When I feel most alive … go ahead, take your shoes off!

I watched the movie 8 Mile tonight and also happened upon this video “Mosh” by Eminem and that got me thinking about Eminem. I have a few thoughts I would like to share about rap music and also about Eminem and our culture..

First off, I want to let you know that I LOVE rap, hip-hop, whatever-you-wanna-call-it music. But please understand that I love rap music as a GENRE, not necessarily all the rap artists out there. Rap is a very relevant, and powerful medium to connect with this generation. If you don’t believe me, just go to any high school or college and open your ears. Listen to what kids are bouncin’ to in their ghetto-fabulous souped up rides. Go to any city (even suburb) in the United States and walk down the street. Turn on MTV, VH1, or BET. You’ll see it. You’ll hear it.

Now that we agree, let me tell you why the hip-hop world is in an interesting position. A majority of the hip-hop world is rapping about lies, and a reality that doesn’t exist beyond the boundaries of their music video set. They talk about women, sex, money, and livin’ the ganster lifestyle. They act like they are invincible, but they are a joke. And for the most part, their influence on young people today is this: they teach them that they should live for money, women, sex, cars, whatever. They tell them that these things will make them happy and that will be satisfied to the fullest. Lies. Lies. Lies.

Eminem is the best selling artist right now, and I’m not surprised why. He is an amazingly talented artist and he raps about a lot of controversial things. What scares me is that he is also telling/selling these same lies, and people are listening. Even when I was in North Africa, so many of my North African friends would tell me they loved Eminem (although to their credit, they had no idea what he was saying… they just appreciate his talent).

What the world needs is someone with the talent equal to Eminem, but with the power of the Holy Spirit inside him and the truth of the Word of God in his head and lyrics. They need to hear the truth. They need to be told that the stuff they hear is a lie. They need to see that Jesus is love, and not some joke. They need to see that at the end it’s not their women, money, or cars that will save them.

There are a few (The Cross Movement, Mase, and others) but they aren’t reaching the people that listen to Eminem yet, or at least not in the way that they could or need to. I don’t know what it will take, but I know that somebody needs to reach these people for Jesus using hip-hop music, and it probably won’t be me. They wouldn’t listen to or respect me, and I’m a poor rapper (but I can beatbox pretty well). I respect Mase for what he’s doing, although skill wise, he can’t touch Eminem. (Check out the coming Nov/Dec issue of Relevant Magazine for an interview with Mase where he talks about his calling to reach the hip-hop scene for Christ.)

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts about the influence of the hip-hop scene and the need for representing the affluence of the Most High King.

You gotta let ‘em know. Hold it down. Keep it real.

Peace out.

I saw this mock advertisement while browsing the latest news and thought it was pretty hilarious!

In case you didn’t hear about it, Ashlee Simspon, one of the MTV favorites these days, totally screwed up SNL this weekend. She was lip-syching to her song “Pieces of Me” (which is so terrible because it’s supposed to be Saturday Night LIVE!) and when she began her performance they were playing the vocal track to some other song while her live band played the right one! So after a 10-15 seconds of looking like a total idiot, lip syncing to the wrong song, SNL cut to a commercial so they could get her in-sync.

Anyway, keep your eyes out for the iPod Ashlee Simpson Karaoke Edition!

I ran across this little article the other day and found it pretty hilarious. Microsoft obviously knows the real solution to the problem of poor Internet Security! It’s to just go down to the neighborhood Apple Store and pick up a new Apple laptop!!

I hope you enjoy the humor as much as I do.

The best part is that I went back to the Microsoft site tonight and lo, and behold, the graphic was gone from the front page! I guess they decided they didn’t want to look anymore foolish than they already are (with all the Longhorn shenanigans). I guess you have figured out, if you didn’t know already, that I’m not a big fan of Microsoft, or of their insecure operating system.

I got an email from Carissa, one of my STINT team members last year, and she told me that the little brother of a North African guy and girl I had met once (visited their house once for lunch) had a dream about me. Carissa had gotten a letter from the older brother and sister, who she had gotten to know pretty well last year. In the letter the older brother asked if he could contact me because he wanted to ask me about the dream his little brother had about me. He wanted to understand it. I guess he wants me to interpret it for him!

Wow! I feel like I’m some kind of Bible character or something, being asked to interpret dreams! This is crazy. I never imagined that the Lord would give the little brother of a guy a met once a dream about me a year after I had left!

