josh-o-matic

Graduation, Working and my Lab

2011-07-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

The past year has been extremely busy for me as I have been working to finish my studies at the University of Washington. I am proud to say that I have successfully completed my BSEE as of the middle of July after fulfilling the final requirements through gaining credit for previous University of Colorado coursework. I have also started working at a local engineering firm, Williamson & Associates, assisting with their latest deep-sea submersible drilling system (check them out at www.wassoc.com, we do some pretty cool stuff!). I have also been working to tidy up my home office/lab and organize the devices, components and test equipment acquired over the last few years so that I may work on some of my own projects at home. It can be seen below:

I am pretty excited to be done and working so quickly. I am also excited to start on stuff that I didn't have time for the past two years (electronic and non-electronic). I will be sure to post any new (and even previous) projects that I am working on. My current project is building my own adjustable bench power supply. Presently I use a discrete regulator on my circuit coupled with a rectifier and my transformer-in-a-box to power stuff. While not horrible, I would like one that has adjustable DC output (voltage and current) so that I can focus on the circuit and not the supply. As far as build vs buy? I would like to know what is going on inside my circuit so I am building it.

tar, rsync and netcat

2010-06-02T11:55:00.001-07:00

In my quest to quickly move files from my dlink nas and my new file server I was looking for a quick way to transfer files (and maybe keep them in sync later on). I tried tar over ssh, however this is rather cpu intensive for a little nas box with a small ARM processor and 64 MB of RAM. I then started looking at netcat, since it doesn't use encryption (and thus much cpu). This doesn't have to be secure since the storage network in my case is physically and logically isolated from the rest of the network. Here is what I found:

On the receiving end (do this first):

#nc -l 7000 | tar xvf -

Or on some systems:

#nc -l -p7000 | tar xvf -

And on the sending end:
tar cvf - * | nc hostip:7000

Or on some systems (like Mac OS X or *BSD):

tar cvf - * | nc hostip 7000 (note the space not the colon)

this will send everything in the current directory from the sender to the current directory of the receiver. The port doesn't matter, just use an unused one (port 7000 I believe is for AFS which I don't use). This should help preserve file permissions, etc. as well.

Just an update: this worked, though it took a while, it did successfully copy everything (ran spot check md5 sums to make sure).

Another clever one is to tar and gzip them before sending them off:

On the receiving end:

# nc -l 7000 > filename.tar.gz

Here you are saying whatever comes out of netcat is part of this archive, so you redirect and concatenate it into the file you just specified.

And on the sending end:

# tar cvf - * | gzip -9 | nc hostip:7000

Here you are just piping the output of tar into gzip. The -9 is to specify the level of compression (man gzip for more details) and then send it off to netcat.

I also verified with rsync, yet another good way to now keep these files in sync. Sure enough, it only copied a few files that changed (Mac's annoying .DS_store and a couple of touch'd files).

#rsync -ave ssh user@hostip-or-fqdn:/source/dir/path /destination

One thing to note is that the source is the full path to the directory to copy from, and the destination is where you want the entire tree - so path would end up being a subdirectory of destination: /destination/path, but leave out path.

opteron-prime

2010-05-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

The Jones home has a new server: Opteron-Prime. It is a quad core AMD Opteron based system. Lynn was very gracious in letting me purchase this basically since it will serve as a new file server and allow triple redundancy on our data (it will back up to a network raid array). The purpose is to keep safe all of our documents (like our wedding photos, music, etc) and allow remote access to said files from anywhere with internet access. My goal is single-sign-on to my Mac OS X, Windows 7 and Linux hosts. I plan on using VMWare ESXi to run Windows 2008 Server R2 (as an Active Directory Domain Controller), OpenFiler (as our fileserver), m0n0wall (as our remote access and firewall) and probably another linux server on this box. I will have to update as this project comes along.

sex in unix

2010-05-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Apparently sex in unix looks like this:

look; gawk; find; sed; talk; grep; touch; finger; find; flex; unzip; head; tail; mount; workbone; fsck; yes; gasp; fsck; more; yes; yes; eject; umount; makeclean; zip; split; done; exit:xargs!!;

bits and pieces

2008-01-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

I will be honest, I am tired as I write this, I have been up since 6 am with no nap (it is currently 9 pm), and I've spent the day thinking from the get go. Nonetheless, I am drawn to write a bit. Lately I've been struggling with some ideas, like inerrancy and authority of Scripture, and how we use (or abuse) Scripture, and its role in the Christian life and the Church. It seems to be a lense I'm seeing life through right now (thank you Lynn), be it my work in class (Reading Practices and New Testament), community group or early morning scripture reading (that is why I was up early) or in my conversations with friends. Anyways, I don't have the mental capacity to engage that right now...I will, hopefully, soon.

I also had a moment of perspective tonight, concerning my education. I am currently in New Testament class, for which I m paying $100 for just tonight's session (it is roughly $33 per credit, per session). I honestly have never thought about my education that way. Lately, I've been rethinking many aspects of my life, honestly, and again, more on that later.

I better pay attention, I think I just missed out on at least $1 worth of education in writing this.

::myth, community::

2007-11-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

You are a king among men.

Those were the words of my friend Brandon to me the other night, part of a deeply meaningful exchange, concerning life and my experiences here in Seattle.

What struck me was the way he communicated all of what we talked about to me, it was not so much propositional knowledge, but mythic in nature. He compared me to Strider of Lord of the Rings, a king in the making, with many many challeges to overcome right now (like grad school). It struck me then that the language of the heart is story, not proposition, probably why Jesus chose to speak in parable and story rather than just proposition.

The other thing that struck me was the call came at a desperate time for me, a dark hour, and it wasn’t lucky timing but because another friend, Adam, had called him to say he should call me. It made me think about the wonderful blessings of community, three men separated by geography, Brandon in Colorado, Adam in West Virginia and me in Seattle, but still involved in very deep and meaningful ways in each others lives,. And it’s not perfect, we are all fools and idiots to be sure, but we still have community, and that is essential.

