The Oil Fields Fade In the Distance: My Winter Break

So much can happen in one month, one break. My emotions have been on a constant roller coaster. Love, Pain, Joy, Sadness, Rejection, Reconciliation, Heartbreak. I cant say I have enjoyed my break but Christmas was the best Christmas in years. I feel I have a better grasp of who I am and I'm glad for that. I learned that if someone wanted to hurt me I'm an easy target. I give up my secrets easily, I don't ever think I'm good enough. Yet I have found Christ and in him I know I can be a broken sinner and can be a servant to God. The battle against smoking is a long and hard one. Its hard because my love of smoking is equal or greater then the desire to quit. Its hard to explain this to nonsmokers or even the some smokers. To me the smoke has been a way to break free from stress, a method of prayer even. I at times will walk around outside with my pipe freeing my mind to God and enjoying his creation. So giving it up is giving up positives and negatives. This break has seen evenings filled with laughter, tears, heart break, cigarettes and booze. I don't think I would change a thing. I have learned a lot, hurt a lot. I'm glad its all most over.

Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Christmas Day
The Christ Child is born
Today has been the best Christmas in years
I realized my family means the world to me
I did not really want anything for Christmas but I got what I need
Some clothes to replace the stuff thats not fitting right, and some boots (the docs)
But most importantly Love from my Family and Friends
I know who cares and you mean the world to me.
Cant Wait Till New Years

Kindom Ethics

Discerning Gods will is tough. Its one of the hardest things in the whole world.
I makes a human who is sinful by nature and requires him to put aside there wants and desires and makes them think outside there boundaries and let randomness take over.
This randomness isn't really random humans only think it is this way.
A friend said this too me and it got me thinking this is the message he left me
Seems like you're workin' against some pretty hard stuff right now, broseph. Remember what I said tonight about the way we respond to the call of God. Just like Jesus, it's alright to be afraid and scared (and terrified!) of what is to come in the future, but if we walk on a pathway laid by the Father, fear has no place. I will pray for you. - E.T.
Right now I'm again in a place where I'm not sure of Gods call and really have been afraid of it but thats ok Im being like Jesus in being scared I'm definitely not in as scary a situation but this is a turning point in my life. Doing Gods will and Gods will is an idea called The Kingdom of God or Basileia tou Theou in Greek. The problem is most humans don't understand this is not a physical kingdom or nation but rather its a idea its a set of ethics that are generally counter cultural and what I call the third way usually a debate has two sides most of the time God makes his own option. Just another thought of mine.

"God has spoken the rest is commentary right?"-Rev. Rob Bell

Credo in unum Deum Credo in quae Credo

or I believe in One God, I believe What I believe
Everyone believes something this is what i believe. I wanna hear where you agree and disagree and what you believe in whole


I believe in One God Yahweh Almighty
Creator, Author, Perfecter, Poet of Ground and Sky
I believe in Yeshoua the Messiah the only Son of God
Who in his very Nature is both fully God yet fully Human
Conceived in the flesh by the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit
Sent to Earth to usher in the return of Eden.
In so restoring The Kingdom of God.
In order to do so Gods only Son lived a perfect life,
Was forced to die the Death of A Murderer
He was hung on a cross in order to fulfill the scripture,
In doing so he defeated Death and the power of the Devil.
Upon Death he Descended to Sheol
To tell The Dead the Good news
On the third day he left sheol and ascended to Earth
To pour out the holy spirit on all who believe
He then ascended into Heaven where He is seated at Gods right hand
Interceding for all of humanity until the day he comes again
To restore perfect Justice and finally restore Heaven to Earth
I believe in One Holy Church
made up of many denominations in many locations
Whose job is to restore Heaven to Earth
One random act of kindness at a time
I Believe In One God Who Is Three
Father, Son ,Holy Sprit
Three in One, One in Three
This is What I Believe

