Scavenge – That’s Preposterous

That’s right! This wordpress location is PRE posterous.

I Would Compare It To Jenga…

Okay so first of all, for those of you who are awesome because you watch LOST, I think the Time Loop Theory is the best and most probable theory yet. Its so good, in fact, that I think the show may not be as fun now that I think this theory explains it all. Hopefully uncle J.J., in his brilliance, has come up with some twists for us. For those of you who haven’t watched any LOST, do not go to the above stated web site. Pick up Season 1 on DVD or go to ABC.com (You can watch every episode in full HD streaming. Free. Amazing.) and start with episode 1. Do not attempt to watch any other episodes or commercials. The island would not like that…

So since I moved back to good ‘ol, hometown, cop-infested Marysville, my life has been … interesting. I’ve been trying to snag as many hours as I can at Starbucks. But in the area of finances, it’s been really really difficult. This is nothing new so I won’t bore you with it, but it has been really tough for me. Really tough. Things that make life a lot harder just keep happening. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, it gets just a little bit worse. On the board game scenario, I wouldn’t compare the situation to Dominos, I would compare it to Jenga. The things I need to stand just keep getting slid out from under me. I would compare it to Jenga, but its starting to feel a little bit like Mouse Trap.

I know it is an opportunity for me to rely and lean on Jesus. I praise God for those opportunities, especially since, here in America, even the poorest are considered rich compared to other countries. I have to admit though, I feel very cornered. I really don’t want to get into it much and I don’t want any pity. I’m sure some of you can or could relate at some point. It gets me excited to be in Heaven where there is no sickness and no debt and no remembering of guilt and sin.

I’m glad that our time here on earth is so short. I wouldn’t want to live here for long. I am amazed that there are people being paid by government organization to find or create a “fountain of youth.” Who would want to live longer than 90 years? I’m sure there are some. But those are people I don’t understand.

A Kind of Sappy, Yet Very Exciting Update.

If I were to say that “God has been good” I think it would be unfitting to His character. I think it would be demeaning, in that He is always good and has never stopped being good. If I had not been born, He would still be good. If America had never been discovered, He would still be good. If man never fell in the garden, God would still be good. If God, in His infinite holiness, never chose to create for Himself this universe, encompassed by space and time, well then, He would most definitely still be good. It’s not fair, and I think we fail when we say, that “God has been good”. God is good. Will be good. It’s a westernized phrase. I can understand it. And I know what it means. But regardless of where I’m at in my life, in my place and time, God will always be good. And that holds this life together.

But for those of you who like specific answers, here’s a little something:

I moved back to Marysville. I did this because I believe Jesus called me back, not in a dream or through a homeless person, but through the Spirit who is at work in all of us. I was serving on the production team at Mars Hill Church (which I love) while living in Seattle, not having to pay rent, with 5 other guys. Seattle is where its at, people. If you want to be cool then move there. I was cool for a little bit. It was really great. But let me step back a few chapters… After I stepped off of staff at One28 last December (06), I think, I felt very troubled, and this is something I have not spoken about at all here. I had little desire to attend any type of church, because I struggle very much with the Christian church and many Christians in general. This is a topic for later writing. But I cannot argue the fact that congregating, fellowshipping, or making community (whatever you want to call it) is an absolute essential part of a Christian’s life. One might even say that “if you fail to work towards Christian community, you’ve failed at the Christian vocation.” For a few months, I lived without any real community with fellow believers. And on the faith scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, I hit a very low 1. If you didn’t really know that its because I’m a really good actor.

When I decided to move out of my father’s house in August, I moved in with a dear brother in Shoreline and shared a small apartment with him for 3 months. We decided to begin attending the Ballard campus of Mars Hill Church since it was so close to home. After a few weeks, we decided to go to dinner with some people who invited us after service. It was the first real fellowship I had had in a good many months. I felt like a new man. I truly believe the God was at work in that evening to restore a lot of what had fallen apart in my heart. They are dear friends of mine now (I lived with 5 of them) and I hold them very dear to my heart.

On a paralleling topic, since October, I’ve been privileged to befriend a few guys from Marysville. These guys were exactly what I wanted to be when it came not only to personality, but also to faith in Jesus. It’s true and rich. It’s gritty and deep. It’s down to earth faith. Faith that I never felt that I could accomplish. They were on the same page as me with my questions and doubts, but they had found true joy in finding the answers. I don’t know how to describe it, actually.

After a string of crazy, coincidental, small-world like experiences, I was able to talk with these guys about things, including community, cities, music, smoking, building, battling, praying, the study of Scripture, being really poor (and how no one in America really is), loving like Jesus, hot dogs, Ephesians, swearing, tattoos, abortion, writing, singing, the emergent church movement (God help us…), good art, bad art, bad gas, gas prices, money, not having money, the frustration of denominations, etc. I learned a lot. I realized a lot. I prayed a lot. In one of these conversations, I was told about a guy who was starting a church in Everett. I had heard about this guy a bunch before and how he’s really cool. “You should hang with this guy, tk,” I was told a few times. So I was able to hang with him a couple times and I saw how cool he was. His church will eventually be setting up a coffee shop. The coffee shop, while being a place to get good java, is also where the church will eventually meet on Sunday mornings. He needs people who really know coffee and how to make it. “Oh,” I said, “I happen to do that for a living.” After much discussion and prayer, I decided to commit myself to being a part of his church. I felt like I was being called to help, like this was something much bigger than myself and my little blip of an existence. So since late December I have been attending and serving at Mosaic Church (not affiliated with Mosaic of Oregon or North Carolina… or any other… places…). Please feel free to check out the site. Be sure to visit the “We believe” and “We value” sections of the web page.

