Hello from Montana!!!

I am here in the coolest place I have ever been to in Montana, ok it is the only place I hae been to in Montana. I have been fishing, camping, 4Xing, boating, horseback riding etc... I even had my bachelor party the other night! Tonight we are going to have a steak fry after about an hour ride and then go skeet shooting. Yes I will be shooting a gun.

The place is really nice and all the staff is super cool. It is also really good to get to know the senior football guys better.
We are having a blast and I can't wait to show you all the pictures.

I will not be going to Fresno next week so I will be around.

Sorry about the drought.

It is funny how the weather in WA will change on a whim. Not 45 minutes ago I was completely soaked to the bone just walking from my truck to my room. This wasn't the normal, "Oh, it's raining" rain. This was the, "Quick, lock the doors, batten down the hatches and hide the children, the end of the world has come!!!" rain. And now it is sunny and everything seems right with the world.

I went and saw The DaVinci Code last night and I have mixed feelings about it. I finished reading the book yesterday afternoon and I wanted to see the movie. I knew it had gotten some bad reviews and stuff like that, but it was still a pretty worthless movie. The only redeeming quality was that it did not glorify the act of sex like the book did. As a story, I have read better in a Tom Clancy novel. I did really like the artwork presented in the book and how Dan Brown talked about it, but he was super quick to jump to conclusions about what the symbology actually meant. It reminded me a lot of the PLU religion department. The movie altered the book a bit, but they did a fairly good job of staying true.

I have a super busy life coming up... I am going to hang out with Marc Wymore from Puyallup Foursquare and then hopefully visit my sister Laura and my nieces and nephew. At 7 pm I have a graduation party for Diabdra Brewer at her house. Tomorrow I work from 4 am to noon and then I need to get on the Island so I can go to my sister Deborah's graduation and the BBQ afterwards. On Sunday, I am on the worship team and after church I will drive to Flathead Lake, Montana. I will probably be driving by myself, so pray for me on this trip.

I will be spending about 5 days there at Flathead Lake lodge with some friends. None of these guys I am hanging out with for the week are saved and most of them are very happy to live debaucherous lifestyles. Please pray that I will be able to model the LOVE of Jesus to them and just walk my walk without feeling the need to preach at them.

Hopefully, I will be able to go to Fresno, CA and hang out with Chad and Michelle Johnson. Chad is taking a group from his youth department down to the Dream Center and hopefully God will provide a way for me to join him on this trip. If any of you guys feel lead to give me extra air miles or money for this trip, I would greatly appreciate it.

I will get back from Cali (hopefully I go in the first place) around the 2nd or 3rd of July and I will be hosting a BBQ for the 4th at my mom's house on Vashon. I will probably stay around the Island for a little while, because I don't get to hang out with my family all that much.

On the 7th of July, I will be heading out to Aberdeen to staff the Go Camp out there. I am really looking forward to this opportunity to be with my friends out there and be a part of what God is doing out in the Grays Harbor area. I have had this blocked out in my schedule since last year's Go Camp. I just love being in Aberdeen, I love what God is doing and the people are fantastic. They literally have to rely on the Holy Spirit so much out there that it is cool to see. Doug and Jake are doing an awesome thing with what the Lord has given them, I am happy to just be a part of it.

After Go Camp ends, the 16th of July, Campus Safety will start again. I am still trying to go to Ketchikan sometime in the beginning of August, but again the Lord needs to provide. Football will start August 19th (the day after my birthday) and then school shortly after.

I love being busy!
(Anne, you should be happy because you usually know my schedule better than I know it myself.)

This might be a long post...

I am almost ready to buy my Taylor... YEEEESSSS!!!!! I applied for a loan with my truck as collateral and I got approved, I just need a co-signer still. It was weird to hear that I needed a co-signer, I guess I don't have as much credit as I thought I did. I have good credit, on the high side of good, but I don't have a lot of it yet. I am trying to get my dad to co-sign for me and hopefully he will. This loan will allow me to get out from under some killer credit card debt and hopefully get me a killer Taylor guitar.

