Tim's Blog

few things.

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 17 May 2008 08:13:00 +0000

Ok. So it's been quite a while. Sometimes I just have nothing to say. Sometimes everything I want to say shouldn't be posted on the interweb. And sometimes I'm just too busy...and sometimes too lazy. So...a few things that have happened in the past 5 1/2 months since I last posted a lame happy new year blog....

1. I'm going to be a DAD!!!! Yup. That's number one...cuz I'm a number one dad. I know people that have got pregnant before and been like, "We were so surprised!!!" I would then be like, "So you were taking preventative measures?" They would then shake their heads and say no at which point I would be all, "How could you possibly be surprised if you weren't doing anything to prevent anything?!?!?!?!" (I would talk in vague language because I don't like talking about sex.) All that to say - I was totally surprised!!! I made Dawn take 3 pregnancy tests before I believed it! Now I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, still in denial, still freaking out, still trying to play it cool, and still super excited!!!

The other funny thing about the whole baby is that the due date is: December 21st. That week is without a doubt the busiest week of the year for me. This is going to make for a Crazy Christmas...even more than last year.

2. I'm working on a CD with Jenny Vick...the soon to be famous Jenny Vick. Wait til you hear it...some sweet songs coming out of her so be ready.

3. I got my hair cut today.

So that pretty much wraps up my year so far. I would like to blog more, especially about important things...but we'll see.

Happy New Year!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 07:51:00 +0000

Just got back from the Foursquare Youth Summit in Anaheim, CA. Great way to end a year.

Happy New Year to all. Hope yours was great.

I'm not making any resolutions really. I've been trying to get in shape for a few months and I'll keep that up. I've been reading more and I'll keep that up. I've been complaining more and I'll get that down. And I've been blogging quite a bit less, so I need to get back to that.

I don't really resolve to do any of those things though. Partially because I feel like this is going to be a year of changes for me. Going to college was a big change back in '95. I was there for six years and then I had a huge change in coming out to Seattle. I've been here for over six year now and I feel like things are changing.

I'm not talking about moving or changing jobs or anything, but my heart is changing. We'll see what this year brings.

Hope we have a kid this year. (No we're not pregnant.)

Enough said.

Packers and the Gym

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 20:17:00 +0000

On Thanksgiving the Packers were playing Detroit and I decided that since I was going to be sitting around eating most of the day I would be proactive and watch the game at the gym. So naturally I put on my Packers hat and went about my normal business at the gym.

I've heard people say that the gym is a great place to meet people, but I actually have only met a couple employees so far. Most people just put on their headphones and stick to themselves so that's what I do too.

But Thanksgiving was way different. During the game so many people talked to me and I met more people than I have in the past 2 months of going there. People were congratulating me and telling me how much they loved the Pack and how excited they were for them this year. I learned where people were from since they would preface by saying, "I'm not from WI, I'm from (insert your city/state here) but I've always been a fan of the Packers."

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Just goes to show that it only takes a small point of connection for people to open up start conversations.

Busy...

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:59:00 +0000

For those of you wondering why I have fell off the blogosphere (Jenny), let me give you a quick recap of my last month. 1. Unceasing Worship conference which I helped out a lot for. 2. The day after the converence instead of a long awaited vacaction to Mexico, Dawn and I last minute changed out plans and went to Madison, WI to help take care of my dad who has a severe case of trigeminal neuralgia. 2. Helped organize music for our district conference the day after we got back. 3. One week after that I led a music team to Manila for 10 days. 4. Day I got back I had so much work to do to get ready for the Off The Map conference, where I helped out a lot again. So yup, I've been so busy I can barely think, let alone get things out in any understandable manor. So I'm sorry to all who count on me for random thought.

On a side note, I did stay awake for the longest single time ever in my life. 36 hours. I didn't sleep on the flight back from Manila. Got home at 8:00am. Got to work at noon and worked 9 hours (scheduled for 4.) The next day I worked 14 hours so I had no time for jet lag. I don't recomend doing this unless you want to die young.

Getting Rid of Cable?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:23:00 +0000

If you recall that we bit the bullet and got cable a while back. Well, I'm sick of it. All that fake crap just makes me mad. Selfish relationships, plastic beauty, exessive materialism, and spirituality void of any true meaning. Now I know that not everything is that way, but most of it. In my opinion at least. Maybe I'll rant more about specific shows another time.