I haven’t fully processed or even felt the depth of that exchange, and perhaps it is far too deep right now for me to even put words to, but they were words I did need to hear, and perhaps I can follow up at a later time, but for now I must leave you, and get some desperately needed rest after a very intense and exhausting week.

::the riddle::

2007-11-06T17:08:00.001-08:00

Today in my random search for music videos to amuse me, I came across The Riddle by Five For Fighting, a band I love and have recently come across again. I am completely in awe of The Riddle, a very catchy yet meaningful melody, a father-son love song about life and meaning (the description given by John Ondrasik, the musician).

::airborne swine::

2007-10-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

So, it has happened, the National Weather Service has reported a dramatic, sub-freezing drop of temperature in Hades, the Federal Aviation Administration has been busy all day with reports of airborne swine, and when I flipped to the sports page, I saw that the Colorado Rockies are going to the World Series!

That's basically all I have, except that I was watching them beat the Diamondbacks last night instead of writing my paper.

Peace

::burrito cat::

2007-10-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I feel like I'm in middle school again, because I find this freaking hilarious! You can find this image and many others of these cute and cuddly creatures call cats (I think I'm starting to be a cat lover or something, that is scary) well, anyways, you should visit I CAN HAS CHEEZ BURGER. Anyways, I thought I would put this up, more later.

::reflections::

2007-08-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

Reflections on my first month…

I am homesick…I was honestly blindsided by that…I thought I would be ok coming out here. I loved Seattle in all my visits out here to check out Mars Hill Graduate School. The difference is this, while I love Seattle, on my visits I always knew I’d be going back home to Colorado and my friends, in other words, life wasn’t drastically changing for me. Now life has changed, my geography, my friendships, etc.

Now I live here, Seattle, Washington.

Not Broomfield, Colorado.

I am here.

My friends and home are there.

Honestly, in all my dreams of moving out here, in all my visits out here, I never thought moving out here would be so hard.

I miss my friends.

I miss the mountains.

I miss familiar places.

I miss what I knew as “church” there.

Now I find myself in a new place. A new story. New people.

And I wonder what the hell I’m doing here.

Seriously.

You’d think I wouldn’t have these doubts.

I do.

I doubt my calling. I am wrestling with my ideas on the Church (and the church). And I start Seminary in a week. Do I still want to go through with this? I say this for many reasons. One is I’ve given more thought to going to law school. Another is that I’ve given thought to working with various missionary/youth organizations. I have many many questions swirling in my mind concerning what I want to spend my life doing. There are many things I love. Many things I want to do with my life.

I want to make a difference.

I want to travel.

I love writing.

I love speaking.

I love intellectual challenge.

I love discussing law.

I love working with students.

Where does all this leave me?

Wrestling.

Undecided.

With lots of questions.

::tattoos::

2007-08-20T20:00:00.001-07:00

I know this is random, but, look at the banner and remind yourself of the nature of this site. Anyways, today's post centers around a frantic text message I received from a friend of mine in which he was concerned about the eternal fate of his soul because he has a tattoo and some of people he knows told him tattoos are bad. Ok, so maybe he wasn't in despair concerning the fate of his soul, but wanted to know what they were talking about. I write this post, not so much to explain my position, I am for it, see this picture (click the link) to see mine, it is Deuteronomy 6:5 in Hebrew, so you know, but to see what others think (and to see if anyone reads this thing). So feel free to comment on this post.

::who needs sleep?::

2007-08-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

So lately I've been obsessed with another Barenaked Ladies song, Who Needs Sleep? I fear it will be my mantra this year, working near full time and working on my masters degree full time (that is still so strange to me that I will be working on my masters degree, I feel all grown up and stuff). Anyways, here it is, enjoy:

Now I lay me down not to sleep
I just get tangled in the sheets
I swim in sweat three inches deep
I just lay back and claim defeat

Chapter read and lesson learned
I turned the lights off while she burned
So while she's three hundred degrees
I throw the sheets off and I freeze

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

My hands are locked up tight in fists
My mind is racing, filled with lists
of things to do and things I've done
Another sleepless night's begun

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

There's so much joy in life,
so many pleasures all around
But the pleasure of insomnia
is one I've never found
With all life has to offer,
there's so much to be enjoyed
But the pleasures of insomnia
are ones I can't avoid

Lids down, I count sheep
I count heartbeats
The only thing that counts is
that I won't sleep
I countdown, I look around

Hala Hala Hala

Who needs sleep?
well you're never gonna get it
Who needs sleep?
tell me what's that for
Who needs sleep?
be happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
since the Second World War

::utter randomness::

2007-08-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello all, it has been a while since I have written. Ias been a rather random week or weeks. I went to Vancouver a few times, the first time with my cousin and Kali and her brother Steve, happened across some spectacular fireworks, ate sushi and generally enjoyed that beautiful city. The second time was Monday (I was supposed to work, but HR doesn't have its act together), I went with Marina and the Random Brit (Lord Christopher - see the side link under reading). We were scouting out Smallville filming sites. In that time I've also remembered how much I miss working in student ministry, and I am wrestling with that. Anyways, I've been entertaining a random British youth pastor at my home, Lord Christopher (he owns noble land in Britain), which has been absolutely delightful, both the accent and the fact he is a youth pastor. I also started work yesterday, not much to do, but hey I'm actually getting paid! I know this is all very unorganized, but whatever, that is my life at the moment, that and I start school in a few weeks. Ok, I should probably read, look into student ministry opportunities, etc.

::dreams, remembering, friends::

2007-08-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

So today I had a opportunity to hang out with my friend Melissa. It was a wonderful time of talking about life, and exploring a city that I am new to. I should probably preface all this with some history. I was born and raised in Colorado and now living in Seattle. Melissa was born and raised in Seattle (well near Seattle), moved to Colorado for middle school/high school then moved to Seattle for college and then back to Colorado. We were also neighbors for a year when we lived at the Stonegate apartments in Colorado. In the course of exploring Seattle, I was able to see where she went to college and all that, which was nice since I am fairly new to Seattle (I’ve lived here for less than a month). We then proceed to head to downtown and the waterfront, so I could show her where I will be going to school, Mars Hill Graduate School and get some fish & chips at Ivars. Now to get back to where I was going with all of this. It was a wonderful time, both seeing friends that I miss, and in the course of the conversation, recounting all that has happened in the year.

