can I say one thing about PASSION? (i guess I can, its my blog) for me passion is what drives me to make life choices that keep Gods kingdom in the center of the conversation. Passion means that I am willing to give up my own desires, to follow God wherever he leads me. Passion for the Lord means I might spend an hour with God instead of an hour playing video games.

For me today, passion goes beyond that moment of extacy in worship. That emotional expression of praise. Passion is making life choices that are extrordinary. Passion for Christ is making your life about eternal values. Passion is dropping everything to help a friend in need. Passion for Christ is having a broken heart for the people who need Jesus.

I can't say that I want more passion for Jesus, but then go and ignore someone who is so obviously crying out for help. Jesus said when you have done it unto the "least of these" you have done it unto me.

My passion drove me to prayerwalk around Oakbrook the other night. There are beautiful people in that place. People who love Jesus and want to be a light for Him. There are also people who need to hear about a God who is relevant to them and their situation. I'm not sure what God is stiring up in me, but I need to do something with this.

i feel so much more at home blogging here - blogger rocks. I spent a bunch of time on xanga checking out all sorts of peoples sites tonight... when I get around to it, I will post links... but for now I just feel way old.

I think I spent like an hour just going from xanga to xanga, and everyone is like 13-19 there are no 30 somethings on xanga that I could find... at least very few.... well I feel much more at home here at jeffstoltzfus.com

I do think it is cool though that everyone today has a way to express themselves. to say their piece in a public forum. To share about their lives, to blow off steam, to rant, and bust on their friends and their authority figures.

I think it is cool too, to see how teenagers today are using xanga/blogging/email/IM/texting/cellphones/nextel to build little communities - to stay connected to friends etc. Back in my day we had the landline thats it. Oh... and shortwave radio (just kidding)

today I went to a little high school reunion thing. 17 years believe it or not... wow... anyway, it was sort of fun. Many of the people there i hadnt seen in 17 years. Since I live an hour or so away from where I grew up(York, PA) I dont often run into people.

It was good to reconnect with Jeff Stockwell and Mike Altland, and Wes Shriver, and of course all the ladies too. I wish John Payne had been there, we were close friends for so many years, and then I just lost track of him completely. I talked to him on the phone, but he didnt make it. Anyway... there were lots of kids, and lots of babies, so I felt right at home with a 2 year old and a 4 month old. There was also a 15 year old kid there too... which I realized that I could easily have depending on my life choices. We did tell pretty many funny stories of all the bad stuff we used to do. Let that be a lesson to all you yunguns out there. You got to get into some trouble so that you have good stories to tell when you get together at your class reunions. Nothing really destructive or evil... just mischevious you know. Like filling someones entire locker with paper wads. Or constantly making a teacher think his fly was down. Or unauthorized creating poisonous gas in an unsupervised science lab.. You know harmless stuff (cough cough)

I couldnt resist posting this picture... it made me laugh.

there was another one that made me actually laugh outloud, you can link there and try to guess which one. hehehe

http://blorge.blogspot.com/

http://japanabaptist.blogspot.com

a couple of interesting blogs you should take a look at. was just reading around and found them interesting

man, life is going so fast. But God has been good. I can't complain. These days, I am stretched thin between all the things that are wanting for my attention - and those things that I want to do, and those things that I need to do, but don't necessarily want to... well those are the hard things to get done.

I realize that I am a procrastinator... maybe not as bad as some, but I definately need a real deadline to get something done. It also helps if I have a little competitiveness mixed in there too. A challenge, something to overcome, and something to be proud of when I am done.

It is very hard to work at paperwork and stuff. because you never have an end product to be excited about - except a reasonably clean desk. And you can get that by shoveling everything into the round filing cabinet... just kidding.

I also have so many things running through my head that I would like to do/should do - to help in all the areas of my life... trimming my shrubs, taking the girls to the park or something, getting together with friends my age, reading a spiritually challenging book, Club Worship development, ACTV development, I could go for about an hour typing things. Even down to meaningful conversations I would like to have with individuals - friends, youth group young people, my mentors etc.

Not enough time in the day...

Yet today was a good day. I got alot done I feel... although it wont always show.

did mco at ACTV. Met with Vic Dunning about starting a new tv show.

Wrote a long email to a friend.

helped John Rush for several hours with his database design and reconfiguration. Something I like to do because it involves a challenge, and a project that I could complete. Its also something that not everyone can do.

Tonight I ran to the grocery store to get snack for the youth retreat, spent time writing another very long letter.