BOSSA NOVA INDIE ROCK EXPLOSION

So today a friend of mind told be about too indie rock bands the first being Vampire Weekend who describe there sound as Punk / New Wave / Classical there sound is similar to The Shins with a classical twist there sound is quite impressive. The Next Band is the one that really stands out Nouvelle Vague Nouvelle Vague is a band from France that does 1960's style bossa nova covers of 80's Punk Rock and New Wave songs. Check out there cover of too dunk to fuck by the dead kennedys it will totally blow your mind. There Influences Include the following and the diversity in there Influences really shows
POST PUNK BANDS: Joy Division, the Cure, Human League...
60's BOSSA NOVA: Jobim, Sergio Mendes, Gilberto...
60's & 70's JAZZ: Miles Davis, Hancock, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Cherry...
AVANT GARDE ARTISTS: Luc Ferrari, Parmegiani, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Cage...
SOUNDTRACKS COMPOSERS: J Barry, F. de Roubaix, Shiffrin, Morricone, Lgrand, Roy Budd...
FANTASTIC FEMALE SINGERS: Julie London, Dusty Springfield, Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Gentry...
AND Jamaican Roots Music, Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Dub
Electronica, Autechre, Jackson, Matmos, Curtis Road...

Gravity Rides Everythings

Today was relatively uneventful. I saw my family, got some food at chilies and watched Accepted as far as main stream movies goes it was pretty good. I noticed again a trend with modern movies incorporating underground concepts or ideas, music, and art into there films. Modest Mouse's song Gravity Rides Everything was featured along with a poster of a European rock band who at the time of writing this i cant remember. Also behind the films front as a teenage comedy it is really about alternative education and the imperfections in the college system. I feel the church needs to embrace this idea and not make everything good have the "Christian" title cant something be good with out saying Jesus 10 times. Another thought that keeps me on the verge of insanity

Dailyish Blog One

Today I came back to school. Started Pre-recording a song I wrote. I'm reviewing my life now and trying to use the Reform, Reclaim, Renew stuff to make my life better Im working on self improvement so I can better serve the Kingdom.

This is the first of many daily or so blogs in my life

Reform, Reclaim, Renew

The following is a copy of in essay I did for class about a new concept I have I'm going to edit the essay into a more blog friendly format soon but until then I want to know what people think of the idea


