Awesome giveaway

Hey everybody. I wanted to let you know of an awesome giveaway from http://trevinwax.com/. His blog is an awesome insight into Christianity. This year he is giving away 10 books, plus an ESV Study Bible. So go check out the blog and the giveaway.

My Homie, C28!

Hey everybody. I hope that you are all doing well. I wanted to let you know about a company called C28/NOTW. They are a really awesome Christian clothing company. I own some of their merch and I get ppl coming up to me all the time asking me what its about. I know that you will get the same responses! My favorite shirt that I have is Jesus in a tree, and there is the word 'WHY?' on the front. On the back there are a few scriptures. They also do shirts, sweaters, tanks, shoes, pants, jackets, rings, necklaces, and window stickers! I love their window stickers, I have them on my laptop and ppl are always interested in what NOTW means. They really like it. Check them out here, www.c28.com.

Awesome Free Stuffs

Hey everybody, for some great free books, check out this giveaway. Its also a great blog.

http://trevinwax.com/2008/12/15/kingdom-people-christmas-giveaway/

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Drug Rehabilitation

Here is my essay that I wrote for my English final. Its not perfect, but it could work if we wanted it to. Blessings.

     From what I have read and believe, I strongly feel that rehabilitation for drug offenders is something that our government needs to financially support. There is proof that these programs are working. I believe that our government is not spending enough money on rehabilitation programs. There are instances that they see positive results, however a lack of funding is causing their effectiveness to decrease. The reason that our state is lacking in funding is because there is not enough money coming from the people. It is our taxes that fund how our government works. If we lower taxes, then we are cutting the funding needed to rehabilitate offenders who really need the help.
     Our society is very self-centered. For example, they do not want taxes to be increased because that means that they are not able to have as much in their pockets. The more money that people have to spend on things they don't need, the happier they are. (It is a shame that they do not fully realize that their happiness is only temporary.) When their happiness leaves, they figure that they can just buy it again, thus repeating the cycle. When people recognize that they will become happier in giving that in receiving, then they will not have a problem with increased taxes. Their increased taxes will be beneficial to the country because their child's education will be improved by having the state hire more, qualified teachers, thus having the teacher per student ratio to increase, which has been shown to be a positive thing for students.
     Their taxes will also go toward numerous other things that will increase the overall benefit of the country. One thing that will help society by increased taxes is rehabilitation for drug offenders. There are many programs out there, both state sponsored and privately sponsored that are successful in drug rehabilitation. One such private institution is Teen Challenge, which has locations all over the state. Their success rate is much higher than any state lead program in the country and this is confirmed even by the country. With increased taxes, there is more money that can be granted to institutions such as this. This is one case where money equals success.
     With more rehabilitated people walking the streets, our prison's populations will decrease. This decrease in population will allow more resources to be devoted to criminals who are serious offenders. Also, the less people that are in the prison system, the less that the tax paying people will have to spend on the prison system, thus allowing more funding for programs that are actually beneficial for society (like rehabilitation programs).
     If people become generous with their money, then their dependence on it will decrease. A decreased dependence on money will make people much happier. People will not worry so much on their finances, thus causing less fighting between married couples and fewer divorces. Fewer divorces will bring about a healthy family system, with children growing up with a clearer understanding on how the system of a marriage and family is supposed to be. Increased healthy families will cause a decrease in unhealthy families. Children will no longer need to go to outside sources (such as drugs and gangs) for comfort and security. There will be a decrease in the number of children in gangs, and eventually with no new members, gangs will decrease. With a decrease in gangs, there will be an additional amount of funds for the state, since crime will decrease.
     With less drug dealers on the streets, there will be a decrease in the drugs that are shipped into the country illegally. Drug cartells around the world will no longer have anybody to buy their drugs, thus themselves going out of business. With all the extra money that former drug buyers are able to save, they will be able to pay for the increase in taxes and then be able to give more to people and to programs that need the money. They will be happier because the feeling of giving is so much better for the body and mind than the feeling of taking and temporary happiness.
     Eventually, because of the increase in taxes, people will be more respectable toward each other. Our state will not have to worry the people about the large deficit that our state is always trying to turn around. A surplus in funds will allow emergency programs to be more effective when emergency happens. With a surplus, rehabilitation programs will be better funded. Eventually because of the lack of offenders due to the increase in healthy family systems, rehabilitation programs will not be needing as much funds as offenders will cease to exist. In the rare chances that funding is needed for drug rehabilitation, it will be available because of the surplus that the state has.
     The health of the American nation and the government will increase dramatically and people and countries around the world will look to us as an inspiration. We will begin to give respect to other nations in our generosity. Respect will once again be given to us. No longer will we need to borrow money from other countries or have them buy our debt. We will be a country of peace and prosperity and of freedom. And it all started because we took the time to care for those who needed to be cared for. We set our selves aside and focused on those who needed help and we were there as a people to help them. Drug rehabilitation can work and it will change our nation and possibly the world if we support it.

