The Amazing, Surprising, Perfect Plan of God

So, I lied. All you have to do is scroll down to the date of my last blog post to see that I did not follow through on my intention to post more over the summer. Not only did I not post more, but I managed to not post at all. So, I'm not going to make any more resolutions about posting more, since I clearly cannot keep them. So, I'll update this thing when I can, and hopefully when I do I'll have something to say.

So, it has been quite the whirlwind week for me. Last Saturday, I was a groomsman in my best friend's wedding, and got to stand beside him as he married an awesome girl, which was great. The wedding was awesome [and the reception was excellent :)], and I'm so excited for both of them. On Sunday, my family and I loaded up all my crap (in the rain), drove to Charlotte (in the rain) and moved me into my apartment (thankfully, not really in the rain this time). So, having moved in, I settled in for a relaxing intensive Greek course, which started on Monday and will go for 3 weeks. So far, I've found the Greek to be a bit easier than Hebrew was, but its still plenty of work. Memorizing vocab and declension patterns every day can be pretty exhausting mentally. All in all though, Greek is going well.

The real craziness didn't come until Thursday. In the afternoon, my roommate got the news that the loan he was counting on to help him pay for seminary would have much higher payments than the bank had originally estimated. That means he isn't going to be able to stay here and go to RTS without racking up a ton of debt, even if he were working full time. So, his only real option is to move back home. It's a situation that really sucks, and I'm sad for him that things didn't work out for him to stay at RTS and be in seminary. So, its Thursday night, I'm 4 days into living in this apartment, and my roommate is going to be moving out after Greek finishes. He's very apologetic, and is willing to help me out in whatever way he can, but I'm still in the position of having to find a new roommate or a new place to live, and do it rather quickly. Also, our first test for Greek was on Friday, just to compound matters. Yikes. Cut to Friday afternoon. After acing my Greek test (at least, I think so. You can never really be sure about these things until the grade comes back), we talked to the admissions director at RTS, and he said there were still a couple guys who were trying to find roommates. I called Matt, a guy who I know from having several classes with him last year, who, it turns out, has been looking for a roommate/place to stay and just praying that God would provide something.

In the course of 24 hours, my life swung from normal to wildly uncertain, then suddenly everything was solved. Crazy. Sometimes, God's provision is simply amazing. Even when life throws crazy curveballs your way, and your only possible response seems to be panic, God is still
in control. God is good, and every now and then its nice to be reminded of just how good he is.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing." - Luke 12:22-23

Ah, Summer, Glorious Summer

And now I can breathe.

After a long year of learning Hebrew and reading commentaries, I made it out alive. Though it looked a bit dodgy at times, I made it through my first semester of seminary. Many marathon reading sessions, lots of last minute studying for exams, and a few all-night paper writing sessions. See, what happens when you leave all of your 15 page papers until the last month of the semester is that you just don't sleep for a month. It's a terrible, terrible idea. Luckily, I was pretty happy with how my papers turned out. I wrote a paper about Satan (from Job 1), a paper about slavery (from Leviticus 25) and a paper about the absolutely insane passage Exodus 4:24-26. It was pretty interesting, wrestling with these different passages and reading all sorts of different commentaries about them, and I thought they all were rather good papers, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, hopefully with the summer here, I'll be able to do a little more blogging, maybe even picking back up on "Project Switchfoot". I'm hoping to get a lot of quality reading done with my free time. My first project is the book "Gilead", which I have heard really great things about. I'm also hoping to get some Tim Keller books read (I've got Prodigal God, Counterfeit Gods, and The King's Cross), a bit of John Piper perhaps (I really want to read Desiring God sometime) and I'd love to finish Gene Wolfe's "Book of the New Sun" series, but that is highly unlikely, because those are the densest fantasy books I've ever read. That's my reading list,so I'll keep you all up to date on how many I actually finish. My bet is probably no more than two.

So, as I have already documented, I have a serious weakness for singing competitions. They're my guilty pleasures. American Idol just finished, and my quick synopsis is this: Scotty has been the clear frontrunner for the last 10 weeks or so, and though he seems like a very nice young man, I do not appreciate country music very much, so I wasn't really a fan. My favorite contestant ended up being Haley, who really grew during the competition and definitely won me over. She made top 3, so I can't really complain. Anyway, here were all of my favorite performances from this season (I'm posting links, because it would be way too many embedded videos):

Jacob Lusk - A House Is Not A Home: I have to comment on this one. It's probably the best performance of the whole competition, and I was convinced after this that Jacob was amazing. Unfortunately, Jacob never came anywhere close to this level of greatness again. He has tremendous natural talent, but his singing became so ridiculously self-indulgent that it bordered on unlistenable. I had to go back and check if this performance was actually as good as I remembered. Yup, it's legitimately great. Such a shame.

