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| After a lot of thought and tireless prayer, I've decided to kill todaytodaytoday. He's been alive for almost 2 years, but his time has come to be laid to rest. You can visit his friend, lovebroadcast, at:
| www.livejournal.com/users/lovebroadcast |
(In other words, this is my new blog site!)
No more postings here. I hope you all understand. | | |
| Now that I'm no longer a Xanga premium member, I get ads at the top of my Xanga. What's weird is, the ads are for Australian products. How do they know I'm up in Australia? Crrrrazy.
I appreciate any of you who have prayed for me. I need it. I know that I've talked about preaching on pretty much every single post, but I guess I'm going to do it again. For me, speaking in public isn't necessarily my most favourite thing to do. But, I will say, I feel great when I get done doing it. Preparing this message has been hard because I feel like I know what I want to say, but I don't know how to make a reasonable "sermon" outline. So, I stayed home today from work to finish it. So far, it hasn't been going as planned. But, overall, I have this peace that God will make it into what He wants it to look like. I've had a few people ask me if I want to run it [sermon] by them, but I feel so weird doing that. I don't like practice preaching. I feel like I just want to make an outline which is satisfactory and then just start speaking. That's pretty much what I did last year, and it went really well. I don't know what I'm trying to say.
Minus the Bear is freaking good. I've been listening to those jokers for the past 2 weeks. Get it.
Love,
Joey
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| Everything is going greatly. Anberlin/SAOSIN are coming to Australia but the freakers aren't coming to Perth. No one ever comes out here. Let's start a rally.
This Australian went to Bali a few months ago and someone planted 5 kilos of marijuana in her bag and she got 20 YEARS in prison. Worst of all, she has to serve her sentence in Bali. Everyone is really pissed about it because the Balinese people didn't even take fingerprints and they ignored the fact that there had been a few security people from the airport she came from who were arrested for implanting drugs in tourists bags. I think it's ridiculous. But, they're going to fight the decision. The last dude to do this in Bali had his sentence (life in prison) overturned, BUT, instead of getting life in prison for his drug charge, he's now... on death row. That's right, folks. In Bali, if you're involved in blowing up a hotel killing about 800 people, you get two years in prison. But, if you're guilty for bringing in marijuana, you get put to death. Hooray for Bali! I don't know. Write the president or something.
The new chick, Melinda, is radical. She's super sweet and willing to do a lot of stuff. She's still kinda zoned because of her jet lag and stuff, so that kinda sucks. But, she's going to get over that pretty soon and be alright.
Let me give you sample questions that kids ask me when I speak in their class (during question and answer time):
1) "Do you guys have like, dead people lying all over the place over there?"
2) "Do you own a gun?"
3) "Are there a lot of black people there?"
4) "Do you guys have like, a lot of people who wear hats and shoot guns like the cowboys on TV?"
5) "Are you guys smarter than us?"
6) "Does America have better shopping than Australia?"
7) "Do you know anyone famous?" (This is my favourite question. I always lie and say I know some really random celebrity and they're all blown away. Then, to their great dissapointment, I tell them I was kidding.)
8) "Are there a lot of fat people who take off their shirt during gridiron (American football) games and paint their bodies diferent colours?"
9) "Do you guys have any Australian TV shows?" (Does Crocodile Hunter count?)
10) "Do you guys have Churches in America?" (No joke. I've been asked this question EVERY single time I go into a class)
Crazy Aussies.
Tonight is a bands' night at LJBC. It's going to be pretty sick. I'm excited to hear some of the school's bands... no matter how they sound. Live music will be exciting.
Also, if you have any "pulling" power, get Anberlin and SAOSIN to come to where I am. Thanks a lot.
OH, I almost forgot. I finally figured out what my message is going to be about. It's on the scripture in Matthew about the bro that finds that treasure in a field and sells everything he owns to buy the lot of land that the treasure is. The message is going to be about worship and devoting our entire life to God. I have a few other ideas, but that's just the surface of it. I'm preaching June 12th.
Dear God,
Increase.
Love,
Joey
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| My xanga premium ran out, so I don't know how I can post any pictures on here. My goal was to take a lot of pictures this week and then load them all on here by this weekend. Any suggestions?