It all started with recounting how a year ago, almost exactly, we were all moving out of the apartments, which was kind of a sad time since the five of us had a rather good time being neighbors during that time (imagine Friends or something like that), so we were remembering how nice that year was (being neighbors) and how much things have changed and happened in the last year or so. Both of us have experienced the hope and eventual heartache of relationships. We have seen a friend dear to us both get engaged, married and finish law school. Dreams have started, and started to become reality. I was commenting on how crazy it is that I now live in Seattle, how even though it has been a long time dream of mine, that if someone would have asked me a year ago if I thought I would be living in Seattle and getting ready to start my Masters degree, I probably would have laughed (a bit cynically) at them. Yet, here I am, living in Seattle, and classes start September 4th. It was a wonderful time of recounting all that has happened, all that God has done in this time, and how when we forget our dreams, God still remembers. And I think it was further compounded by the fact I was recalling with a dear friend, who has also encouraged me in this dream (we used to talk about Seattle quite a bit at the apartments). I think all of this is important in our journeys, recalling the many motions of the heart and how we have seen God active in our lives, especially in remembering dreams we had long forgotten or given up on. I think I experienced more life in that afternoon than I have in many churches, in recalling all that God has done. I also think it is vitally important in our journeys, since our hearts are usually quick to forget what God has done (think of Moses leading Israel in their forty year desert trek). It is also hard, because, truth be told, those moments are usually few and far between. I guess that is all I have right now, perhaps attribute it to my normal wrestling with life and the church and all that. That is probably one of the greatest reasons why I started down this path, to help people find life in this community we call the church. Ok, I should probably post this, do some reading and head to Seatac to pick up my cousin from the airport. Adios.

::skyline::

2007-08-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I finally found the perfect place to take a picture of the skyline from the perspective I wanted: Space needle in front of the rest of the skyline. I found the spot at Kerry Park on Queen Anne hill. Now I just need to go back at night and get a shot then, too.

Ahh, what can I say? I live in a gorgeous city/state! This was taken from Golden Gardens at sunset, such a gorgeous area!

::alone and in between::

2007-07-31T19:35:00.000-07:00

Looking for something I've never seen
Alone and I'm in between
The place that I'm from and the place that I'm in
A city I never been
~The Fray, Trust Me

To dream and desire is risky, difficult business. I say this in response to my recent move to Seattle to go to grad school. Before I dive into that, I should preface all of this with the journey to this point, to choosing Seattle and to moving here.

About three years ago, a desire to live here was planted in me on a trip to Vancouver with the youth group I used to intern with. We stayed just one night in Seattle, and yet I managed to fall in love with the city and the northwest. This also lead to further dream of doing ministry in the northwest – one of the most unchurched and intellectual places in North America. For two years this desire and dream stuck with me, at times seeming unattainable and teasing me. Nine months ago, I came to Seattle to visit a school I had heard about, Mars Hill Graduate School. I went, I loved it (the city and the school) I applied, interviewed, and got accepted to their M.Div program. A dream coming true. A few months later after being accepted (June), I even had a place to live arranged. Now fast forward – I am here, I have been living here for about three weeks and this is the hardest part – leaving home and stepping into the unknown. All the other work of dreaming and getting here – re-enrolling at the University of Colorado to finish my Bachelors, attending classes, graduating, applying to MHGS, finding a place to live, etc, etc, all simple compared to my new reality. None of it so risky as packing up and saying goodbye and leaving all that I have ever known, friends, family, geography, all of that. Yet, nothing really prepares you for the reality that follows, it is exciting to dream, but stepping into the reality of dreams and desires is quite messy.

Now I find myself, isolated, alone, overwhelmed, etc, etc, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into. The lyrics at the beginning of this post pretty much describe what I feel right about now. I have traded all that I know, love and am familiar with for something completely unpredictable, unknown and scary. I am wrestling with this, and yet I also know that is usually where chasing the Wild Goose, the Holy Spirit leads you, like God leading Abraham out of Ur, He has led me to Seattle. Do I know how this is going to turn out? Not really. Does it even match my expectations from even a few weeks or months ago so far? No. All I know at this point is the unknown and the uncertainty, and that somewhere in the midst of this God is there, even though it may be hard to understand. We shall see, I am still processing this, still working through it.

::employment::

2007-07-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

So after three months of so of funemployment, I have a job starting in less than two weeks, as a universal banker at US Bank. I swore I would never go back to banking, but here I am back at it, selling my soul to the bank man yet again. Oh well, that is at least balanced out by the fact that I am also getting my Master's degree in something I love. Should be interesting, at least it is within walking distance of home this time.

::seattle saturday::

2007-07-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my Saturday was rather boring, taking care of computer issues, domain issues, and the like. On the plus side, I did get out to Alki Beach, walked quite a bit, and took many many pictures. Above is a picture of the skyline, isn't it gorgeous?

Anyways, that is really all I have right now, that and I've been working on my total eradication of Windows from my computers. My new lap-o-matic is a MacBook, so that, by default is only running MacOS (though I could taint this wonderful Unix machine by putting BootCamp on it, but I won't) and I just installed Linux on my desktop. Ahhh, to have all Unix based machines.

Ok, goodnight all.

::transitions...

2007-07-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

It is been over a year since I have posted to this blog, and in that time much has happened, some that I will briefly cover now, some you'll have to wait for, as a year is a long time to write about and process.

To start at my last post, Random Rambling, a few weeks after that was written, I went back to Flatirons Student Ministry after nine months of processing life. It was a wonderful time involving three mission trips, one to Gulfport, Mississippi to help rebuild after Katrina and two to Basconcobe, Mexico. During that time, I also worked as an intern, worked a year at a credit union, graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a BA in Religious Studies, generally travelled, etc, etc. Much happened since February of 2006.