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Pumpkin Pie...

yum... I love pumpkin pie. Too bad I wont get any till tomorrow...

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Love

Hey there. Thanks for droppin by.

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Hello

I know that it has been a while since I have posted. My presence is
dying down. But, fear not. I have been doing a lot of assignments that
deal with my spirituality. I will be posting them up in the near
future. I know that a while ago I posted about my assignment from
Celebration of Discipline. Well I did not fully read the rules for that assignment. I told you that i would be doing two disciplines. However, I only had to do one. So I will begin posting those journal entries tomorrow. I know that I still have to put up my testimony. I will do that real soon too. And also, I got my Herm 1 paper back with a 97%! The wife and I were very happy. There were just a few technical mistakes. I will have my edited paper up soon, a paper that is worthy of 100%. Well, that is all for now. God Bless everybody!

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China News

PC World - Business Center: Xinhua Runs Spacewalk Story Before Astronauts Leave Earth

Ok. Now I can see why people think that the American moon walk was faked. Gota love China.

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Shake it!

YouTube - experiencewii's Channel

this is a great video for WarioLand: Shake It! for the Wii.

my friend tom

So my friend Tom put on his blog his Hermeneutics paper. I have not read it, but I plan on it. I think that I am going to post my paper on too. But not just my paper, other works as well. I have a bunch of response papers from other classes that I will post online. Please do not copy them. That's all. God Bless.

Today

I went to the DRC (District Resource Center) in Sacramento today to begin my application for being pastorized. Yes, I said pastorized. It was a term that my former employer Matt gave me after I went to Phoenix for Pastors School. It was something that stuck with me over the years. Anyways, it was a long trip. Under no traffic conditions, it takes about 2.5 hours to get there. Well, today it took (surprise, surprise) 2.5 hours to get there! We left the school at 10 am and we did not have to be there until 2 pm. So the people who planned this trip expected us to take 4 hours for a 2.5 hour trip. Can I say waste of time? Once we were there we had a quick tour of the building and then we began our application process. There were many papers to fill out. That whole process took about 2 hours and then Dr. Herndon spoke after that for about 30 minutes on some of the history of the denomination and its roots. After that my group decided to go to dinner instead of being oarked in traffic. The decision was to go to TGI Fridays. It was my first time there. I had the Parmesaian-Crusted Siscillian Quesadillas. It was good. By the time we left there it was about 6:45 p.m. There was no traffic so it took us about 3 hours to get home. I walked through the door of my room at 10:05 pm. More to come later.

Spiritual Disciplines

Over the next 4 weeks I will be studying some spiritual disciplines from the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. In his book he lists about 12 disciplines. I will be studying 2 of those disciplines for my life over the next four weeks. Those disciplines are Prayer and Simplicity. This is an assignment for my class Introduction to Spiritual Formation with Dr. Dan Albrecht (all-bright). I hope that what I journal on will be beneficial to your spiritual life as well as have an impact on my spiritual life as well. My first posting will be later tonight. (hopefully)

Summer Movies

I was lucky enough to watch a few movies this summer. The best one, without a doubt, was The Dark Knight. I really want to watch this one again. Other than that awesome one, we (Anna-Marie and I) watched The House Bunny, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Love Guru, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and Tropic Thunder. They were all pretty good. The Dark Knight was the best, by far. Next was Chronicles of Narnia, then Indiana Jones, The Love Guru, Tropic Thunder, then the House Bunny.

