this is what a school picture should look like... (or the study of best friends)

love.

so i was thinking, it hurts to be punched...

Ever have those days when every possible attempt that life gets to sucker punch you, it does?

Yup, me too.

love.

as long as we're talking about artists that make me feel warm...

David Crowder is incredible.

'A Collision' was one of the best albums released in 2005. I know he's trying to be a lot like Sufjan with his concept for the album (even covering a Sufjan song) but dear lord he's just absurd!

Hands down most important worship leader of our generation. There I said it.

I want to be David Crowder when I grow older, and I don't care who knows it!


love.

ps. 'B Collision' drops next week!

kyrie elaison is such a freaking great song

No but seriously, I love that song. It may have revolutionized my life. You can't help but be inspired when your ears hear the sweet melody. And by sweet I mean breathtaking, but by sweet I also mean like something you eat.

It's nearly 3 am everytime I post. That's because I am nocturnal. Or wait, I'm up during the day too. I basically find minimal amounts of time to sleep because well, it's just a waste of my time.

I think everyone should play more board games. Scattegories? Sequence? Scotland Yard?!! and umm.. Mancala? No, I take that last one back.

Wednesday night, Wednesday night. I need to maybe change my strings before then. They've been neglected and I feel horrible.

Also, does anybody love the music from megaman 2 on nintendo as much as I do?

I looked through a good deal of my old livejournal entries from probably 3 -4 years ago in high school. I don't seem the same as I was then, but there are lot of things that make me think I'm still like that boy from back then.

I'm going to be useless for awhile longer before I retreat under the covers.

love.

we can dream

-----------------------------------
come on hope
you're alive
come on peace
you're alive

be ready
be more ready

change is coming
change is now
look! glory fills the sky
look! love rains down

dream on now
love has arrived
oh god above
you're alive

lift your weary head
with urgency
for he made the universe
we can dream, we can dream!
-----------------------------------

i'm trying to write more often.
but my (attempts at) creativity creates vast insecurities. eek.

love.

neighbors

So Troy and I just met one of our neighbors. Let me set this up....


It's 2 am and we were watching 'the pianist' with Britney when all of a sudden some girl (i'll now refer to her has crazy (in her comfy's)) just walks in and this exchange happens..

Troy: Hello?
Crazy: Oh, I'm sorry.
(Crazy then walks out.)

Weird, right? We assume she was drunk, we get a good laugh from it. Less than 30 seconds later...

Crazy girl busts in.

Troy: Um, Hi?
Crazy: (now in our kitchen looking around.) I live here.
Troy: Um. No you don't.
Crazy: (really confused) No, I live here.
Troy: No you don't, look. (points to door with our names on it.)

Troy guides her out the door and she goes on here merry way.

End Scene.

The weird part is that Britney suggest that she might have been sleepwalking. If that's the case that was really freakin' creepy.

Quite possibly the weirdest thing that's ever happend to me.

I hope you enjoyed that.

love.

irony?

i just read this on relevantmag.com

Community officials in Sydney are planning on installing a loudspeaker system in a local park that will play Barry Manilow music in an effort to drive away teenage "hooligans" who hang out there. If that doesn’t work, they will actually have to fly in Barry Manilow to hang out at the park and physically remove the teens, a drastic but effective solution … 6/7/06 | 12:11 PM

ironic.... in light of recent events.

if you only knew how funny this is.

love.

closure.

Stable Song___

Time for the final bout
Rows of deserted houses
All our stable mates highway bound
Getting the air inside my lungs is heavenly
Starting out with nothing but crippling doubt
We'll rest easy justified
Suffered a swift defeat, i'll endure countless repeats
The gift of memory is an awful curse
With age it just gets much worse...

love. (though i don't feel much of that right now.)

i just feel numb.

sigh....

summer pt 2.

I can't find my camera. This is kind of upsetting, I want you to see my apartment, but you can't. I'll post pictures when I find it.

Holy cow it's such a drastic difference between my old apartment and the new one. I'm sitting on our balcony right now and it's gorgeous outside, but the fact that I'm looking at trees and a neighborhood is so much more pleasent rather than looking into a big parking lots and nasty carports. I hear birds and the wind instead of cars and contstruction. The fact that we are by two 7-11's makes me happy. I enjoy living here. (I enjoyed Normandy too, but only cause my roommate was great not because Normandy was awesome... cause it wasn't.)

Summer has been going really well as a whole (some minor issues, but I suppose that's expected). I've been trying to write music a little more and take advantage of some free time. I'm trying to get in a better habit of reading over break. I started 'A Generous Orthodoxy' by Brian McLaren and I'm flying through it. I try to read as much as I can but it's not often that I'm consistently thinking about when I can get a chance to sit down and read more like this book makes me do. I might not agree with everything he's saying in his book, but I respect that he's pushing the envelope and challenging today's thinking (and thinkers).