Now, fast-forward a year and a half. I now live in Seattle, well, I just moved here about two weeks ago. I will be starting my Master's degree in the fall at Mars Hill Graduate School. A very exciting and also tumultuous time for me. On the one hand, I have wanted to move to Seattle and go to grad school for close to three or four years now, so a dream come true. On the other hand, I have also left all that is familiar: geography, friends, jobs, lifestyle for something that is completely unfamiliar and at times a bit scary. Right now, my state of mind is also somewhat in transition, getting used to my new living situation, meeting new people, and the like.

Anyways, I am tired and want to sleep/not think any more. I will continue on all this later.

Cheers!

Random Rambling

2006-02-01T19:50:00.000-08:00

Just a random set of notes I thought I would throw out there for whoever reads this...

First, High Altitude, a winter camp attended by the highschoolers at my church, Flatirons Community in Lafayette, CO. Kind of bittersweet for me. It is the first time in two years I will not have gone to that one as a leader, there is the bitter part. The sweet part is that a few of the guys I used to work with are going.

Second, work is falling apart. I am getting lectured about my performance on the job as a member of management, etc. My heart is not in the game, and therefore it is hard for me to give a damn, my boss even commented as such. I want desperately out of this place, but still need to pay the bills, if you have extra money for me, please paypal it to me (leave a comment and i'll give you my address).

Anyways, I should probably go, that was just a random update on the state of my life.

How Am I Doing?

2006-01-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”)

This quote kind of popped into my mind as I have been reflecting on the last six months or so, mainly because I have been living a half-hearted existence. Before I get too far ahead of myself here, I should give context for these last six months. This last May was a month of transition for me, transitions that have left me searching for my heart. The first thing was I finished (pretty much) with classes at CU Boulder on my undergrad studies, so I’m no longer a full-time student, first major transition. Second, I left Flatirons Student Ministries after two years as an intern/volunteer working with high school students, second major transition. This second one threw me more than the first. First I should preface this, I left not because of the ministry or leaders or anything like that, but because I needed to confront some stuff in my life and that served as enough of a distraction to keep me anesthetized enough to keep me from confronting the crap in my life. However, instead of confronting my crap, I have been doing as Lewis talks about, living half hearted and fooling with my addictions, anesthetizing the pain of not having my heart rather than going through that pain to aliveness and awareness. So, today, that is where I am at, dealing with the pain of not having my heart back, and conversely not being satisfied with fooling about making mud pies in the slum. I’m stuck in a tricky no-man’s land, but to get out I must have both my heart and desire. As part of my loss of heart, I’ve suffered a loss of desire, where the desires and dreams I had not even a year ago seem rather distant now, so part of my problem is desiring too little and being too easily pleased. The hard part is to allow myself to desire more opens me up to failure and disappointment, I can choose to stay with the safe and predictable (and boring) or choose to desire, fall down but nonetheless live out of desire.

Here are some things about my current situation that I know to be true:

Ø The two years in FSM were the best two years in my life thus far, I enjoyed working with my guys, the other leaders, it was a blast. This was also the most unpredictable time of my life, living without a steady paycheck, yet still managing to pay everything on time. Looking back, I feel like I’ve traded desire for a false sense of security.

Ø I must be willing to work through the pain to get to aliveness and awareness, rekindle my desires and pursue them.

Ø I’m tired of living a mercenary life, working completely for myself and my comfort.

Ø I want to go back to ministry, eventually, and even pursue seminary, but I want to do this out of a heart that is full, out of the overflow of my heart.

Ø I know that to do this, I must have help, allies in this journey who can encourage me and whom I can encourage.

Thanks to anyone who reads this, I welcome your comments, criticism and challenge, more to come on this soon.

It Has Been a While

2006-01-16T22:05:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since I've done this, and I probably should, it is one way to get my inner life out in the open and vent and all the other self indulgent crap people do with these things. I should make it my goal to try for once a week or something, it would be good, a good way to remember what is happening in my life and to see how God has been there, etc. So there is the closest to a new years reso that i will do. Oh, BTW, my friend Jolene pointed out that irons work really well as tv antennas...hook the plug prongs to the center wire of a coax, or use a paper clip to look thru the plug and into the center hole of the coax jack on the back. Well, I must slumber so I won't be too miserable and my sucky job at US Bank.

FFW>>2 Months, Espresso Machine Misadventures

2005-09-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post, over two months. I thought I would throw something out there to all who have maintained any interest at all in reading about my life. First, I moved into some new and sweet digs, as of July 31st. I live there with my buddy Cam and his brother Morgan. Next door to us lives three cool women we've (Cam and I) known since high school--Talvi, Maren and Melissa. Five FCA-ites in adjacent apartments, pretty crazy (not really, but it is cool nonetheless to actually know the people on the other side of the wall). Shortly after moving in, Cam and I roadtripped to the wonderful state of California, and saw San Francisco, Sacramento, Sequioa National Forest (theres lots of wood there) and had the opportunity to visit our chemistry teacher from high school (and the chance to see his offspring). Since then I have been working in banking (I swore two years ago I would never go back), as the Teller Coordinator for USBank. This is after a three week stint as an electrician in Yuma, CO. I'm sure I do not want to stay there long term, the people are great, but I am not a big fan of banking as a profession. The flip side of this is that I am also not quite sure where I want to go either. I am in a very transitional period. I left Flatirons Student Ministry in May after two awesome and wonderful years (which, by the way, was the most difficult "job" I've ever quit). Since then I've been sorting life out, now that I am pretty much done at CU (I have a few correspondence courses left), I'm debating seminary or something else, as I still want to pursue ministry (but this year is mainly for rest and reflection, and getting my heart back--as I allowed myself to get into some unhealthy patterns in two years of rather intense ministry involvement). Only time will tell. Perhaps this will be a chronicle of that journey of the heart and getting back into something I love...

Anyhoo, time to go.

(PS--I got an espresso machine to play with, we'll see how that turns out)

~Josh

Finally, Another Update

2005-06-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

As part of this blog, I will now be posting links to my online photo albums that are going to be created (since I just bought a 4.0 MP camera, not much, but cheap). Anyways, check the side links.