It would be so nice to have that guitar because it would allow me to play as often as I wanted and not have to deal with the not as nice acoustic I have now. I also put up for auction on ebay some of my old gear that I bought but don't ever use. It would be cool to see that stuff take off and sell for a decent price. I will use the money I earn from that to pay off the truck loan I will get and that should help out a lot.

I went to Aberdeen on Wednesday and that was a ton of fun. I got there early and talked to Doug about some stuff and we just chatted which was cool. We talked a bit about the Go Camp, that is obviously on his mind a lot right now and we talked about some cool ideas they have that I will get to be a part of. Jake had asked me to come down and play guitar for them and to share a little something. When we started talking about what I was going to share about a week ago, I had 15 minutes. On Wednesday as Jake and I were driving all over Aberdeen looking for Alpha-Bits cereal, Jake told me that I had 10 minutes. Right before he called me up to speak he told me I had 5 minutes. That was fun, a real quick and fast presentation of the fact that God likes us! He doesn't condemn us and that He is looking to forgive us. It was really cool and very fruitful. Afterwards we played a lot of cool games, most of which involved stuff outdoors, goofing off and getting dirty. After everyone had kinda left, Oliver asked us to pray for him. We did and it was really cool. We don't do that enough at PSCC, pray for each other. I think I will just start asking people to pray for me about everyting. This doesn't need to clog the altar, but just grabbing some people after service and having them pray for you is powerful!!!

I should go, I am starting this crazy adventure by meeting with Marc in less than an hour.

Oh, yeah I need to pack and find plane tickets and make this happen!!!

Love to you all

Random thoughts from a random mind

I love talking about the Lord!!! I have had so much opportunity to speak life into people and they may not even know it! I worked with my friend Tabitha today and we talked about so many things, like her Lutheran background and why she thinks the Lutheran church will die off. She told me a story about a time when their pastor preached on the steps of the altar and away from the pulpit and how people left the church because they were so outraged. She also informed me that they still think that drums are sacreligious to have in worship!!! I asked her if I could come down and lead worship at her church and she said no! She is so primed to go off the deep end in her relationship with Jesus, I can't wait.

I was talking to Kelsey Dawson yesterday and she told me this amazing story. She told me about this church in Seattle where this guy was spending time in the prayer room after service. This guy go tso full of the Lord that he could not stop speaking in tounges. He left the prayer room, still speaking in tongues, and found the gal he was courting. He walks up to her and just can't stop speaking in tongues. All of a sudden she yells out, "YES!". He had walked up to her and proposed in tongues and she through an interpretation had understood it! That is how I want to propose!

So we have a lot of work to do on campus... There was a conference this weekend with a woman named Amma. Long story short, there is a lot of demonic debris on campus and we need to begin to pray. I will explain more about Amma in a post soon.

Oh, Lord that the heavens would stay open and that your Spirit would continue to empower us, your people, to boldly proclaim who You are. You are the God of truth, forgiveness and healing. Only You can save our campus.

Open Heaven

I have been working on the Ignite newsletter for about a week, trying to get everything together and printed properly and stuff like that, so I have been at the church a lot lately (I feel like an Intern again). We finally got the newsletter mailed today (138 of 180 so we got most of it done) and I am happy about that.

I have been talking about the Lord so much, I am almost sick of it. I talk with almost everyone at work about stsuff pertaining to Jesus and I don't even start the conversation most times. I am meeting lots of people who are hungry to go deep in Jesus, but they don't know how or what that looks like!