I have lots to be excited for this summer and I can't wait to get back into ignite. It's been too long and I can sense some excitement building. Extend will be great and I can not wait to be apart of that weekend. It is only a few weeks away so please be diligent in praying for the students, leaders, and speakers involved.

There are two albums that are due out this summer that I am anxiously awaiting. Both are set to release on the same day: July 11.

First is Sufjan Stevens' other half of his Illinoise album. Illinoise was originally a double album, but was cut short near the end of recording. So instead of scraping the material Asthmatic Kitty is releasing 'The Avalanche' which includes a healthy serving of b-sides and outtakes from the Illinoise sessions. I've already heard a few tracks and 'The Henney Buggy Band' is the catchiest Sufjan song I've ever heard. I'm pumped.


The second album releasing the 11th is Thom Yorke's (radiohead) 'The Eraser'. Radiohead and Sufjan Stevens are probably my two favorite artists for sometime. Pretty much any music that Thom Yorke makes is genius. The Eraser leaked on the internet this past week so I've enjoyed a nice preview of the tracks and it's alot like Radiohead's 'Kid A' album (my favorite Radiohead album). So July 11 is going to be a big day for me not to mention that it's free slurpee day!

I suppose this update will suffice.

Until next time here are a list of things I want to do this summer:
_Play tennis lots.
_Buy a bike.
_Ride the bike lots.
_Cedar Point!
_Homerun derby.
_Swim at my house more.
_See a Tigers game.(June 13 - check)
_Road trip..anywhere.
_Mars Hill at least once.
_Anything fun.

Enjoy God's creation!

love.

summer

Ok, ok I've been absent from writing, but I've been busy.

Troy and I moved in to our new place and it's fantastic. School's over with and I did pretty well (3.42) and I'm happy that I get good grades again.

The past month has been pretty crazy but alot of fun.

The last ignite of the year was last Sunday. It's been an honor and joy to be able to worship with all of you this year. Thanks for being so encouraging to me and I will certainly miss the seniors next year. You're all wonderful and I love you guys.
Please keep in touch.

Bryan was home the past few days and I got to spend time with him which was great. We did guy things and it was fun.

I haven't had time to write anything of meaning lately, but I'm thinking about it soon.

I hope God is continually blessing your lives as only he can.

love.

paper

I wrote a ten page paper in less than one day.

And it's freakin' good.

How 'bout that?!

I'm quite sleepy now.

Goodnight.

love.

busy

I've been busy. I've neglected writing for far too long. For that, I'm sorry.

I do not have a focus in my writing tonight, but maybe that's because I feel like I've been stretched in about a million directions over the past month or so. My thoughts are so scattered and my post will look like much of that same. And with that let's begin...

I've been writing a lot of music and words lately. God is continually enstilling confidence in me to keep writing. And I've thought about this a lot lately and I would like to become a hymn writer. That is not a profession. I know. But that's what I'd like to be used by God for. (He'll direct my life and I'll be happy where I am. No matter where that is. Still...) I'm so fascinated by hymns. I've been trying to teach them to our student ministries at Hopevale and I think I'm just to nerdy for them. My heart is that they would understand how important these words are. The fact that someone hundreds of years ago in a completely different context could write these words and have them sung for generations is incredible. I'm certain they were not writing for the purpose of putting out an album. So what did they write for? Not for others. Not for a hit worship song. They wrote out of devotion and pure worship to the Lord God. And yet, they probably had no idea that their words would touch my heart in 2006. What a priviledge it would be that someone might view my words as something of value. I just want to follow God where he leads and hopefully offer words of praise.

My political science class is so good. Holy cow. I am so challenged and I love it. First of all my professor is a genius. Second, he's just a good guy. Last week we discussed Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro believes that God hates America. Some of them are the ones you see on television protesting homosexuality at military funerals. The same people who cry that God is love and desire to preach the gospel are picketing with signs that read "God hates fags. Fags doom nations. Repent or perish." If you want to see how awful it's become go here.. www.godhatesamerica.com or www.godhatesfags.com . I warn you though, it will leave you feeling dejected and sad.

At first when I heard about this church I did some research of my own and my initial reaction was to be angry at these people, but after awhile I just felt this immense sadness. How did Christ's message become so distorted? When did it become a good idea in someone's head to opress others in the name of a just but still loving, gracious God. Now, I certainly do believe that God is just and he is the ultimate judge, but where we fail in our sins (i.e. homosexuality, deceit, sexual immorality, pride, etc.) we are showered with grace through God's sacrifice in Jesus Christ. We are sinners. I am a sinner. We are forgiven. I am forgiven. The fact is that Christ died for the sins of every person. Including these people (the picketers) who have somehow lost Christ's message. His life was entirely a testiment of love.

God is a judge.
More than that he's a compassionate, caring, healing, graceful God who can wash away any condemnation we have, through his son Christ.

We cannot forget that. And the fact that some have is so disheartening.

My hope is that God's love is so overpowering that we are filled to the brim and it pours out on to everyone we interact with.