Lauren Alaina-I Hope You Dance

Scotty McCreery - Gone: The only time I really liked Scotty

Pia Toscano - Ricer Deep Mountain High: Ironically, the song she was eliminated on

Pai Toscano - I'll Stand By You: Worth it for the big finish

Casey Abrams - Your Song

Haley Reinhart - Benny and the Jets

Haley Reinhart - The House of the Rising Sun

Haley Reinhart - I Who Have Nothing

Top 5 Favorite TV Characters

I wrote this as a note on Facebook, and I figured I'd copy it over here as well since I haven't been writing much lately. Unfortunately, that's probably going to be the way of things for the next month or so. I have tons and tons of reading that needs to be done and papers that need to be written, and I'm gonna be hard-pressed to get it all done, so I probably won't be blogging much. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one.

A few weeks ago when I was in Cary, I asked a few of the guys who their 5 favorite TV characters were. I have decided to write a little note listing my favorites, mostly because I feel a need to write something a little lighter than the seminary stuff I've been buried under the last few weeks. Also, I just like writing about things I like.

I chose to only pick one character from each show, so as to keep a little diversity on the list. That made for some tough decisions, but it also kept this from being a list of 4 "Buffy/Angel" characters, which is probably good. I started with a list of characters from 12 different shows that I then narrowed down to 5 with some pretty tough cuts (honorable mentions at the end). So, without further ado...

5) Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly (played by Nathan Fillion) - Maybe my toughest choice, if only because the series only ran for half a season. Does half a season of greatness outweigh characters with considerably longer runs? In this case, it does, since if he'd had 2 or 3 seasons, I think Mal would top this list. Mal is, at his core, a deeply sad character who covers it up by being witty and sarcastic. Beneath the charming, roguish exterior, Mal is a man who has suffered a lot of loss. He's a freedom fighter who lost his war, a leader who lost almost all the men under his command. Because of that, he's fiercely loyal to his crew (his "family"), and is going to do everything he can to defend them, lest he lose them too. He's a scoundrel with a heart of gold in the Han Solo mold, but the sadness at the root of his character elevates him beyond the cliche, and makes him a truly great character. Also, Nathan Fillion is amazing.

4) Matt Saracen, Friday Night Lights (Zach Gilford) - Probably the hardest decision on this list was figuring out which Friday Night Lights character to pick. It's filled with amazing characters who could've made this list (I'm looking at you, Tami Taylor and Tim Riggins), but this came down to Coach Eric Taylor and QB1 Matt Saracen, and after long deliberation, I'm going with Matty Ballgame. With all due respect to Coach Taylor, Matt is the character that embodies everything the show is about. Unlike Tyra and Riggins, who want to either leave Dillon forever or stay in Dillon forever, Matt is caught between being the small-town hero and wanting to get out of that town. I love that Matt is a little bit of a screw-up, kind of charmingly ignorant at times, but he's also a hard worker and a nice guy who is just doing his best to get by. From his relationship with his grandmother to his slightly antagonistic relationship with Coach Taylor, from his relationship with Julie (the source of much of Coach's antagonism) to his friendship with Landry, from struggling with being QB to struggling with having a father in Iraq, through all his varied relationships and storylines, Matt is the heart of the show, and Zach Gilford does a brilliant job with the character.

3) Dr. Gregory House, House M.D. (Hugh Laurie) - House is not a great show. It has never been a great show. Even at its best in the early seasons, it was never inventive or well-plotted enough to be really great. What it is is a thoroughly mediocre show that is elevated by a truly spectacular central performance. That performance is, of course, Hugh Laurie's tour-de-force as Dr. Gregory House. Laurie takes a character who is really an awful, despicable human being and makes you not only care about him, but root for him. Wickedly funny with an acerbic wit, Laurie's performance single-handedly makes any episode of House entertaining

2) GOB Bluth, Arrested Development (Will Arnett) - The funniest character ever to grace the small screen. Arrested Development was filled with a brilliant ensemble cast, but even among those great comedic characters, Will Arnett's performance as GOB stands above the rest. It's hard to encapsulate exactly what makes GOB such a hilarious character. Is it the world's worst chicken impression? The fact that he gets around on a Segway? The way that Arnett turns simple lines into gut-busting comedy? I can't properly put it into words, so I'm just going to have to show you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgDJTNK1-vU&feature=watch_response