Last night I went and helped my Dad pack up some of his stuff so that he could move to the Tri-Cities. We got to talking about some of his pet subjects, like scalar magenetic weapons that can create and modify weather. He seems to think that there are some many different things out there to destroy our country and that he needs to lead people to the "truth". I told him that I know 2 things and beyond that I don't need to know much more; Jesus loves me and I love Him. What else is there? Yeah I know I need to be prepared and to make myself ready for the times ahead of the church, but I know that Jesus is in control and I look to Matthew where it talks about worry. I can't add a single second to my life by worrying, so why even try it?

There has been this group on campus this weekend known as Amma. They are a Hindu cult and they pay a lot of money to stay on campus! I was talking to Kaj about them and he commented, "They will let the Amma people on campus but not a pentocostal!" How true. PLU seems to be trying to lose the image of a Christian university. I know that it isn't a Christian school, but it seems to be more concerned with being accepting then on pretending to be a Christian institution anymore.

I think that it is ironic that Valson Abraham is at PSCC this weekend, the same weekend the Amma group is on campus at PLU. How perfect that the man who has helped plant 3,000 churches in India can be ministering to us college age students tonight while the demonically possessed "mother" who Amma's worship is hurting people on our campus.

I do feel like there is an open heaven over PSCC and that it is extending into my life as well. I am excited about this new season and I hope that it is a long one!

Anyways, I am really tired, because I am sitting here writing and not moving anymore (I worked from 4-12 earlier today).

work

I am working 4 on, 4 off and then 8 on and 8 off, topped off by 8 more hours on top of all that. I will be working 20 of 32 hours from Friday night to Sunday morning... Oh yeah, I am on worship team as well.
I will get bursts of sleep in 3 1/2 hour spurts... Why am I still writing here?

Oweing something...

I went to the gym today to work out and I came to a realization. I don't really want to work out and I am not really motivated to become the best football player that I can be this summer. As I was running on the eliptical, I had a thought... I owe this football program so much. I came here to escape from a horrible experience at UPS. I had heard of the program at PLU and how great it was and how the players were more important than the scoreboard and I wanted that. I came here and Chad grabbed me, first by having morning bible studies and then by meeting with me and allowing me to be myself anf spurring me on to growth in Christ. Chad would never have had that opportunity if it were not for PLU football.

I owe PLU football my eternal salvation in essence. Paul writes to a slave owner in the book of Philemon about accepting back a slave that had run away and joined himself to Paul. Paul writes and urges Philemon to take this slave back and to treat him as a useful brother, reminding Philemon, "not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well." Philemon 1:19.

I owe PLU football a debt I cannot repay because I was able to experience Jesus in a way I never thought would be for me. The only way I can pay this debt is by hard work and long hours in the weight room and on the track getting better as a football player.

In the same way, I owe a debt to my Savior that I can never repay. He came and grabbed my heart, it was not Chad even though God used Chad, but only by the work of His Holy Spirit. When faced with such debt, we have two choices...

1) Realize how big it is and decide that it is too big to even attempt to pay off. This leads to ignoring the debt and hoping that it might go away. This never works, because as much as we pretend the debt doesn't exist, it still is there.

2) Realize how big the debt is and decide that we should take Jesus up on His offer. He paid the debt already and all He asks is our own lives in return. We can choose to acknowledge our debt and decide to try and pay it by living with everyting we have for Jesus.

I love the Ragamuffin Gospel because it illustrates the point that we are paupers at the doorstep of God's grace...

Abba, I am a pauper, I need You to come and make my debt go away. I am left with only grattitude for what you have done for me, Lord let me keep this attitude of gratefulness and teach me how to pay off my debt here on earth, living for You completely.

Let Summer Begin

I am ready for summer to start. I look forward to all the things I am going to be doing this summer, especially praying and stressing over whether or not to buy a new Taylor guitar. I was looking at it and if I sell back some of my used gear that I have and never use I would lessen the cost by a lot. It would make it affordable, I would still ahve to finance it, but more affordable than it was!

I am looking forward to working at Campus Safety for the summer to, what a mission field! I won't sleep at all on the weekends, but I know it will be fun. I am actually working right now... just getting paid to post on blogspot!