I am very excited to see what comes of this, and how the Lord might use me and this dream to bring this family closer to faith in Him! I will let you know when I hear from him!

Friday afternoon, I was coming home from work. Happy as can be, glad the week of work was done.

About 5 minutes out of HQ, I get pulled over by a motorcycle cop because he didn’t like how fast I was going.

I won’t go into specifics, but I was definitely speeding. So he comes to talk to me and asks me the unanswerable: “What made you speed like that? What were you thinking about?” Feeling very humbled and a little frightened about the consequences, I just replied with a straight forward answer, “I’m not sure.”

I mean, really, how many of us drive around thinking about how we want to speed and break the law and get caught? None of us. We just drive, until we see a cop car, and then start to think, “Oh, maybe I’m going too fast, I should slow down.” And we do, for about 1 minute until the cop is not in sight!

So, thankfully, he just pleaded with me to, “Think about what you’re doing and slow down,” and didn’t give me a ticket.

But he did make me think. It worked. The fact that I can’t easily NOT speed, says something about my character. Am I controlled by my car? Or maybe it’s my schedule? Either way, if I can’t have enough self-control to obey the traffic laws of Florida, how well do I think I’m doing in obeying the laws of an Almighty God? Sure, we aren’t under law, but under grace, but God still wants us to be obedient and submitting ourselves to His authority and will.

And how am I supposed to have an effective witness to an unbelieving world, if I am not above reproach and without self-control?? God wants me to be blameless before the world, so that they may have no grounds to accuse me of any wrongdoing, or deny the reality of my faith and my God.

So I decided, in order to regain some of my credibility and character, to attempt to not speed for one week. This will be a true test of character. I’ll let you know how it goes and what I learn about myself and others at the end of the week!

Tonight, we had a great thunderstorm, finally! I was waiting for one. At 10pm, I went out to the back porch to catch the show, and it was a good one!

There was a ton of thunder and lightning. I love thunderstorms. While they are really wild and powerful, I feel really calm when I am watching one. I actually like to cheer and scream for the brightest flashes and loudest crashes. I love how something that can be so frightening can also be so exciting and calming.

http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2004/09/09/blacksmith.html
http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2004/09/28/Blacksmith2.html
http://today.java.net/pub/a/today/2004/10/12/Blacksmith3.html

I recently read a series of articles about the Postmodern Programmer. The writer compared the history of the professions of the blacksmith and bookkeeper in order to make some points about the future of the programmer.

I thought it was interesting, but don’t necessarily buy it.

One reader gave a great response. His thought was “problem domain, not programmer”

I agree. I think that as technology and software develop, it will not be that there are fewer programmers, but that the problem domain will be different, and the “programmers” might be doing a different kind of programming. Just like I don’t punch holes in a stack of cards, I program in Java for web applications, in the future, i might not be writing Java code, but doing some other kind of programming.

Even though some might not like it, us programmers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Today, I didn’t go to the office because our team was helping 2 of the ladies on our team, Anna and Tina, move to their new apartment. Their places were both messed up beyond repair by the Hurricanes, but God provided an apartment for them to share while their new places are being built in a new development.

Anyway, we had a great day, moving all their furniture and stuff out of the storage units and into a HUGE truck, and out again at the new place (AND UP THE STAIRS)! They bought us lunch and we had a good time bonding as a team and loving each other! It was great to be able to serve Anna and Tina in that way!

It was an interesting weekend, to say the least!

On Friday night, after hanging out with some people over here until about midnight, I wandered out to the back porch, and I heard a strange sound. It sounded like rain, beating against the leaves of a tree. But I looked around, and it wasn’t raining. So I was a little confused.

So I left the porch and walked towards my neighbor’s house, and to my shock there was a stream of water shooting 15 feet into the air beneath the tree behind her house!

WOW! This was like Moses and the burning bush! I was witnessing some kind of act of God. Maybe He was trying to tell me something. “Scott, don’t drink so much soda.” No I kind of doubt He would appear in a fountain-tree just to tell me that. So anyway, maybe it was just a broken pipe.

Eventually the guys came out and we all gave our oh-so-educated opinions about what we thought was going on (although of course we knew nothing) and we woke up our neighbor to let her know what was going on.

The fire department came and said they couldn’t do anything, so we headed to bed after having a few laughs with the firemen about having our own fountain for the night, the lake disappearing and other bad jokes that we could think of that seemed relavent to the situation.

I was kind of hoping it would still be going when I got up in the morning (so I could get a good picture), but it was done, maybe it ran out all the water from wherever it was coming from. Anyway, it was an exciting midnight adventure for all who were present.

