Sex is currency. She sells cars, she sells magazines

I read, on xxxchurch, about a new "reality" show coming out about one of the members of the 2 Live Crew. It's sort of a "Where are they now?" show, making someone who was sort of famous at one point in time sort of famous again. This show follows Luke Campbell as he has left the world of rap (I would advise anyone reading this NEVER to look up 2 Live Crew, who helped bring about the term "booty-shaking" and whose song titles I won't even post). What is Mr. Campbell doing now that his rap career is over? He's working in the pornography industry. And this is going to be a show, not on HBO or Showtime, but on VH-1, a station that used to show music videos.

When did it become OK to have shows that revolve around sex? It was once taboo for Lucy and Ricki to share a bed, and they were married. Nowadays, if you catch an episode of "Friends," it's pretty much a guessing game as to who's sleeping with who. It's getting so that I can hardly watch TV anymore (which isn't such a bad thing, seeing as how the quality of TV has taken a downward spiral, leaving only a handful of shoes I watch, anyway). And then there are movies. I swear, they add sex and nudity into movies just to lure people in. 300 was a great movie, but there were like 3 scenes with nudity, and they had 0 point in advancing the plot. The same with Wanted. And need I remind anyone of the shipwreck that was Titanic? And that got PG-13 rating! We've become so saturated with sex that these scenes are commonplace in TV and movies. Even commercials have started using sex in their TV spots (look up any Jack-in-the-Box or Axe commercial... on second thought, don't).

It's things like this that makes Ephesians 6 so necessary nowadays. There is a war, and we Christians need to be on our guard for this. Ephesians 5:3 says that sexual immorality should not be named among the believers (the NIV says that there shouldn't even be a hint of sexual immorality). That is an extremely high standard that God set for us, and seems impossible in a world where the phrase "sex sells" has proved true time and time again.

Lord Jesus, I pray for myself and my brothers and sisters, that we would seek you for gratification, knowing that anything that the world has to offer will only leave us wanting more. Lord, I pray that you would remind us that you are the only one who fulfills. I pray that we'd want perfection instead of the perversion of what you've created perfect. Lord, I pray for our sanctification, and that would be in the world, but not of it, living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Amen

Where'd the Time Go

Ah! School starts up again in 3 weeks! I've had 17 first days of school, and the preceding one fails to make the upcoming one easier. The only good thing about it is that it's my last first day of school. It also helps that all of my classes this upcoming semester are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll be working at the front desk and at Harkins Theatre on my days off. I am, however looking forward to all the Nav things going on this next year, which include, but is not limited to:

Camping trip
Freshman Bible study(leading)
Upper-classman bible study (co-leading)
Men's discussion group
Mexico trip
Halloween party!
Christmas party!
AZ Schools' Nav Olympics (co-leading)
Regional conference at Pine Valley
Graduation! (not Navs-related, but it's happening)

As far as what's been happening in the last couple of weeks:

I've lost my wallet
I left my clothes in a laundromat that didn't open again
I've been working a lot at Harkins, which is a bit of a pain in the feet
I moved from the 'Plex to the Underground (f.k.a. The Jungle)
I didn't do summer school due to lack of funds
I've watched A LOT of movies, including The Dark Knight (twice), The Mummy 3, Wanted, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, and Hellboy 2. And those are only the ones I've seen since I started working.
I started reading Every Man's Battle and continued (somewhat) The Grapes of Wrath.

So, yeah, that's been me since I got back from California. I'll try to update this more often, and I swear I'll write more about what happened in California eventually.

Contemplative poem

Imagine, if you will
A scenario quite strange
If Christians were like Christ
Then how would the world change?
Would they give to those who needed
Instead of taking for their gain?
Would they try to heal the wounded
Or still try to inflict pain?
Would they have humble hearts of servants
Instead of proud hearts of kings?
Would they take up their cross daily
Or still take up the pleasures the world brings?
Would they love despite shortcomings
Knowing they have some as well?
Or would their love be conditional
Forgetting that they, too, deserve hell?

Imagine, if you will
A more peculiar scene
If Christ were like the Christians
What difference that would mean!
Would He have ignored the sick
Instead of healing the leper’s skin?
Would He have cast the first stone
Instead of forgiving every sin?
Would He have come to be served
Or still meet the needs of others?
Would He call us His slaves
Instead of friends and brothers?
Would He have ran from His captors
Rather than stumble to the Cross?
Would He still be our God
Or would all gain become loss?

The Christ left His throne
He gave up His crown
He humbled Himself
And, to earth, descended down
He molded us each
With some dirt and His breath
He purchased us each
With His death-defeating death
Yet we are not thankful
For the life He gave up
For the blood that He shed
For Him drinking that cup
He emptied Himself
So our God we can see
He made Himself nothing
And we seem to agree

Is His grace really sufficient for me?

