Contemporary art

I thought a contemporary art picture of our witnessing at the contemporary are museum is fitting (also i dont have any actual witnessing photos to share):



A small group of us from Church went out last night for some street evangelism. This time a fellow named Shawn from our church decided to join us for the first time.
Before he arrived I was teasing Hector (who is a co-leader for the Evangelism team), because it was a cold night and he came wearing a t-shirt and shorts, he was obviousley cold and uncomfortable.
After we met up with Shawn, Hector and I briefly discussed with him the principles we learned from the Way of the Master training course so he would know why we would say what we would when witnessing. Right before we headed out, Shawn, who is from Singapore, got a call from a friend from home. He mentioned to his friend that we were about to head out for some street evangelism to which his friend replied "ok I'll be praying for you all" and hung up so we could get started. Shawn looked at us and smiled, "We have some people praying for us in Singapore tonight."
Shawn had an idea to go to the Museum of Contemporary Art instead of our normal Water Tower Mall location. So we wen there. It was a lot quieter and more people were sitting in small groups rather than hustling to and fro. It looked perfect, we immediately went to work passing out tracts and talking with small groups. I got into a pretty nice conversation with a fellow named Lenn, who claimed to be "baptist" but didn't know how to be saved from sin and told me he was "afraid to learn." I was able to share the Gospel with him just before his group left.

A little later we handed a couple of folks a Million Dollar Bill Tracts and older of the two shouted "Hallelujah" when she saw it. I asked if they were believers and the lady, who's name was Gypsy, said "of course!" She explained to me that the young fellow of about 17 she was with was in town helping out her church to do some small renovations. Hector asked if they were born again, and again she replied, "of course." So He asked the young guy, Chris, and he shyly shook his head, "no."
"Do you know how to be born again?" Hector asked, and again Chris shrugged and quietly said, "i dunno." Gypsy looked excited as she said, "tell him tell him!" So we did. That type of thing doesn't happen often, it was encouraging.

The last guy we handed a million dollar bill to said "Cool, Thanks man! Ray comfort, Sweet! keep it up guys!" His name was also Shawn. He was a brother and he took some time to encourage and pray for us and our families and for those who we spoke with that night to know the Lord.

Once our trip was over and we were heading back to our cars Shawn confessed to us about his hesitation to join us for the street evangelism. He was nervous at first and almost didn't come but by the end all of his doubts were gone and he said he was so glad that he could join us and plans to come out with us every time we go. I told Shawn that I feel that way every time.

Most days we go out for witnessing we are met with some rejection and very few people willing to stop and talk. Last night was different. I think the Lord used the openness of the people we encountered last night to encourage Shawn, even the rest of us, to continue spreading the word, it's not that hard.

I decided to display a couple images of a 3D drawing I did for work. I'm still working it to make it more photo-real, but let me know what you think. The 7 story glass building is what I am working on right now. It is right across the street from where I go to Church just north of downtown Chicago. Since we finally have an office trailer on the jobsite, I can work from there instead of driving 50 miles to my office and back everyday. It's nice to walk from work to Church on Tuesdays for the Evangelism training and for Wednesday night prayer meeting.

"Precious Moments"

I thought I would share this video I saw on the Bridges' blog. A a fellow by the name of Kevin Wellenius made it. It is a short documentary about the Bridges family. Specifically Buzz and Theresa, how they were saved and how they got married. I thought he did a great job, its a very nice video.
This is a link to the Bridges' Blog:
http://www.romefarmstables.com/archives/73

operation update

Strap on your seat belts folks! Prepare yourselves for a journey, the likes of which not seen since the golden age of gas prices below $4.00 per gallon: the exemplar of anticlimactic novelties! A paradigm of insignificance! And an avenue in which to both stimulate lethargy and mitigate personal productivity among peers and ones self! For my long-awaited-by-few-across-the-globe blog will now receive a thrilling, yet dry, up-to-date update.
And to think, all of my authorial vigor was wasted on the introduction. So here's whats up since last September:

Numero Uno: Hector, Nancy, and a third party (who shall remain un-named for legal and protective purposes, but let's call him Ralph) got to take Liz Rebert up to Northland and spend some time with the Markham family. I have prayed many times for them, as they are a tremendous blessing to me, despite how little I know them. Hector and I used to listen to Pastor Markham's sermons on my computer while cleaning when we were roommates. Hector and Nancy both grew up never truly seeing how a Godly family lives and when they met the Markhams they both saw a template for how they want their marriage and family to go. Ralph also was blessed by seeing a loving Christian family for the first time. It is not something to take for granted.

Numero Dos: I wasn't looking for a job last November, as it was my last semester of School and I was anxious to go back to Maine and find work there. The Lord's ways are not mu ways. One day I was talking with Henry after our graduate level structural concrete design class, it turned out that he was a general contractor, and he owned a small construction firm. He was about to sign the deal for a multi-million dollar high rise, and was wrestling with whether he should hire extra help part time. I was given notice earlier that day that was to be laid off of my job working on the tour boat, since boat businesses stop in the winter, and I was toying with the idea of picking up a part time job. To the both of us it seemed to fit like a puzzle. So the next week I shared my resume with him, and the last day working on the boat was the first day on payroll at Marion Hill Company. talk about God's providence. I had my own office, worked when I had time, and the wage was very decent. I did estimations, made calls and learned how the office ran. I was to work for Henry until April.

Numero Tres: Becka Rebert surprised me for Thanksgiving by showing up in the Chicago area. We got to spend the day at Navy Pier and I got to have a proper Thanksgiving meal as a guest of the family she was staying with. It was a nice surprise to see a friend from Maine visit.

Numero Cuatro: I finished college, didn't do the graduation ceremony. But now I officially have a Bachelor's of Science in Civil Engineering, and a really expensive wall decoration to prove it.

Numero Cinco: For a Christmas/new years vacation I went first to my dad's house in Indiana. I was wondering if I would see my younger sister, as a few months earlier she moved out of my dad's place and ceased communication with me. She was very nervous about seeing me and I wasn't sure how to act, but after much prayer I just decided to be a loving brother. Now I talk with her over the phone every now and again. good deal. I also traveled to Maine for a few days which is always a very rich time for me.

Numero Seis: I bought a car. pictures here. Lord willing, I should have it paid off by the end of the year.

Numero Siete: As April drew nearer, I grew anxious to go home. Henry came into my office in mid march and asked what my plans were. I told him I planned to head home at the end of April and he basically said "I want you to think about what it will take for you to stay in Chicago and work for me for another year." He told me that he liked the work I did, and that he doesn't want to hire a replacement. As amazing as is sounds for an employer to say that, as the words hit my eardrum they sounded more like "You know as well as I do that every man has his price, what's yours?" He gave me two weeks to think about it. I was faced on the one hand with the relief of going home after nearly five years of waiting, and the other hand held a very nice job with a raise, benefits, and excellent opportunities professionally. Despite that, all I could think was "WOE IS ME! WOE IS ME!" (I present for your consideration, the heart of a sinner: "woe is me, woe is me! I am showered by mercy and blessings, but I have to choose! woe is me!") I can't even decide what I want when I see a fast food menu, so this decision was hard for me.
After much prayer, Bible reading, and Godly council, I decided to negotiate with Henry my salary, my benefits, and my job responsibilities. I am now working for Him until next April at which time we will talk again about the following year.