LFS

Today in chapel, Pastor Lew continued his series on 1st Corinthians. Today his topic was Love, Focus, and Service.  I cannot remember the verses that he used, but the main points were as Christians, we need to posses those three qualities in our walk. Love: to love others [as I (Jesus) have loved you]. Focus: on what brings us together. Service: There can be only one king, Jesus, and ALL who are below Him are his servants. Jesus is the only King in our lives as Christians, not our parents, our bosses, our spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends. We are to serve what He has provided for us.

Remember LFS at all times.

My journey

My faith journey began when I was a senior in high school. I was secretly dating a young woman who I attended school with. I was not “officially” allowed to date her because I was not a Christian, per her father’s request. After being with her for about 9 months, I gave my life to the Lord. As we were on our way to a New Years Eve youth event, I was presented with the question, “Why not be saved?” I did not have an answer. Within two months of that time I gave my life to Christ. I do not have an exact time or day in which I gave my life to Christ. My acceptance/salvation was a slow process and not a quick, one night it happened event. I just know that I was “in the family.” Her family and my youth pastor were my guides and mentors on earth. I read the Gospels and other New Testament books which also grew what I believed and who I was. My formation was not easy for me, nor was it easy for those who accepted the challenge to help me grow. I am still growing in many ways and I believe that my spiritual growth will never cease. I am always looking for ways to grow as a disciple of Jesus. There seems to be an unlimited supply of resources available in the area of disciple building.

I have had a lot of influences shape me spiritually. One major one that comes to mind is my ex-girlfriend’s father. He was a lot of help for me. When I first became a believer, he was there to teach me, show me, and watch me be a Christian. He was there when I needed help and answers. I watched him in his home and he had also hired me for a few jobs. I was able to witness his attitude toward others and toward his family, which had just expanded a year before due to a new marriage and two new children from his new wife. Seeing how he dealt with family issues and growth was very beneficial for my Christian upbringing. Alongside of him was his daughter (my ex). She was there to help me and teach me when he was not around. She helped me in our relationship and personal issues and decisions. There was many things that I learned from the both of them and I am grateful for them. The next person that influenced me was my youth pastor. It was by watching him that gave me the passion to reach the youth. I was with him for a while when I had lost my job. I spent a lot of time at my church because I had not much else to do. I learned a lot about the dealings of the church and related issues. My next human influence was my Media pastor. I was able to watch how he worked and operated because I was given a position working at the church in his department. I saw how he related with his family and co-workers and how that differed from my youth pastor and mentor. There was a lot that I gained from my interactions with all these people.

Another factor of my spirituality was my home life. I was the first Christian in my family. My father is an alcoholic and a smoker. My mother is a smoker and a pack-rat (collector of junk). It is through my growing and watching them that I made the decision to never smoke or drink. My mom collects junk from old houses, antique shops, and yard sales. Over the years I watched as my backyard, garage, front yard, dining room, front room, and our computer room shrank in size because of the stuff that my mom brought home. June 2008 was the first time that I saw our dining room table in a long time. It was dealing with them and growing through all that that helped shape who I was spiritually and in the world.

I cannot say what any main point there has been in my life that has grew my relationship with God more than the initial salvation experience. I am not the type of person that groups and remembers events. I see all things that happen to me with the same emotionality. I do not rank events in my life as something that is better than others. There are events that I remember very vividly like they happened just now, but I do not rank those events as being higher than others. I view all events as ways to grow in my faith. Each new thing that I experience and grow in I see as a growth in God. He reveals Himself in numerous ways. I try to see God in everything that I do and I use that in ways that grow my faith and spirituality.

