Thursday, November 20, 2008
Dive into the Dark
Work has begun on my serial fiction, which I'm planning on calling "Dive Into The Dark." It touches on a lot of things, but like you might note in title, it's gonna be a little bit on the dark side. It's something I wanted to do that incorporates the conventions of British Tragic Theater, the idea of "Great men who fall." Now, it's not all gonna be gloom and doom, that wouldn't be me. So buckle up kids, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
—Z
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Voting...A personal thing, and a public thing.
First of all, let me say this. I have decided on the candidate for whom I am voting, and I have decided that it will remain private who I have chosen. Why? Because I am sick and tired of everyone spouting off their political opinions on every subject, candidate, and issue. I have heard nonstop rants against Obama, McCain, Palin, Biden, and their mothers for the past month, and I've got to say, it has been the most agonizing month of my life.
Yes, I'm all for free speech and free ideas, but just because you are allowed to open your mouth, it doesn't mean you should. I have seen and read a thousand opinions and views on Abortion, Iraq, Iran, the Economy, and Global Warming. Don't get me wrong, I am very concerned about every last one of these issues, but don't mistake me in this; This election is not important enough to cause strife and dissension in the body of Christ.
In Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, he pleads with the Ephesian brothers to "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."* and then later he urges them, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."**
I have opinions on the election, I have thoughts on Senator Obama's abortion record, Senator McCain's fuel plan, and Governor Palin's wardrobe expenses, but none of those things matter so much as the unity of the church. As children of the Most High, we are not supposed to spend our time plotting against our brethren as if they were our enemy! And don't give me the excuse, "We just don't see eye-to-eye." That is bull crap. That is NO EXCUSE to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. If you don't see eye to eye with someone, you may speak to them in a civilized conversation, not a childish slap-fight of who's stupid and who isn't.
When you spend your time expressing such ungodly, immature debates of "You're wrong because you're a Democrat/Republican/Libertarian" and you can't even show the love of Christ to your brother or sister in the Lord, that should be an instant warning flare to you. If we cannot love our brethren, how can we love the unbeliever? Jesus, sitting with disciples during the Last supper, gave them a command, and the same command had been made to us who are in Christ. ""A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." "***
There are many ways we can vote this election season, and you are entitled to vote as the Holy Spirit convicts and as the Word dictates, no more foolish flame-wars attacking each other. You grieve God to do so, and you grieve your fellow brothers.
As Paul pleaded to the Ephesians, so I plead to you: Do not let this election cause strife in the church of Christ. If it comes down to it, and you are not mature enough to recognize your disagreeing brother in Christ as a brother and friend, then view them as your enemy, but do not forget what Christ exhorted us to do. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
Let us bring glory to God this election season. Let us not bring shame to His church and His name.
Your Brother,
Zack
PS: If I have erred in my words, if I stand against the instruction of Scripture or of sound doctrine, please do not hesitate to correct me. I am not too proud to be wrong, nor am I too high to hear words of wisdom.
*-Ephesians 4:3
**-Ephesians 4:29-32
***-John 13:34
****-Matthew 5:44
Yes, I'm all for free speech and free ideas, but just because you are allowed to open your mouth, it doesn't mean you should. I have seen and read a thousand opinions and views on Abortion, Iraq, Iran, the Economy, and Global Warming. Don't get me wrong, I am very concerned about every last one of these issues, but don't mistake me in this; This election is not important enough to cause strife and dissension in the body of Christ.
In Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, he pleads with the Ephesian brothers to "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."* and then later he urges them, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."**
I have opinions on the election, I have thoughts on Senator Obama's abortion record, Senator McCain's fuel plan, and Governor Palin's wardrobe expenses, but none of those things matter so much as the unity of the church. As children of the Most High, we are not supposed to spend our time plotting against our brethren as if they were our enemy! And don't give me the excuse, "We just don't see eye-to-eye." That is bull crap. That is NO EXCUSE to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. If you don't see eye to eye with someone, you may speak to them in a civilized conversation, not a childish slap-fight of who's stupid and who isn't.
