His Plan

This past week I really focused on finding some comfort as well as inspiration because I was given a grand challenge I needed to conquer. My biggest fear is uncertainty for the future, and last week I lived by one of my favorite verses found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " Jeremiah 29:11

This is God's promise to all of us who are scared that things may not turn out so great immediately, but we must also realize that tomorrow is not in our hands, but in God's. I was overwhelmed with school work, college recruiting, and life in general, but reading this verse and meditating on it really widens my perspective on what is really important in life, and that's God. You see, I can set goals for myself and plan my life out, but I never know what could happen tomorrow or the day after that. I am unaware of where my life is headed, but I can trust in someone who knows where my path lays. This support really helped me last Saturday as I faced adversity but also was given hope by the grace of God.

I was able to attend a soccer recruiting camp this weekend at Cedarville University. Only hearing of me from my desperate efforts to set up an appointment with them during my visit there on PSAT Day, the coaches had no idea who I was or what I could bring to the table. All of the odds were against me, and I knew it. The pressure was on, but I was absolutely determined to show the staff and players what I had to offer.

Twenty four hours later, after spending the night with the team and training in 3 sessions with the 75 other recruits there, the head coach took me aside to tell me I was offered a spot on the team and that I would be receiving a scholarship to play for them. Although I am unsure on whether or not I decide to commit there, it was incredible how it all turned out. Having no prior contact with the coaches except and invitation to go to the camp, and only a day of them seeing me play, I was able to receive an athletic scholarship from a D2 school in just one day. I don't understand why good things happen to me even when I sin, but I guess God is being good to me for a reason, not because I deserve it all, but because he loves me.

American Greed

I began my week by minimally reading the story of how Mark Zuckerberg's billion-dollar, social-networking phenomenon, Facebook, was started in a small, but tidy Cambridge dorm room at Harvard University. As startling as his incredible journey may have been, I can't help but think about how he cheated his best friend and a pair of twin brothers out of the riches, keeping all of the money to himself. Creating the software hides the fact that he stole an incredible idea under the covers, and using money that wasn't his in order to obtain some start-up funds is then taken out of the picture after billions of dollars are made. An wonderful state of bliss for one man, but a bitter hunger for vengeance lies within the hearts of those who were victims of corruption and greed. But the Facebook empire is at the least of concerns. Instead, I must ask a question so thought-provoking I may be unable to answer....

Does anyone care that our world is becoming full of nothing but greed?

Why are people cheated out things but are never granted adequate justice for what has happened to them?

What should people do to change the hearts of those who verbally debauch or condescend others in horrible ways?

There is no easy way to answer these mysteries, but that doesn't mean they can't be answered. The answer to these questions lies within one simple word: Fear

People are simply scared of what will happen next in life, so they decide to steal, cheat, and harm others. Fear is the reason why Walter White continues to produce, manufacture, and distribute meth. The fear of financial failure, with no source of income; so instead, people like him decide to what's illegal to get what he needs. Or it could be the less serious of offenses, but just as dishonorable such as cheating. There is so much drive for people to get what they want, but how they achieve success is sometimes awful. Just think Lance Armstrong and his problem the performance-enhancing drugs. Even the greats don't only do what's right to get what they want. People like him are afraid to fail; so they decide to do what is wrong in order to prosper.

A New Beginning

    My blog’s themes generally comprise of very secular and earthly matters  rather than what my spiritual being composes of. It’s the other half of me that many know about but others still have questions about. The testimony I present to others is praised by few and frowned upon by others. I stand alone here on earth, but I am not abandoned because of the spirit that lies within me. The gospel holds all of life’s answers to me, and it is my job to show that to those who are without it. I am unashamed in my faith and shall hide no more; this is only the beginning of my walk.

  I know, a very interesting way to begin, but I needed to reveal myself to everyone. My faith in the Creator of the Heavens can no longer be unnoticed nor snubbed as I have committed myself to living a more beautiful and devoted life. The changes included will be what books I read, songs I listen to, and tv shows I watch. In order to continuously dedicate myself to something greater, I must begin to blog more about my life as a Christian guy in high school.

The Bible has been the only book I have touched for the last two weeks because I promised not only God, but myself, that I would get myself back on track with this whole “christian” thing. I decided to do this by reading a few passages from the New Testament. A few verses that stuck out to me came from 1 Peter, who first sent this letter to believers living in the northern regions of Asia Minor giving them encouragment to continue living out their faith.

    22 ”Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:22-25 NIV)

The key to my revival of faith is that I continue to love others and follow the Word of God. Without these key elements of life, I cannot grow in my walk with the Lord and will wither like grass. However, if I remain in God, then I will not perish, but will only thrive forever. We are only here temporarily, but the word of God will ‘endure forever’. 