Raymond “R.C.” Makris
Dr. Dave Ellingson
FOYM “Contemplative Youth Ministry”
November 5th 2007
Reform, Reclaim, Renew
After FOYM was over I tried to come up with a topic that really captured the topic of the event and what affect the conference had on me but I struggled to do so to no avail. One thing did stand out to me and I have chosen to write about it because its the FOYM event that really got me thinking about this. While Attending the FOYM I was struck by something Mark Yaconelli said but strangely when It came time to write this reflection I cant remember what he said exactly or even a summery of what his point was, what I can remember were the thoughts that followed. In-fact Mark’s words have had me thinking for days now. In the notes I was taking this is what I said For the church to be a Counter culture it must be ever Reforming, Reclaiming, and Renewing. This Idea struck me it made a lot of sense and I have been exploring it ever since. Over the length of this essay I will look at what each of these means and why there important to the church not just in the area of youth ministry but the church from top to bottom.
The first step in this top to bottom change is reformation, as Lutherans we know all about this our denomination was the first to reform and break away from the Roman Catholic Church and it all started with an essay nailed to a door in 1517 but since then the Lutheran Church has not really reformed all that much. This needs to change reformation has been a key element of the church since the beginning. We shouldn't even call this Reform because really the church is always reforming because the job is never done. Rob bell puts it like this in his book Velvet Elvis Protestants are always reforming because No-one can put God in a box. Throughout the scriptures humans try to put God in a box but then there is reform because God is always stirring up new ways for people to live, breaking down barriers, smashing the box till its nothing. It starts with Abraham and the new concept that there is only one God. Then God giving Moses the law, a law that creates a system designed to have people treated better but the people under this law decide to use it as a way to marginalize large groups of people and treat those people unfairly. In response to this God decides to take this a step further finally he gives the world the greatest of all reformations this time coming in the form-of a Rabbi named Jesus who calls for a new community, one that acts differently then the old. This community is counter cultural its all about reform and loving all peoples. New Oxford American Dictionary describes reform in this way Reform (rĭ-fôrm') verb 1.Make changes in (something) in-order to improve it. The key phrase they use in the dictionary is in-order to improve it. In a world that loves solid foundations how ever false the solidness may be the idea of change and reform scares many especially in the Church but it is necessary to remain relevant. Remaining the same holds comfort while reform causes struggles but my understanding is you never change everything and reforming is nothing without reclaiming the good things of the past.
Reclaiming is the next step in the process of making the Church counter cultural again. Reclaiming is the act of taking back the lost good things from the past. In the context of Church this could be a ritual that has stopped being used like the Passover meal or an old song that hasn’t been played in many years. The key to reclaiming is to only bring back things of value for example if you started singing a song that lyrics are in a style of English with wording that doesn’t make sense in the way we speak now the song wont be edifying. So in-order to reclaim we must discern if this thing should be restored by deciding if it will help the community understand God. Reclaiming may be as easy as explaining the meanings of rituals the still do but the people no longer know the meanings of such as the ritual of Advent each candle has a meaning and the colors all have significance but most members of the church do not know this. The Idea of Reclaiming is not new and has existed in biblical history from the very beginning. The whole biblical narrative is about God restoring humans back to what there intended to be after original sin bringing us back to Eden. Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God being near and what he meant by this was that Gods going to restore us to Eden and we can help to do this. God reclaims his people the Jews after there forced out of Israel several times throughout the old testament but goes a step forward and with Jesus’ death reclaims all people as his children and forgives there sins. We as the church have the duty and honor to aid God in good works reclaiming the kingdom for God and this needs to be done in the Church as well as outside. The Church cant only be about the past though it needs to be relevant in todays world.
For the church to remain relevant in todays world it must renew or update. If you heard someone talking in Old-English your reaction would most likely be something along the lines of what’s wrong with them? Then why does the church continue to act this way? Only in the last few decades has the church started to use modern translations of the bible even though the modern translations were more accurate and were written in todays language. Churches instead used the outdated King James Version because it had been the standard and the language sounded more “Holy” but the “Holy” language was just outdated speech patterns of the past. The Church not only needs to renew by using better translations but needs to think about renewing everything and discern what to keep and what to update. This update can be technological, architectural, and textual. Renewal and update is also a biblical concept one major example of this is Jesus’ death it gets rid of the old outdated ritual of animal sacrifice. I would go as far to say that this ritual that quickly grew outdated was in the old testament law was purely to make things right between humans that God doesnt require the shedding of blood. The author of Hebrews says it this way The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.' " First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The author of Hebrews is talking about both reform and renewal here getting rid of a ritual that wasn't helpful and making the Church more reasonable to modern people. Imagine going into church and bringing an animal and killing it on the alter seems a little extreme I know i would personally come back to a Church that killed animals as part of the service. This is an extreme example but the Church needs to remain cultural up to-date.
This conference has inspired me to think about how to remain counter cultural and up to date as a member of a Church this should be done on a personal level as well as a systematic one. I was greatly surprised how much this event has changed me and made me think. It has changed me in ways far from the direct topic as you can tell from the past few pages. I would like to thank Mark and Trinity’s Youth and Family Ministry Department for this opportunity to learn a lot about the Church and myself.

My Blog

All the posts before are a collection of blog posts from my myspace over the last year theres alot of emotion from alot of different things in there. The Grammar and spelling in these posts and most of my work is not good if your a grammar buff and find errors and want to correct it correct it and send me a edited copy and ill be sure to post it.

Broken

God knows I'm broken
Why do i always come back to that place that hell
its not how God intended it
I need to get away for awhile
solitude
Me and God
I haven't Quite Figured out what I'm here for
I want the kingdom
but I chose to side with the Empire
I talk about reform renew reclaim (more to come)
but I haven't even personally started this
I thought i was strong enough for romantic relationship
but I'm now not sure if Im healthy enough for friendship too anyone
Im rethinking my life and if you notice a change in me this is why
Im a student not a socialite
I live in Issaquah not Seattle, Edmonds, Lynwood, Olympia, Boston, or Vancouver
Im a B+ mind that has a D average cause i let life take me away then I give up
Christ heal me in my brokenness i need you now more then ever
Im a broken sinner by nature who wants to help Restore Eden
Use me in my brokenness for your will god

7 woes to the unnamed mega church

The following Is Written in Combined Style of Jewish Prophesy and Woe Literature. It is in argument Against A Intentional Non-directly Named Mega Church That Has Negatively Effected My Life and Others Around Me.

