Tag Archives: experience

The Joys of a Hug (or two)

03 Friday Jun 2011

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Disclaimer: I don’t know about other strugglers’ personal space, and I’m certain that some folks are uncomfortable with hugs and physical touch. In writing this post, I’m simply conveying my own desires and how they help and hurt my own walk with Christ.

Last night, I went with some seminary folks to a brewery here in town where they serve $2 pitchers on Thursday nights. It’s becoming tradition to sit and talk about one’s week over a glass or two of beer and relax with friends. The conversation is always animated and a lot of fun.

Two guys who are friends but whom I haven’t seen in a while were there. We got caught up on each others’ lives and laughed a little, talked seriously a little. At the end of the night, the two of them hugged me goodbye. Reader, that may seem like a small gesture to you, but it isn’t insignificant to me.

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Are you SAD?

31 Friday Dec 2010

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Check out Puritan Reformer’s video on seasonal depression and some easy ways you can avoid its effects.  As someone who wrestles with seasonal depression a bit, I think his advice sounds like it will help…for example, eating fewer carbs.  As I was telling a friend of mine tonight, not only do the carbs influence my mood, but they’ve caused me to put on weight which makes me more depressed because in my family when people start, they don’t usually stop.

HT: Tim Challies

Now that the semester has ended…

18 Saturday Dec 2010

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A 10" 78rpm disc

So what do I do now that the semester has finished?  Well, I’ve worked a little, relaxed a lot.  I have quite a collection of old jazz 78s which I’ve been recording to my computer so that I can listen to them on my iPod.  It’s a bit of a time-consuming dubbing process, one which involves sitting and listening to each recording, applying filters so that annoying high-pitched crackle goes away, using one’s ears to make sure it sounds good overall, saving the file, importing to iTunes, creating an mp3 copy, plugging in all the pertinent information, deleting the wave form (and its copy), and repeating the process for the next disc.  But one can’t be in a bad mood and listen to Dixieland (which is most of what I’ve been dubbing lately).

For those who care, I use a Crosley USB turntable which has 3 speeds.  I use an after-market needle to play the 78s because the standard stereo needle which comes with it just doesn’t seem like a great idea to play both 78s and long-playing (45 & 33 1/3) records.

In addition, I’ve gotten some feedback lately from various people who read the blog.  I’ve gotten everything from “I appreciate what God’s doing in your life” to “You need to leave the lifestyle and repent” and everything in between.  My goal is to be the type of man where I would listen to negative feedback and instead of dismissing it, I would consider it carefully to see if anything is valuable from it.  For example, even though I am not in the lifestyle, I do need to live a life of repentance.  Repentance isn’t just the doorway we get through to be reconciled to God…it’s that, for sure…but it’s also the path a Christian treads.

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A crazy week

19 Friday Nov 2010

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I had two tests today.  I don’t know how I did…but at least they’re over.

I gave my first devotional in my sermon preparation and delivery class.  I got a lot of really good feedback…some things I can improve upon and some things I’m already doing fairly well.  I’m really looking forward to coming semesters of preaching.

The plan is to get some things done for my covenant theology class paper on Numbers 21 (“Snake on a Stick”) tonight and be done by Sunday evening so that I can get other things done.  If I can get my CovTheo paper cranking…and my Greek homework done…it will be a good weekend.

I had some really great conversations this week, both in person and via email.  And I have been fighting temptation a lot this week, but am seeing a lot of encouraging things in my own life and hearing really encouraging things from others.  I love this group of guys God has surrounded me with here.

There is a lot to be thankful for right now in my life.

Great Friends, Good Times

13 Saturday Nov 2010

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Last night, a friend of mine invited me to his house for soup.  I wasn’t anticipating an invite, but I was like “awesome,” especially since I’m a sucker for chili.

There was such great conversation…even a recap of the musical Les Mis, that, by the way, I did not initiate…but since it was known that I knew many of the lyrics, I was enlisted to sing parts of the songs while another friend talked about the storyline.

I’m really looking forward to getting to know the friend who hosted the shindig. We’re having lunch next week and I think he’s gonna be a great encouragement.

I also got to talk to another friend of mine and get to know him better just before the party while we were studying for our covenant theology paper.  It was wonderful to talk to him and to even get to meet his wife, who came to the party.

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Update and new book!

16 Thursday Sep 2010

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First, I haven’t fallen off the radar completely.  I’ve been swamped with reading for my Covenant Theology class, as well as learning Greek and doing my first outline for Sermon Preparation and Delivery.  Pretty stoked.

I’m also a reader for another student (meaning, I read their assignments onto an mp3 file and then send it to them). It pays pretty well and it’s a class I’ll have to take in the future, so I’ll have read most of the materials for those classes when I get there.  Pretty excited about that, actually.  But what that means is I fell behind in reading a little bit this week and spent 8 hours reading, 2 for the other guy, 6 for me…just to get caught up.  Then I came back from class today and read for over 2 hours for the other guy.  Now I’m taking a break from Greek to write this.

Washed and Waiting, by Wes Hill

But another distraction has arrived.  Amazon just sent me the copy of Washed and Waiting by Wes Hill. I couldn’t put it down and spent an hour this afternoon reading it. It warrants its own post, but allow me to quote from page 42 (which is, of course, the answer to life, the universe, everything):

A sexual orientation is such a complex and, in most cases, it seems, intractable thing; I for one cannot imagine what ‘healing’ from my orientation would look like, given that it seems to manifest itself not only in physical attraction to male bodies but also in a preference for male company, with all that it entails, such as conversation and emotional intimacy and quality time spent together.

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Injurious Comments from “Brothers”

23 Monday Aug 2010

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About a month ago, a man who purports to be a brother in the faith wrote this on my mother’s facebook wall:

In his blog, your son says he is a homosexual and says his primary attraction is to men.  He does not say that he has struggled with temptations to such sins…he calls himself a full fledged homosexual.

I have no idea about his state of repentance but I’m sure you would agree…..that it is totally inappropriate for one who calls himself a homosexual to be teaching in church or leading worship.  This is exacerbated by a purposeful hiding of this lifestyle so that he can participate in church leadership roles that would never be knowingly allowed by our elders. Continue reading →

I Lost My Nerve

20 Friday Aug 2010

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I went to dinner last night with a couple of guys who are starting seminary with me this fall.  I don’t know them very well, but I invited them to join me for a drink at Bar Louie.  We had a good time talking about the Gospel and necessity of its clear proclamation.

We also talked about the Church’s response(s) to homosexuality.  And we talked about our dating types.  One of them asked me mine…and I pretty well shut up.  I described the girl I’d liked in college because, in all truthfulness, she does tend to represent an ideal for a potential mate to me.  But I wasn’t forthright about my attractions.  I hesitated and then back-pedaled.

Why did I do that? Was I afraid of being dismissed?  Was it that I don’t want to be “that guy?”

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Another interesting post from Haydn

16 Monday Aug 2010

Posted by in Theology

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Original post available here.

Quoting from the Fjords of Zion blog:

I’m dangerous

08/13/2010 by Haydn

Wow…  I never thought I was dangerous until this week.  I threaten Christendom itself and the heart of Biblical interpretation.  I was told this yesterday by someone commenting on a comment that I made this week about the Bible.  My comment was that it isn’t necessary for people to read the Scriptures in order to be close to God; reading Scripture is a good thing, but it isn’t necessary for people loving God more or understanding His love better.  The person responding to me said:

So Scripture is a box. Now we ask, is this how Paul or Peter talks about Scripture?

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