That’s a very brief description of what has gone on in the last year. I am, though kinda bummed to not be living farther south (cause its cool), pretty stoked to be back in Mtown. I know many of you who read my blog live here, and that means I get to spend time with you all again. I miss you all, especially my family at Grace Bible Church. If it is appropriate to make a public apology on a blog, I’m gonna do it. I’m sorry I have left so many in the dark on how I am doing and where I am at. It’s not easy to be back in town and not attending my home church, to whom I owe so much. So much. I am sorry that I have not told you sooner that I love you and that I miss you terribly. I will be visiting with you soon and plan on hanging like the good ol days. Its true, I will be busy with work, wedding videos, ministry, and family, but you are my family. And I miss you. I’m also pretty envious that you got to hear Phil Johnson 2 years in a row at the Double K.

Alright. It is very late and I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. This was a difficult blog to write, and I’m sure there is much more to be said. If you want some coffee, you can stop in at the Starbucks at the Tulalip outlet mall where I will be working (I’ll also be covering shifts at the plaza 88 Starbucks by Haggen) and visit. I would love it. I already got to see SKH’s beautiful skinny face the other day, though I couldn’t spend time hangin with him which made me pretty depressed. But I shall see you all soon, and those I haven’t talked to in a while who are out of town, I miss talking with you and you can expect an email or two from me.

I remain forever grateful to you,

tk

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

See Raising Arizona. It will make you laugh.

Concert Postponements

Those of you who live in the state of Washington and who have been following my blog recently, I want you know that this Saturday there will not be a Houseshow concert like I had mentioned before. Jeremy noticed that flights to Seattle during the holiday months are pretty darned expensive, or a lot more than we were expecting. This would’ve required some extra fund raising that he and I both don’t think is possible this close to the date. So we will be postponing the show to a later date, probably in sometime late-January. I am bummed that this didn’t work out like I had hoped, but I think it is for the best and I think next time, I’ll include Jesus in the details.

What I mean by that is that I don’t think that I really brought this opportunity to Jesus with a humble heart. I had put on one of these things before and figured I could do it again on my own. I am at a point in my life right now where I’m finally realizing that I need to be relying on Him for everything. And yet I still try to lean on my own understanding to get things done. This is always disastrous for me.

Anyway, I’m sure you can understand and relate to that. So bottom line, there will be no Jeremy Casella show this weekend. Please keep your eyes peeled for any new news about a future show (which we really want to happen).

Other than that, here are a couple things that I think you should check out.

-The Rabbit Room – Andrew Peterson and Friends’ new blog. “The Rabbit Room” was a corner of a pub (The Eagle and Child) where C.S. Lewis and his friends would meet to smoke pipes and have intellectual discussions. We should have more of those types of things.

Cat Stevens – Peace Train

Stay tuned for updates on the Jeremy Casella concert!

Derek Webb on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

This little man that I’m holding is going to be having a lot more listeners to his music. He already has thousands of listeners, but having a song on one of America’s top 5 most watched shows tomorrow night is really going to help. I am sad because I don’t think I have talked enough about Derek on this blog. I used to be the biggest Derek Webb fan you’d meet. He was all I would talk about and, in some cases, refer to for spiritual guidance (not condoning that, obviously). The Lord has really done a work in him and through him. Derek’s music is still causing people to think about what they believe to be true Christianity. He has shown me that Christianity is more than talking about loving the people, but loving them. It’s more than talking about loving Jesus, but actually loving Him. It’s more than just talking about following Jesus, but actually following Him. A good majority of who I am has been shaped by listening to Derek. Yes. I am proud to say that I’ve hugged, and shed a tear or two with, this man.

Deep as Wealth and Wide as Fashion

Donald Miller

Originally uploaded by atkevin

An excerpt from the book I recently read:

“My father left my home when I was young, so when I was introduced to the concept of God as Father I imagined Him as a stiff, oily man who wanted to move into our house and share a bed with my mother. I can only remember this as a frightful and threatening idea. We were a poor family who attended a wealthy church, so I imagined God as a man who had a lot of money and drove a big car. At church they told us we were children of God, but I knew God’s family was better than mine, that He had a daughter who was a cheerleader and a son who played football. I was born with a small bladder so I wet the bed till I was ten and later developed a crush on the homecoming queen who was kind to me in a political sort of way, which is something she probably learned from her father, who was the president of a bank. And so from the beginning, the chasm that separated me from God was as deep as wealth and as wide as fashion.”

-Donald Miller

Whiskerino

Due to the overwhelming amount of subscribers this year, Whiskerino, as of about 5 minutes ago, was unable to take anymore registrants. Right after I shaved my complete face very closely for just this thing.

For those of you who don’t know, Whiskerino is a website that encourages men of all types to shave their faces completely on November 1st and  let their manly face hair grow from then until February 29th. I thought this would be fun indeed. So I just shaved my face. Then I read that there were too many men into the idea, and Whiskerino was unable to take my registration. Bummer. So I thought I’d do it myself anyway. Here’s the picture of me after I shaved. I honestly think I’m really goofy looking without facial hair:

Let’s see how long I can get this puppy.

If I Wasn’t a Christian, I’d Be a Millionare…

Some dude is making tons of money off this. C’mon.

October.

This is my “I can’t wait till starbucks is iTunes/iPodTouch/iPhone enabled” face.