My understanding changes constantly. When I see events happen I try to understand how God was in their midst. Through my realizing and understanding of how God works in our lives, my ideas and comprehension change and adjust to how God is moving. My thoughts are seldom set in stone. There are things that I believe now that I will not believe tomorrow that I could believe again in a few months. I change when I witness God move. Every change is another step in my faith and maturing in Christ. My commitment to Christ is lived out by following Him and always keeping in mind my purpose and how I live to fulfill my purpose. I was made to serve and worship God. I see ministry as service. In my service, I am worshipping God. It is through this service that I am growing in all aspects of my life - the spiritual, emotional, and physical.

yes

In anticipation of my testimony, I wanted to let all 2 of you know that I weigh 193.5 pounds (with clothes on). It as been almost 6 years since I weighed that little. Awesome. Now I need to get some muscle mass and I am set.

tomorrow

In order for my blog presence to grow, I have decided that I am going to post my testimony tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Enjoy the rest.

been a while

It sure has. I just saw that I had 16 posts. I know that is not a lot. There were some things that I said that I would do in the past that I have not done. Well, that is a drawback of mine. I need to follow through. So I plan on posting at least once a week now, and not just neat pictures or links, but actual thought. I think that to help me with that I am going to post some of my papers that are due in class. I recently wrote my testimony and I think that I am going to post that later on today. It is long, just to warn you.

I have been thinking lately what the purpose of my blog is. I know that some people put devotionals on, others use it for news, some do in-depth studies on scripture. There is one that I like from Perry Nobel, a pastor on the east coast, who posts on ways to lead churches and the such. I ask myself what I am going to use this blog for? And I say, my fellow Americans, for whatever I want to. I will like to use this as an update to my friends and family. There are things that I have along the right ---> side that are of interest to me, for all you gracious people out there.

I would like to just say thank you to my parents. Gary and Katie Wick. They have supported me through my 22 (almost 23) years of life and I would not be the person that I am today if it were not for them. Thank you mom and pop. Your support and assistance while I was in school activities have been very impacting to my life and I know that you guys love me because you have always been there for me and that is more than any child could have ever asked for. Thank you.

Lastly, I would like for all of you to know that I LOVE MY WIFE, Anna-Marie. We have known each other for a few years now, and we have been married for just over three months. I Love her very much. And I am much appreciated that she is in my life. She helps and supports me in all that I do and that is more that I could ever ask for in anyone. I love her more than anything on this planet.

PS - I turn 23 in three days. Yay for me.

Sweet Pix

http://www.blingit.us/blog/2008/02/27/pictures-taken-just-at-the-right-time/

funny stuffs.

on earth

In my most recent years of being in serious relationships, I always had a problem with telling people that I loved them above all else and that they were the most important to me in my life. This was a problem for me because as a believer in Jesus and God's Word, I was to put them first and foremost in my life. There was to be none higher than God in who I loved. I felt bad because I was telling things that just didn't feel right. And it felt weird to say "You are the most important thing in my life, after God." Well, I found a very easy way to get around that now. I was reading one of my books and in it was a personal story from the author. In this story the author was talking about his family and how he loved them more than anything on earth. Before he said that he stated that he loved God more than anything. I am not stuck in that situation much anymore being married and all, but for all you non-commitment types, there is the answer. You can tell them that they are the "most important thing and that you love them more than anything on earth." For me, it still allows freedom in the expression and non-guilt for God's priority in our lives.

God Bless ya'll.

Free Education

Hey there everybody. I have been thinking recently about online education. I was doing some research and I found a site called Open Courseware Consortium. This organization is a collaboration of different universities throughout the world who are offering their teaching materials online for FREE. The downside is that you do not get course credit for the classes. But the upside is that you get to partake in university level classes for free. Some schools offering free courses are MIT, Stanford, Utah State, UC Berkley, Yale University and University of Washington. I would encourage you to check this out. Have a great day.

evolution

nice. pic.

Awesome Ink site, check it

Sacred Ink. Awesomeness.

http://sacredink.net/main.html

Help Out.

Church 2.0

Went to a church 2.0 forum today. It was about the emergence of web 2.0 and the church and its impacts and uses. Very informative. This is the way that the church is going. Heard some interesting stories of how churches are implimenting texting and web sites. Can't wait to see what else God has for us.

John 7:53-8:11

I read an article claiming that John 7:53-8:11 (the woman caught in adultry) was written after the fact and that John did not write this in his original text. There was plenty of evidence to support this and I am inclined to agree with what the author is saying. There was a section in the text that stated, "If John wrote his gospel as a tightly woven argument, with everything meeting a crescendo in the resurrection, would he be disturbed that some scribes started monkeying with his text?" This was the overall problem that was being addressed by the article. As I read this, I was thinking of the lines in Revelation 22:18-9:

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book."