So here you go, that’s my life. I stand for what I believe in, and I must remind myself to act that way as well. I see too many receiving the wrong misconception to what it truly means to be a Christian. It’s not a religion, a doctrine, or a theory; these statements would only do a disservice to the actuality of it all. But it’s a relationship with a Creator, a Son, and a Spirit. You don’t have to agree with what I say, and you can even judge me if you’d like, but that will not phase me one bit.

"Stay in the game. Dominate the arena like home court advantage don't even matter!" Propaganda

What We're Loving Suggestions

"Back up or I'm gonna throw this bottle of piss at you!!"

were the first words that completely stole my attention into the podcast by comedian Dave Hill. In this hilarious, risible and supposedly-true story, he tells of a time when he first moved to New York and encountered an extremely angry civilian (if you can call the man a civilian) while waiting for the next subway to arrive. The theme of the quasi-ineffable tale is the transfer of messages through inanimate objects.

It begins with the description of how New York used to be seen as an edgy place; a place where you could just walk down the street and pop open a beer and just like, suck it down and throw the bottle on the ground. And now, it isn't considered that way anymore.
By the end of the experience, he learns that New York is, in fact, still edgy. 

  

I couldn't stop laughing the entire time! I strongly suggest you waste about ten minutes of your precious time to watch it, you won't be sorry.

WARNING: some profanities are used.

What I'm Consuming

Listening:
A newly rejuvenated, slow-tempo R&B is what has been dominating my playlist for the past two weeks. When I say R&B, I don't mean the washed up, club-savvy singers such as Usher or Ne-Yo, but rather those with the right amount of soul to compliment it's unique underground hip-hop style in which the lyrics are anti-commercial inspired with its amount of depth included. One artist who I have come to love has been Frank Ocean. My favorite song of his has got to be Thinking About You because he reveals a level of vulnerability and romance in which he makes every listener think about their significant other right as the chorus begins to play. Ocean's music has been characterized by music writers as idiosyncratic in style. Ocean generally plays the electronic keyboard, and is backed by a subdued rhythm section in the production. His compositions are often mid-tempo and feature unconventional melodies, occasionally having experimental song structure. Whenever I'm in the mood to pause and slow this life down a bit, or if I want to ponder about my "sophisticated" high school romances, I choose Frank.

Pandora Playlists

Throughout these past few weeks, I have began to concentrate my efforts on exploring genres of music I normally would never listen to. My music selection before was classified as very mainstream, so to say, because it included many well-known artists that you could instantly find off the Top 100 iTunes songs list. Ranging from Christian to Hip-Hop/Rap, my iPhone showed variance but also an overabundance of notoriety. It was to the point that whenever I would play a song from my iPhone on my speakers, my friends would reiterate from time to time that my music "sucked" because it "was too old."

 Almost becoming attacked from these accusations, it was obvious that I needed to find new music which added more variance, style, and substance to my playlists. And thank the Lord I had Pandora to help me do this. Here are some of the stations I have fallen in love with for the past two weeks and why I have suddenly downloaded 300 new songs in a matter of days. 

1) Hillsong United 

2) The Weekend

3) John Mayer

4) Lecrae

5) Mumford and Sons

6) Coldplay

7) Matisyahu

I refuse to even give a brief description about the bands because even that would do a disservice on my part because each of these talents are that incredible. Listen to each of them with an open mind and I guarantee that one of these stations will be enjoyable to listen to. 

Senioritis

I never thought this would happen to me. The realization didn't occur to me that every senior would encounter such a rampant epidemic that no one could prevent themselves from being afflicted by. No vaccines, pills, or activities could deter my lack of ability to focus on my school work. My work ethic has quickly vitiated, and we have yet to encounter the end of a very long fall term. This sickness is not going away either but will only get worse for me. And I ask myself  'How did I get like this?' over and over until my head begins to spin and I pass out. I developed a list on how one might become afflicted with Senioritis. So here is how one gets this horrid disease.

1) Become a Senior
2) Enroll in the easiest courses you can take at HHS (elective PE, film, business math)
3) Take all regular classes
4) Save the money you earned from your summer job so that you can spend it all on Senior year adventures
5) Watch all the TV and movies you want
6) Get a Twitter account so that you can spend a mere two hours developing a good tweet about 1% of your followers will actually care about
7) Count down the days until you graduate and leave HHS
8) Worry about having fun during your senior year rather than actually learning anything
9) Follow the horrible advice of hip-hop sensation Drake by involving yourself in YOLO endangerments.

There you go. The crisis of Senioritis and how one contracts it in a nutshell. I'm hoping I can work harder in school since my grades will soon drop, but it's not like I won't graduate or go to college because I did poorly during one year. Overall, the epidemic, the crisis, and the nightmare of senioritis has already gotten the best of me, and I'm confident that I will not be the one to find the cure for it.