Numero Ocho: I found out that I have leprosy. Well, technically it's psoriasis, but before 1850 or so I would be considered a leper. Mine is a minor case and is almost totally cleared up at this point, but it's a lifelong condition, kind of like sin. I can't wait for my resurrected, leprosy-free body.

Numero Nueve: I took a vacation to Maine a couple weeks ago. It was excellent! I got the opportunity to preach on Psalm 84 on Sunday evening.

Numero Diez: I went to the dermatologist today about my leprosy, He said I am at high risk for melanoma, and now I have to see a dermatologist every six months for life to make sure I don't get skin cancer.

sorry to end on a bad note, but that's what us pessimist melancholics like to do. ciao!
pictures here

Banana Walnut Cookies

Banana Walnut Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 c Sifted all-purpose flour 1 ts Baking powder 1/4 ts Soda 1/2 ts Salt 1 1/2 ts Cinnamon 1 c Brown sugar, firmly packed 2/3 c Shortening, soft 1 Egg 1/4 c Milk 1 c Mashed bananas 1/2 c Chopped walnuts 2 c Quaker Oats, uncooked (quick) Method Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon into bowl. Add sugar, shortening, egg, milk and bananas. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in walnuts and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cooky sheets. Bake in preheated moderate oven (375°F.) 12 to 15 minutes.

one more thing

I have a job now also. I work as a deck hand on a tour boat. wendellaboats.com
for pictures of my boats click here.

God is Good

I haven't yet posted here about my housing story since I've been back to Chicago. When I would talk to people about where I was staying during the first few days of getting here I would describe my situation this way: "I'm in the middle of a great story of the Lord's work, I'm not sure how it's gonna end, but the suspense is killing me." In other words, I was getting anxious every day and I was beginning to have a hard time trusting in the Lord for His provision. It's different to read that God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass and lilies of the field than to actually trust that I am of more value than they, and that God will provide for me as well (Mat. 6:25). So here is the story of God's provision in finding me an apartment. The abridged version at least.

It basically started on July 31, at about 8:00 PM. I called up my old roommate, Hector to see if he had found a place to move into yet (read my previous post about that). He said he was still looking, after all, he still had a few "minutes." "Minutes" is often a slang term meaning a period of time to a lot of people here in Chicago, so naturally I thought he had a few days, or weeks before he needed to move out of our old apartment. So I asked if he had any ideas about where I could stay when I came back. He seemed a bit agitated with me, I didn't understand why, as I was trying to be polite. Then it dawned on me that July was almost over. Hector could not stay at our old apartment past the end of July and it was quickly approaching, with nowhere for him yet to stay. I felt like a bonehead, and told him to stick with our old agreement, not to worry about where I would stay. so he didn't.

Jump to: the day before I was scheduled to fly out of Maine. I was preaching during the Wednesday night service about the perfect rest we have in Christ. One example of resting in God I used was resting in His sovereignty as far as where I would stay the very next night, which I still didn't know, I was actually excited to see what the Lord would do. I expected that after Nancy and Hector got married that Saturday, I would move into Hector's step-mom's apartment where Nancy was staying at the time. That was still a few days off, and I needed a place to stay until then. The next day I was in Portland about to fly back. Then I got the news that the new apartment that Hector got had burned down. (Last post) That meant that after they got married, I could not live with his mom, since there was no more room. Well, I still had to worry about that night, where would I rest my head? My flight was due to depart about 8 and arrive in Chicago after midnight. The Bridges drove me to the airport where I learned my flight was delayed, so much so that I would miss my connecting flight. I had two options: rebook for the next day, or stay the night in Philadelphia. I opted to stay in Maine for an extra day, so I rebooked. The Bridges came to pick me up and take me home til the next day. The question of where God would put me for that night was answered, I stayed home. That was a huge blessing for me.

The next day I did take the flight out of Portland and, even though the plane was delayed, I made it to Chicago without a problem, and without my bags... in that case I guess I did have a problem. hmm, puns. It was not until about two in the morning did I find out my bags weren't coming. I grabbed a shuttle bus and went to a hotel, I got there around 2:45 AM and checked my email. There in my email box was the time and address of Hector's wedding, which I didn't have before. I was amazed at God's timing, I would have slept in right past the wedding had I not known I needed to be there at 9:30 AM, and It took about 2 hour to get there from where I was, so needless to say I didn't get much sleep. I made it to the wedding, I was even able to borrow a nice suit to wear despite not having any of my clothes since they were lost by the airline (Mat 6:30). I stayed again that night in the Hotel.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and took a my bags to Church. There, a young couple heard my story and invited me to stay with them for the next couple of days. While at their condo I was able to make a reservation in a Hostel, which is like a cheap dorm hotel used mainly by traveling students. I figured I could use a few days to not worry about where I would stay the night so that I could search for an apartment, especially since school started that week also.

I compared about ten apartments I saw advertised in just about seven days. That's quite the search I suppose, I looked in newspapers, apartment websites, and "for rent" signs outside buildings. I called people left and right trying to find a decently priced one bedroom or studio apartment. I saw some nice small ones that I could just barely afford, a long way away from everything useful, I also saw Spiderman's apartment from Spiderman 2, it was only $500 per month. Most places required a year long lease, which was unreasonable for me. So I decided to switch up my search a bit and start looking for a people looking for a roommate. I went on the internet to find some more fone numbers to call. I thought my idealistic expectations were unrealistic so they gradually got lower and lower. At first I had in mind only to move in with a Christian, then maybe just a person who doesn't drink, smoke, party or listen to loud music. Then I figured "as long as they smoke outside its OK." then "occasional drinking is tolerable I guess." I got to the point where as long as the roommate doesn't do drugs, or have a whole lot of parties in the apartment, I could live there.

By Saturday I needed to be out of the Hostel, which meant I was again forced to trust in God's provision and not rely on myself, which was nice. I decided to put the apartment situation in His hands. I looked at the latest ad on the website I had looked at before and decided to reply to it even though there was hardly any description. The guy called me back and asked when I would like to see the apartment "would tonight after 7 or Sunday after 2 work for you?" he asked. I said, "Sunday at 2 works, since I'll be in Church till about 1." It turns out this guy (James) goes to Moody Church, which is a pretty good one, and not too far from where I go to church. We met up Sunday afternoon, and I was amazed at the apartment. It is gorgeous, and the price was well within what I can afford. It turns out that he and I had both prayed for a Christian roommate right before he posted the ad, and I replied to it about 6 minutes after he posted it. I moved in two days later on my birthday, which is August 28.

