My Summer Job

I have the priviledge to work with underprivilidged youth at a program called "ray of hope". Basically what we do is hang out with kids and allow them to actually be a kid, whereas at home they are having to grow up too fast. I get to meet the most awesome people and also see some of these kids meet God for the first time and also find out who Jesus is and give them a small glimmer of the love he has for them.

One of my "favorites" is a kid who has Cerebral Palsy named Dana. Dana and I talk about stuff he likes to do, dreams he has, and also things that he wishes that he could do. One of these things is Skateboarding. Yesterday he looked at me after he saw two kids skate by and said:

"that's something I'll never get to do".

"What are you talking about?", I asked, "You've got a skateboard strapped to your butt right now".

"Yeah, but I'll never get to stand on a skateboard".

"So???" I said, "You can still do tricks, you can still go into skate bowls, you can still roll with them"

and at that moment he smiled at me and started doing wheelies, 360's, and all of these other tricks and laughing again. I learn so much from these kids who "don't have a chance". I believe that these kids are an integral part of the future, and if they don't know that somebody is taking the time to care for them or to even show and tell them that Jesus loves them, then what are we even doing on this earth?

I love my summer job.

peas beaches
ron

Monk- You're going to have to email me, because I don't know your email address.

giftings

I don't know how much I agree with the whole "where do your giftings lie" that ministries continually pound into us as christians. I think that people do have giftings, but at the same time I think that they settle for so much less than they are able to do. For example: I'm a good listener, so I should probably lead a small group that will meet once a week or maybe every other week. I think that this listener could find so much more to do than just a small group, what about leading non believers to know Christ without the small group? What if the listener was also good at speaking in public? We will never know, because they are only leading a small group.

I'm not a "gifts died in acts" kind of guy. I actually believe that they are alive and serving the church today, but I also believe that people tend to sell themselves short with gifts and serving. I think that people get pigeon holed and then believe that this is the only way that they can serve.

does any of this make sense?

ron

ps: I believe that my gift is getting people to go against the grain and try to question who they are and what they believe.

The Fourth of July

I appreciate my freedom of speech, I really do. I think that this year was the first time I've ever really reflected on the Fourth of July and what it truly means to me. The fact that I can talk about my faith openly, or talk about my government openly, protest and ditest what it does or seems to stand for, or even that I get to type on this blog without the fear that someone is tracking my where abouts at this very second is a blessing.

As I watched fireworks exploding in the sky, by peoples ears, or in peoples hands this past holiday, I thought to myself how lucky we truly are that we are free of oppression and tyranny. The symbolism of the "rockets red glare" and "Bombs bursting in air" made me realize that people went through a lot to obtain and sustain this freedom that I have. Though I don't agree with political views and wars that go on, I do know that we are lucky be where we are.

So enough of patriotism, here is the statement that we as christians need to question: "God Bless America". Why is it during these patriotic times, we have this come up over and over again. Is this the true ringing tone of freedom? Who was the brain giant who wrote this song? I'll bet he was white, rich, and a slave owner. The worst part about this scenario is that people are still writing these songs glorifying our country, but now these songs include something whitty like "these colors don't run" or "if you mess with us we'll kick your ass".

But it doesn't stop at the song. Sure we don't own slaves, but why is it when we pull into a Family Bookstore, somebody has taken their sticker of a yellow ribbon with this phrase printed on it and cleverly turned it sideways like a "jesus fish". I think if they are going to release all of the "God Bless America" propaganda, they should at least make it truly mean what they are selling and add to it "and no one else". They may as well start making "God Bless Whitey" or "God Bless Me" stickers.

And this is where the whole freedom thing rings in (pun intended). We look at our lives and the opportunities we have and we say, "I'm so glad to live in America and be able to worship my God freely", and yet we never look at others when we say this. It's almost like the Pharisee and the tax collector: God, thank you for blessing me as an american and that you didn't make me like the people in somalia who are fearful of being taken out by Mogadishu warlords. And they are there saying, "God, thank you for allowing me to be alive". Our priorities seem to get messed up in freedom...maybe that's what I've been trying to say this whole time. If that makes sense to you then that's what I was saying - priorities, it's what's for dinner.

peas
ron

cd- If you would like more "America Rules and you suck" music, listen to Toby Keith.