So I finally got a youTube account. Now I can show you all my nerdy fan videos. They’re after the break.

This one I made for Tara when she turned 21:

And this one I made for Steph on our anniversary:

I haven’t written anything interesting in quite a while.

My algebra professor can’t get his head around the idea that turning off his cel phone would probably be a good idea during class.

Dexter is proving to be a worthwile investment of my time. Just wrapped season 1 and loved it. Watch if you can.

Watching Dexter helped me realize something: I l-o-v-e televison show openings. If you’ve got time to waste, I’ll be embedding some of my favorites after the break. Enjoy.

We’ll start with Dexter. I like this one for all the close up shots:

Next would be Big Love. While I didn’t get into the show, I adored the opening. Especially the part near the end with all the sheets:

This is from Gunslinger Girl. Love the song and, honestly, is there anything cooler than elementary kids with guns?

Familiar favorite to my friends, the second opening to Death Note:

Fullmetal Alchemist, a series very near to my heart. Honestly, this could be a list of favorite anime series, but I’ll stop with them after the next one:

I’ll stop here with Scrubs. I just love this one because it get’s everything right in such a short time:

Today’s post is about church crap. If you find yourself averse to reading about such things, I’m hiding it behind the break. However, if you are the least bit curious about random church politics at a church I used to frequent, by all means, head on down. It might be interesting.

This is in response to this. More specifically, this is addressed to you, Simeon. Let me preface all this by saying I don’t have anything against you personally. Never have and hopefully, never will.

It seems you need a reality check and, seeing as I’m currently removed from whatever situation you find yourself railing against, I can think of no one more qualified to rebuke you in love than I. If not, then I volunteer simply because, and here’s the important part: you’re wrong.

Now, I know that correction should be done in private, but I’m going to forgo that luxury since you’ve already forfeited it by airing your grievances in a public forum. Allow me to deconstruct your argument. Your words will be italicized and quotation marked.

“For months now God had been speaking to me about things. He has been talking to me about the things that are going to happen through me. He has been telling me great things that I can’t even fathom!“

He’s been telling you things you can’t even fathom? So if you can’t even fathom them, why would he entrust you with these things, ignoring the fact that you never specify just what these grand “things” he’s telling you are? That may fly with the gullible or uninformed who marvel in awe at anyone who claims to know what God is saying, but forgive me if I require at least a little substance as to what he’s been telling you.

“…he has been telling me that there are things in my life that I need to get rid of and I have known these things but just have not got rid of them. Strong holds in my life that I need to be free from before any thing can happen. He said that it was time  and that I needed to be free or else he would go to some one else.“

Again, you are being vague, though I can respect just why you would be. When Christians speak of their faults they prefer to hide behind veiled phrases like “strongholds” or “areas of my life”. But let’s be real here. If God spent all his time waiting for us to get our shit together, would anything have been accomplished in the hundreds of years of church history? Man is not, nor is he meant to be perfect. Our perfection is in Jesus, to use the spiritual vernacular. So why would God require you to be super-human in order for you to carry on or do what you’ve been called to do?

“For years God has been promising that he was going to start to move through Vision student fellowship but so far nothing. And from what I can see no one at VSF but like me and two others are still holding god to his promise. Now i don’t know may be there are others that feel the same way. I really hope so! I have been praying for years that God would move like he promised!“

Who has he made this promise to other than you? Also, are you so focused on being involved with the youth group that you can’t see the bigger picture? VSF is merely a small part of a larger church and if there’s something wrong with a small part, maybe something’s wrong with the bigger parts? Either way, your criticism is far too short-sighted.

“I love my youth pastors but from what I see they are fine with the ways things are. Now that may not be so I could be wrong I hope I am! Not much has been happening at church and i really want to see the holy spirit move! I know my youth pastors are tired of nothing happen and want to see change!“

You are a liar, but worse than that, you are a weasel. If you truly loved your youth pastors, as you claim, you’d seek to air your grievances with them or the way they do things in private or work with them to right these perceived wrongs instead of merely sitting behind a keyboard and complaining. No, righting wrongs does not entail you telling them what needs to be fixed. God placed them where they are for a reason. That should be enough. Also, you contradict yourself by saying you see that they are fine with things the way they are but you say at the end you know they want to see change. Which is it?

“There is some thing God has been telling me for months to do that I am going to finally do. And I think when I do it some thing is going to start to happen in the valley. You see God has not only called me to reach out to the youth of VSF but to the youth of the valley! I believe that it starts at VSF. God just needs some one to step up and get things started. And I believe that’s its me.“

This is the height of arrogance. Even Jesus didn’t change the world by himself. He started with many disciples which were whittled down to twelve which in turn carried the message everywhere.

Your diatribe reeks of frustration and I can understand that frustration. It’s part of the reason I myself left Grace. But rather than sit and stew on all of that frustration, why don’t you try looking within to better yourself instead of looking around you and trying to remove the planks from the eyes of others.

Respectfully,

Me

Today I quit my job to pursue my computer science degree wholeheartedly. For some reason, this song always creeps up during transition points in my life. If I remember or care enough to, I’ll post a Songza link to it. If not, it’s still written well. Being a person of routine who enjoys his ruts, change is usually something I regard with disdain. However, I am nothing but hopeful that this break out from exile will be fruitful. As a certain dark lord’s mother would say, “You can’t stop change, Ani, anymore than you can stop the suns from setting”.

Used to worry for each other.
No one’s bothered like before.
We sleep with each others friends,
Sneak around, fall apart,
And come back for more.
We sit around drinking tables,
Stabilized and keeping score,
But my mind is somewhere out the door.

Oh, time has flown.
I’ve overstayed a while
In my time in exile.
Oh, well we have grown.
The one thing that I’ve learned
I want a life now of my own.
Bye bye
To the friends I’ve known
In my time in exile.