When you spend your time expressing such ungodly, immature debates of "You're wrong because you're a Democrat/Republican/Libertarian" and you can't even show the love of Christ to your brother or sister in the Lord, that should be an instant warning flare to you. If we cannot love our brethren, how can we love the unbeliever? Jesus, sitting with disciples during the Last supper, gave them a command, and the same command had been made to us who are in Christ. ""A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." "***
There are many ways we can vote this election season, and you are entitled to vote as the Holy Spirit convicts and as the Word dictates, no more foolish flame-wars attacking each other. You grieve God to do so, and you grieve your fellow brothers.
As Paul pleaded to the Ephesians, so I plead to you: Do not let this election cause strife in the church of Christ. If it comes down to it, and you are not mature enough to recognize your disagreeing brother in Christ as a brother and friend, then view them as your enemy, but do not forget what Christ exhorted us to do. "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
Let us bring glory to God this election season. Let us not bring shame to His church and His name.
Your Brother,
Zack
PS: If I have erred in my words, if I stand against the instruction of Scripture or of sound doctrine, please do not hesitate to correct me. I am not too proud to be wrong, nor am I too high to hear words of wisdom.
*-Ephesians 4:3
**-Ephesians 4:29-32
***-John 13:34
****-Matthew 5:44
Friday, October 17, 2008
Conviction and Loneliness
Last night(Wednesday) was the SolidGround meeting. For those of you who are scratching your heads and going "W.H.A.T. is SolidGround?" SolidGround in the monthly singles meeting. There you go, now you're up to to speed. You're welcome.
:)
Anywho, this month's main topic was Loneliness, which was covered in the book we're going through as a group, Paul David Tripp's "A Quest for More". Not a bad book, let me tell you. In the chapter, it talked about how our lives, our thoughts, our actions are to display a love for Christ and a longing to be with Him. It then talked about how that longing in our souls as a good thing, it is a driving force to pressing into God's Word, into prayer. If we love something, we spend time pursuing the object. If you have a spouse and you actually love them, you want to know what they like, what they enjoy, what gives them pleasure, and you try to do those things. In that same way, we should be going to the Bible asking "What do you love, Jesus? What brings You joy?" And then, seeing what He enjoys, we should try to do those thing, because we love Him and want to please Him.
Then came the not-so-fun part, realizing that our hearts have a sinful nature, and that nature wants us to delight in other things, in the creation, not the the Creator. We were then asked the question, "What things are you tempted to delight in instead of Jesus?" And the question took a little while to really sink in, and as I continued to ponder it today, it finally clicked. My friends are where my joy is. I try my hardest to spend time with my friends at any moment of time, making myself available to any of my friends at any time I can, whatever the consequences. Friends aren't bad things, of course, in and of themselves, but the fact is that they are where my joy has been found for quite some time now. It took a lot of signal flares and warnings and even conflicts to realize this, but now I do. And now more than ever, I need your prayer and accountability. I don't want to delight in my friends primarily, I want to delight in Christ!
Thanks as always for your prayers, encouragements, and comments.
—Zack
Anywho, this month's main topic was Loneliness, which was covered in the book we're going through as a group, Paul David Tripp's "A Quest for More". Not a bad book, let me tell you. In the chapter, it talked about how our lives, our thoughts, our actions are to display a love for Christ and a longing to be with Him. It then talked about how that longing in our souls as a good thing, it is a driving force to pressing into God's Word, into prayer. If we love something, we spend time pursuing the object. If you have a spouse and you actually love them, you want to know what they like, what they enjoy, what gives them pleasure, and you try to do those things. In that same way, we should be going to the Bible asking "What do you love, Jesus? What brings You joy?" And then, seeing what He enjoys, we should try to do those thing, because we love Him and want to please Him.
