Good Quotes from a Dead Man

"Well, beloved, it is very useful to sing in the night of our troubles, first, because it will cheer ourselves. When you were boys living in the country, and had some distance to a go alone at night, don't you remember how you whistled and sang to keep your courage up?"

"There is nothing like singing to keep your spirits alive. "

"Singing is the best thing to purge ourselves of evil thoughts. Keep your mouth full of songs, and you will often keep your heart full of praises; keep on singing as long as you can; you will find it is a good method of driving away your fears."


- Songs in the Night. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. (1834-1892)

So, Quite a Bit Happened

1. From the previous entry, you may find that I am on my way to become a Spurgeonite. I stole a book from BSU that had in it several Spurgeon manuscripts. This is the first time I've started reading him.

2. Meg celebrated her birthday on April 25th. Once again, Meg and I are separated by a "cursed" digit. However, I can't say it's all that bad; I've always found it a little electrifying and provocative to date the older woman. ;P Happy belated birthday, hottie.

3. I wore ultimate-fighting trunks underneath my graduation robe. Nope. not really. But I did wear the monkey suit and the facial "fly swatter". Thank you UCM for proclaiming my value and worth by kindly suggesting that I have some brains, at least. But I still do wish you hadn't forgotten my "cum laude."

4. I am doing a practicum at The Bridge for the summer. An exciting opportunity at a gem of a station. Truly one of the Burg's best kept secrets.

Scientifically Proven Way of Ensuring a Ratings Boost

Sunday Damien Rice Concert

A bunch of us from The Bridge are going to Kansas City tomorrow to a Damien Rice concert. I've been quietly hoping that we'll get to see the performance for free, although initially we were only planning to do promotions for the station outside Uptown Theater.

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

The words of Jesus here are sweet and reassuring. But their placement at this hour is unusual, for what man can bring himself to comfort his friends when his own execution is at hand? Death lurks on the horizon, and Jesus sees its dark, twisted clouds lucidly. If you had only seen what he saw, you would have understood his tears and lonely trembling in Gethsemane. Make no mistake of it; Jesus was sorrow-filled to the brim. And yet he was able to say to his friends, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” What servant would neglect the splinters on his blistered palm, to help sweep away the dust from his neighbor’s floor? It is the sacrificial Lamb, the servant-exemplar, the God-man Jesus.

“Believe in God; believe also in me.” Some of you may think nothing of this simple statement. Rightly so, as many of you were born to a world of secularism. You are Gentile. You were pagan. Someone had to tell you to believe in God. Yet Jesus was speaking to the Disciples – first-century Jewish men. Need a Jew be told to believe in God? They are people set apart to worship the one God. Their entire lives centered around the temple and the Scriptures and discourses about the divine. “Believe in God.” Methinks Jesus intended to remind his disciples about the ways of God; that He is good, just, faithful, and powerful. Don’t we all need the regular prodding towards remembrance? Jew or Gentile, heathen or religious, our lives are saturated with reminders. We cannot function without reminders, and we must never choose to live without reminders, for we are all absent-minded ignoramuses. Therefore, today let me remind you of this: no problem of yours is too big for God. No hollow is too deep for His arms to scoop you from. You cannot commit a sin too dark to escape His dazzling forgiveness. Believe in God. Believe also in Jesus.

Encounters with a Ruffian

The Damien Rice concert was memorable - but for the wrong reasons. That evening, one of my greatest dreams became unbelievably close to coming true. If you know me at all, I'm the kind of guy whom you might see punching the air at random times. Occasionally, you might even see me doing an imaginary flying kick or a swift elbow action. I watch ultimate fighting every time I come across it, and I always wonder how my fist would feel on a man's face. Conversely, I also wonder how a fist might feel on my face, although admittedly, I think about that part less often. One of my greatest dreams is to be in a fight. A real fight. (Shame on me, you say? Well, forgive me for being unabashedly honest).

Juicy details aside, last night all my hours spent on push-ups culminated in a verbal scuffle with a ruffian. A verbal scuffle that would have snowballed into a fistfight. The ruffian unleashed a torrent of untoward threats, cursing, and damning to my face. He waved his hardened fist inches away from my flat oriental nose. How did I react? I could hardly react. Just a minute ago I was exchanging smiles with him. Moments ago I dropped a couple of quarters into the ruffian's hand. The hand that was now threatening to "f*** me up." I have never switched temperaments that quick before, and I have never been required of it. Therefore, I was silent. I was simply unprepared to confront someone I did not hate. I know these are but excuses. This episode was an emergency. Times of emergency are just that: unpredictable, unexpected situations that emerge from nowhere.

The incident climaxed right there. Fortunately, the verbal scuffle did not morph into the physical. A couple of my larger-framed friends alleviated the situation. How so? Well, if I was China, they were my proverbial "Great Wall." Yet in a way, my friends took away my "dream." It could also be that they perhaps saved me from an ass-kicking . Both are quite possible. But I guess now no one will truly know. However, in all seriousness, this did cause me to ask myself some questions.

1. When ferocity is demanded, would I be able to bring it?
Yes, oh you'd better.

2. Why watch all that ultimate-fighting if you can't bring it?
Ermm... sir, that's more of a statement isn't it?

3. How does ferocity (not violence) fit into the vision of the biblical Man?
Answer that one, Driscoll...

Vocabulary 101 (from dictionary.com)

1. Froward
–adjective
willfully contrary; not easily managed. Sammy, my friend's Siamese cat is froward in our every attempt to bathe him. Therefore, he tends to carry a remarkable stench about him.

2. Effulgent
–adjective
shining forth brilliantly; radiant. A bride's countenance, as she walks down the aisle, is as effulgent as the sun, to the man who waits for her at the altar.

Legendary Red Dress


News Feed
Some great things have been happening lately. Last week I begged Pops not to let me have an idle summer. Idleness is not something to take lightly. Sometimes I think the enemy is just as fulfilled making men sloppy with inactivity, as with successfully tempting them to do evil. Anyway, last week the International Center offered to hire me as an ambassador for the summer, giving me some more stuff to do, extra people to meet, and a little more money in the bank.

At the radio station, I've been asked to edit interviews and podcasts with up-and-coming artists. The experience is still very rewarding and I wished that I had started at the Bridge earlier in my education. Even more great news today: the station just hired me for the summer, and so I'm getting paid for what I do. Sometimes people's generosity just blows me away.

Rabbit Trail
I realized just how greatly I have been deprived of good and genuinely creative musical expressions. Too long have I been embroiled in the hapless battle of secular vs. nonsecular music. Art cannot be crudely and frivolously classified as "good" or "evil." That's such a wrong and unconstructive way to look at the issue of culture. I'm not a musical maestro, but I know enough to fiercely reject the notion of "music as mere entertainment." Art does not simply entertain; its role is much higher. Art reveals the mysterious complexities of the created order. Learn it, and perhaps we will learn more of ourselves and of God.

I'm probably quite late on this, but I've been hooked on Imogen Heap's song, "Hide and Seek." It's frightful. It's haunting. It's hopeful. It's the anthem of the times. And it's spreading like wildfire. Note: Scroll down the myspace page and check out a rendition of the song by a Kazzoo choir. Quite hilarious.

A Maxim About Maxims "Anybody here have a life verse? I know it sounds way too permanent, doesn’t it - life verse. But here’s the cool thing; you don’t have to have your life verse for like, all your life. It can be your life verse for a week, or a month… I’m okay with having a new life verse next year…" -Erwin McManus