Hostel dorm I was in
My living room
my apt is the upstairs

Bliss and trials

I should have updated this thing a long time ago. I have been in Maine for the summer, now i am back in Chicago. The time I spent back home was amazing, I lived and worked with a guy from New Hope Baptist Church whom we all lovingly call Gump. I learned a lot working for him and grew a lot spiritually living with him.
During the weekends (most of them anyway) I stayed with my surrogate family, the Bridges, at Rome Farms. That was a blast too. So much happened over there in what seems like so little time.
I was able to preach about God's rest for his people during the last Wednesday service I was at in Maine. I thought I was boring, others were polite about it and told me that I wasn't boring, just the preaching was boring. (thats a joke for those not saavy to my lame sense of humor). Really though, I think it went well.

So here is a story of why we can rest in God's sovereignty:
Late in July, the last day of the month in fact, I received a call from my old roommate Hector. Hector was engaged to be married on the 18th of August and was looking for an apartment for him and his Bride-to-be to move into once they were married. He informed me that he had moved all of his and my belongings into storage and was looking for an apartment for them. Eventually he found one and started moving their things in the new place. skip to August 16, the Day I was to fly from Maine to Chicago. Hector calls me again, "Whats going on with you man?" he asks, to which I proudly state, "Oh, same ol' same ol', picnicking on the coast, overlooking a beautiful lighthouse and watching the wave crash against the cliffs," because I was. So Hector says, "Wow, that sound wonderful." "Oh it is, so what up with you," I reply. "My new apartment and everything in it burned down this morning."
If you weren't following the story, I had just described my bliss to a guy who lost all he had two days before he was to be married. I felt sick, I wanted to say,"Oh well, actually I have my head deep in a pile of fresh cow manure while being shot at by an old man in a rocking chair."

Nothing seemed to go the way it was supposed to go for the wedding, I showed up with no clothes to wear because the airline lost my bags (I was a Groomsman) and another Groomsman didn't even show up. Most of the family on both sides couldn't make it to the wedding, and only a couple dozen people showed up. The Church van which was supposed to pick up a group of people for the wedding got a flat tire and ended up being late. Through the whole ordeal Hector and Nancy hardly noticed anything wrong, God provided a suit for me to wear, alternate transportation for the group coming in the van, the lost groomsman show up at the reception, and everything seemed to go well. Hector and Nancy certainly rested in the fact that they knew that getting married was God's will, and they knew he would provide what they needed. I have my own story about coming back to Chicago, which has a little to do with the burned apartment, but I would like that to be the next post.
Pray for Hector and Nancy as they are still looking for a good apartment, I'm sure that they would love to move out of Hector's step mom's House.

Laundry list

Wow, It has been some time since I last posted. Here is my laundry list of new things. Why do they call it a laundry list anyway? Shouldn't it be a grocery list or something?

• I have a new laptop that my auntie bought me (a nice one too, thanks Aunt Yvonne!)
• My Financial Situation is no longer catastrophic
• I got a new job with a Children's charity helping sponsor kids in poverty.
• I have been visited by Liz Rebert twice, Becca Peak and Becka Rebert here in Chicago
• I am leading the Homeless ministry at my Church, we go out every Tuesday underneath lower wacker drive to minister. I know a few guys down there by name now.
• I took out a large group of Northlanders that came thru Chicago to help out my Church for a night on the town, we had a lot of fun
• I went up to Menomonee Falls, WI, to meet up with my home church group on their college trip, it was a real blessing.
  
• I got a cat, then we gave it away cuz we couldn't have one in the apartment.
  
• I am engaged to be married
• Shaved my head again, but it has grown out a little
• I am now a proud subscriber to Answers magazine.
• I saw Spiderman 3, it was good in my opinion
• I'm not really engaged to be married, I was just trying to soften the blow for the shaved head thing for those who hate it when I do that.
• There is a dude from Maranatha Baptist Bible College living with my roommate and me for the summer. his name is Robert. (hes the teacher guy in the link)
• My roommate Hector IS engaged to be married.
• My next door neighbor, Nancy, is also engaged
• They are getting married to eachother! in August
• milk
• eggs
• bread
  

Subterranean Evangelism + Chicago Deepdish + Chuck Norris

This is a slice of famous Giordano's Chicago style deep dish pizza. It is delicious. Last week, (February 13) my pastor and I met at Giordano's for about quite a while regarding street-level evangelism, and for fellowship. First a little background - A few weeks ago, the Sunday after some members from my church went into the catacombs of the city to hand out bags of hats, gloves, etc, Pastor Bill asked me to lead the Street-level evangelism ministry for our church.

I said that I would pray about it, as during the week God showed me through his word that it was his will. I actually felt kind of dumb for actually praying so much about it, when I knew the answer all along. I always tell people who say they are not sure what God's will is for them that He has already revealed it - it is to preach the Gospel to every creature, help the helpless, and sin not.

So during the meeting My pastor and I had, we talked about a lot of things. Basically the idea for the street level evangelism is for those homeless people who won't, or can't come to church for any given reason, we will bring the church to them. I've had my jumble of ideas for what this meant, as did Pastor Bill. As we talked, things became clearer and clearer. The vision is to eventually get to know some group of Homeless people very well, to sit with them, sup with them, play chess (because I stink at Checkers), all the while talking about the things of God. The broad ultimate goal, depending on your central interpretive motif, is God's Glory. I think that lends itself to a variety of smaller goals, like self sacrifice, love for others, preaching the Gospel, and the salvation of souls. So pray for this ministry if you will.

After our meeting I was headed home and at the subway station, I looked at the signs for which train to get on, I looked at the northbound train sign (the one I needed to get on) and I thought to myself, "nope, I need to get on the other one." As I was walking down the stairs to the train Mark Pospisil (a friend from church who leads an evangelism ministry, see my first Subterranean Evangelism post) called out to me. "Daniel!" he was right behind me, with a group of around 20 Moody grad students. He told me that they were going in the subway for some witnessing/preaching. I said I would stick around with them for a few minutes (which turned out to be about an hour). I talked with a few homeless people about the things of God, and gave them each a slice of pizza left over from Giordano's. I talked with around 8 people, including a Jehovah's witness (whom I actually convinced to take a tract as he boarded his train), two atheists, an agnostic, a blind girl, and a polish guy. I gave out about 50 tracts, and everyone who I came in contact with was smiling as we parted. Please also pray for that ministry.

I don't have any special profound closing lines but... I have a quote from Chuck Norris:

"On a more serious side, however, we, like our Founding Fathers, should commit ourselves to the wisdom of Jesus, ''You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.'' He was right, 100 percent." - Chuck Norris (http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54322)

Crickets, Baptism, and a Heart Attack

Since I've been back to Chicago, a few things have happened, and I haven't shared anything on here, so here's a few snippets:

I came back to Chicago with $13 in my bank account while owing the school $2300 from last semester in order to register for classes $1300 needed to be paid in less than 4 days. God provided the means yet again to register for classes.