I get to move into Kreidler Hall today after church, that means I need to pack up my room in T-Stad before I move in. I don't like moving very much, it is such a hassle, but I need to do it!

Eventually the sunshine will return and I will have my days off to enjoy it!

Done...

I am done with all my finals... yeah. whoopi. attaway. huzzah. and all that jazz.

I dunno. I feel weird right now. I don't know why either. God is not being very clear as to why. Oh well,

Eddie said something last night that was really true, I don't laugh enough. It's true, I don't laugh enough... There is really nothing I have that brings me joy or happiness. A sunny day? Seen that. A beautiful sunset? Doesn't really impact me. A cool new experience? I don't really care. My best friends? I probably take them for granted more than they take me for granted. Sure I may seem like I am having a good time and all, but inside... something is missing.

Ephesians 6: 13 ...and when you have done everything to stand firm... Stand firm...

I will stand firm on the rock of my salvation. Let everything else in my life be found as false, but let my Jesus remain the same.

Lord teach me to put my trust and to get my assurance from you. Lord show me where I am trying to get approval from man and what I need to give up to you. I want to surrender to You, but I don't know how or what. Jesus, I don't have joy in my life... What can I take joy in?

It's game time...

On Sunday, Joanne Ramos likened our time and the current season of the earth to a game that is tied and has gone into overtime. She also said that in a tied game you do not put in the third string bench warmers.

I love this analogy!!! I love being in close football games and having to strain with every ounce of strength and will to get the job done! That excites me! A couple of things about this tied game here in the last days.

In a close game, every action and every play is dependent on everyone. Sure there is one person who looks like the hero, but they would never have been able to do this without the supporting cast around them busting their humps to get the work done. If I fail at my job, we lose the game.

What pressure! What excitement! What an opportunity!

There is always the one or two people who in close games wanted the ball and knew that they would make the shot to win the game. Michael Jordan was one of them and he did, he would always get teh ball in the last seconds and make the shot! I want to be the person who is entrusted to win the game at the last shot.

I remember during my internship last summer, we did a GoCamp (10 days of pure fun/exhaustion/Holy Spirit/greatness). One of the things we did was host a basketball tournament at the Taholah Indian reservation. My team made it to the championship round, it was tough, but we made it!!! It was kinda funny sometimes, I was the big 6' 2" guy and I was playing with 2 ladies. Both ladies are really good ballers, so I would pass them the ball and let them beat these guys. We ge to the championship game and we are tied at the end of the time period. We go to overtime and the way we were playing was the next point would win. We got the ball first, missed our shot so they got the ball. We made a defensive stop and got the ball back. I wanted the ball. I got position on my defender, they passed me the ball and I hit a NBA worthy turn around jump shot from the baseline that caught nothing but net. WE WON!!! I was so excited I jumped and screamed, it was honestly one of the most exciting moments in my athletic career.

We are in that tied game right now here on campus especially, but also in te entire city/world! We need to rise up and "play" like we are capable of. In the tied game analogy, we are the million dollar athletes that they have on the team for moments just as this.

John 12:27-28 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name."

We have been placed on this campus and in our city/world/work/wherever else for this exact time and this exact hour. He specifically went out of His way t recruit us for this cause, knowing that no one else could do the job.

I love this, I love the feeling after a hard fought battle on the football field of coming off and knowing I left everything out there. I love knowing that my opponent got the very best of my effort, I could not have played any harder. I think that is the attitude I need in my faith. I need to get to heaveen completely exhausted and so ready for an eternal rest because I gave my everything to Christ and all that He gave me, I left it all here on this field!

Finals Week

I have one test down and two more to go. I have also completed the final paper that is due today in 45 minutes. I get to do a mini presentation on my paper, but it will not be all that difficult.

The final I had this morning was in Animal Behavior. This is probably my hardest class but the final he gave was identical as last years. I got a copy of the final from last year to study from and work on, so I was set to go! I felt really good about it.