My thought is this: What if John knew that there were writings being added to his letters and he wrote this in Revelation to wart off any changes? To my knowledge, John did not say anything like this in his previous letters. John wrote his Gospel within 20 years (+/-) AD 70 and Revelation around AD 95. It is very possible that in his edition of the Gospel that he sent out, he received a copy of it back years later that was modified and at the time that he wrote Revelation he added the above warning so that it would not be changed. It would make sense that the warning in Revelation was to stop scribes and other people from changing what he had written. It is also possible that John wanted to send out his original letter again but was not able to due to time constraints. There was also the possibility that if he were to send it out again that nobody would believe that it was the authentic account. 

Wedding...

SO today was not that great of a day for Wedding news. First, our man in charge of food alerted us that he will not be able to come to the wedding. But we are still getting the food through him. Second, the maid of honor's grandmother got injured. This creates a problem because she is the only one that drives in the house. Therefore, my gal might have to get a new MOH because this one is 'flaky'. And third, my soon-to-be Mother in law has a high chance of not being able to make it due to money issues. Three big things on one short day. Please pray for us. It's hard.

God Bless America.

Devotions

Well, I just finished my first devotion. No, its not up yet, but I have decided to post my devotions one week after I write them. So my first will show up next Thursday. I hope that you find them enjoyable. Give God all the glory for He is awesome.

welcome to the planet

So. You have decided to get a blog thingy. Lucky you. I Love you and I pray that you have a great day. You are always mine. Never forget that.

It begins today...

Well today I am beginning my pastoral internship at CLC. I hope that it goes well. Pastor Ed seems like a cool guy to be under. My only concern is in the financial realm. I need to get a job to support my new life starting in a few weeks. I pray that I will be able to have a paid internship. Something is better than nothing. I will more than likely be having two jobs. I am blessed to not have many bills and a large sum of money in the bank now to help with my new life. God be with me.

And so...

Well look at the time. It is May 15. I will be gettin married in little under four weeks. Things are going smoothly for us. Alot of the work is already done, now its just the small stuff. I have just written my thank you for my best man. Ya gotta know that its good when your fiance storms out of the room. You know it!

I am still awaiting a response to my application at Cabrillo. I hope that I get the class that I need before it is too late. It would been alot to me and my future if this goes through.

I have been thinking alot about the books that I want to read. I have about 10 in my room and another 10 or so in my reserve area. I really love camera phones. I have a horrible memory. So when I want to remember something I just take a picture of it. But then I forget that I took the picture. I found some "notes" from January. I really want to read these books that I have lined up. 

I had my meeting with Pastor Ed yesterday about my Pastoral Internship at CLC. This was just a meeting for me to confirm that we were going to be good. I reviewed the portfolio today and there was some interesting stuff that I found out. For instance, I need about 20 hours a week at the church. I hope that will work out. I also hope that it will be a paid internship, that would so rule. I had also done a short phone interview with Dr. Brewer and he had told me that I was to complete all the competencies in the packet. I am ok with that, i just do not see how leading a women's bible study will assist me. But hey, that is between me and God.

Pray for me.

Complications

Well. I plan on graduating in next semester, Fall 2008. I had it all planned out. Take some classes in the summer, and the rest in the Fall and be done with it all. But no! Thats not the way of the warrior. I was going to take classes through SCC like I have in the past. So today I log in to check the status and all that stuff. I do a search for classes and guess what? They are all filled up! Totally not cool. Im starting to worry a bit here as well. So I go to school #2, Cabrillo. They are almost full! I just applied and hopefully will be able to get in at least one class for the summer and one for the fall, both online. God, I pray that I get these classes. Will you pray for me? Thanks and have a great time.

beginning

Hello world. This is the beginning. This is where it all starts. I have had alot of thoughts lately and I felt as though I should share them with you. It is my goal that I post daily devotionals for the next few months at least. There may even be some other ramblings going on. Have a great day.