Scrolling Buckles!

2005-05-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

RAWK! I was hanging out with my buddy Dave yesterday, and he took me to this site where they sell belt buckles with LED marquees built-in! These buckles are soooooo cool, cool enough, in fact, that I bought one, so take a look below, for such a buckle will be adorning my belt in approximately a week!

Well, back to class!

Cheers!

Wenchang for Tian Gong

2005-05-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

ATTN: Celestial Bureau

FROM: RLST3800 Group

RE: Why Wenchang should be Tian Gong.

Summary of Skills:

Killed the tiger, with his own bare hands, that was cool.
Mad Nan chock skills
Could be a ninja?
Already did his time, as he was punished due to the flood incident, Buddha, Lao tzu cool with it now
Superpowers from Lao Tzu.
Name sounds cool, just rolls off the tongue.

Wenchang: good name for a god, not a good name for a pirate.

Intelligent, specialization in classical literature and philosophy. This dude knows his shit.
Is able to provide many blessings for subordinates.
Integrity

Has never taken a bribe.

Understands other gods, he totally knows what’s goin’ on, seriously.
Clearly exhibits filial piety.
Is such a bad ass mofo.
Could totally smite you dead, but won’t since he’s cool like that (unless you are a prick, then you’re dead).
Totally did a good job covering for Guan Di when he called in sick once.

We had to make a list of qualifications for Wenchang and why he should be Tian gong, a god...this was my attempt to have fun with that.

Arrrr, What Kind of Pirate Am I?

2005-05-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

What kind of pirate am I? You decide!
You can also view a breakdown of results or put one of these on your own page!
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey

Ah Suck, Maymester's Starting

2005-05-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

Three credit hours in three weeks, sounds appealing don't it? I thought so, but now I have the tuition bill and the books (4 books, set me back $170+ USD). One of them is intro level psych, and it is correspondence, so if I can manage to get it done in two weeks, I get the full $80.10 back. We'll see if that happens!

Ok, better start figuring this stuff out.

cheers!

Josh

SP05 Semester is DONE!

2005-05-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

w00t! I finished my last spring term final today! No more school until Monday (when Maymester starts). Ok, time for bed, this cold I managed to get sux.

cheers

Youth

2005-04-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Just got the new Collective Soul album, Youth, on iTunes. It rawks! Buy it (on iTunes, its cheaper and has more tracks), listen to it, love it.

Cheers!

Randomday!

2005-04-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

Pretty random weekend, these last few days have been. It starts out with me resolute to get all my papers written (which I'm still only a few pages closer to that goal now). Needless to say that didn't happen. I got a call Saturday from my cousin wanting some wiring done in her kitchen. Not that bad, I looked at the project, 4 hours tops, leave go to youth group. Come back Sunday, 12 hours later, still not done. Dang Murphy's Law. Interesting/disgusting note: as I was ripping up drywall to run wire, I had not one, but two dead birds fall out.

Youth group was fun, I got to wear my belt buckle I mentioned before for the first time that night, as it came in the post earlier that day. I ended up fleshing out the specifics of randomday, the holiday born out of boredom a few years ago at the bank with one of the highschoolers that comes, Alex. Alex is cool. It is a mishmash of every major holiday. The main character (like Santa or the Easter Bunny) is the Bunny Claus, the easter bunny dressed like Santa, he like me, also wears a giant belt buckle...a four leaf clover buckle (St. Pattys). The gift given by the Bunny Claus is a turkey (Thanksgiving) left underneath the ficus plant (which is topped with the light ball dropped in times square on New Years Eve--perhaps it just hangs above it, as the ball, even miniature, would crush a ficus plant). This is typically left by the fireplace which contains a menorah like contraption with candles (hanukkah). To combine Halloween Trick or Treat and the Fourth of July (U.S.) people shoot candy filled rockets at their neighbors. And lets not forget the favorite randomday past time, throwing random eggs (that strangely resemble Easter eggs) into heart shaped (Valentines Day) hole in their random-o-lantern (a carved pumpkin). Sounds fun, don't it? Next time I get hold of a pen and calendar at roughly the same time, I will chuck the pen at the calendar and set the date for the next randomday (a sacred and time honored tradition dating back to c. 2001) Then the entire Jocam Empire and surrounding countries (U.S.A) can celebrate!

Cheers!
Josh

Makin' Some Progress

2005-04-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

Got a 10 page research paper done. YAY. Now I only have ~24 more pages of writing and 3 midterms before end of semester!

Stressed as All Get Out!
Josh

New Buckle

2005-04-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

I just bought the most awesome belt buckle on eBay, here is a picture:

Cheers!
Josh

College Kids

2005-04-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

So I'm trying to do my homework (trying being the operative word), listening to some Relient K action, and it started playing the song College Kids. Great song, I can fully relate. Buy the CD, two lefts don't make a right...but three do. Listen to the song. You'll love it.

Now, back to the grind

Cheers!
One Killa MoFo

An Update...

2005-04-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

For all that actually read this blog of mine, I thought I would throw something out there, as it has been a week or so since I last updated this thing. Life has been crazy as of late. I'm in the midst of the last 2.5 weeks of this semester, during which I must write ~50 pages of papers for my classes. Some will be easy, some hard. Last Thursday (4:7 day) I got home to find out my grandpa had had a stroke, so I hopped back in my car, got some gas, and drove to good ol' Sterling, CO (known by some as Stertown) to visit him. Luckily it was only a very minor stroke, seemingly only affecting his throat control (ie the ability to swallow well). Amazingly, my car, an '82 Ford LTD Crown Vic with a 5.0L V8, got 22 mpg highway on that trip. Woot! More about that car later on in this post.