So, my favorite verse in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Basically, Paul had a thorn in his flesh, that he prayed to Jesus three times to remove. Three times Jesus said no. I really like the ambiguity of this section of Scripture, because we're not quite sure what the "thorn" is, whether it is some sin that he continues to fall into, a physical ailment, or possibly even an actual thorn. The ambiguity makes it very easy to apply to whatever thorn we have.

Since I got back from California, my thorn has been joblessness. I'd been looking for a job for about four weeks now, and today I got 2: one with Harkins and one with TEAM Security. I was very happy after both interviews today.

But I couldn't stay happy about this thorn leaving my flesh. When Paul was in distress with this thorn, which he called a messenger from Satan, Jesus told him that His grace was enough. Paul responded by saying that he would live with the thorn, because he knew that that was when Christ was making him strong. When I was patiently, and then anxiously, waiting for Him to provide me with a job, my response was not like Paul's. My response was more like, "God, I've been praying for a job, I've filled out so many applications that I've memorized my previous employers' numbers, I've even been reading my Bible some, and I still don't have a job. What's up with that?" And I started questioning whether or not God was going to provide. I started losing faith in Him; not to the point where I was ready to say, "Screw Christianity," but I'd forgotten the words that Jesus said to Paul, that His grace should be enough for me, not to mention the countless times He's provided for me in the past. It's amazing how our times of trouble can make us forget our times of joy, and how the two are usually not the same, despite what James 1:2 says.

I love the words of the hymn, "It is Well," because the first verse says (in the J-Ra paraphrase), "When times are good and when times suck, God, you have taught me to be content with my situation." That is how I should respond to God.


When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Spirit West Coast, cont.

So, while I was at SWC, it was more than just concerts and altar calls. When we got there, they gave us our room assignments (my roommate being the same roommate I've had since August, interestingly enough). Later, they put us in groups (all three guys from ASU were in the same group, as well as a U of A dude).


Our group, undeniable the dorkiest, decided to name ourselves SG-1, because it was civilian (or collegiate) Navs working together with military Navs, just like in Stargate (although our group was the only group that was all collegiate). And, because we were SG-1, each of us was a different member of SG-1 (if you don't know anything about Stargate: SG-1, you should probably just skip this paragraph, cuz it won't make sense). I, being the only black member of SG-1, was Teal'c. Our fearless leader, Chris, was General Hammond. David, by far the dorkiest in our group, was appropriately Dr. Daniel Jackson. Scott, the only member of SG-1 without facial hair, was Sam Carter (something which he argued against all week). And, because he was left, Bryce (the youngest member of SG-1) was Col. Jack O'Neill (the second oldest member of SG-1, next to Hammond).

So, yeah, the week before the weekend concerts started, we worked. We filled bags with dirt, put CO2 tanks on the main stage, set up lights in various tents (I have a cool wound from a rusty nail, if you wanna see it), move tents, and a lot of other stuff. There were some people who were only there for the weekend who, because they couldn't help out throughout the week, cleaned up on Friday night after the Newsboys concert. If you've never been to a Newsboys concert, or have never heard the song "Breakfast," or have never heard of the Newsboys, their most popular song is called "Breakfast." The chorus to that song is: "When the toast is burned and all the milk has turned and Cap'n Crunch is waving farewell, when the big one finds you, may this song remind you that they don't serve breakfast in hell." Well, it's become tradition for people to bring and throw Cap'n Crunch during that song. That's what the Weekenders had to clean up. On top of that, it was raining, so there was a nice Cap'n Crunch paste on the ground. I was glad I wasn't one of them.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, playing hacky-sack and Wah on our off time, getting to know each other. The meals were top of the line. The bathrooms, on the other hand, caused small problems. They were community bathrooms, with 2 sinks, 2 toilet stalls, and 2 showers. This was no problem until the concert attenders showed up. There were two men's bathrooms and two women's, but once the campers arrived, the sign that read "Men Only" was torn down, revealing a sign that indicated that the bathroom was for women. I'm glad I saw that the sign was gone before I just walked in there. There was at least one of us Navigators who was not as fortunate. Yeah. Awkward. Anyway, the problem was remedied with a new sign that said "Don't remove this one, fool!" or something like that.

Besides the work, play, and awkwardness, we had workshops and activities. We had a talk on women and men working together in ministry, and how that should look. We discussed what the world says the Bible says about military force, and then looked at what the Bible actually says. We conversed about staying sexually pure in the X-Rated society in which we live. And we spoke about shame-based vs. guilt-based societies, and how to share the gospel in those contexts (I still don't quite understand that one). We had many other talks, like making Christ the center, and we did a LOT of Scripture memory. They wanted us to pretty much do a verse a day and that was not happening, although I memorized more than I thought I did. Two of the memory verses were Philippians 4:6-7, which I got to use while sharing the gospel the next week. I'll go into more detail in another post.

