Interesting Convictions

The other day, I started up a journal on hypocrites and hypocrisy, gearing up to shout all against it; whilest admitting that I am one as well, as are we all. But then I realised. What's the point? All I can really do is send a shout-out that we're all hypocritical whether we think we are or not; whether we're being attacked by people we call hypocrites, or being the attackers! We're all hypocrites, in different ways, and all hypocritical in the same way. What else can you say? I mean, you can say you'll follow God to the very ends of the Earth, leaving everything and everyone behind, and then take up a cross, follow Him, and die for that cause. But could you really put that into practice? Honestly, I don't think any one of us is truly willing to give up everything, and everyone. We're not that strong. It seems like such a tough thing for God to call us to do. Why does He do it? Why would He make us do something so difficult? Well, I don't really think it's as simple as we make it sound. And at the same time, it's more simple than anything else. Confused yet?

I do believe God calls us to drop everything else and follow Him, but not quite in that sense. Following Him oftentimes leads us to others we know, to things we have, to use them or preach to them or help them, etc. What I believe God is truly calling us to here, is not to leave everything behind, but to have nothing that gets in the way of serving Him. Nothing we love more, nothing that would hold us back from doing His will. It's as simple as that. At the same time though, how can you love something like that, more than ANYTHING else? It's tough, even just to wrap your mind around. And to top it off, it's not something you can see all the time; although you can experience Him plenty! So it's definitely tough, especially if you've never really heard Him speak to you before(guilty). However, think about it. He created us. He put every atom of our body together, and wove it into beautiful things, and made this beautiful world for us to live in. And guess what else! He made EVERYTHING that you might try to love more than Him. And if that's not big enough, He's also the guy that died for all of us, to take away our sins, and grant us eternal life in paradise. So infinite love for Him... Really doesn't seem like that much of a hindrance when you think about it. He's given you everything! What little we have to give in return, why not give it?


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Alright, so I realise I haven't really blogged much in awhile, and I'm quite sorry for all of that. However, here I am to save the day! *dramatic superhero music*.

Let's see. Alot's gone on recently. Remember that humongous history test I was telling you about? Well it turned out to be 18 pages, which was better than I expected. I took it last Saturday, and just got it back last night. 97% baby! YEAH :) Gotta say, not quite what I expected, but definitely something that I may or may not have done a little dance after receiving. ;)

What else? Valentine's day came and went, seems like ages ago. Had a Single's Awareness Party with a bunch of the guys, which was great. My thoughts on Valentine's day are apathetic. I think it's nice to have a holiday for all the couples, and I don't mind it, but I figure, why can't it just be everyday for them? Eh?

OH! Possibly one of the most exciting things that happened just recently: I got on the tech team at church!! So excited! I get to run the screen/videos/lyrics/etc. during all the service on the third week of each month! Gotta say though, I'd prefer if I could do it more than just once a month! It's so much fun. Last last week Brittni taught me how to do it, then stuck around for the next service to see how it went! So much fun, and I think I did pretty good, thanks to a great teacher! I can't wait till next month already. Geesh. I'm almost pathetic!

And Reset. Wow oh wow. Definitely one of my favorite things that we've done at the Vineyard! I gotta say, there's alot of assumptions and views I've had about Jesus that just don't add up, or I'm just not sure about. It's so great to be Resetting all my views, and learning about Him anew! It's such an exciting experience, and to be able to do it with all my friends! It's the best thing ever. And Wednesday night small groups are a blast! Actually heading there in a few hours :) Last week, for part of our thing, we tried to make chairs out of cardboard and duct tape, in only six minutes(representing Jesus being a carpenter and such). Ours kicked butt! And we didn't start till we had about three minutes left. There were alot of great chairs XD.
Our awesome group: Michael(leader), Mae, Shelly, Nate, Doug, Matt, and Me!
Other awesome people there who aren't in our group >_<: Kasey, Jeff, Jenn, Liam! Just to name the few I can remember off the top of my head. So it's a pretty excellent bunch of people :)

Anyway, I actually haven't finished school yet...
Ope! I should probably encode that message so my parental figures can't read it! There we go :]

Ciao!