The new American intern is coming in tomorrow at 3:30! I'm excited because I think she's going to be really rad. Actually, I don't know what I think, but I think I think she's going to be rad. We'll see!
If anyone wants to come down here June 12th to hear me speak, let me know. I'll put you on the guest list.
The boy was lost. But, once he was found, he ran away. | | |
| Today was a really
refreshing day. Those of you who are praying for me, you're
greatly appreciated. I've been kind of sick the past few days,
but because of medicine and rest, I'm on the road to recovery (that
sounds dramatic, but I'll just go with it). Monday is usually a
day off, so it was nice to not have any expectations of my day.
But, in reality, all of last week was a "day" off. Anyway, I woke
up this morning and had a nice reading session (gotta love John Piper),
followed by a much-needed run. As I was running, I twice
encountered barking dogs. On one occassion, it was just a little
mut, seeming to yap at anything moving. I wasn't concerned with
this one, because it was on a leash. The other, however, was a
larger mut. He/she was ready to come running after me, but the
owner grabbed it by its collar and smiled at me as I ran by. I
smiled back the best I could, but my tired/scared face wasn't really
interested in being friendly. I always hate approaching
dogs. You never know what they're thinking. I always wonder
if the dog is used to runners, and therefore not interested in chasing
me. Or, if the dog looks at every person within 50 feet of its
owner as potential trouble. Whatever the case is, I'm more
concerned with the way I would handle myself if I did get
attacked. I mean, if the owner wasn't present, I'd be happy to
kick the crap out of a dog that was trying to bite my ankles.
But, if the owner was around, I think I'd try to calm it down and be
nice. I need to stop thinking about this stuff.
After my run, I had another good prayer/reading/journaling time.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the spirit and the flesh.
So, I wrote a few things down in my journal, and then, began to pray
and ask God to open my eyes to what He wanted me to read. I
opened up to 1 Peter and read almost the whole chapter. It was
exactly what I was journaling about.
Here's what I've been dealing with. If I choose to ignore my
flesh, would its desires go away? Would its loud army go
silent? Would its weapons dull? Would its memories stop
haunting me? No. But, what I have been extremely encouraged
by is, I have been equipped with weapons far more advanced than my
flesh could ever imagine. I have been given a way out of every
situation. I have been given nothing that I can't handle.
And, what's best, I don't have to settle for anymore lies. I
don't have to believe that every time I mess up, I have to start
over. I don't have to believe that my actions result in how much
God loves me. I don't have to believe that I'm a loner and no one
understands me. Because, the truth is, I was bought with a price
and am no longer my own. The same God who Jesus prayed to before
His death is the same God who occupies my thoughts, changes my life,
and leads me to still waters. The same God who gave wisdom to
David is the same God who directs my steps. The God who raised
Jesus from the dead raised me, as well.
The flesh was once perfect. It was created by our Creator, but
sin evolved it into a tricky pile of, uh, something. Don't get me
wrong, we are still created by God. I'm down with the whole Psalm
139 thing, but let's be honest, our flesh isn't what it was intended to
be. So, people will try to figure it out. We will try to
discover the new "god" and "soul" spots of our brains. And, we
may achieve in finding these spots. But, the fact still stands,
it is flesh. Yes, the brain is an amazing creation, but at the
end of the day, dims in comparison to the glory of Christ, the
knowledge of the Father, and the truth that is like a hidden
treasure. Let us not kid ourselves and continue to deny the fact
that this world is enough to please our flesh, because, it will.
But, the thing is, that's not all we have. For an animal, the
world is perfect. Food, water, a place to rest, a nice social
environment; all these things are good for a healthy life. But,
we are not animals, and therefore, made for something much bigger than
this world.
And so, my flesh will continue to be a lifelong foe. He will
continue to haunt and tease me. He will continue to tell me I'm
satisfied. He will continue to be contrary to the Spirit.
But, the thing is, I'm OK with that. It is only for a short time,
my friends. When our faith is sight, the pain, questions, and
suffering will all be worth it. Let us endure.
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