My classes are: Concrete/foundation design II, Repair/renovation/conversion of existing buildings, Construction plan scheduling, Project: renovation of Alumni Hall (the Civil engineering college building here at IIT), and Policy:Science & Technology.

I think I will thoroughly enjoy at least 3 of my 5 classes, and maybe even the Political Science class, the professor of which is a left wing democrat.

I am breeding Crickets (eggs start hatching today!!!) to feed the 10 frogs, 2 turtles, and 2 anoles we have in the apartment (and a bearded dragon next door) After the first batch of eggs hatch, I will officially have more animals in my possession than the Bridges!

Noah (my roommate's son) is staying at our apartment more frequently.

My close friend Robin got Baptized (in an inflatable kiddy pool no less).

My apartment is nice and tidy now.

Last Saturday night some folks from my Church put together a slew of bags with gloves, hats, hand warmers, etc, in order to minister to Chicago's Homeless. I have been looking forward to it all month, but the time on the bulletin was wrong and so I missed it by an hour, but I was able to fellowship with my pastors family afterward for dinner.

Tamra Branks, my pastor's wife, had a Heart Attack last night. Please pray for her and Pastor Bill.

I may have a small window of opportunity to personally witness to Barack Obama at a small gathering in two weeks. Pray for that as well.



Tamra and Pastor Bill

Robin's Baptismal pool at his Church

Cricket's nest with an egg highlighted (click to see)

Cricket drinking from a sponge

one of ten Green Tree Frogs

one of the turtles

Noah trying to take my camera


More Pictures later

My Theological Profile

You scored as Fundamentalist. You are a fundamentalist. You take the Bible as the foundation of your faith and read it very literally, and it shapes your worldview. Non-fundamentalist Christians have watered-down the Gospel in your view, and academic study of the Bible stops us from 'taking God at his word.' Science is opposed to faith, as it contradicts basic biblical truths. Fundamentalist 93% Reformed Evangelical 93% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82% Neo orthodox 68% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Emergent/Postmodern 21% Classical Liberal 18% Roman Catholic 11% Modern Liberal 0% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Subterranean Evangelism II: What a Sandwich Can Do

In Chicago, there is a road that wraps around the downtown area. This road is called Wacker drive. The entire downtown area, and a lot more of Chicago is sitting on top of this network of subterranean roads. There are three levels of Wacker drive, the lower levels aptly named Lower Wacker Drive. These roads are the catacombs of Chicago, nearly every building and all the roads downtown are held up, by the columns in lower Wacker Drive. It's dark down there, easy to get lost in the network of streets, and it has the "I want to get out of here as quickly as possible" atmosphere. Since there is less wind, and the heat doesn't get blown away, the catacombs are generally 10-20 degrees warmer in the winter than the streets on top. This makes Lower Wacker a prime spot for Chicago's Homeless during the winter months.

There are a few ministries that help to feed those down there, kind of a drop off & get out operation, which I'm sure the homeless are very grateful for. I can understand why they don't want to spend much time there.

Last Saturday my friend Robin called me up. He knew that I had made sandwiches and gone into lower Wacker a few times in the past, he asked me if I could take him. He brought his friend Matt to my apartment, and we packed together some clothes, warm socks, gloves and other things I had collected to give out. I grabbed a bunch of gospel tracts and we headed out. We made some sandwiches and bought some coffee for the homeless on our way there.

Predictably, we got lost, but found some guys who might be able to help us out. We parked next to the three homeless gentlemen, got out some sandwiches, and coffee for them. There was Shawn, James, and Ronald. They were watching a bulls game on a 5 inch Black and white TV, who knows where they got it.

We watched the last 10 minutes of the game with them, James left, Ronald fell asleep, and I asked Shawn about his spiritual beliefs.

We talked for a while, Shawn had some beliefs about different things, but he wasn't saved. Matt jumped in, telling Shawn how much God wants him to come home, how much He loves him. I asked him if he knew why he would end up in hell. I walked him through the law of God, revealing many Shawn's sins to himself. He began to tear up, then I reminded him about God's love and Jesus redemptive work on the Cross. I told him that He can be made new, born again. He understood that he needed to repent of his sins and put his faith in the savior.

He wanted so much to be part of God's family, he told us about demonic influence in his life through dreams and other things. He told me how he wanted it all to go away so much.

I told him that I was not going to pray for him, or lead him in a sinner's prayer because if he was sincere, it would come pouring out of his heart.

Shawn looked at us and said, "Now that I'm gonna do this I don't need these any more," and he pulled out of his pockets a filth DVD, two lighters, a baggie of some drug, a handful of condoms, and another bag of 4 pills. "Get rid of these for me, I don't want 'em." The other guys found a dumpster while I stayed behind and watched as Shawn began to pray. At first it didn't look like he was praying, but talking to the wall. After a while I realized that he probably had never prayed before, but this was his way. As he starred straight ahead, he prayed for God's forgiveness for each sin he could think of. "God, I'm coming at you the only way I know how, I need you, God, I need you because I will be tempted with drugs again, after I'm done praying, I'll think those thoughts, so God, I need you. I need you, God, today, and when I'm sleeping, tomorrows a new day, God, and I'll need you then too. "

He went on to describe in detail so many sins, lust, coveting, stealing, lying, and so many more.

At first he seemed down trodden, but the more he prayed, the more he perked up, he prayed about seeing Jesus in heaven, and hugging him, and not being able to let go. Shawn prayed how much he needs God for more than an hour.

He came to Church with me the next day a new man. He wasn't looking for money of food, but we made sure to stock him up for the next week. We got him cleaned up, gave him some nice clothes and a new Bible. He was thrilled. He carries the Bible with him where ever he goes.

I thank God for blessing me to reap that which was sown so many times in Shawn's life, but more so I praise God for saving Shawn.

Check your drift limit at the door.

Delta (d) must be less than D(a), but there is a A992 W33X619 and the Drift Limit still isn't satisfied!
Ok. Its almost 5 in the morning and I have been working on this steel design project nonstop since midnight. Most of it was already done, this was supposed to be the easy part. I am completely stumped, and this project is due in 30 hours.
Here's the short of it: Nine story Steel building, earthquake might happen, make the building strong enough. I made it as strong as I could. Now there is an enormous I-beam that still isnt strong enough. There are no bigger ones in the program I am using, and I am stuck.

This is the type of thing that makes me wonder why I bother so much about something that matters so little. For a class at my secular school I am designing a building reaching up to the heavens, that can supposedly withstand an act of God such as an earthquake. One of the guys helping me with this project has a peculiar last name, fit for such a project: Babel.

Thats all for now, since I'm just a bit too tired to think of much more.

Fun and Games

This is a picture of one of my favorite classes at this time. We meet Monday and Wednesday mornings. In the class, we design and test games! This was the busy busy one earlier this semester. Now its fun and games!

Did you look at the picture. can you find me?