I gathered all the equipment and sound system stuff together for the weekend. I had to go to the ballroom and pick up some stuff... the whole process took so much longer than I anticipated. mostly because I couldnt find everything that I needed, and I kept remembering more stuff... and then I had to dig under the ballroom floor for some stuff... and get it all together myself. - Mind you, Im not complaining, but I hope someone appreciates the quality of sound and lights this weekend on the retreat. I know I will (gymnasium florescents just don't cut it for worship.) I'm not gonna see a penny for it all either... oh well... God knows its all for Him - its my act of love, act of service to him. My worship in a sense. Im not trying to spirituallize it more than it should be, but I guess it is all part of making this weekend a success - a quality experience for young people... and by working together, young people will be drawn closer to God.

There you have it. my day... not too exciting

tomorrow I will have more time to spend with the kids and Candace. I am gonna stay home, make some calls regarding club worship and get ready for the weekend. I might need to mow the yard too. the leaves are starting to fall already out here. and change colors and stuff... wow.

a friend jeff was writing about the blame game that is going on about hurricane Katrina. Yeah I know I didn't blog much about it, but this thing is so huge, it is really hard to imagine the complexities of this disaster.

Right as it was all happening, I found myself glued to the TV (at work) spending countless hours gawking at this event as it unfolded. I admit I cried with compassion once or twice as I tried to empathize with the parents of small children, and how hard it would be to lose a parent, or other loved one.

So lots of people get blamed for the disaster that ensued.

Part of the problem is that cable news - well they can't stop talking, because that would mean dead air, and they would lose viewers... so they just keep running at the mouth... also, conflict will keep viewers tuned in to see how the conflict will be resolved, so conflict = viewers= ratings= advertising= mulah

get it? conflict = MONEY

basically these folks get paid to keep you watching the screen.

OK we have that on the one side
and on the other side of the argument

If the government stands around twiddling their thumb when a natural disaster happens, and there is mass chaos in a large city like that - well, someone needs to tell them to get off their butts and do something about it. Almost everyone agrees that part of the reason the government was ill prepared to deal with this natural disaster, is that all our good troups are tied up killing people all around the world.

Actually, I think that we can put much of the blame on the crazy guy whoever first came up with the idea to build below sea level... its just not a good idea...

That said, I think that insurance companies should be realistic and charge a very large price to insure properties that are in high risk areas... any high risk areas. It just makes sense... People will tend to lean toward building in safe places, and people who like to take risks, will take their chances, and wont be surprized when they gamble their property away.

not enought hours in the day. most definately.

anyway, I was spending time updating the Youth Group Directory, and realized that I hadn't read Jons blog in a while. Im glad I didnt miss his comments on College really well written.

I'll tell you one thing, Jons a smart young man. He could totally do anything he puts his mind to. But he's more than smart. He's sensitive to the things of the Lord - and how that makes the church the "upside down kingdom."

I had similar concerns when I was in college - so i ended up scheduling the classes that I wanted to take, and dropping the classes I didnt want to take (to my advisors chagrin) Of course in the meanwhile - while attending college, I also followed another path at the same time - by volunteering, sitting under people who could mentor me, landing an entry level tv job, and doing little projects on my own time. All outside of school.

I ended up dropping out before graduation to take a full time job in my field... it seems that by trying both paths to a career, the "apply yourself" path worked much better than the college path. I'm sure it is not the case for all career paths, but for some paths I got to totally agree with Jon. I've been happy here at ACTV and I have no doubt that I could go just about anywhere in the industry and be competitive with whats going on in the industry.

In any case, this is not to discourage young people from college - for me it was one of the most fun times of my life. And I learned so much about myself and how to live with other people. And when it comes down to it the main thing is to "offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship"

And one other topic that Jon totally didnt touch on - what about all the women who spend $$$$$$$$ on a degree and then never use it because they decide to stay at home to raise their kids. Or Worse yet, they feel that they need to have a career to be fulfilled in life, and then their kids end up being raised by the local childcare and preschools.

I'm not saying women shouldnt go to college - in fact Candace loved school, and graduated with honors - and is now using it 3 days a week in a professional capacity. WHAT I AM SAYING is what jon said but in a much more simpleton way. People shouldn't feel pressured into college because it is "the thing to do" thats idiotic.

If you are looking for something to help you learn, grow, and mature - do something like Peace corps, missions, VS, or go work in a homeless shelter for a year. You will learn many of the same things that college will teach you for a fraction of the price. - and you will learn some things that college could never teach you.

If you are determined enough and smart enough to be a surgeon or something - go for it. We definately need people with skills like that. But never be afraid to do something unconventional. Especially when God has your back!