God is love.

love.

paint

I can no longer say that I've never painted before. That's pretty cool. Katie has been trying to get me to paint for a good 3 years now and this week I finally gave in, but you know what? It was great.















Not as goofy as Troy's, I know. In fact it's really kind of creepy.

Radiohead is my favorite band and has been for a long time. So, I decided to pay tribute to an amazing band that will probably continue to astonish and creep me out all at the same time.

I love Radiohead. You should too.

love.

tradition

I've been hearing a lot of talk about Lent this year, probably more so than I have in any other year I can remember. I'm not even sure how to approach all of this, because I have yet to figure out where I fall into place in this picture. But here are my thoughts that I have been wrestling with for a few weeks concerning Lent but moreover tradition.

Tradition is a peculiar thing to me. We are definitely creatures of habit and yet the artsy part of me wants to continually reinvent myself or the things I'm doing. This is obviously contradictory. Can you have tradition and reinvent simultaneously? Probably not. So I guess many of us are stuck in this cycle of pushing forward and looking backward. Well then, what takes precedence?

There is great value, I believe, in living within our context. You are never going to reach out to someone using very structured, organized, repetitive faith. Repetition, to me, is an easy way to find yourself very bored very fast with even the most exciting stories and the best news. I get upset when I see Christian sub-culture becoming more and more exclusive. In many churches I've observed a trend, which I'm equally as guilty of, in which they place high importance on community (which is a necessary and great thing) and little on how they are being light in a world that is very much consumed by darkness.

All that to say that there is value in being engaged in culture. This example may be widely overused but if we look to follow Jesus and we observe where he's been and what he'd do then we can see that he found himself immersed in culture and hanging out with what would be considered filth by not only today's society, but Christians as well. Then what are we so afraid of? I will not blindly let my children do what they wish without concern about their spiritual welfare, but when they are wise enough to know that they are to be in the world and not of it then there can be great worth in allowing them to observe the word as society views it (i.e. movies, music, etc.). This step into culture requires a bit of straying from traditional practices of Christianity in which we have a cookie cutter form for each believer.

Growing up I think I was trained to just assume that tradition, specifically within Catholicism, was a bad way to find God. For years I thought my friends who were Catholic really didn't understand Christianity. I believe that tradition was an evil that was destroying God's message. The older I've gotten the more I've come to believe that I was missing much of the point. Liturgy is just as important now (maybe even more so) as it was when it began in the book of Acts at the foundations of the Church.

I like to relate tradition to hymns. There is a resurgence of hymns in the modern Church that is very powerful. For me personally there is something exciting about singing the words that someone wrote in a completely different time and a completely different context. When we study the history behind the hymns/words we sing they take on new meaning and empower us to worship the creator of all things more passionately. I don't believe the authors really could even imagine the impact their words would have on many generations to come. So our tradition of singing the same words for hundreds of years is something to be excited about and when we look at tradition in this light there is a great deal of benefit to be had from it.

If Christ is unchanging then can it be wrong that we find ourselves in worship that is unchanging?

Let's perhaps rethink our stance on tradition, not losing ourselves in repetition, but gaining momentum as we build on what millions of other followers of Christ have already started.

love.

nature anthem

This post is completely ridiculous, but I have to post this.

If you like animals dancing and happy music this is for you my friend.

The Nature Anthem by Grandaddy














"I wanna walk up the side of a mountain
I wanna walk down the other side of a mountain
I wanna swim in the river and lie in the sun
I wanna try to be nice to everyone."

I love this song.
You'll be singing this for days, hopefully years.

love.

sigur ros

I wasn't sure if it was possible, but this was the most beautiful, brilliant, amazing, emotional concert I've ever been too. I can honestly say I've never seen a better concert from opening to ending there is nothing I would have changed. I already had a lot of respect for Sigur Ros but this just solidifies them as one of the best bands, yup I'm just going to say it... ever.

I can't even describe how amazing it was.

Unbelievable.

























































When we get to heaven I hope (I know) the music there is as beautiful and passionate as this.
love.

grandrapids

Agenda for this weekend:

1. Drive to Grand Rapids.
2. Meet with Steve Argue.
3. Spend time with quality people.
4. Wait for the arrival of Troy.
5. Attend a Sigur Ros show!!!!

This will be great.

Have a wonderful weekend. Stay safe.

love.

vday

It's valentines day.

I don't have a valentine, but someday I will.














So wife, wherever you are right now,
you are wonderful and I cannot wait to meet you.

love.

d webb

Derek Webb was phenomenal, just like last time.

The thing that I like about his shows are that during his set he
discusses some deep theological and ethical issues that we all
need to think about it. I always leave feeling really convicted,
in the best sense possible.

He pushed for lots of aid to Africa and the 1000 wells project,
which was real exciting to me, because I helped out with that
a few months back.

And a photo...














love.

poly sci

My political science class, Local and State Government, makes me think very hard about the things I have believed and have never tried defending. It's a challenge and I LIKE it.

Keeping God at the forefront of my political beliefs is tough business.

I have not much of value to post, sorry.

love.