I don't know how else to put it: Im bald. like bald bald. with a razor bald.
Why? not quite sure myself at this point, maybe boredom, probably mostly out of curiosity. I found out that I look quite silly, but it is also very comfortable, and less of a hassle.
When? last sunday night I used the clippers, then monday night I shaved it with a razor.

I don't think i will cut it again for some time. and most likely not back to bald, knowing how silly i look.
I put some pictures here. They are all from my class last wednesday.

The Right Way, the Wrong Way, and the Right-of-Way

It was a wet, cold and rainy autumn night. He was in a neighborhood that he had never seen before. As he entered the small pontiac he noticed that the windows had fogged up since he left his car five minutes earlier. Not thinking anything of it, he stepped into the car, switch on the defrost and headed on his way. At the stop sign at the end of the block he waited, thinking the extra few seconds would help clear up his passenger side window. Thinking it was safe, he pressed the gas pedal to take him across the silent one way street to the next block. The car was half way across the road when a flash of light hit his eyes, followed by a loud thud and a sharp jerk to the left. Time didn't slow down, sound wasn't dampened, nor were there any screams or sirens, it wasn't a movie, it was real. Then I woke up; just kidding, cuz it was real! As it happened, a large Jeep SUV was rolling down that one way street when it met with the hapless pontiac. Without thinking, the young man jumped out of his car to the other vehicle. Knocking on the fogged over driver's side window he yelled "Are you okay?!" The window rolled down revealing two young women. The driver crying bitterly, the other yelling, hurling accusations and insults at the young man. "Look what you did" she cried, to which he quickly countered, "I don't care about the cars right now, are you both okay?" He hadn't even checked himself to see if he was hurt. "Yeah we're fine, thanks alot!" She sarcastically confessed.

this 3rd person story mode is hard. now I'm switching over to regular mode

To make a long story short, the police were very nice. They deemed the accident my fault because it was the Jeep's right of way, which was a fair assessment in my opinion, despite the fact that neither one of us saw one another until we hit. I got a citation that says I have to go to court on January 5. I want to get this moved to another time, cuz I gotta wedding to go to the next day. Also, since I delivered for a Chinese place, I lost a job because I lost my car in the accident.
There's basically two ways I could' ve looked at this whole situation. The first is to realize that my car is beyond reasonable repair, I lost my delivery job, I have to go to court the day before a wedding, and it was all my fault. I have the right to complain and moan and groan and whine and grumble and gripe and wail and bellyache and ... you get the point. I consider this the WRONG way of dealing with the situation.
The other way to look at it is to recognize that God is sovereign, so whatever it seems, this whole happening is a good thing. Not good like big house 5 cars in suburbia, but good because it is from God. After all, what did I lose? a car? a job? big whoop. it's just a car, and I have two other jobs. Not only that, but I didn't really like the job, not because it was stressful, but because it was taking away from the time I needed to get my work for school done. While I was in the car waiting for the police to finish the papers, I was calling some people to let them know that "I got into an accident, but I'm ok, everythings ok". I was making jokes, laughing, and just staying at ease.
I called my friend John, who I worked with at the Chinese delivery, he's the one that got me the job there. He's not Christian, but I had shared with him how much I didn't want to work there any more. When I told him what happened over the phone he plainly said "well I guess God delivered for you." I thought he was making a play on words about the delivery job and that fact that I am a Christian, so I didn't know what to say. Then he said, "you know, you were saying you didn't want the job anymore." I realized he was encouraging me. That was probably the best encouragement I have had about the situation, and it came from an atheist.
On my way home that night (I had to take the train) I was able to be a blessing to a family and a blind homeless man named "The Big Doowop, or Whop for short" That was nice.

Lots more details, but it all boils down to this: I don't count this wreck as a loss, but really as a gain. I feel like God didn't take something from me, but gave me something I did not deserve. I can't really explain it very well, but all in all, I thank God for it.

Here at IIT (not ITT), there are a few "Christian" clubs.
Campus Crusade for Christ
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
Remnant in Covenant
Rejoice in Jesus Campus Fellowship
IIT Bible Club
I want to break down my experiences with each one of these clubs in my next few posts.

Campus Crusade for Christ comes first for no particular reason other than alphabetical- I went to a bunch of their meetings/Bible Studies when they first came to campus. One guy transferred from another university to IIT to be the president of the Club so it could get started with the help of some staff hired by the national CCC, Mark Covell, and Beth Ann Nelson.

Mark likes Napoleon Dynamite, so you might be able to tell that he and I got along pretty well, until he found out that I was in another Christian club on campus. When I told him the Church I went to he told me that "you should, no you need to change Churches," because apparently the church was trying to control my life. I had in mind at that time to change churches, but not because they were trying to control me (like Mark was), but because they were growing more liberal every day. Closer and closer to being like this church: New Community Covenant Church, which happened to be the church he was going to at the time. So he basically told me that unless I left the club I was part of (which had ties to my old church) and switch to another church, there could be no way that I would be able to represent IIT's CCC as a member in a leadership position. Kind of like gently kicking me out of the club.

Then I started going to a book/Bible study with a couple guys from CCC and a couple other guys. The Book was Wild at Heart by John Eldridge . After the first meeting I realized that this book just isn't very Christian. Basically the message of the book is that men have to be manly, act on our impulses, those desires we have are given by God, so go for it! Yeah! A lot of people just love the book, and I think I know why: it gives people an excuse to act on sinful desires.
One other guy besides myself in the group seemed to recognize the abhorrent teaching in this book. The leader of the group wanted us to all get together to have a guys movie night, he suggested a bunch of R rated movies, mostly movies full of bad language and at least one had a nude scene. When I commented that maybe we should consider a wholesome movie, he basically said that were all grown up and we can handle it, besides, the author of the book recommended these ones. Every night of the meeting he would call each one of the guys to make sure they were coming. Half way through the semester I stopped going to the book study, he never called.

CCC along with IVCF is sponsoring an event on campus called "Porn Nation: the naked truth" I cant say anything about the event except that the advertisements around campus are very provocative, not in a good way.
the verse that comes to mind is Romans 3:8
And why not say (as we are slanderousley reported and as some claim that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just. [NASB]

I know that there may be people who disagree with my take on some of these things, that's ok, I might be wrong. I would be happy to listen to another POV.
well, I'm about done. got other stuff to do.
ciao

Do you want a sign from God?

This is an excerpt from an article I read recently by Ray Comfort, the rest is here.


Tony sat patiently on the “red-eye” flight, and passed the long hours of the night by reading a Bible that his wife had given to him a few hours earlier. She had convinced him that he had sinned against God by violating the Ten Commandments. What she said was true. Tony had broken the Commandments. He had lied and stolen, and he knew that if he stood before God on Judgment Day he was in big trouble. The words of Jesus echoed in his mind: “Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery already with her in his heart.”