Remember when MTV and VH1 played music videos?

Here's the thing. People find more of their identity from these hollow TV shows than they do from the God who created them. If they're on TV, and if they're rich, they must have the good life. Well, they're also addicted to drugs and alcohol, just as insecure as any of us, and unable to keep lasting relationships. They think, and we often infer, that because they can do whatever they want whenever they want, they live a good life. And because they live the good life, so many of us want to live like them.

Sorry but most people with too much money and fame don't have a clue. Or at least any more than you or I do.

So I want to get rid of cable when our price doubles in January. But Dawn doesn't. This will be an ongoing conversation in our house. Any thoughts?

Workin Out

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:04:00 +0000

So Dawn and I got memberships at Gold's Gym a few weeks ago. It's pretty funny when I think about it cuz we're such inactive people. But that's why we needed to. My goal was to get from 194lbs to 179 lbs before we leave for Mexico on Sunday. I weighed in today at 181. 2 lbs left and 5 days. Pretty sure I can do this. After our vacation my goal is to get to 170 and stay there.

I am really noticing a difference in how I feel throughout the day. I have more energy and I'm way more focused. I'm getting more done. I used to think that I was too busy to work out, but I'm getting way more done. Plus, as I'm on the elliptical I've been reading and just finished my second book this month while I jog.

I know I did a massive diet change 5 years ago and lost tons of weight, which was good, but not really healthy. This time I'm losing it at a much safer rate and I'm exercising with it so I don't just lose muscle along with the fatty boom batty only to slow my metabolism and gain it all back.

I'm also now convinced that health is holistic. Body, mind, spirit. I mean, I kinda knew that to be true but never did anything about it. Someday when I'm in charge (of what I don't know, but someday it will happen) I will definately preach taking care of your body.

Christians often talk about being the temple of the Holy Spirit. I've heard so many people condemn smoking and drinking because of that, yet they don't take care of their body either. Hypocritical.

Anyway, go work that temple. God thanks you for it.

Subway

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:51:00 +0000

So I went to a new Subway tonight to get a wrap, cuz I'm trying to eat kinda healthy now days. And it was awesome. I ordered a chicken wrap and the dude working asked if I had ever tried this other kind of chicken. I said no and so he made me another wrap with that chicken and said to see what I like better. I said, "Oh man, I can't eat two of these, I trying to eat right now days." So he said, "Ok, I'll make you a salad then." I left with 2 wraps and a salad. He also offered a drink, but I resisted. Then he said, "You don't look like the kind of guy that's going to call my manager and tell him about this."

All I can say is, I'm going back to that one tomorrow.

And for those who are wondering what happened to my inportant blog presence all summer, I don't know. Where did summer go? So I'm back at it with months full of thoughts to write about. Too bad I didn't start this time.

Bite the Bullet and Restitution

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 07:58:00 +0000

Well...Dawn and I finally decided to bite the bullet and get our very own internet provider. I have never had to pay for internet before. Throughout college we could get it for free from the school. Then for a couple years I lived with people who had internet. And recently (for the last 3 years) I just would get internet from the neighbor's wireless. But those days of scamming internet are over.

Here's why. Dawn got a new latop of her own. Til now we just shared one. And now that we are both using the internet at home I figured it just is too much to be weighing our neighbors bandwidth down. And Comcast has a new deal now so now is the time.

Paying for internet is a little disheartening to me. I sort of prided myself in always finding free internet. It's like the feeling of knowing where free parking is downtown when everyone else is paying.

So because of all the years of using others' wireless, I'm leaving mine open for my neighbors as well. How's that for restitution?

Confessions of a Failed Evangelist

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 05:23:00 +0000

It has been quite some time since I have had the privilege of leading someone to Christ. You can count me in with the majority of evangelistic Christians in America. But I’m a pastor. Evangelism is supposed to be second nature to me. So this is my confession: I’m a failed evangelist.

For a couple years it didn’t bother me, but lately I’ve felt unsatisfied in my journey. I work for my church. I do “ministry” all day long. I’m involved in a lot of things through our church. I have tons of great Christian friends. I believe I’m in the right place at the right time. But something has been missing.