My paper is really cool too. Thanks to Eddie for her mad editing skills, (she always seems to be correcting me) you made it a lot better.

Is Playing in the Dirt Healthy?

The benefits of early childhood exposure to antigen.

This will probably be my capstone next fall as well, so I am excited to have almost 10 pages out of 25 done already!!!

Yeah for finals week!!!

Procrastination...

I love to procrastinate and not work on things that I should work on. I have been fairly good at getting stuff done, but I have some work ahead of me yet.

I completed my first jury ever today. For those of you scrathcing your heads asking, "what is a jury?" it is a "test" for everyone who takes a private instrument lesson during the semester. I performed two pieces for my instructor and another music department faculty. I wasn't really nervous before hand, but once I got in there I was a little tense. It was fun though! I got through the first piece ok and then went on to the next piece, which is a little bit more difficult. I started ok, kinda quiet, but ok. I was supposed to play the first part twice, but I played it three times because I got done with the second time and forgot it was the second. I got through the rest of the piece without too many major disasters. I felt really good about it and while I am glad it is over, I wish I had more lessons to do so I could learn more. I played both of my pieces from memory, so that looked a little better on the evaluation. Both profesors gave me good evaluations, so I was happy.

I have gotten my final paper done, mostly I do need to put some finishing touches on it, so I have been fairly productive today.

Finals week will be fun as always. After this, I only have one more semster of college! I also will probably not be taking a class this summer. Instead I will take a class next January in Mexico! It will be more expensive, but I have always wanted to study abroad and this is my opportunity to do that. Taking a class next J-Term will allow me to devote more time to Campus Safety, church and working out. I am excited.

Well now we have momentum...

I love it when I get to see Kit Hackett. I love how God uses her to speak into my life and into the lives of others... Tonight she came and spoke to our Ignite group and God really blessed the time. Worship was fun becasue Nikki took a step of faith and led by herself, no piano, which leaves me to play guitar and carry the group musically. I enjoy that challenge because it grows me as a player and as a leader. It was really annointed too...

I got to talk with Kit before the service started and I told her something that I had received in prayer earlier that day. I had a thought that Jesus was arriving at the Cave in a very regal and royal procession. He came to the front and sat in a throne that we had for Him, but as He was walking toward the front, worship started and the musicians began to praise Him and the assembly started to as well. He sat down and worship continued, eventually He stopped us and Kit came forward and Jesus gave her a script to read from. She stood up in front of us and spoke His words directly.

I told this to Kit and she was really excited to hear it. As she was walking to the front to speak to us, she grabbed my arm and said, "Ok, I've got the script." and boy did she!!!

Jesus was on the move and He touched everyone in that room.

I love it when there is a move of the Holy Spirit and people get ministered to... I kinda wish that we could have had this earlier in the year, but I am happy that we received this even now. I told our leadership core on Sunday night to not hold back... Who cares if we offend people, we aren't going to see them in a couple of weeks anyways... People did not hold back either, they went after Jesus and He showed up.

Yeah for God!!!

The Storm

I feel a change in the weather, I think a storm is coming (don't read to much into that, I just noticed that the wind changed)...

And on a side note, I think that this summer is also going to be a time of intensity and change for all of us. We will not be the same next fall... I am glad for that. Lets learn from this year and do better next year!

I got to hang out with Wes for a while today. We talked about a lot of things, especially Ignite and some of the ideas and dreams we have for it. Wes is going to come alongside the ministry as an administrative type of guy and I am really excited about that! We need some organiation and structure so that we can be effective on campus.

One of the other things we talked about was the question about whether God would bring revival to a ministry that is not ready for it. We both think that the answer is no (God feel free to prove us wrong, You are sovereign) because when God moves, the enemy tries to counteract the work God is doing. If we as a ministry are not super solid, than satan will be able to get a foothold and tear us apart... Good news is that I believe we are on the right track, there will be some speed bumps, but we are going the right way.