The opened pages brought back a flood of childhood memories from his days at Sunday school. He remembered a number of Bible stories. Of course, there was the one was about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, and rising on the third day. Then there was the story that put the fear of God in Tony as a child. It was the narrative of the man who ignored the things of God and instead stored up treasures on earth. God said to him, “You fool. Tonight your soul shall be required of you.” Others stories such as Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, Moses and the Red Sea, and Daniel and the Lion’s den came to mind as well.

His wife had also insisted that he needed the Savior. She warned, “If you die without Jesus Christ, you will face the Law that you have broken, and it will be harsher than the law of gravity. You must repent, and trust Jesus…like you would trust a parachute to save you.”
Tony had a dilemma. How could he know if the Bible was true? Who wrote it? Was it written by God or by men? Could he trust its words? He glanced at two gospel tracts his wife had put into the Bible. One was titled, “Scientific Facts in the Bible.” It listed about a dozen scientific facts that were written in the Scriptures thousands of years before man discovered them. That didn’t impress Tony at all. He wanted concrete evidence. The other publication was called “The Bible is Full of Mistakes.” Despite the title, the tract actually listed biblical “signs” of the end of the age. These signs were said to be earthquakes, famines, violence, diseases, lawlessness, wars, occult interest, the increase in travel and in knowledge, and a number of other things. As he glanced over the “signs,” Tony mumbled, “These have always been around.”

There was one prophecy that did impress him though. It was the one about the Jews obtaining Jerusalem. In 1967, the Jews regained Jerusalem for the first time in 2,000 years. This was an event that Jesus said would take place as a sign of the end of the age. It was interesting, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to know who actually wrote the Bible and whether or not he could trust it. Was it indeed “written by God” as it so often claimed to be, or was it simply written by men?

Another thought that his wife had mentioned was that God had deliberately filled the Bible with stories that would be offensive to anyone with a proud heart. His purpose in doing this was so that all who came to Him for salvation would have to come through the lowly door of humility; God “resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.” As Tony sat contemplating these thoughts, he admitted that that was a common thread throughout the Bible, from Adam and Eve, to David and Goliath, to Jonah and the whale, to Daniel and the lion’s den, to Noah and the Ark, to Sampson and Delilah, to Jesus being born in a stable, and walking on water. Anyone with any intellectual dignity would never stoop to believe such trite fairy tales. “Stoop” was the operative word. To believe in the Bible one would certainly have to come down a notch or two. If that was indeed what God had done, the words of Jesus did then make sense: “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes” (Matthew 12:25, italics added).

All these thoughts and reading made Tony’s eyes suddenly feel heavy. He closed them momentarily. As he signed deeply, he heard a sober male voice over the speaker system. It was the captain warning that the plane had serious engine trouble, and that it was about to crash! He then informed the passengers that there was parachute under their seats, and after reading the instruction booklet that was in the seat pocket in front of them, they were to immediately put on the parachute.

As Tony took hold of the publication, he read the bold print on the cover:
“Important! Emergency Parachute Instructions…your life depends on your understanding of these instructions.”

He opened it further and saw step-by-step directives. It spoke of the importance of strap adjustment. It also said how to avoid being sucked into the jet engines, where to locate the rip cord, when to pull it, how to make sure the parachute didn’t become twisted, and how to land without serious injury.

As he looks at its words, he wondered who authored the publication. Was it the parachute manufacturer, the airline, or did someone else pen it? Another even more urgent warning came over the speaker system. The sober voice said that the aircraft door was about to open, and that cabin pressure would suddenly drop. It said that it would be too late to put on the parachute once the door was opened. The voice said, “Put it on now!”

Tony ignored the warning. His mind was absorbed with other thoughts. “Who was it that wrote the instruction booklet? Was it some weirdo? Or was it authored by the airline? What was their purpose in writing it? Perhaps it was written by the parachute manufacturer, or then again, it may have been...”

His thoughts were stopped mid-sentence by a deafening roar. The aircraft door had been opened. Cabin pressure dropped. In a split second, air was sucked from Tony’s lungs. His eyes filled with terror as he gasped for precious air. Suddenly, he was ripped from his seat and pulled towards the open door. With all his strength, he held onto a seatback as the irresistible vacuum pulled him closer to the opening. His fingers weaken. In an instant, he was gone...sucked into the blackness of the night.
As he plummeted in unspeakable terror towards the unforgiving earth, ten words echo in his mind, “You fool. Tonight your soul shall be required of you.”

Suddenly Tony awoke. The open Bible was still on his lap. His hands were dripping with sweat. His breathing was fast and heavy. It was a nightmare. His wide eyes fell onto a passage of scripture:
“For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent...For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock, and to the Greeks foolishness…” (1 Corinthians 1:19, 22—23).

Liberal Democrats vs Liberal Republicans!

It's voting season again. The candidates flyers and signs are blossoming with brilliant red and vibrant blue color patterns. My neighborhood is dominated by bright blue signs along the sidewalk that spout "ROD BLEGOJEVICH 2006 GETTING THINGS DONE FOR PEOPLE". I walk by as I say to myself "pfft, homosexual promotin, money stealin, flip floppin, gun banning, baby killing, terrorist lovin, liberal, ignorant democrats."
"Why can't there be more Judy Barr Topinka signs around?" I say to myself.
If you havn't figured it out, Blegojevich is democrat and Topinka is Republican. They utterly hate eachother. The mudslinging is vicious, they haven't even gotten togther to have a formal debate. ok back to my story:
Then as I'm walking I see a "JUDY BARR TOPINKA for GOVERNOR" sign... Well I have yet to see one, but we can imagine right? Then I breathe in a sigh of relief, til I found out what she stood for, then the sigh turned sour in my lungs and I coughed and gagged and hacked till the sigh jerked it's way out and back into the air, filling the entire Chicago downtown with smog... we were imagining, remember?
You see, Judy Barr Topinka is what we might call a liberal republican. She is a gay rights activist, marching in, even funding gay pride parades. She is Pro-abortion. She supports a limit on how many hand guns one can own. And probably everthing else you can think of.
She and Blegojevich agree on all of these issues, but both are pointing to the other as if to say, "see, see, the other one is more evil."

I don't understand how two like minded individuals such as these can't just get along. It think they are just fighting to see who can destroy Illinois (and America) first.
So who do I vote for?
OK I'm blabbing about politics, I'll stop now.