In the past I’ve had a lot of friends that aren’t Christians that would challenge me. They would ask questions. They would make fun of my faith. They would question my morals. But now I work for/with Christians, my family is Christians, and my friends are Christians. I have very few friends that aren’t Christian and it’s not right. I can really feel it.

I’m taking small steps to overcome this disease of mine. I’m in a rut and I need to get out of it.

Mongolian Grill and Tracts

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:14:00 +0000

1st off, I love Mongolian Grill. Years ago when I was on a crazy diet Mongolian Grill was one of the few places that I could eat at. No noodles for me. Lots of vegetables. And Mongolian sauce. Mmmmmmmm.

Tonight when Dawn and I went to eat there. She was paying for the food and waiting for it while I was sitting at a table. (I still can't walk. I normally would wait for the food and carry it, but I couldn't.) As I was sitting there with my crutch (only used one today, which was a big mistake) up against the wall and my leg all bandaged up and stretched into the isle, a lady came up to me looking really nervous and said, "I noticed your leg, could I pray for you? The bible says that God is the great physician and I believe that He wants to heal you now." I replied, "Yeah, go for it." She then prayed that my leg would heal very quickly and handed me a tract. If you don't know what a tract is, it's those one of those pamphlets that Christians hand out on the street or somewhere that tell a little about Jesus and how accept Him into your heart...yada yada yada.

This is my favorite tract...cuz He would have.

Has this happened to you before? It was a little awkward but I was really nice cuz I could see that it took a lot of her faith to do it and I wanted to encourage her. But I have a few critiques on the presentation. 1. She never introduced herself or asked my name. 2. Very nervous and unnatural. 3. Prayed that I would accept Jesus and handed me a tract. 4. She said she felt "led to pray for me."

I'm glad for her attempt though. And maybe I'll get saved from it. But, if she had taken a few more seconds to introduce herself and ask who I was, she wouldn't have had to be so nervous and make a few wrong assumptions. What I do give her is that she was genuine and bold. It takes a lot to ask to pray for a complete stranger.

Cold turkey evangelism has always been weird to me. How about you? Turn on or turn off? The wave of the future or a lost cause? I know 2 people who came to the Lord through those little "turn or burn" pamphlets. What do you think?

Jim & Casper Go To Church

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Wed, 23 May 2007 23:32:00 +0000

Is judging a church by its weekend service like judging a book by its cover? Hard to say. You can learn a lot from the cover.

In this book Jim Henderson (former pastor now author and director of Off-The-Map) and Matt Casper (atheist friend) visit sever well known churches around the country and rate each church according to their experience. Most churches did not fare well under their scrutiny. The idea though is not to bash those churches (Saddleback, Willow Creek, Potter’s House, Mars Hill, Mosaic, Lakewood Church, Dream Center, etc) but to give a perspective of what is the purpose of the Church in America.

Is bigger better? Lights, cameras, big screens, huge auditoriums, professional musicians, professional videos, motivational sermons, parking lots full of SUVs, and enormous budgets. “Is this what Jesus told you to do?” asks Casper. What does church look like to those who don’t believe? Is that what God intended for the church to look like?

An obvious critique is the production of services in these mega-churches. Does hype help? Is it needed? Does it manipulate people’s emotions and impose a shallow response? These are good questions that churches, especially large ones where it is a weekly production, need to ask themselves. Big productions need big budgets. Is this where money is best spent? What about giving to the poor? What about community service?

Most large churches do those things too, but is that what they are known for? Is that what celebrity pastors are known for? Their work as community servants or their good looks and eloquent 3 point sermons. Maybe it’s their charisma or their humor or their “down to earth” preaching.

You can look at the ratings they gave churches at www.churchrater.com. You could also rate a church that you visit. What do you think about the idea of rating churches? What do you think about some of the questions they bring up through their conversations?

Sidenote: I don't use the phrase "go to church." Be the Church! How does the churchrater fit into that paradigm?

A Few Loose Skrews

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:33:00 +0000

So I haven't walked for 18 days now. From complications on a surgery I had 8 years ago, I'm immobile again. I just had surgery yesterday and the Doc cleaned up some scar tissue that was getting in the way and found out that my skrew was loose...which confirmed a lot of your suspicions. Anyway, I'm catching up on some reading which has really got me thinking a lot more. Sunday night Dawn and I also started a long awaited and much talked about small group which we are very excited for.