Many who also read this also know I'm taking a break from ministry (at most a year) to get my heart back, travel, not be really productive at all. At first I tried hard to avoid the fact I needed this break. It seems the last few months God has been taking certain things from my life to draw me closer...first a good buddy of mine moved to Virginia and another good friend is soon to leave to Virginia for med school. Then I basically 'put in my notice' with Student Ministry at Flatirons (It's strange to say that since I'm a volunteer) so I won't be there after May. Initially I did this with the intention of going to Larkridge to pursue an internship to prepare for planting community in the Pacific NW, but that fell through (I was ignoring the fact I severely needed a break, as I haven't had a real break from anything in about 2 years). I am looking into opportunities like NieuCommunities, but that won't be for over a year from now, so in the mean time, I'm taking a break. At first I was freakin out because I had made that so much my identity, and it would force me to confront some issues in my life. But after realizing how useless I am when I am running on empty...and I am running on empty right now...I decided I needed to finally listen. I'm actually looking forward to this...I'll probably work on my two huge land yachts, a 1970 Buick LeSabre and a 1982 Ford LTD Crown Vic...it has been a while since I've gotten my hands dirty doing that. I'm debating on keeping the buick...it has that super cool "yeah I'm a cool 70's car with 300 horses under my hood" look. Even with the rust it has (no actual rot yet, just surface) a cool look, but the parts to modify it are expensive or nonexistent. Then there is my 1982 LTD with around 70k original miles on it (it was previously owned by some old lady). Lots of potential, sound body, good interior, good and very workable 302 engine, easy and cheap to work on. Paint it black, get cool rims, tint windows, beef up the drivetrain.... Maybe I should post pictures and specs and have a vote? Yeah, I'll borrow my sister's digital cam and do that! Pictures forthcoming...

Anyways, time to get back to work, I've procrastinated quite enough.

Cheers!
Josh

Happy 4:7 Day!

2005-04-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Since today is 4:7, I thought I would make this post a tribute to the awesome band Jars of Clay! For those interested, 4:7 refers to the Bible verse, II Corinthians 4:7 (NIV) from which the band derives their name. So in honor of this day, you should go find your nearest media seller and pick yourself up a copy of their new CD, Redemption Songs or Who We Are Instead. Heck, for that matter, just pick up any Jars of Clay CD (though avoid If I Left the Zoo, not their best work). Anyways, back to work, so talk to y'all later!

Peace,
Josh

New Blog/End of Semester Blues

2005-04-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

So my buddy Cam and I decided to start a co-blog, the Jocam Chronicles. Should be interesting. Other than that, just wrestling with the end of the semester and the associated workload, of which I have no desire nor passion to complete. Anyways, just wanted to post, and tell the world about the amazingness of the Jocam Empire!

Peace
Josh

I'll Make It...I'll Be Somebody...Someday...You'll See

2005-04-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

An explanation of the title would be, inside joke between me and Cam, basically over the dreams I have for my life, and their seeming impossibility. Along those lines, lets get started...

For my regulars, circa 01 April 2005 I posted "Miscellaneous" about how my hopes for an internship at my church, Larkridge, have basically fell through. It sucks, I love ministry, it's what I want to do with my life. At the same time, it has caused me to come to grips with a certain reality of my life as of right now...I'm running on empty and have really no good reason to be pursuing ministry at the current time. I need time off. It really sucks to have to say that, I've tried to put on the mask I've been ok and ready to go..easy to do in my current situation since I've been there for a couple of years, I know the ropes, easy to fake it. Not so easy when making a transition to a new ministry position. I need to spend some time getting my heart back, walking with God, restoring the intimacy I once had and treasured with Him, taking care of some heart issues that have come up. I've let that aspect of my life slide for far to long and if I continue, I'm toast. There, I said it, I'll not be doing ministry for probably at least 6 months to a year. My dreams are still the same, building community in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Vancouver, B.C.), but I need my heart back to be able to do that. On the bright side, I am looking at NieuCommunities to help prepare me after my break, and the best thing is they do have a project in Vancouver, B.C. That is my life right now, it'll be tough, but I'll make it...you'll see!

Cheers!
Josh

Miscellaneous

2005-04-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, for anyone that reads this, they know what is currently going on in my life, I work in student ministries at Flatirons (until May) and I was looking to do an internship at my new church, Larkridge--mainly because I do want to teach, write and let otherwise let my (sometimes) dim light shine (to steal from Better Than Ezra, Recognize) for the sake of the Kingdom. Translation: eventually I would like to plant churches in areas that the Gospel is not well recieved. To that end I thought I would pursue an internship at a newly planted church...turns out this is easier said than done, so naturally I'm wondering "what the heck God!? I thought I should do this..." so yesterday I met with Rob Harter, Lead Pastor, Larkridge Church. Great guy, love him to death. So here is the problem, his offer was almost exactly like that of Paul's (Student Min, Flatirons) when I joined two years ago there, run the tech team, build community there, we have a need, you seem tech savvy, so please, please do this...here is the problem...I do have some skill in that area but not what is needed and more importantly, I have almost no passion for it, I spent two years flailing then finally falling on my rear in FSM trying to muster passion for it. I was continually killing my heart doing it, and now it is the offer again. Here is the problem, I've failed because of this before...I will probably fail again, not really serving the needs of Larkridge anyways and leaving me bitter. Somewhat disheartening and confusing. Quick Note: Passion is usually more important than ability, ability can be learned, passion cannot. I'll put my bet with a person who's heart is in the game with little ability (because that can be learned) than a person with ability but who's heart isn't in the game. Trust me, I learned that in my first 1.5 years of suffocating in FSM.

So, I'm left with some questions:
(1) Should I even participate in 'ministry' right now? Or at least 'ministry' as it is commonly known?
-or-
(2) Is God trying to teach me something here? Should I be reevaluate my direction (I'm sure of my call to do this, but maybe the route is in question)? I say this even more because of my general discontent with much of what is passed off as "church" and "community." Mostly superficial (though Flatirons has been markedly different, pretty refreshing).

Oh, reading a book right now that is working into these questions, Simplicity, by Mark Salomon of the band Stavesacre. Great book, buy it, read it, love it.

Anyways, time to go to work.

Josh

Go Big or Go Home

2005-03-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

A short entry, more to collect my thoughts more than anything, anyways, was reflecting on Psalms 90:10-12:
We live for seventy years or so
(with luck we might make it to eighty),
And what do we have to show for it? Trouble.
Toil and trouble and a marker in the graveyard.
Who can make sense of such rage,
such anger against the very ones who fear you
Oh! Teach us to live well!
Teach us to live wisely and well!