Well, another Sunday, another church visited. For the first time really, I’m church shopping, and as the women reading might understand, it’s a lot like shoe shopping! Now, don’t start thinking I’m a wierdo or a girlie-man just yet. There’s a little reason to my goofy conclusion.

What is it about shoe shopping that makes it so tricky? I mean, for me, it’s tough because I don’t always know exactly what I want. Also, I have to try some shoes on before you buy a pair to make sure I get a good fit and a comfortable shoe. And I usually don’t buy the first shoe I try on, so that means it will take some time and patience, finding the shoe I want, that fits, and that I like, and meets my needs (like a tennis shoe, dress shoe, or work boot, etc…).

Church shopping seems a little bit similar to me. The first thing that makes it difficult is that there are so many of them, especially in Florida! I could spend my year going to a different church every Sunday! Also, they are all trying to meet the same need. For the most part, every church I have visited is worshipping God on Sunday, and is teaching truth and Gospel, and wants to see people believe and grow in Christ.

So it’s kind of hard to pick one, based on some of those things. It’s more about feelings for me (which is pretty unusual if you know me, the unemotional guy that I am!) I am going to visit a few more churches and pick one that I feel comfortable in; one where the people make me feel welcome, and where I feel like I want to be a part of their ministry. That might sound a little superficial, but I am most concerned with finding a church where I will really grow, and I know that will be one where I feel comfortable and safe, not one where the people or environment makes me scared to open up, get involved, or be myself.

Well, next week I’m off to another church!

Hey, if the shoes fits….

Success is a funny thing. Everyone, including Donald Trump, thinks they know what it takes to be successful. The problem is, they aren’t all right.

It’s obvious from watching even one episode of “The Apprentice”, that the aspiring apprentices don’t think that humility is a characteristic that is necessary if you want to be successful. If they do, they don’t show it, because they are a bunch of huge egos walking around bashing each other because they HAVE to be right!

I think it’s sad. Unfortunately, their mentor, Donald Trump probably doesn’t have an ounce of humility in him either. He would probably say that humility is weakness, and that you won’t make it in the business world if you are weak. If they are trying to emulate Trump, they are doing a great job in the area of pride.

On the positive side, “The Donald” does seem to value leadership and teamwork, which are great things, crucial to success. But, I think that he needs to realize that the best leader is one that is able to humble himself before his team, and be kind, yet cast a strong vision for the team, and motivate them to action.

Also, a leader has to relate to people with kindness and gentleness, (show a balance of grace and truth, if you will). This is why Pamela was fired. She does have some good leadership skills of organization, delegation, and decisiveness, but ultimately, she doesn’t know how to treat people. If you are going to work as a team, you have to get along, and agree to put aside your differences and forgive each other for the sake of accomplishing your goals. NOT ONCE, has anyone on the show “The Apprentice” apologized to a team member for treating them wrongly, or for making a mistake.

The only one who showed an ounce of humility was Bradford, and he got fired for it. He decided to waive his immunity in the boardroom, to show his team that he was as much a part of the failure as they were (even though he did a good job, and their failure wasn’t his fault). But Donald saw that as a stupid move, not the humble, bold, courageous, and honorable one that is really was.

Donald, doesn’t know what success is. He might be “successful” in the cut-throat, selfsih, greedy business world, but in reality, in life, he will be a failure unless he learns humility.

1 Samuel 2:7 - “The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.”

Matthew 23:12 - “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Isaiah 2:11 - “The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”

Well, my job for the last few weeks at work has been to learn Java, so that I can be a crucial part of the development of the web applications for Campus Crusade’s Staff Site. Since I have been reading so much about it lately, I wanted to take a little space here to give you some of my impressions of my newest language. (Last year I learned Arabic in North Africa, this year it’s a programming language!)

Why I like Java:

1. It’s pretty similar to C++ (my other, and most proficient language). This could probably be argued by people who know more about both C++ and Java than I do, but I don’t really care what everyone else thinks. So far as I am concerned, it’s similar enough that I don’t really feel like I’m writing code in a different language when I write in Java.

2. It’s a pretty high level language. It seems like (C++)+ to me…. sorta like C++ for dummies. (Don’t get upset that I compare Java to C++ if you think they are nothing alike, it’s just that it’s my only frame of reference! ) The reason I say that it seems like a high-level language is because it has alot of things that C++ (for example) doesn’t have built-in: like exception handling, garbage collection (memory cleanup), a powerful string class and other data structures like stacks, and the whole Interface idea is pretty cool (like having separate abstract “classes” that can be implemented by multiple classes without the Interface having to be a subclass of any other class is pretty powerful!)