Just wanted to give a little update.

Soup, Steak, Catalyst, and Kite

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Fri, 18 May 2007 17:25:00 +0000

"A bowl of soup with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate." Proverbs 15:17 NLT

Mmmmmmm...steak. But it true. Hanging out with friends doing nothing is way better than doing something cool with someone you hate. Doing something cool with friends is even better though, but that verse makes a great point. Who is more important than what. Who you do things with trumps what you are doing.

In times where I have to choose between the two I haven't always chosen the best. At times I have thought that there is nothing more important that what I was doing. Or what I would do with my life. My job. My gigs. Even "my ministry."

I remember playing in our worship band in college, Catalyst, and being so concerned with how we played a song and what we did for a worship night that I pushed my thought, plans, and feelings over everyone elses. Dipes would cry when Tom and I fought over how to "do" a song. I was driven. And I knew that my ways to do things was best...yup. Even though I was with my best friends, I treated what we did more importantly that them. I'm suprised the rest of the band didn't for a resistance and overthrow me.

One thing I look forward to every year is vacation with Kite. We always try to do something cool. Go somewhere cool. You know...cuz we're cool. But in the end I'm pretty happy sitting around doing nothing as long as we get to hang out once a year.

Also, I believe that who you are is more important than what you do but that's for another day.

In Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:35:00 +0000

Well, it's been a few weeks. Going into Easter gets really busy for me. All the business creates a real longing in me for more intimacy with Jesus. It's probably easy to get the impression that if you work for a church it's really easy to be close to God and that everything you do is mega-spiritual. But it's easy to confuse doing things for Jesus and doing things in Jesus. Doing things for Christ will never fill that God shaped hole like living in Christ. But what is the difference? I will be writing a little more about living in Christ after Easter.

On another note, yesterday was beautiful out. Nicest weather all year so far and I took advantage of it by going on a great ride with Ander Baltzo. Oh man. Amazing. I can't wait to ride all summer.

Delerious?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:09:00 +0000

Saw Delerious last night at Overlake. Those guys are awesome. They just have a way of drawing you in. They draw you in and point you towards Jesus. Some of their songs are ones that would never work in our church as a congregational song. They talk about issues in their songs and then bring them to the cross. I'd have to say that I loved it.

Rebecca St James was opening. OK. Never really was my favorite music, but her band was really tight.

Vicky Beeching? Where was she? She was on the billing, but not the concert. They didn't even say anything about it. Weird.

"That's a Good Idea" or "Not Worthy to Say You're Worthy"

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:32:00 +0000

In Vietnamese culture you never tell an older person “that’s a good idea.” Even if it is a good idea you wouldn’t say that. For the younger to say that to the older would put the younger on a higher plane. It’s the idea that only the experienced can approve of the less experienced work or idea. For a less experienced person to approve of a more experienced person’s idea would be saying that they know more than the elder. I heard this from a recent podcast of Leonard Sweet.

It has me thinking about a couple things. First, I’m thinking about how I treat elders and people with more experience. Now sometimes the eldest is not always the one with more experience. I’m willing to bet that in Vietnam things don’t actually play out that way, but it’s the concept of an instilled value. I need to repent because I often conclude that what I’m thinking is the best way to approach something. The core of this is humility, something I’m not born with and need a lot of help. One person who helped me a lot was my high school band director, John Georgeson. I don’t even remember what I did; I probably was so proud that I never even realized I did something at the moment. But he took me aside after a rehearsal and said, “If you don’t change your prima donna attitude today, you will not be playing in this band tomorrow.” And that jazz band really was my life. I could go on with other stories about my often hard road to humility but I don’t want to start crying.

Second, I’m thinking about my relationship with God. The title of Len Sweet’s podcast is Not Worthy to say “You’re Worthy.” Could this old Vietnamese adage be applicable to how I view God? What am I saying when I say that He is “worthy of my praise?” It’s an often used phrase in Christian culture, especially in praise music. Is it like telling God “that’s a good idea?” In my initial search through scripture, the closest I found to this was the four creatures in heaven declaring “Worthy is he Lamb that was slain,” and the four creatures and twenty four elders proclaiming “Though art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.” (Both references are in Rev 4.) However, I don’t see someone like me telling God that He is worthy of MY praise. Who am I to say that my praise is something that I need to decide whether or not God is worthy of?