I am on a roll right now!

I think that I am cursed (blessed?) because on my next shift at Campus Safety, I got off at 4 am on Saturday morning and went back at 12 noon that day, we had a big car accident that we responded to right on campus. More Fire & Rescue for Samuel!

I know that I am called to a Pastoral type of calling, but I do enjoy the adrenaline rush of emergency scenes.

Kit Hackett came to PSCC on Sunday and it was really cool. She taught for about 20 minutes and then invited the Holy Spirit and started praying for people. She prayed for Eddie and it was really cool to hear God confirm some things in her life. God said that He loves it when she dances and that He calls her a princess. All of these things rang so true... Nikki, Joy, Anne and myself were laughing. Kit also prayed for me and the word came that I am a gentle giant! I like that description of me. She also likened me to Peter, who is willing to do great things for the Lord, but sometimes says the stupidest things... She prayed for an increase in wisdom and discernment so that I would be able to do great things for the Lord without getting into too much trouble. I was laughing again during this, becasue God is so cool to speak stuff like that over me... Kit also said that she has always liked me, which I don't hear very often from people.

I heard a rumor today, from Dan so it is more than a rumor, that we might be leading worship at PSCC this weekend. I am excited for that, because I have wanted to get up there for a while! I hope that Wes can lead because I really like playing with him.

I get to go to work today at 4 pm, and knowing my streak right now, I will get another gnarly scene to clean up and deal with!

Fire and Rescue

I love working for Campus Safety, I put in 8 hours last night, got off at 4 am and have to be back at 12 noon!!! It's ok, I got some sleep... until Chase's alarm went off! We had such a crazy night last night. There was a big party off campus and a kid got beat up pretty bad, so we had to call CPFR to come and take him to the hospital. That took a good 2 hours or so, because we had to write the report and clean up the bloody stuff and all that other good stuff... I got there and kinda took over the scene from everyone else because I have been doing that kind of stuff since I was 16.

As the paramedic's and firefighters got there, it made me realize that I do actually love the whole EMS world. It is crappy sometimes (every once in a while literally), but it is so amazing. I started remembering things and how to do stuff, aaaahhhhh!!!!!! I got to give a short report, I have always been told that I give good shorts and I loved it! Maybe once I graduate, I will start volunteering for CPFR! I love God, more than anything, so is there room in my life for the Church and Fire & Rescue? I have always wanted to go on Medical Missions to poorer nations, but I need medical training to do that...

I enjoy the whole knowing how to help someone in their time of real need. I guess that is only physical however, and I do know how to help someone in their spiritual time of need. How do you combine the two? I didn't feel led to pray for the kid right there and see him healed ( I did pray for him, by myself) I think he was too "altered" to understand what prayer was anyways.

All in all, I hope he turns out okay, but I have discovered that maybe God put the passion for EMS in me for a reason... Maybe the only reason I got involved in the Fire Dept. wasn't trying to overachieve and prove to everyone I was a success. I know that with Jesus, I will always be a success in the eyes that matter most, but it is so much fun for me to be in that environment.

The Art of Faithfulness

I am discovering that God is not something I should try and explain. I have been in a time where I feel like I am not really growing and I don't like that. Maybe there is something that is going on under the surface of me that not even my usually very introspective self can see, but I don't know.

I do know a couple of things...

GOD IS GOOD!!!

I need to read the word more (5-6 chapters a day is not near enough)

If I am not involved in some activity where I need God to show up, I feel like I am stagnating.