Woe To You Wicked Generation In The Church In The City Of Babylon

Woe to you who Teach The Prosperity Gospel

Woe to you who shine the holy of holy's don't you know the curtain was torn

Woe to who ignore the poor

Woe to you who deny the action of the holy spirit to those without the same spiritual gifts as you

Woe to you who rid the earth of beauty to fit you idea of worship

Woe to you who hide from the world and its trouble

Woe to you won't eat with the tax collector and sinner

In Love And Life

Falling in love is amazing.
It makes you relies a lot.
God Created Humans in His image.
I think this means that in falling madly in love
We learn who we are
and to learn who we are is to learn who God is.
In the Greek language the language of the Christ movement
God is called Creator of Heaven and Earth
But this translation is a little dumbed down in modern English. A deeper look at this sentence translates out of the Greek as My God Is The "Poet Of Ground And Sky"
If God Creation is Poetry then love is the subject
The subject of the poem is Love

Not always romantic love but all sorts of love
Lovers kissing or laying with one another's head laying on the others chest.
Or that hug when after a friend just helped you fix something that's kept you in bondage to something
Or the Celebration when people realize the war is over and life is getting back to normal
Or When you feel god moving through a person or organization and really effecting peoples lives for the good.

I'll say it once ill say it a million times

God Is Love!

Whatever Thing

Theres a song we sing at vespers alot and it is super deep lyrically and just powerful and It has been really speaking to me right now.
the lyrics to the song are as followed


Whatever thing that I have carried in this place
That will keep me from you
I will lay it at your feet
Whatever burden I have carried for so long
That will keep me from seeing you
I will lay it down right now

All of the things that are cluttering my mind
I will push them far from here
And listen for your voice
All of the pain that I am carrying inside
I will hand it to you
You will take it, set me free, I will fly

I need to hear you speak to me
And I want to feel you in this place
You long to take me in your arms of love
So take me in your arms of love

This talk of laying down burdens is really hitting me hard. Stuff that i have been ignoring since I was 5 have been on my mind Is it time to bring them out and forgive and get it off my chest. How long can I pretend it never happened that him leaving doesn't matter it doesn't affect me that im stronger then that. Its not just him leaving its the times he came back said he was going to be there and then just stopped. How can I claim the forgiveness of sins when I don't forgive people myself

The Gospel Acording To The Silversun Pickups

I love when song lyrics take on new meanings in my head.
I have been listening to LazyEye by Silversun Pickups alot like anyone else who ever turns on the end (they play it way too much)
But I was just listening to the lyrics and it seems to me like they explain the reaction of the disciples between the Jesus's death and resurrection.
take some time and play the video and read the lyrics and then at the bottom of the blog ill explain how i think it does this leave me comments about what you think.

I've been waiting
i've been waiting for this moment all my life
but it's not quite right

and this 'real'
it's impossible if possible
at who's blind word
so clear but so unheard

i've been waiting
i've been waiting for this silence all night long
it's just a matter of time

to appear sad
with the same 'ol decent lazy eye
fixed to rest on you
aim free and so untrue

everyone's so intimately rearranged
everyone can focus clearly with such shine

everyone's so intimately rearranged
everyone can focus clearly with such shine

lost and loaded
still the same 'ol decent lazy eye
straight through your gaze
that's why i said i relate
i said we relate
it's so fun to relate

it's the room the sun and the sky
it's the room the sun and the sky

i've been waiting
i've been waiting for this moment...

The Jews and the disciples were waiting for the time the Messiah would take power and have the greatest kingdom of all Jesus did all of this yet not in the way the Average Jew would think the prophesy was fulfilled.

The disciples would be thinking that this is impossible the Messiah cant die there whole world shifted upside down.

The would sit there in the upper room of there house waiting to see whats next staring up at the stars. Hoping this wasn't real...there leader the man who they followed for years is gone what is going to happen to them are they going to die to?
They related to him his humanness yet his godliness was why they followed him.
Yet the reason they related is now the reason hes gone.

So they sit there all night long
and 3 days pass...