Life is short, do it well. The stakes are high either way, either you waste the 70 or 80 years you get and then die, or miss out on the offer of eternal life, the consequences of which are forever. Dream big, love with abandon, find life worth living. Don't settle for anything less than best. The offer is life (John 10:10), live it.

Anyways, I should really be trying to get to bed, so until next time,

Josh

So Starts Another Week of School

2005-03-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hello friends, it has been a few days since I've written, but not much has happened. On the bright side, I am one day closer to graduation and getting out of this stupid university, another day closer to going to California with my friend Cam. Hopefully I will also be roadtrippin to the wonderful Pacific Northwest this fall too, Oregon and hopefully Washington in particular. That trip is still in planning. Also, as I write this I am playing around with Fedora Linux, installing it on my laptop (under Microsoft VirtualPC) amazingly this emulator runs rather fast--I think at it's slowest it is like using an old P3 or Athlon. Not Bad.

Also in other news, I did get to attend my new church home, Larkridge Church in Broomfield, for our first 'official' public service (until now it has been informational sessions for those wanting to help with the launch). Rather amazing, we are now seeing 100+ people show up, and we are only 3 months old. I want to make it a goal of mine to see the place outgrow it's current facilities (Broomfield Senior Center) soon. In about two months I will be able to attend there exclusively (as I am committed to High School Student Ministry @ Flatirons Church until the end of the semester), though it will suck to leave my guys there, I can't wait until I no longer have to balance the two.

Anyways, I should print the paper I was working on earlier and go to class...there will be more later, I promise.

Coolest Guy Ever,
Josh

Been Livin' Outta Pocket, Outta Socket...

2005-03-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

So, circa yesterday, me and a bunch of people went to the price-gouging resort city of Vail, Colorado to see the band Better Than Ezra, and it totally rocked! Here are some pictures to make the rest of you jealous (and if you want to see the entire photo chronicles of this event, go here):

Here I am with my car looking rather sweet, before embarking for Vail:

Here is most of the group:

Here is me (far left), Josh, Cam and Jason with Better Than Ezra:

May that be your motivation to be as cool as I am.

Too Cool For Y'all,

Josh

Confessions of a God-Pleaser

2005-03-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

My name is Josh and I am a God pleaser. While this doesn’t sound like something that is all that bad (for a person who considers themselves a follower of Christ), I think this is a trap that many of us fall into (myself included). Let me explain.

What I will be sharing here stems mainly from what God has been putting on my heart concerning the sort of church I should plant and from the weekend message at Flatirons Church. There are basically two routes one can follow, the route of trying to please God (hence God-Pleaser), and the route of trusting God. These essentially embody the two ideas of a relationship with God. The God-Pleaser route tells us that Jesus work covers our past failures, but now that we are forgiven, and after all, it did cost Jesus His life, we ought to get it together and try to please God, it is the least we can do, after all. The problem is, the crap in our life comes back to haunt us, we then see this as a barrier between God and us and we see it as our job to go through and eliminate it of our own effort. The problem is, try as you may, you will fail, that is guaranteed. Eventually we reduce ourselves to wearing a mask that says, “yes, I’m succeeding, got the sin thing taken care of” when inside the mask we are suffocating, because in reality not everything is alright, in fact it is far from alright, and none of the people around me have anything to offer because they are all posers. They are pretending everything is alright. This route only assumes forgiveness; it completely glosses over the transformation from Christ.

The other route, the route the Bible tells us about, involves following and trusting God, which takes away the control that makes the God-Pleaser route so tempting. It is this route that requires us to follow God, untamed and free with no guarantees beyond that of having life. On this route we still have Jesus who died to free us from our sins, to bridge the relational gap between God and man. Here is the difference, not only did Jesus build the bridge back to God, but He also came across it to us. Jesus didn’t just forgive us, He gave us a new heart, He transformed us. Here Jesus comes to us; tells us that our relationship is completely irrevocable, He will not leave. He also tells us that we can work on the issues together, that we can draw our strength from Him, because, after all, it is not the sin that still lives in you that is the truest part of you but the new heart I gave you. Chances are if you have come from the first (God-Pleaser) route, you didn’t want to sin, that is not what the truest part of you was, but since you felt like you had to have it all together, and yet you still failed, sin was the truest part of you. The good news is it isn’t, the heart forgiven by God is good. He tells us, “Let’s start with the heart, because the new heart I gave you is good. Let’s focus on that, not on the sin that is trying to discourage you, and thereby keep you from your full potential.” Paul was notorious for preaching this message of grace, and it usually got Him in trouble with the Jewish Christians. Paul argued that the restored heart is good, and will naturally seek to do what is good. It is more effective, then, not to remind the person of their shortcomings but on how to walk with God, the person who has learned to walk with God is the person who has learned the secret to life.

That leads me into what God’s vision for the church is. Church is for sinners. Yes you heard me right, or as Gil Jones, Lead Pastor of Flatirons puts it, “Church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.” Really? I mean many churches seem to be uptight, self-righteous and only concerned about themselves. Let me tell you, they have missed the boat completely, Jesus says it Himself, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13 NIV). Jesus told this to the God-Pleasers of His time, the Pharisees, who were complaining that He was hanging out with sinners. If you have it all together, you really have no need for Jesus, however, if you are discontent, hurting, lost, broken, you are the person Jesus died for, and that my friends, is all of us (even those who think we have no problem—it’s called denial). You are the person Jesus wants to wrap His arms around most. God’s vision for the church isn’t a bunch of hypocritical Pharisees who come on Sunday, put on their “everything is alright mask” and pretend they have it all together. No, God’s vision is the hurting and broken coming to be healed, to find life, and most of all, to help each other heal (ever seen the movie Patch Adams? It’s something like that) It is for those suffocating under their mask, knowing there must be something more to life, who know that everything is not fine and are looking for the healing and life that they most desperately need. God is calling the discontented, disillusioned, broken, hurting, forgotten, hopeless, lost, those who can’t quite seem to get it together, who can’t seem to “get with the program” and is offering them the something more they desperately seek--life, and life in all its fullness (John 10:10). That is what God envisions the church to be, a place of Grace, mercy, healing, life. A place to be yourself, take off your mask and still be loved, despite your flaws (because everyone has ‘em). A place to become all that God created you to be, a place to dream big and be encouraged in those dreams. That is the offer. That is the kind of place that God calls the church. That is also my dream, to take this message to the people who don’t have it together but know they want life (see my entry, Chasing the Wild Goose). If that sounds interesting, let me know! I should probably find a WiFi access point and get this uploaded, so, until next time.