Worship was great on Wednesday night at youth. Mark told me I was leading the day before and I said ok... I didn't stop to check my time with the Lord meter (it was not where I wanted it to be) and I didn't try and be qualified either. I just picked some songs (thanks Anne for the help) and we went for it. I really enjoyed it, because there was about 30 kids there that night and that really helped out worship. I let Jonathon Kvamme sing with me and he did a good job. I really enjoy mentoring him into worship leading, he will be a good one! (so will a couple other guys as well)

Last night, Puyallup Foursquare came out to campus and put on an event with Ignite. They really didn't come across as needing our help with anything, but I was there to put out little fires along with Emily Hockert (you did fantastic last night by the way!) and to help the event run. I got to talk to Marc Wymore for a couple minutes after the event, which was good. We agreed to meet this next week to talk and hang out a bit, but before I confirmed it with Marc, I ran it through Dan. Dan said that he would like to be there as well and that I should hold off on meeting him for a bit. I don't know what to think. Do I not even have that much freedom to meet with someone from another ministry? Oh, well... I guess it would be better to meet with Dan and Marc together.

Last thought... I am graduating in December. I only have one more semester left of College!!! Then what???

Sunday afternoons

I love hanging out and being outside... After church today we went to the beach at Pt. Defiance (along with every resident in the Tacoma area as well). It was fun, but we all had to bring some homework along to make the day productive. I found this hillside that had a steep trail up it so I climbed it and then ran down it, which was lots of fun!!!

Church was great today, I am always so blessed when I go to church. I don't stop to think about it often enough, but I am blessed to be a part of the body at PSCC, let alone in any form of leadership there. This summer will be fun because I want to be on the worship team, but I am not in a hurry to get up there yet, due to all the other things I have going on right now.

I have some work to get done for my immunology class tomorrow, but it is not too complicated. I have a formal paper that we are doing this semester for this class. I am excited about it, not about writing it, but about my topic. I chose childhood exposure to antigen and the amount of times that the person gets sick in later life. I have a pet theory that kids who play in the dirt and in general hang out outside are less likely to having nagging colds and sicknesses later in life. I want to use this idea as my capstone as well so I don't have to do as much research next semester. We will see if this idea works!!!

Football

I am pretty beat up right now and it is because we have spring football practice. We don't wear any pads during spring ball so the offensive and defensive lines get more bruises than actual work done. Because we don't wear pads, the technique is really important. It is easy for the receivers, quarterbacks, defensive backs and safetys to work on fundamentals without getting hit, but for us lineman, we need pads to hit people with. It is the only way to get better at the techniques. All that said, it is fun to be out playing football, remembering our very complicated offense and in general being an athelete. This is the last time I will get to play spring football... (unless I go pro...) so it is starting to sink in a little bit.

There are so many things I want to commit to fully this summer... Football, Campus Safety, Church stuff etc... I am also thining about taking a class this summer to lighten my load in the fall and I would love to travel a bit as well. The thing I want to do more than anything though is to spend 3 hours a day or more with Jesus. Play my guitar, write worship music, read the Word, receive from Him... I think that needs to be the main priority. I know that if I devote the time I won't be dissapointed.

Yeah for a short post today!

I wonder... Do you know HIM!

My bible says my king is a seven way king:

He's the king of the Jews, that's a racial king. He's the king of Israel, that's a national king.

He's the king of righteousness. He's the king of the ages.
He's the king of heaven. He's the king of glory.
He's the king of kings, and He's the Lord of Lords - that's my king!

Well - I wonder - do you know Him?

My king is a sovereign king; no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies.
No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.
He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere.
He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally grace­ful.
He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful.

Do you know Him?

He's the greatest phenome­non that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He is God's Son.

He's the sinner's Saviour.
He's the centerpiece of civilization.
He's august and He's unique. He's un­paralleled and He's unprecedented.
He's the loftiest idea in literature. He is the highest personality in philosophy.
He is the supreme problem in higher criticism.

He is the fundamental doctrine of true theo­logy.

He is the core and necessity for spiritual religion.

He is the miracle of the ages.

He is... He is...

He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
He is the only One qualified to be an all-sufficient Saviour.

I wonder if you know Him today.

He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves. He strengthens and sustains.
He guards and He guides.

