiction book titles! I can help you title your book. No, really. All you have to do is pick a noun, an apostrophe and "s," then add the word "daughter." Here's some more actual book titles. The King's Concubine. The Time Traveler's Wife. Ahab's Wife. The Philosopher's Apprentice. The Sorcerer's Plague. I was in a bookstore yesterday morning and was laughing heartily at the book titles. Who tells these people to title their books like this? It's formulaic! Just make the observation next time you go to a bookstore. Oh wait, I've got more! It's also helpful to add words like "plot, death/dying, naked, and last." The Last of the Mohicans. Last Night in Montreal. The Last Battle. Seeing Me Naked. The Death of a Salesman. The Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Death in Venice. Basically, I think some author's are trying to sell the book with the title. Then there's this disgusting craze of Jane Austen knock-offs. I thought we were through with her? Stuff like, Mr. Darcy's Daughter. Rude Awakening's of a Jane Austen Addict. Alright, so I have it! The perfect book title! The Death of the Naked Dogwalker's Daughter.

My new bookmarked web page? Google Translate. I love this nifty little website. You can translate just about anything into any language (text, webpages, documents). English to Spanish and vice versa. Russian, French, Korean, Hebrew, Danish, Yiddish. I recently checked how many syllables the word "eye" was in several different languages. You can learn a foreign language by typing phrases in. The only downside I see to this is in pronunciation.

I was thinking last week about my spiritual heroes. Nobody that I idolize, but people that I thank God for. They made a big spiritual impact in my life as a kid. I think of Alice Trouten. She taught me to develop a deep love for God's Word. I remember the incentive of chocolate or something like that. It didn't matter. The reward didn't last, what lasted was the memorization of scripture. I deeply sensed her love of God. I think of Scott Sobie. Boy, I can't say enough. He taught my pre-teen Sunday school class. I loved that class. The study of the Bible and Scott's passion for discipleship for us young guys impacted me deeply. Their smiles are indelibly printed in my memory. Of course there are others. Of course I could tell stories. But I'm glad that there are people I can confidently point to, and say that they represent Jesus.

I'm in my 4th semester of Greek. It's difficult and fascinating. Meanwhile, I still discover things and I like to share. I find it interesting that the Greek word χαρισμα (charisma) is glossed as "gift, favor." It's also translated as "spiritual gift" in Romans 1:11 - something I didn't know before.

My Christmas and a Couple of Pet Peeves

Christmas was amazing. I got out of the hospital, my family drifted in and finally all eight of us were home. Briana was adorable and it was wonderful to have her home, but when I got woken up by her crying several mornings I just decided in my mind that I was never having any kids. In fact, spending the holidays around so many kids has just been great birth control for me.

Irregardless, I had a wonderful time opening gifts and eating big meals with families. I also refuse to list here everything that I got for Christmas; it's rather pointless. And no I didn't receive underwear, just books and clothes and stuff.

It started snowing last night and I'm so glad! We are getting accumulation and everything is white outside. I love it. It's good payback too, because I was feeling gipped. It's still snowing right now, so that's dope.

Despite the happiness, I still manage to have a lot of stomach pain and stuff. I also caught something last night and felt very nauseated this morning. I vomited mucus and air and it was very painful. I've been trying to sleep it off. I just feel horrible.

I started reading The Church of Facebook recently in a bookstore out of curiosity. I'm afraid it's much too unhelpful but I haven't finished it yet. Basically it talks about how the social networking website changes the way we are connected to each other as people. I don't know about you, but I find myself checking my Facebook account like I check my e-mail, or even when I'm bored, and I hate that. Frankly, there is so much personal communication that we use Facebook to substitute for and I doubt it's very healthy. Sometimes I just feel so impersonal and it's disappointing and sickening me.

Furthermore, a couple of things just bug me about reading books. Firstly, I hate it when the table of contents is very vague. I've seen Tables of Content that are just a bunch of nouns ending in -tion. It drives me crazy. I've started to actually pay attention to the TOC because it usually helps to get an outline, overview of the book whether you are reading it or to see if you want to read it. Somebody needs to tell these authors! Bah. So unhelpful. Secondly, I hate-hate-hate those little quotes from the book inserted into the text. I don't know what to call them. Sneak peeks or previews? Or book quotes? Frankly, I think it's unintelligent to add these. First they distract me from reading the text, and secondly they don't really add anything to the book. If I think it's important I'll underline or highlight it. I don't need you to insert a quote that you think is important or interesting. Sometimes the sneak quotes or just plain dumb, like you just read it and then it quotes it again in the text. I just don't read them because they are taken directly from the book anyway and I'm already reading the book! Can I just read the book?

So yea...

My Body Feels Weird But My Heart Is Happy

So I sit on here on the beloved couch with my head feeling kinda weird. Maybe it's the long road trip, or the amount of reading I've done, or the Percocet I took today. The absolute most wonderful news is that I'm home, and there's no feeling like it, and for the first time in my life the words of that great Christmas song, "I'll be home for Christmas" ring true for me. I'm home from the hospital. I was released a little early actually - yesterday. Spent Wednesday feeling horribly sick and Thursday morning in a little under 3 hours of surgery. Right now I'd very much like to avoid thinking about the three days after surgery in which I was in Christ Hospital. I encountered a man who I think holds the nation's record for loudest snorer. I also endured not being able to sleep, lots of pain, needles, nausea, beeping machines, and lots of other stuff I'm blocking out of my memory or refuse to talk about publicly. And through it all I'm glad that I have found strength in Jesus and am so thankful for all the people who love me. I still am dealing with pain, discomfort and lack of consistent gastrointestinal activity. But the happy outweighs the sad, and when we got home I took my niece Briana on a tour of Grandma's house and we had bonding time and I made her smile. I held her and read my book later on too. It's so nice to shower and get all clean, eat Chinese food, and spend time with my family. Please ignore my grammar as I am currently on drugs. Also, please keep praying for my recovery that I will not have so much pain and that my bowel movements will be regular once again.

My toes are cold. I have to go put socks on.

-Sammy