In response to my own question though, God does give us a choice to praise him. And that may be why songwriters use that terminology. But should we make a distinction between us choosing to praise Him, and us finding Him worthy of praise? Is it just semantics or does it matter? Got me thinking.

Thoughts on The Good Life

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:38:00 +0000

What is the good life? What is good in life? I know that in our culture the good life would commonly be described as a cush job, a big house, a boat, a sport car and a membership at the club. I agree that all sounds pretty good. But often the good life is at a great cost.

How many hours do we work to pay for all those things? How much of our energy is spent? How much of our emotion is put into it? And on an enviromental level, how much of our planets resources are we using up?

Does making more money give you more freedom?

Sometimes I wonder if life was better before computers.

What if all of our decisions were made for a good life? What if the good life was not measured by how much you accumulate, but by how much you gave? What if the true sign of a good life was not the car you drive or the house you live in, or the veiw from it; but a true sign was a healthy relationship. What if the good life was made up of love. That's cheasy.

Challenge: Give up something that you love, but don't need. Let me know what it is and how your excperience goes.

I'm going to give up pop for one week. This is hard because we just got a case of Diet Cherry Coke and I love it. I'll let you know how it goes.

Democratization of Luxury

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:47:00 +0000

I had the opportunity to hear Tom Sine talking about the democratization of luxury. This is a trend over the past few decades for the normalization of luxury items. With a little push from the advertising world of pop culture came the idea that everyone deserves at least a little bit of the high life. You need it. Not only do you need it, but you have a right to it. You deserve it. Even though you make $30,000/yr you have a right to buy a $25,000 sport car. This is America and this is how we live.

I have found myself getting caught up in this thinking. I started thinking about the decision that Dawn and I made last year to buy her car. We had enough money from insurance on her old car to buy something nice and reliable, just not very cool. So we made the decision to buy a cooler car for more and take out a loan for part of it. Now we make minimum payments every month.

Some people have the money and that’s awesome. But that’s not the majority of Americans. The majority are in this middle class. And though we may not be rich, we deserve to live like it!

Naturally there are some inevitable outcomes to this lifestyle. Like credit! Eventually most things get paid for…but along the road are many payments. It would take too long to save up those payments and buy it in cash down the road. By that time you may not even want it anymore because it would be out of style. The freedom to buy now and pay eventually (and after a lot of interest) has made slaves of many. Many people are only paying for the interest and not even getting out of dept. That’s the case in our mortgage. Interest only. I know it’s the worst kind of loan to get but that was the only way we could get into the housing market here.

I’m going to write a couple more times on the subject, but here’s a question to think about until then. How has credit affected your life? And what luxury items do you need? Or maybe you don’t think it is a luxury item, it’s just something everyone has, but almost everyone takes out a loan to get. (Motorcycles don’t fall into that category, they are a necessity to life.)

Confession

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 06:40:00 +0000

I'm into Pastor Jim's series on intimacy with God. Intimacy is something that we all long for. From God and from people. Last weekend he talked about confession in our lives.

Confession isn't my favorite word. Although Pastor Jim also talked about the confession of Christ, that isn't what most people think of when they think of confession. I think about how I've done so much wrong and have a lot to repent of. It's pretty encouraging to talk about confession.

I think of it close to how I would if there were something between friends. What is sin but something that gets inbetween our relationship with God? Something that separates us from Him. Like when there is something between me and a friend. It’s weird to talk, and I avoid that person if possible. Conversations that are had during the period that some issue has come between us feel like they don’t even count. They're just superficial. It’s hard to be close when that happens. It isn’t until we have that pivotal point of reconciliation that the relationship progresses. Confession then is a point of vulnerability to be real with God. God knows what happened. But it’s hard for me to pursue intimacy with God until a confession has happened. That's why God tells us to confess our sins (1 John 1:9.) Confession isn’t a contract to get God back on my side. It's not a payment. It’s for me to be vulnerable enough that I let God reveal himself again.