Then came the not-so-fun part, realizing that our hearts have a sinful nature, and that nature wants us to delight in other things, in the creation, not the the Creator. We were then asked the question, "What things are you tempted to delight in instead of Jesus?" And the question took a little while to really sink in, and as I continued to ponder it today, it finally clicked. My friends are where my joy is. I try my hardest to spend time with my friends at any moment of time, making myself available to any of my friends at any time I can, whatever the consequences. Friends aren't bad things, of course, in and of themselves, but the fact is that they are where my joy has been found for quite some time now. It took a lot of signal flares and warnings and even conflicts to realize this, but now I do. And now more than ever, I need your prayer and accountability. I don't want to delight in my friends primarily, I want to delight in Christ!
Thanks as always for your prayers, encouragements, and comments.
—Zack
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Anti-drug
These last few weeks are what I am now calling my "Panic Weeks".
Two weeks ago, my British Theatre* class began actually looking at our end of semester projects/presentation, and they look like doozies. That class has been the most laid-back of my courses this semester, and a lot of the time, one of the more enjoyable. We get to read and watch plays and interact and act and so on, and my dear friend Steph is in that class with me. However, me sitting down and realizing I have an oral report and a scene study/ promptbook to turn in at the end of the semester is rather daunting to me.
Last week, I received an assignment I have to complete by Saturday night. Two 750-1000 word essays for Early Shakespeare, with restricted essay options. Not cool.
This week continues the insanity of those weeks, as well as my putting together of my 15th script for Breakout, which I finished last Monday and presented to the players. As always, everyone said that they liked it, but then began to make jokes on how they would hate it next week and how it really isn't all that great. In the moment, those jokes are fine with me, but afterward, I get that wondering of, "Did they really mean that?" which I hate having. The one thing they do that straight-up hurts is when they say, "Oh, this sure was better than the last one." Honestly, it is, but that's not your place to say that it is. I put a lot of work into these scripts, and then I get bashed on them later. It's annoying, but I knew it was gonna happen when I started. I just have to tell myself that humorous or no, clever or no, it's for the glory of God that I do these things, not for the praise of men.
Now i'll get to what I meant by "Anti-drug." I have always had the same Anti-drugs, or more like anti-lose-my-minds in reality, and right now they're getting a lot of use.
First: God. I dunno what I would do without Him. In the last week, my devotions have been sparse, but even still, I have pressed into worship on my way to school listening to God-honoring music and Thanks to my script-writing, I've got some choice Scriptures running through my brain.
No. Too/Two/To?: Music. As always, I'm sifting through the melting pot of nearly every and any genre of music, trying to find something I like. This week, It's been The Everybodyfields, Jaymay(Thanks Cris!), The Fiery Furnaces, and The Hush Sound(Thanks Em!). On the lighter side, I know, but it's all good.
3: Writing. I need to write. Dogs bark, politicians lie, I write. It's in my blood. My blood is ink and the words I write are my lifeblood. So I continue to chip away at a fantasy masterpiece that needs more time than I can give right now. I have written some poetry, but it's stupid.
Fore/For?: Reading. I can't write if I'm not reading. The two coexist and compliment each other. Right now it's the series The Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin and the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. When I have time and can find a copy(maybe you could lend me yours?), I'll be continuing the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer with book numbah dos "New Moon"
Without those things, I could not survive.
What keeps you alive?
—Zack
*-It's British, so the word is spelled Theatre.
PS: My friends are Number V, but I need to get to work on school. Maybe I'll write that in later...
Two weeks ago, my British Theatre* class began actually looking at our end of semester projects/presentation, and they look like doozies. That class has been the most laid-back of my courses this semester, and a lot of the time, one of the more enjoyable. We get to read and watch plays and interact and act and so on, and my dear friend Steph is in that class with me. However, me sitting down and realizing I have an oral report and a scene study/ promptbook to turn in at the end of the semester is rather daunting to me.
Last week, I received an assignment I have to complete by Saturday night. Two 750-1000 word essays for Early Shakespeare, with restricted essay options. Not cool.