Jury Duty

I had to go to jury duty on Tuesday. Here's the play-by-play:

Monday, October 16, 2006
11:00pm I had planned to get my hair cut real short again , even shaved, to look like a hardened criminal, in hopes of not getting selected for a jury, but I went to bed instead.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
8:30 Check in at the Juror waiting area there are about 100 people in the room.
My address on the summons was wrong
I was put in jury panel #50
8:45 I started studying for the exam that I had at 3:00 pm in Steel Design II that I would miss.
The Guy nest to me is reading "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown.
9:45 About 300 Jurors in the room by now.
A lady makes some announcements to the Jurors, She had the most robotic voice I have ever heard.
11:00 Finally panel #50 is called to the courtroom
There are 18 panelists on panel #50
11:30 Judge Raymond Funderbunk enters
I was selected as one of the 12 to be questioned
We were all asked several questions like "have you or any of your immediate family ever been involved in a motor vehicle accident?"
"are you married, have children,"
"whats your occupation?" and what seemed like four hundred other questions.
12:45 Judge and attorneys enter into a sidebar conference to determine who will be selected to be on this jury.
1:00 I was selected among 5 others to be on this case.
Trial was to be at 2:00pm sharp in room 1504 in the Daley center.
Lunch recess until 2.
Went to lunch at the Tompson center, had cream of broccolli soup, mmm. it was super hot.
2:15 Start of trial: Enterprize rent-a-car suing Carmen Freda for not paying for wrecking a car that he rented in feb. 2004.
The fact was established that he caused damage to the car, it was the juror's job to determine the amount Mr. Carmen Freda owed, or if he owed anything.
2:55 One of the Jurors was acting sick like she was gonna vomit.
But she was fine we we took a recess to go into the jury room.
3:37 Another Recess as we wait for the Attorney's closing arguments.
We waited there for over an hour, we played scrabble.
4:30 We began to wonder if they were going to send us away to come back the next day, after all, the summons said to be prepared to stay until 4:30.
4:50 We are called back into the room to hear closing arguments
5:05 We go back into the Jury room to decide how much the guy owed.
It was pretty quick, the documents were there.
Carmen Freda signed that he wrecked the car,
there were pictures of the damage along with the appraisal for repairs.
5:20 "We the Jury" Blah blah. He owed the full amount of $5154.84 for damaged done to the car.
6:00 went to take my exam, late, way late. Did pretty well I think tho.


When I share my faith with others I sometimes use a courtroom scene, God as the Judge, the defendant is the person, the verdict is guilty and the fine is hell punishment. Sometimes I would enhance the scene by saying that the judge is the vitim of the crime also.

Well, now that I know that most cases are civil, not criminal, and I see how the American justice system actually works, should I change the scene I use when i witness, or still go off of TV court style? hmmm. This is probably the biggest dilemma I have had since I had to choose what to eat for lunch that fatefull Tuesday at the Thompson Center food court. Please help me solve this problem!!!

One more 3D

I couldn't find this for the other 3D post, it is my first 3D drawing. Look closely at the orange texture, i made it myself =]

Poem

I look at poetry in a similar way that I look at Bluegrass music. Most of it is junk, but when you find a good one, your appreciation for it almost redeems the rest of the genre.
I came across this poem, written by Matilda C. Edwards in 1898, about the World slowly working its way into the Church. This poem, in my opinion, accurately depicts most of 1898's, and today's Christian Church. It's long, but it's eye opening, please take time to read it:

"Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” -James 4:4

The Church Walking With the World

The Church and the World walked far apart,

On the changing shores of time;

The World was singing a giddy song,

And the Church a hymn sublime.

“Come, give me your hand,” cried the merry world,

“And walk with me this way;”

But the good Church hid her snowy hand

And solemnly answered, “Nay,

I will not give you my hand at all,

And I will not walk with you;

Your way is the way of endless death;

Your words are all untrue.”

“Nay walk with me but a little space,”

Said the World with a kindly air;

“The road I walk is a pleasant road,

And the sun shines always there;

Your path is thorny and rough and rude,

And mine is broad and plain;

My road is paved with flowers and gems,

And yours with tears and pain.

The sky above me is always blue;

No want, no toil I know;

The sky above you is always dark;

Your lot a lot of woe.

My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,

And my gate is high and wide,

There is room enough for you and for me

To travel side by side.”

Half shyly the Church approached the World,

And gave him her hand of snow;

The old World grasped it and walked along,

Saying, in accents low -

“Your dress is too simple to please my taste;

I will give you pearls to wear,

Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,

And diamonds to deck your hair.”

The Church looked down at her plain white robes,

And then at the dazzling World,

And blushed as she saw his handsome lip

With a smile contemptuous curled.“

I will change my dress for a costlier one,”

Said the Church with a smile of grace;

Then her pure white garments drifted away,

And the World gave in their place,

Beautiful satins and shining silks,

And roses and gems and pearls;

And over her forehead her bright hair fell

Crisped in a thousand curls.

“Your house is too plain,” said the proud old world;

“I’ll build you one like mine:

Carpets from Brussels, and curtains of lace,

And furniture ever so fine.”

So he built her a costly and beautiful house;

Most splendid it was to behold;

Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there

Gleaming in purple and gold;

And fairs and shows in the halls were held,

And the World and his children were there;

And laughter and music and feasts were heard

In the place that was meant for prayer.

She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great

To sit in their pomp and pride,

While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,

Sat meekly down outside.

The Angel of Mercy flew over the Church,

And whispered, “I know thy sin;”

The Church looked back with a sigh, and longed

To gather her children in.

But some were off in the midnight ball,

And some were off at the play,

And some were drinking in gay saloons;

So she quietly went her way.

The sly world gallantly said to her,

“Your children mean no harm -

Merely indulging in innocent sports.”

So she leaned on his proffered arm,

And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers

As she walked along with the World;

While millions and millions of deathless souls

To the terrible pit were hurled.

“Your preachers are all too old and plain,”

Said the gay old world with a sneer;

They frighten my children with dreadful tales,

Which I like not for them to hear:

They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,

And the horrors of endless night;

They talk of a place that should not be

Mentioned to ears polite.

I will send you some of the better stamp,

Polished and gay and fast,

Who will tell them that people may live as they list

And go to heaven at last.

The Father is merciful, great and good,

Tender and true and kind;

Do you think He would take one child to heaven

And leave the rest behind?”

So he filled her house with ‘cultured’ divines,

Gifted and great and learned;

And the plain old men that preached the Cross

Were out of the pulpit turned.

“You give too much to the poor,” said the World,

Far more than you ought to do;

If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,

Why need it trouble you?

Go, take your money and buy rich robes,

And horses and carriages fine,

And pearls and jewels and dainty food,

And the rarest and costliest wine.

My children, they dote on all such things,

And if you their love would win,

You must do as they do, and walk in the ways

That they are walking in.”

The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,

And gracefully lowered her head,

And simpered, “I’ve given too much away;

I’ll do, sir, as you have said.”

So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,

And she heard not the orphan’s cry;

And she drew her beautiful robes aside,

As the widows went weeping by,

The sons of the World and the sons of the Church

Walked closely in hand and heart,

And only the Master, who knoweth all,Could tell the two apart.

The Church sat down at her ease and said,

“I am rich and in goods increased;

I have need of nothing and nought to do

But to laugh and dance and feast.”

The sly world heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,

And mockingly said aside,“The Church is fallen - the beautiful Church -

And her shame is her boast and pride!”

The Angel drew near the mercy-seat,

And whispered, in sighs, her name,

And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,

And covered their heads with shame.