1) Willow Rosenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Alyson Hannigan) - Easily the hardest decision to make on this list. The thing that makes Joss Whedon's shows so very awesome is that they are very character driven, and over the course of 7 seasons (and 5 seasons of Angel), these characters all grow and develop and have very distinct voices. As a result, there are 6 or 7 characters that I could have put on here. In particular, Wesley (who undergoes and incredible character transformation over the course of Angel), Angel (who is just an awesome idea for a character) and Spike (Simply one of the coolest characters ever) were extremely hard to cut. However, in the end this spot has to be Willow. Sweet, innocent Willow and terrifying, world-ending Willow. Buffy's name is on the marquee, but Willow is the heart of the show. She starts off as the cute, lovable, sheltered little nerd, but by the end of the series she has, shall we say, come out of her shell a little :). Throughout all the supernatural weirdness going on, it's Willow's charming, down-to-earth personality that keeps the show grounded. Also, I have a huge crush on Alyson Hannigan. That helps.

Honorable Mentions include: Niles Crane (Frasier), Jack Donaghy (30 Rock), George Costanza (Seinfeld), Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation), Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother), Dr. Perry Cox (Scrubs), President Laura Roslin/Admiral William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)

So, if you've made it this far in this post that ended up being way longer than I anticipated, congratulations. What do you think, what would your top 5 be?

A Few Videos

As many of you know, I am a frequent peruser of YouTube videos, and I enjoy sharing good ones. That's what I'm going to do in this post. Enjoy.

First of all, I stumbled upon this guy a few years ago, but I'd completely forgotten him until I stumbled upon him again a few days ago. First, a little background. Back in 2003, when American Idol had exploded onto the scene, countries all over Europe had their own version of "Idol". So, at the end of 2003, there was a one-time competition called World Idol which pit the winners of the American, Canadian, Belgian, British, etc. Idols against each other. The general consensus was that Kelly Clarkson (US) and Will Young (UK) were the heavy favorites, but the general consensus didn't factor in a funny looking little Norwegian named Kurt Nilsen. He sang U2's "Beautiful Day" and, as you will see, he absolutely kills it:



This performance and his somewhat less than rockstar looks prompted one judge to tell him "you are a hell of a marketing challenge, because you have the voice of an angel, but you look like a Hobbit," and Simon Cowell to say "If this competition were on radio, you'd walk it" (which, it turns out, he did anyway). Anyway, I think he's got an unbelievable voice, and I love listening to him. There are tons of great videos of his performances out there (like here and here), but I'll just embed one more video of his here:



Speaking of Idol, I will share my thoughts on the top 24, since I know you are all waiting with bated breath for my thoughts on American Idol. I mean, how else are you going to know who to look up on YouTube? I do not claim to be a music expert (if I were, why would I be watching American Idol?), I often listen to bad cheesy pop music (again, this is why I watch American Idol), but these are the people I like:

Casey Abrams is really good. He's really confident and seems to have a clear sense of who he is as an artist. Also, he's really talented. That helps.



I didn't like Jacob Lusk until this week, when he gave an absolutely killer performance of "A House Is Not a Home". He's got absolutely crazy range.



Among the ladies, I really like Lauren Alaina (who reminds me of Kelly Clarkson) even if this week wasn't my favorite performance of hers.

The judges raved about Pia Toscano this week, and though I wasn't wowed on first listen, when I went back and listened again, I came away really impressed.



Most impressive for me, though, was Karen Rodriguez, who sang Mariah Carey's "Hero", half in English and half in Spanish. I can take or leave the Spanish thing, but she sang it flawlessly.



One last video before I go (So many videos. I know). Reed Berger introduced me to this guy last time I was in Cary, and I really like a few of his covers. I'm not a fan of all his stuff, but he manages to make the song "Firework" enjoyable, which I thought was impossible (seriously, that is the worst song ever written, ugh). I love this cover of "Just A Dream" which he does as a duet with another artist:



Well, I'm finished with my videofest for now. Hope you enjoyed them.

Project Switchfoot: Dare You To Move

My ongoing (and doomed to failure) attempt to give my take on all of Switchfoot's songs.

Dare You To Move

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone’s here
Everyone’s here
Everybody’s watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

Up until now, The Beautiful Letdown has presented the desperate position of mankind. We're a lost people, searching constantly for something in life that will satisfy us, and finding nothing. We want to be "more than fine", but we just can't get there. Why not? What's the problem? Last week, I wrote about Ammunition, which is Switchfoot's answer to that question. What's the problem? We are. We're broken and messed up and we can't fix things. We can't find satisfaction because we're broken and incomplete. The world is screwed up because we are screwed up. In the midst of this though, there's a small glimmer of hope. What do we do about "one world, one desperation"? Well, the answer is that we have "one hope and one salvation." That's where we stand now in the album.