He heals the sick, He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captives. He defends the feble.
He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.

I wonder if you know Him.

Well, this is my king.

He is the key to knowledge. He is the wellspring of wisdom.

He is the doorway of deliverance. He is the pathway of peace.

He is the roadway of righteousness. He is the highway of holiness.

He is the gateway of glory.

Do you know Him?

Well, His office is manifold. His promise is sure.
His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes.
His word is enough. His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

I wish I could describe Him to you!
But He is in­describable... He is indescribable!
But He is your God. Yes He is indescribable...

He is incomprehensible. He is invincible. He is irresistible.
Well, you can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off your hand.
You can't outlive Him, and you can't live without Him.
Well, the Pha­risees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him.
Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. Herod couldn't kill Him.
Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him.

THAT'S MY KING! That's my king!

I wonder... Do you know Him!

My Weekend!

As frequent readers know, I went to Canada for my Dad's wedding this weekend. My friend Jonathon Frieheit and my brother Joseph drove up there with me. I realized that we had no directions as to where we were going once we got across the border, so the next time my Dad called (about every 30-45 minutes to check up on us) Joseph got some directions to the hotel he was staying at. I think that we drove around for a total of 2 hours total being lost in the Vancouver area!!! Going back was easier, but I still managed to go the wrong way on one of the freeways and had to turn around.

The wedding was held at Karen's church in Port Coquitlam, BC. The church (Hope Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod) was cool and the pastor was an amazing speaker. He presented the story of Ruth and Naomi to the congregation as an example of what love is supposed to be like. The wedding was short and the wedding party was small so it was a really nice atmosphere. After the wedding, Jonathon and I went into the upstairs of the church and just worshipped Jesus, I really needed that at the moment and it allowed me to have grace with my family the rest of the day.

After the reception, the families went to a nice restaurant and the waiters just kept bringing out this delicious food! I think there were like 5 courses to the meal and I ate a bit from each course! It was really good and it was nice to talk to some of the people in Karen's family and talk with my grandmother and uncle as well. Karen's family is very Latvian and they are very sweet. I got to chat with her mother and aunt for a while and I was really blessed by them. They are Lutherans that understand Jesus and love Him.

I was really glad to have Jonathon along because we got to chat for the 3 hour ride back to his house in Federal Way. I love him so much because we can not talk or see each other for a month or more and then hang out and really deal with each others hearts. We were able to encourage each other and I was able to suggest that he find a real mentorship type person in his life.

This morning is Easter Sunday and I was really happy today! We celebrate the resurecction of our Lord, Jesus. The grave could not hold on to Him, He was stronger than even death and the final enemy of eternal life with Him, death, was conquered. I got to church early to join the prayer team in pre-service prayer and I was really blessed. The two verses that I meditated on were Luke 24:5-6 where it talks about the scene at the grave on the 3rd day after Jesus rose and Phillipians 4:4-5 because it describes what our response should be to the great victory Jesus accomplished for us!

Service was great, Justin Isenhart put a great speach by S.M. Lockridge to a video and it was very powerful. They went straight into worship right after that and it slayed me!!! I love how Tad Gaulke went straight into "You Are Good" from the video. The rest of worship was fantastic and then Pastor Tom gave a message about the resurection power of Jesus and asked for people to respond to the Lord. I got to go and pray with a guy who the Lord has been messing up lately, he is a guy that is really down on his luck. I went and layed my hand on him and we worshipped for a bit. I just broke! I started bawling in front of the Lord because He was so beautiful! I felt such a release of the Holy Spirit and I loved it. We didn't even get to pray for anything specifically, God just touched him...

For the offering song, they did a tune by Chris Rice called "Sometimes Love" off of his Deep Enough to Dream album. Justin again outdid himself by putting up soem cool images of Jesus on the cross and stuff like that. I hope that we can continue this trend of doing cool things in worship next week, because I really loved it!