commencement addresses

i was talking with blaine today and told him i would put up on the blog steve jobs’ commencement address to the 2005 graduating class at standford. here’s a quote form it:

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

you can read the rest of it here.

i’m blind – well sort of

braat.freeserverhost.comi went to the optometrist today to get my vision checked. for the past couple of months i’ve been having slight vision problems – basically having a more difficult time focusing on things in the distance. i finally became fed up with feeling my eyes focus on refocus on objects and thus i went to get my eyes examined.

well the doctor has looked at my eyes, i’ve read the eye chart backwards and forwards, and the verdict is in – i have a mild astigmatism. basically, i am becoming more nearsighted as i grow older and thus i need to get some glasses for occasional use. before my mom freaks out i need to say that it is merely a mild nearsightedness and i can still drive without glasses. the doctor said glasses would make my vision easier but i didn’t have to wear them all the time. so rest comfortable mom – i’m okay.

newsletter article for july

back in february i said that i would start placing my monthly youth ministry newsletter articles on the blog. every month i’m desperate for some idea to write about and len evans had mentioned posting these things for others to be able to get their desperation ideas form. it sounded like a good idea and i decided to start doing it. unfortunately i only did it once. so here goes my second attempt. here’s the my article i placed in this month’s youth ministry newsletter.

i love being with the church.

now i say “being with the church” rather than “going to church” because of the fact that CHRIST’s church is not made up of buildings. no, the church is made up of humans. JESUS CHRIST’s church is composed of all those who believe in and desperately try to follow the LORD. i love being with people like that.

sometimes i hear people say that they can’t stand the church because the people who make up the church are so messed up. they say that “church” people do the same stupid things that everyone else does. they say that “church” people are just as mean as everyone else in the world. the truth is that they’re right about the people who make up the church … we are some messed up people.

yet what i love about being with the people who make up CHRIST’s church is that as messed up as we still are CHRIST has already made a difference in our lives and is changing us. as i type this i can hear people right outside of my study talking and laughing. these are people that i know and love. i’ve heard how JESUS has made a difference in their lives. i know some of the story about who they used to be. they’ve been changed by a loving GOD and that’s why they are a part of CHRIST’s church. they may still be messed up (no more than i am) but JESUS is still working on them and changing them into HIS image. that’s why i love being with and hanging out with CHRIST’s church, because there is nothing more exciting than seeing people’s lives completely changed. that’s what happens when you hang out with CHRIST’s church.

that’s why i love being with the church.

you have to be pretty desperate to use it but if you are that desperate go ahead and steal away.

basketballs

nol-roos.infoevery year we take a ton of basketballs down to nicaragua with us. we do this to be able to give them to the kids. try as we might we never have enough for everyone to get one. sometime the kids get so desperate to get a basketball that fights break out over them. we need to find more basketballs to take with us to nicaragua.

that’s where you can help. consider bringing some basketballs to church with you. you might have three or four old basketballs sitting around your house collect dust – you can bring those too. every basketball you bring will be sent down to nicaragua and given to a kid who will be extremely thankful for it.

besides bringing joy to a small child your basketball will also help to continue cementing the relationships between parkview and the people of diriamba, nicaragua.