~Josh

(reformed God-Pleaser)

Chasing the Wild Goose

2005-03-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

I’m not sure how to start this random assortment of thoughts, but here goes. God definitely has me in a transitional phase of life, many changes have occured and will occur in coming months. First, I graduate from CU in a few months (finally). Second, after two years, I’m leaving student ministries at Flatirons, and extremely difficult move as I love the leaders and the students there (especially my guys, Zach, Joe and Kelson), but I am just as confident now as I was when I talked to Brian, the High School Coordinator, about my decision. Third, within the last week one of my friends (Adam) who knows me best has left for Virginia and another (Mark) who knows me rather well is going to be leaving for Virginia in August for med school. Knowing Mark is leaving is especially hard since I have allied myself with him within student ministry and both of us thought he would be staying in state for med school at CU, Adam I’ve known his desire to move and that he was going to move for a few years now. Dang you Virginia! One by one, the people and things that I’ve grown familiar with are being stripped away. It is tough, but in my experience it is probably because God is getting ready to do something great.

At the same time as this has been occurring this burning in my heart has been increasing for teaching and writing and (hopefully soon) starting a church in the Pacific Northwest. As much as I hate to admit it, my experience at CU Boulder has been valuable, mainly because God has used it to awaken and break my heart for the people of my generation, the people He wants me to reach. Right now I’m praying for some allies to join me in this dream, to lock arms with me in this vision and go for it. Men and women who will venture out with me to reach and touch the brokenhearted, hurting and lost. I’m not looking for a bunch of “superchristians” or people who think they have it all together, but just a few stout-hearted souls with hearts burning to live dangerously, risk it all, walk with God and follow the Wild Goose (what the early Celtics called the Holy Spirit) with the hope of building the Kingdom. By the way, this is the normal lifestyle as laid out in the Bible for believers, to walk intimately with God and with others, Jesus modeled this with the disciples and we are warned elsewhere to not walk alone (Eccl. 4:11).

Anyways, I must be on my way to work, another day of throwin’ boxes at FedEx. So, here’s to following the Wild Goose!

~Josh

My Walk to School This Morning

2005-03-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

In my seven or eight block walk to campus from where I usually park (I'm a cheapskate when it comes to feeding meters, plus the walking is good exercise) I usually have much to think about, quite honestly, I've grown accustomed to using that time to think and pray. This particular morn, the theme of the conversation was dreams. It probably had a lot to do with a few factors, conversations with friends as of late and the song I was listening to on my iPod as I walked (God often uses music to speak to my heart). The song this time happened to be "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls:

And even though the moment passed me by
I still can't turn away
Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose
Got tossed along the way
And letters that you never meant to send
Get lost or thrown away

And now we're grown up orphans
That never knew their names
We don't belong to no one
That's a shame
But if you could hide beside me
Maybe for a while
And I won't tell no one your name

And I won't tell em your name

Scars are souvenirs you never lose
The past is never far
Did you lose yourself somewhere out there
Did you get to be a star
And don't it make you sad to know that life
Is more than who we are

You grew up way too fast
And now there's nothing to believe
And reruns all become our history
A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio
And I won't tell no one your name
And I won't tell em your name

I think about you all the time
But I don't need the same
It's lonely where you are come back down
And I won't tell em your name

There are a few lines from the song that really grabbed my heart:

And even though the moment passed me by
I still can't turn away
Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose
Got tossed along the way

-AND-

And don't it make you sad to know that life
Is more than who we are

Especially in light of conversations I’ve had the last few days and the last few months with some buddies of mine, I’ve been asking the question, “whatever happened to the dreams we had once?” their reply would usually be, “reality.” When did we stop living and accept what the world around us hands us? When did we go from living from our heart, living passionately, to living for the weekend and working for a two story piece of suburbia? It is sad to know that life is more than who we are, especially when Jesus promises us life to the max (John 10:10). Friends, that is the promise of the Gospels, life to the full. I think our society is one that has forgotten how to dream and dream big. In this age of efficiency we have forgotten what matters most: the heart, where life comes from (Proverbs 4:23). Honestly, do think that the idea of life we so commonly accept is what God had in mind when He created us? Admittedly, we do live in a fallen world, but the context of this promise is eternal life—eternal is never ending not in the future sometime, it is now. Anyways, think about that, I must go to hang out with my highschoolers.

~Josh

Let's Get This Trainwreck Rolling!

2005-03-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends! Since I now have a laptop and have classes in buildings with WiFi, I thought I would jump on yet another bandwagon (as I did acquire an iPod the day last) and start a blog, partially to fight in-class boredom (when I type this it looks like I'm taking notes). Since I do attend the now infamous University of Colorado at Boulder, I find myself typing this in the basement of Norlin Library, with a crowd of other interesting souls (one sitting at about two o' clock has an actual Masterlock pierced thru his earlobe, that must hurt).

I also write this to keep those near and far and bored informed of the sundry details of my life. So to fill those that care in, here is what is going on:

I graduate in August from CU Boulder with a BA of bs in Religious Studies. In May I will leave my church home of three years and student ministry (where I've been for two years) at Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette, CO. I'm leaving to get involved with a new church plant in Broomfield, CO called Larkridge Church with the hope of getting prepared to be a church planter/pastor myself in a few years. So to that end, any ministry supporters can come here to hear the latest news concerning ministry.

It being time to hit the books now, I shall depart.

Peace