And a voice came down, through the hush of heaven,

From Him who sat on the throne;-

“I know thy works, and how thou hast said,

I am rich; and hast not known

That thou art naked, and poor and blind

And wretched before My face;

Return, repent, lest I cast thee out,

And blot thy name from its place!”

3D Drawing

This is a 3D model of New Hope Baptist Church.
I would like pictures so that i could make things more accurate, this is just from memory. I couldnt figure out how to do the driveways and parking lot.

Here is a small church drawing I did.

I have others but I dont want to upload them.

These are the results of me at work for eight hours having finished a large chunk of a nine story steel building design project. I figured you wouldn't wanna see the plans for that, I sure don't want to look at them anymore.

The Homeless Man, and the Modalist, and Me

First a little background: If you know me well enough, you might know that I have a broken heart for the homeless. I have a few homeless friends around Chicago, Darryl, on state street; David on Roosevelt; Eugene, and a couple others. Sometimes I help those guys out with some change or a couple dollars. Mostly I bring them food, that's what I do with most of the homeless people I meet. I don't mind, actually I enjoy, talking with Chicago's homeless. As far as a few of them have put it: it makes their day for someone to just make eye contact or smile. So what a blessing it must be for some person to sit down next to them and chat for a half hour.

I am just like every other person in Chicago most of the time however. In fact I would say that I am worse in some respects. Not only do I avoid eye contact, but sometimes I lie to get out of giving. For example, just last week a man asked if I could help him get some food. I gave him a gospel tract and then lied about having any money. The conviction came immediately. Then I told him I had money to help, but it's not mine, another thump by the Spirit. I eventually gave the man enough to get a sandwich, we talked for about 5 minutes, he told me about his ten year old son in Madison, WI. He was trying to save enough money to take a bus there. His eyes began to water as he talked. Hope crept in as he talked about how close he was to getting the money he needs.

That night I was reading Matthew. I was again rebuked by God when I read Jesus' words:

40"If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
41"Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
42"Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

I made so many excuses to avoid the homeless, after all, how do I know what they will do with whatever it is I give to them? Or what if they do something to me? After reading those verses I can't seem to make those excuses in my heart anymore. I'm not saying I will give a dollar to Every homeless person I meet on my daily commute, that's just not feasible, but I can't ignore them anymore. I know that what every man needs, even the homeless man, is much greater than a dollar. Praise God that so many of Chicago's homeless are born again.
Please pray for me in this area. Also would you join me in praying for Chicago's Pacific Garden Mission, a mission that ministers to the homeless here?
That was the Background, now for my story:

I gave been so encouraged lately. I like to go to different parts of Chicago to pass out million dollar bill tracts. In the past couple weeks, I have been told by several people when I hand them the tract that they have seen them. Keep in mind that there are 6x10^6+ people in Chicago (for those LAYMEN who aren't so familiar with scientific notation, that means more than six million). I did some math, if I passed out 100 gospel tracts a day, in different areas of Chicago, and accounting for population growth, it would take me over 200 years to meet someone who already had one. I guess I should get started, huh? BUT, one homeless man this morning (Peter) showed me one that he had in his pocket from a week ago. So apparently I fell into a 1 in 75,000 chance (I did some more math) of finding someone who I gave one to earlier last week, OR I'm not the only person saturating Chicago with the Good News. Obviously we both know the answer is that I'm not alone, I know this for a fact (my roommate and several friends have some beautify feet!) But should I not act as if I am the only person out there? Of course. So onto the Modalist:

While I was talking with Peter, a bull came running out of a China shop next door (Dunkin Donuts?), and began "witnessing" to me and Peter. This particular bull was a oneness Pentecostal. A LOUD one, I tried sharing my faith with her, but she wouldn't let me get a word in edge wise. Apparently I am a pagan, polytheistic, deceived, young man who needs to read Acts and be baptized again, but this time in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. If you don't know much about Oneness, or modalist theology, check out this site, its got a lot of good resources.

When she left, Peter and I continued talking. I discovered he was born again. Praise God.

Blessings come through Chinese food too, and not just the fortune cookie.

I was talking to friend of mine last monday about how I think I need another job to help pay for rent. He told me that he just got a job delivering Chinese food. I laughed and teased him, until he told me about how much money he made. Apparently downtown Chicagoans are very generous tippers. Anywho, after class on last Monday he drove me to the L station that was by the Chinese place he worked at. I jokingly said "maybe I should apply there too." He told me they were hiring, a joke turned to reality and I applied. Earlier today I got a call. "Hi this is Johnny from Yang's Chinese..." So to make a long story short, I now officially give downtown Chicago their long sought after Kung Po Shrimp and Beef Chow Fun.
I have three jobs now plus I'm a full time college student, My commute to and from campus is about an hour each way. You think YOU'RE busy... you probably are, but me too.

Subterranian Evangelism

Last Friday I went downtown Chicago with a group of 6 or 7 people (some from my church, others I never met). Most of them were from Moody Bible Institute. I was going to go meet them on a busy sidewalk to help gather a crowd for open air preaching. I got off the subway and it was raining real bad. So check this out: I gave Bethany (a friend from Church) a call to ask what's happening, where they were. She answered and said that they were at a subway platform a few stops away. So I got back on the train and when I got there I met up with everyone. First thing I said was "How did you get phone reception down here?" She looked at her phone (which didn’t have any reception) looked back at me and said, "I was wondering the same thing when you called me." For those who don't know what its like 100 feet below ground, one of the aspects is ZERO phone reception. I mean you don't get any at all, even walking down the steps to the platform.

Here's the conclusion we came up with: The cellular signal emitted from the phone was actually amplified by the cylindrical shape of the concrete walls. Coupled with the electrical field given off of the third rail of the train tracks running parallel along both sides of the tunnel, and the conductive steel columns traversing up through the concrete shell of the subway walls into the earthen subsurface above the tunnel itself, the digital cellular signal actually converted itself into an analog signal on it's conical path from the phone antenna but not before penetrating the central hub of the storm drain tunnels, thereby emitting the signal throughout all of Chicagoland, which probably caused electromagnetic interference and possible electro-meltdown among all cell phone towers in the area directly after hanging up. Sorry Chicago. or... God may have had a part in it. Anyway the whole time was a blast. We passed out hundreds of tracts, witnessed to oodles of people and even did some open air preaching in between trains stopping. YES, two minute Gospel presentations are possible. There was a cop watching us the whole time, but he wasn't watching the guy playing blues guitar loud enough to drown us out. I hope it was because he wanted to hear the gospel (Yes, he did) and not because he thought we were causing trouble.

I witnessed to a Jewish girl who seemed truly convicted of her sin. She clung to every word I said, every verse I quoted. She heard the Gospel of the Messiah but I don't know what she did with it. Pray for her, God knows her name.

first blog

I decided to finally post a web log, im a little behind the times.

This summer I was in Maine, I "threatened" to shave my hair off several times over there. The same hour I got back to chicago I did it. I like it. I'll post a picture. I was told the shirt matches my Eyes.