So, now comes a call to action. You know you're missing something. You know that the problem is your brokenness. You know that there is one path to salvation, one hope for change. So, what are you going to do now? "What happens next?" Salvation is here. Are you going to grab hold of Christ? Are you going to fall on your knees and submit to God as lord? Are you going to take the plunge, be changed, and live like this is the first day of the rest of your life, "like today never happened before", or are you going to turn away and try and keep filling yourself with the world?

In this song, Switchfoot boldly "dares you to move," but make no mistake, they don't say it's going to be easy. Life in the kingdom is hard. We live as exiles in the world, a resistance movement behind enemy lines. "Welcome to resistance", you're in for a battle. There is a constant tension for the Christian between the "already" and the "not yet". We are saved, but not perfected. There's a game of tug of war going on in our lives between our spirit-revived souls and our sinful natures. Paul struggled with this in Romans 7. Why do we do what we don't want to do? Why do we sin when we know not to? It's the tension between "who you are and who you could be." That's not all though. We struggle not only against ourselves, but we struggle to live in a world that is not yet perfected. Christ has come and we can see glimpses of the future glory, but it has not come yet. We battle on enemy territory, and we feel every day the results of living in a sinful, broken world. We live "Between how it is and how it should be." In many ways, this decision is like the one Neo is asked to make in The Matrix. You know something is wrong, but to know the truth is going to cost you. You're going to be part of the revolution, and it won't be easy. Red pill or blue pill? Are you going to move, or not?

I'll end with some of Jon Foreman's own thoughts on the song, which I really like.

"This song is an attempt to honestly face the gap between who I am and who I want to be; between the way the world spins and the way the world should be. I’ve heard that we only use a small part of our brain. Maybe out soul is the same way. And maybe we’re half asleep most of our lives, simply reacting to the stimulus our brain receives. Action, true action is rare indeed. This is an anthem of action and responsibility. Who will live our lives for us? Who will seek the Lord in these dark days?"

I Don't Have A Title For This Post

I've been swamped with schoolwork this week, so no Project Switchfoot this week. Hopefully, I'll get back to it next week, and this won't be the start of a slide towards me leaving this project for dead.

In the meantime, I will simply share a few quick things.

• American Idol is one of my guilty pleasures, and I must say, I've enjoyed this season a lot more than expected. Simon has always been one of my favorite things about the show, but they've done well without him. Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez are both entertaining and likable. On the other hand though, I'm not as big a fan of this group of contestants. There are a lot of talented people, but I don't see any superstar caliber singers in the mix. No one performance has really wowed me yet. If I have to pick a favorite right now, it would probably be Casey Abrams, who is a bit quirky and unique, but clearly really talented:
  

• I've kind of been on a little Sara Bareilles kick recently. I've never been a huge fan before, but I have some of her songs on my ipod, and realized this week how much I like her music. She's really talented, and has a pretty unique flair. In particular, I'm a big fan of this song:

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll post again sometime next week.

The Terrifying Plan of God

"God has a plan for you." We say this all the time in the church. It's our go-to cliche comforting people. "You didn't get the job?" "You didn't get the girl?" "You didn't get into that school?" "You're sick?" "You're injured?" Well, "God has a plan for you." And it is comforting, in a way. I mean, I cling to Romans 8:28 just as much as the next person. There is certainly some comfort in the fact that God has a plan for us. However, the more I think about it, the fact that God has a plan for me is actually really terrifying.

The fact that God has a plan for us should scare the crap out of us. I mean, I look at the life that God had planned for Paul and the disciple, and it's terrifying. "God has a plan for you" means that God is going to take me out of my comfort zone. God's plan is not going to be easy. God's plan is going to take me to places where I never would have decided to go. I know how sinful I am, and I know that to deal with that, God has to break me and remake me. That's terrifying. I feel about this kind of the same way I felt going into my Hebrew classes. I'm excited about the result, but I'm terrified of the process. God has a plan for me, and that's scary.

What's comforting to me isn't so much the fact that God has a plan for me. What's comforting is that God knows I'm not strong enough to make it through his plan on my own. He gives us family and friends to get us through. He gives us the fellowship of other believers to get us through. Most importantly though, he gives us Christ. The comfort isn't that God has a plan, the comfort is that he will never leave us. The comfort is that I, like David in the Psalms, can cry out to God in times of need and hardship and know that he will hear me. The comfort is that Christ says "I am with you always, to the end of the age."

God has a plan for me. That plan terrifies me. But I know that he is good, and I know that he loves me. Most importantly, I know that I have a great high priest who is sympathetic and cares for me, and a God who will never leave me nor forsake me. That's a comfort.