Chuck Noris

Chuck Norris supports Bible in public school... I dont

Chuck Norris supports Bible in school curriculum

GREENSBORO, September 1 (UPI) — U.S. film star Chuck Norris and his wife have joined the board of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. Chuck and Gena Norris said Thursday they made the move to help students understand the Bible's impact on history and literature. "We receive a lot of requests to get behind a lot of things, but it took us only a few minutes to know that we were to stand behind this important work," the Norrises said. The couple is featured in a popular television public service announcement that encourages citizens to bring the Bible back to America's public schools as an available elective course of study. The announcements are aired on several national networks.


While Chuck Norris is for bible in the public school class room I R.C. Makris a believer in Jesus and the bible disagree.
First off that means bible teachers and good bible teachers are few and far between so imagine sitting in a class its bad enough when you have a crapy social studies teacher and they completely teach you there side of an issue. No imagine them doing this with the bible the worlds greatest book also the worlds most misquoted books and most used for evil intentions. I feel the bible should be taught out of faith and faith in the class room is against separation of church and state. So The only way for you to do it and it not to be wrong would be too teach all other religions so would you want to Quran lessons or book of Mormon hw i think now. But.....


What bible translation would they use?

my bets on N.I.V. or King James

It wouldnt be the message i know that





Some chuck norris jokes about the bible

The Top 5 Reasons Chuck Norris Supports Teaching The Bible in Schools

5. Jesus raises the dead, Chuck Norris kills the living. It's the circle of life.

4. Chuck Norris supports the 4 R's: Reading, Writing, Roundhouse Kicking, and Resurrection.

3. Chuck Norris is pushing a new translation of The Lord's Supper in which Jesus says: "This is my body which is broken by Chuck Norris for you."
2. Chuck Norris is an advocate for the 2-block school schedule: 4 hours of religious studies and 4 hours of roundhouse kicking each day.
1. Chuck Norris is still pissed that he wasn't around to punch Pilate right in the face.

True Heros

Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. Drinking can be done in moderation and in the right social environment. But there are people who it is never acceptable to drink around. Drinking to become drunk is also never acceptable. Would you play with guns around someone whose mother was shot and killed? Then why would you drink around someone whose mother was killed emotionally by alcoholism? Every action has a reaction and people need to think out actions before they curse the reaction. Have you ever just stayed sober and watched people as they get drunk? At first it's funny then you realize how stupid they are for putting them selves in a state where they forget what they just did, who there talking to and get angry for no reason. My hero is not those who don't drink but those who keep the drunks from hurting themselves and others. My Hero's are men that act as Christ not condemning the drunks but caring for them. I was blessed to realize this during one bad night through the actions caring actions of Joe and James. I thank god for the blessings that come from negative situations. But I'm not telling men to get drunk but telling men to not get drunk and spread the message of kindness and take care of your fellow man whither he be drunk or sober, black or white, straight or gay, young or old, Christian or not. For the LORD your god sees no classifications for he made all things whither you like them or not.

Acceptance…

Acceptance…

What a hard word. The world moves and we have no control over it. What others think we have no control we long to be accepted.

Acceptance

Noun

1. The mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as true; "he gave credence to the gossip"; "acceptance of Newtonian mechanics was unquestioned for 200 years" [syn: credence]

2. The act of accepting with approval; favorable reception; "its adoption by society"; "the proposal found wide acceptance" [syn: adoption]

3. The state of being acceptable and accepted; "torn jeans received no acceptance at the country club" [ant: rejection]

4. (Contract law) words signifying consent to the terms of an offer (thereby creating a contract)

6. A disposition to tolerate or accept people or situations; "all people should practice toleration and live together in peace" [syn: toleration]

7. The act of taking something that is offered; "her acceptance of the gift encouraged him"; "he anticipated their acceptance of his offer"

Right now I'm struggling with the second use of the word the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception; I have decided to go to Bible College long ago and my friends seemed to accept that. But Recently I have considered going on to Seminary which if you didn't know is the training to become a Reverend or Pastor you go to Seminary to Get a Masters of Divinity. My friends sort of gave me a weird look and then played it off like sort of a joke. I feel like my life and there life's are not similar anymore the connection is kind of gone. I love them and care about them but at the same time I don't feel accepted.