3. It’s VERY object oriented. Almost every variable except primitive types (integer, float, char, boolean…) is an object (the class is a subclass of the Java Object class at the very least, maybe some other more useful class). This makes things less confusing, and more straight forward when thinking in an object oriented design kind of way. If the whole language is very OO, it makes writing OO code easier!

4. It’s very portable, and platform independent. I think it’s pretty cool that I could develop java code on any machine and it would end up pretty much the same!

5. There are a lot of free tools for developing in Java: especially Eclipse, an excellent IDE, which I have been using at work regularly.

6. It can be used in great ways with JSP and servlets for web programming. Once I learned Java, I was able to read a short tutorial on JSP and servlets and be writing dynamic web applications in minutes! It was great!

Well that’s about it. I don’t like coffee, but you’ll see Java on my desktop every day!

I finished “Blue Like Jazz” tonight, and the topic of the last chapter was very relevant to me. The title was “Jesus”, but it was about love.

He starts out with a story:

A guy I know named Alan went around the country asking ministry leaders questions. He went to successful churches and asked the pastors what they were doing, why what they were doing was working. It sounded very boring except for one visit he made to a man named Bill Bright, the president of a big ministry [actually, Campus Crusade for Christ!] Alan said he was a big man, full of life, who listened without shifting his eyes. Alan asked a few questions. I don’t know what they were, but as a final question he asked Dr. Bright what Jesus meant to him. Alan said Dr. Bright could not answer the question. He sad Dr. Bright just started to cry. He sat there in his big chair behind his big desk and wept.

When Alan told that story I wondered what it was like to love Jesus that way. I wondered, quite honestly, if that Bill Bright guy was just nuts or if he really knew Jesus in a personal way, so well that he would cry at the very mention of His name. I knew then that I would like to know Jesus like that, with my heart, not just my head. I felt like that would be the key to something.

This role model in our ministry, Dr. Bright, although he passed away last year, really loved Jesus! Now He loves Him in body as well as spirit!

I got to thinking about myself, and I had a hard time imagining myself crying just at someone asking me a question. Unless the question was something like, “Do you want me to punch you in the face or kick you in the groin?” and even then I might not cry, just run away.

But anyway, I really feel like I have a hard time having a love relationship with Jesus. I am not saying I just want to have some emotional high or anything like that, as much as I don’t have a deep love in my heart for Jesus like Bill Bright did, and like I want to.

I see the same thing in my relationship with my girlfriend Leila, but it’s even harder with Jesus. For example, if Leila were to call my cell phone at a time when, for whatever reason, I didn’t feel like talking, I would talk anyway. I just can’t hang up. I talk regardless of how I am feeling. But it’s easy to feel like Jesus never calls, I have to call Him. Or maybe He calls alot and I just like hanging up on Him.

I mean, I know He is always there, but it’s hard to love Him when you can’t see Him. I think my relationship with Leila and my relationship with Jesus as being pretty similar right now. While I know Jesus is with me always, He’s Immanuel, God with us, but it seems more like long distance to me, just like my relationship with Leila.

And I feel like I struggle in the same ways in my relationship with both of them. It is hard to not just think about myself in relationship. It’s hard to make time to spend with the other person. It’s hard to be real and vulnerable.

(Ironically, it seems so easy to be these things on this blog, because it’s not as personal as the phone or in person conversation… I feel more safe hiding behind this digital curtain like some kind of extremely nerdy Wizard of Oz)

But there are two things that comfort me and strengthen me:
1) Jesus loves me
2) Jesus is committed to me and will never leave me or give up on me

And so I guess if I were to realize just how much Jesus actually loves me, it would be a lot easier to love him. I bet that Dr. Bright loved Jesus so much because he felt so loved by Him! Maybe I will start praying about and looking for all the ways that Jesus loves me and is loving me and showing me love each day!

And, in a more human way, Leila does these things too, and so that encourages me to love back!

Later in the chapter Donald Miller says:

I think the most important thing that happens within Christian spirituality is when a person falls in love with Jesus.

I want to fall in love! I don’t feel like I am right now. I want to be though! I want to cry at the mention of a name! I want to long for more each day! I yearn for the joy of knowing each day I am so fully loved!