Lionel Hampton and Kriz Morton

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:04:00 +0000

I love the music. Once again I was left in awe of the skill and musicianship at the main concerts. Truly amazing. But there are a few things I will remember more than that. Here are a few in no paticular order...

Playing with Matt Page and Kriz. I think we really started to play together, which is an awesome feeling.
Kriz snoring.
Hangin with Carly Page for the first time. Very cool.
Denny's.
Knowing that most people we accompanied won first place in the competition.
Watching Sarah Pumphrey sing with the pros, and knowing that Siobhan also should have.
Laughing non-stop 80% of the time, every time, all the time.
When in Rome...

A very memorable few days that rekindled my love for jazz music. Also a weekend of making new friends. Hope to do it again next time.

Welp, see ya later.

Wayne Pumphrey and the Classy Scarf

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 06:18:00 +0000

Just got home from the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. Had a great time, of which I'll write more later. One thing happened that I need to write about first. Friday morning Wayne Pumphrey walked out of his motel room and handed me a scarf, asking if I knew who's it was. His words were, "Someone left this really nice scarf at rehearsal last night. Do you know if it's Chris or Matt's? They're classy guys." Am I a bum? Do I not deserve even an honorable mention next to Chris and Matt? Do I look that bad? Did it cross anyone's mind that the scarf could have been mine?

It wasn't mine. It was Matt's. But I did put on a sport coat after that and ask Wayne if it was classy enough. He said that I needed a scarf to go with it. So I ask you, faithful reader. On a scale of 1-10, how would your rate my class? 1 being no class and 10 being ______(I'm trying to think of the most classy person in the world, but I don't know who that would be.)

And on another note, what makes something classy?

Welp, see ya later.

Let The Praises Ring

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 05:18:00 +0000

It's always a great feeling to be done with a big project. Finishing this CD and getting them out to people has been a large part of my life over the past 9 months. I'm a few hundred hours intimate with it.

The day I get a CD back from the manufacturer is mixed with a lot of emotions. I'm excited, relieved, nervous, proud, humble, happy and sad all at the same time. To put a final and permenant stamp on something that has been ever changing since birth makes me anxious. yet I'm relieved of the stress of making those decisions and sad it's done at the same time. No going back.

I get nervous about what people will think of the CD. I know that most people will like it. There's a few people who I really hope they will like it. And now there's the sales issue. We have to sell so many just to break even. If we don't, I think the chances of doing another are slim.

In the end, I'm really proud of everyone's work and the heart that went into it. What a cool testimony of what God is doing in our congregation. Make sure to pick one up sometime.

What was I thinking?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 19:05:00 +0000

I should have wrote about love on V Day. What was I thinking?

Happy Valentines Day

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 07:21:00 +0000

I try to read my Bible regularily. I wish that I craved it. I try to crave it. Like how David writes about a dear panting for the water. Or Isaiah when he said, "When Your words came I ate them. They were my joy and my hearts delight." Sometimes I feel like that, but not all the time, or even most of the time. But I want to.

So I make rules for myself. Like...no Bible, no breakfast...no playing Nintendo for longer than I've spent in the word...1 year Bible...things like that have always helped. But do they become religious then? Sometimes.

I wished I craved to work out as well. And I wish I craved to go to bed early. Or even more I wish I craved to wake up early.

How do you learn to crave something? And how do you practice discipline without becoming religious? I'm going to get into my Bible now that I've put it off for this dumb blog.

Coming Alive

noreply@blogger.com (Tim Oas) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:27:00 +0000

I know several people who have told me the time they spent on a mission trip (to Honduras, Manila, Hong Kong, Mexico, etc) was the time that they have felt the closest to God and His will for their life. I'd have to say that's true for myself as well. I have a small theory about it. I think it has less to do with where I am or what I'm doing and a lot to do with where my attention is. In my everyday life I'm just doing my thing. Wake up...brush teeth...eat...work...eat...X files...eat...sleep. I'm expecting the ordinary. However, on a trip everything is extraordinary. It's so much easier to turn my attenting to God. After all, He is the reason I go. I bet that if I lived my normal everyday life with the attention to God and people that I have on a mission trip, things would be very different. Experiment: try this tomorrow.