Speaking of which, another thing we did was go to the beach and share the gospel around there. That was a pretty good time, although no one that my group of three talked to was responsive. It could've been worse; we could've been told to drop Christianity, take some drugs, and find some girls, like another group was told. Needless to say some people just aren't responsive to the gospel.

Well, I'd love to go into more detail about inside jokes and racist room numbers, but this is running a bit on the long side. So, if you wanna know, just ask. And keep reading. TTFN!


Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Spirit West Coast

So, I was in California for the past 3 weeks, and now I'm back in Phoenix. There were a lot of things going on in the past weeks, and if anyone reading this is like me, they won't read a long post, so I'm gonna break it up.

Anyway, the first week in California was spent at the San Diego Fairgrounds in Del Mar for the Christian music festival called Spirit West Coast. The concerts were Friday through Saturday, and I (and a ton of other people) set up a bunch of stuff the week before they started. Once the concerts started, we had a looser schedule and got to see them, unless we were working the altar calls.

So, basically, the weekend schedule was "These are the altar calls you're working, these are the altar call training times, and these are the meal times." So I got to see a few concerts, like Skillet (which was, by far, my favorite), Third Day (second favorite), and Newsboys. Tobymac was at the same time as Skillet, and it wasn't a hard choice to decide which I was going to see. Thousand Foot Krutch was the same time as Third Day. That was a tougher choice, but after the Seventh Day Slumber altar call, I needed Third Day more than TFK; they're happier music, and I love Mac Powel's voice. Pillar and Newsboys was the same time, and I don't know many Pillar songs, so that was, again, easier to choose.

Anyway, for altar calls, the speaker would ask who in the audience wanted to give their life to Jesus or recommit their lives to Him, and my job was to find the people who raise their hands, give them literature, get there information, and, most importantly, talk to them about Jesus and how to come to Him. I did this for Disciple (who were really good, but I definitely needed earplugs), Dizmas (who I didn't pay as much attention to, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy), Strongman Jon Pritikin (who broke bricks with his forearms and bent bars with his mouth for kids), and Seventh Day Slumber.

Seventh Day Slumber has a unique altar call. It's well known as a very difficult one. It's often given the name "The Suicide Altar Call." The lead singer of Seventh Day Slumber, Joseph Rojas, tells of a time when he was low, and almost took his own life with cocaine. On the way to the hospital, Joseph came to Jesus, after his mother constantly telling him that he needed Him. He was 22 when this happened. Joseph shares this story to the crowd at their concert, and asks the whole crowd to back up. For this concert, the people seeking Jesus come to the front and find us. It was amazing and sad. He asked who had considered suicide within the past week. Loads of hands shot up. He asked who intended to commit suicide as soon as they got back from Spirit West Coast. Still, many hands shot up. He asked who wanted to give their pain to Jesus instead of trying to end it alone. It really got me when I saw a couple in the front raise their hands for people who wanted to end their lives, but not for people who wanted Jesus. I don't know what happened to them, but we did have people go and talk to them. There were tons of other people, though, who did want to give their lives to Christ, and it was overwhelming. One rule for altar calls was that we should avoid talking to people of the opposite sex as much as possible. This was extremely difficult, because most of those who wanted to commit suicide were female. It was so difficult finding people who weren't already being helped and prayed with and prayed for. I didn't get to actually talk to anybody, because it was such a mess. But it was still amazing seeing God working through the testimony of Joseph, convicting people of their sin and drawing them closer to Him. People would come in groups of three, one to give his life to Jesus, two to pray with him and encourage him. It was so sweet seeing the love and companionship. I would go back again, just to experience the power of God once more.

The most frustrating thing about it was that TFK was on after them, so we couldn't sit and talk with the people, like what happened in previous years when Seventh Day Slumber was the last band. There were people coming up who wanted to get saved, but were intermingled with people coming up to listen to Thousand Foot Krutch and get free merch. Nevertheless, I know God was glorified in this and will continue to be glorified.

Suicide Note

This is a poem a wrote about 7 years ago, I think. It's my favorite poem that I've ever written. It got me in a little trouble at school, and I had to see a counselor, but I can guarantee you, it was merely a creative teenager (at least I'd like to think so) writing poetry. Despite the seriousness of the content, it was not and is not any indication of how I feel.

By the time you read this
It'll be too late
I had to escape this world
That I grew to hate
Don't blame yourself
For not seeing a sign
The choice, the action,
The responsibility's all mine
Everything in my life
Has gone wrong since birth
I find no reason
To stay on this earth
I don't want to be here
For even one more minute
My soul will leave earth
And my body will be put in it
Death will be freedom
From this prison cell
By the time you read this
I will be in hell