This week continues the insanity of those weeks, as well as my putting together of my 15th script for Breakout, which I finished last Monday and presented to the players. As always, everyone said that they liked it, but then began to make jokes on how they would hate it next week and how it really isn't all that great. In the moment, those jokes are fine with me, but afterward, I get that wondering of, "Did they really mean that?" which I hate having. The one thing they do that straight-up hurts is when they say, "Oh, this sure was better than the last one." Honestly, it is, but that's not your place to say that it is. I put a lot of work into these scripts, and then I get bashed on them later. It's annoying, but I knew it was gonna happen when I started. I just have to tell myself that humorous or no, clever or no, it's for the glory of God that I do these things, not for the praise of men.
Now i'll get to what I meant by "Anti-drug." I have always had the same Anti-drugs, or more like anti-lose-my-minds in reality, and right now they're getting a lot of use.
First: God. I dunno what I would do without Him. In the last week, my devotions have been sparse, but even still, I have pressed into worship on my way to school listening to God-honoring music and Thanks to my script-writing, I've got some choice Scriptures running through my brain.
No. Too/Two/To?: Music. As always, I'm sifting through the melting pot of nearly every and any genre of music, trying to find something I like. This week, It's been The Everybodyfields, Jaymay(Thanks Cris!), The Fiery Furnaces, and The Hush Sound(Thanks Em!). On the lighter side, I know, but it's all good.
3: Writing. I need to write. Dogs bark, politicians lie, I write. It's in my blood. My blood is ink and the words I write are my lifeblood. So I continue to chip away at a fantasy masterpiece that needs more time than I can give right now. I have written some poetry, but it's stupid.
Fore/For?: Reading. I can't write if I'm not reading. The two coexist and compliment each other. Right now it's the series The Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin and the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. When I have time and can find a copy(maybe you could lend me yours?), I'll be continuing the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer with book numbah dos "New Moon"
Without those things, I could not survive.
What keeps you alive?
—Zack
*-It's British, so the word is spelled Theatre.
PS: My friends are Number V, but I need to get to work on school. Maybe I'll write that in later...
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Life is weird...
Today, following my Marketing class, I spent about a good hour in Starbucks, curled up in an armchair and listening to Steve Vai. Now that it's "Fall", Starbucks has started offering Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Fraps again. I would just like to say, if any Starbucks Execs are reading this, that the Pumpkin Spice Frap and Latte are the greatest things ever. Ever.
And to top that off, after I had finished my AMAZING latte, (Yes, I got a Latte. On a warm day. Why? Because I felt cold. I'm fighting a cold, so I was chilly.) one of the baristas saw that my cup was empty, came over, asked me what I had gotten, then made me another! For Free! I think I might write her a song. "My Starbucks Angel"... Hmm...
After that, I caught my bus and headed home. On the way, we passed a church that had the craziest name of all time. it was called the "Queen St. God Church in Jesus Christ." No joke. That has got to be the weirdest church name I've ever seen or heard.
But that wasn't the only crazy thing I saw. See below:
This was one of the ads in the bus. Aside from the fact it's absolutely pointless (If you're in the bus, you can't be hit by the bus.), it's got to be the awesomest example of Pun/Morbid Humor I've ever seen as an ad. Imagine The Impact, indeed.
Hasta!
—Z
And to top that off, after I had finished my AMAZING latte, (Yes, I got a Latte. On a warm day. Why? Because I felt cold. I'm fighting a cold, so I was chilly.) one of the baristas saw that my cup was empty, came over, asked me what I had gotten, then made me another! For Free! I think I might write her a song. "My Starbucks Angel"... Hmm...
After that, I caught my bus and headed home. On the way, we passed a church that had the craziest name of all time. it was called the "Queen St. God Church in Jesus Christ." No joke. That has got to be the weirdest church name I've ever seen or heard.
But that wasn't the only crazy thing I saw. See below:
This was one of the ads in the bus. Aside from the fact it's absolutely pointless (If you're in the bus, you can't be hit by the bus.), it's got to be the awesomest example of Pun/Morbid Humor I've ever seen as an ad. Imagine The Impact, indeed.
Hasta!—Z
Monday, September 29, 2008
Welcome to the show!
"It was twenty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!"
—SP's LHCBG
