a. went to cfc today, very good service, ken taylor spoke about 'who is jesus'. very straightforward, fundamental points, but it was still very encouraging nonetheless. all during the sermon i was just thinking, man, i could listen to people talk about jesus all day long. it was wonderful. for worship afterwards they had a painter come up and paint a picture of jesus walking on the waves. some of you may be familiar with this, but i had never had this type of worship 'experience' before. i must say, at first i was a little distracted, just watching her paint, but it was quite good afterwards. very different, but very.. engaging i suppose. just to have that type of visual there to help you along. very cool.

b. after church as i was leaving the sanctuary i ran into an old friend of mine, jim, from back when i used to go to rh3c. we were pretty good buds back then, used to hang out and jam and stuff. anyways, i hadnt seen him in quite a while (at least 3 years) and i got the chance to just talk to him a little big. i was deeply encouraged by what God was doing in his life, as he shared a little bit of his testimony with me. he left church for a bit, and i guess tried to experience other things, but in the end was drawn back to God. he brought up a good analogy thats worth mentioning. if you've seen jim careys movie liar liar, you'll probably remember that scene where hes just found out he can't lie. so he takes a blue pen, and with all his strength and will, tries to write 'this pen is red'. obviously it is to no avail, and he ends up writing 'this pen is blue' everywhere. jim was saying how thats like trying to deny who God is, and his entire existence. no matter how hard you try, no matter how focused you are on it, theres that absolute truth that he exists. and trying to say he doesnt will do no good. the truth is not flexible to man's belief system. its true if you believe it or not. it's not contingent on you. it doesnt need you to believe it in order for it to be true. so yeah. that just got me thinking a little more about the goodness of God.

c. afterwards, we went to pizza hut buffet, good times. lots and lots of food until i was stuffed full, and then some. then sharon alli alex (not chow) and i went to allis place to hang out and play jitz and pool and stuff. very fun. then we came back to res. well anyways, tonight sharon and i watched 'cider house rules'. i didn't really like it too much at first, just cuz it seemed really messed up, but then it kinda struck me that a lot of this stuff probably did happen back then, and in the end it was rather tragic. its the story of a boy who grew up in an orphanage, was raised and taught there, and finally has the chance to leave and try to establish a life for himself in the 'real' world. he goes out, and sees firsthand the dilemmas and problems that other people face, along with the social issues that are being dealt with at the time. come the end of the movie, he returns back to the orphanage - things have changed, perhaps hes grown stronger as well, but i guess he feels this is where he truly belongs. throughout the movie the question 'what business are you in' is posed several times, and many different characters seem to have trouble answering. what is it that you do? who are you? what does your life consist of? i suppose these are all important questions we must all face sometime in our life.

d. anyways, on a completely different note, tomorrow.. or err.. today in fact, is our 6 month. so happy 6 months sharon :) thanks for sticking through the good and the bad, helping me grow, and hopefully theres many more months ahead.

e. one last thing. my buddy jon missed church today cuz the place where hes working made him work. even though i remember him saying that he explicitly didnt want to work sundays. and supposedly the next two weeks are the same. so i think that kinda sucks for him, cuz i know he really doesnt want to be there, and would much rather be at church, but i guess sometimes life deals you unexpected circumstances that you've just got to roll with. so i just want to encourage you to stay rooted in jesus nonetheless, seek after him with all of your being, and honor him in everything you do, everyday. i know it may be a tough time for you for a variety of reasons, but remember hes right there with you bud.

f. with that im off. that was a rather lengthy blog. may you shine as the stars for Christ this week.