j-lou is 33!

what is up j-lou readers? i am now exactly 33 and two days. my friend chris took me to vegas and spoiled the crap out of me the last three days. much love to chris. i turned 33 which i sometimes think is pretty old and other times i think i got a lot of living to do and am looking forward to what the next years have to offer. i think it was chuck swindoll or john maxwell said, the first 35 years of your life is when god is preparing you for your largest impact. so i feel like the last two years have been a fire that i never want to go through again, but hopefully it will be used for something good and maybe great. i really have not been too personally lately, but i said its my birthday .... what the hell.

my approach to theology, politics, relationships and faith have been a great adventure over the last 20 months. i think i appreciate jesus more now than ever, but am more confused about applying his teaching to ministry. it probably because most of the systems that i was trained to do ministry, seem less like his style. i am not even really sure if he had a style. but like said... i have a few more years to try and figure it out. i know that when it is time for the greatest impact of j-lous life to happen i will know. i know it is not manana, but if chuck and john say i got two more years. it sounds about right.

i told u so.... YES!

ok, 10 - 1 is looking awful nice right now with one game left on the schedule next week. the dames lived up to what i expected of them and played as if they were up against the likes of army, navy, north carolina, air force and whoever else they throw on the schedule to make them look decent. and if you play like that against the trojans that always play better in november than any other month. so trojans do not look forward and take care of business against the care bears and if i win the lottery i will pay for bens ticket and airfare to watch the game on january 8. the tickets are already ridiculous and i can probably buy an lcd big screen tv for the price of my trip.

wow. this guy goes off

i stole this blog post from rudy at urbanonramps.com, but enough of you people probably don't venture over to rudy's blog even though you should. so read it via j-lou.

good cause... help if you feel led

j-lou readers. a good friend of mine in houston is trying to help his cousin a teacher in south central help a middle school girl get to washington dc. read the letter and if you feel led... break her off a buck or two. peace.
-----------------------------------------


Dear Friends and Family,

I ask for a little bit of your time and hopefully some
much needed assistance. I worked at Graham elementary
for over 6 years. It is located in the heart of South
Central Los Angeles. During my time at Graham I met a
lot of children and always saw my number one duty was
that of being a role model above all else. Positivity
is something lacking in several of these children's
home. Often times all they see are the drugs, gangs
and violence they are surrounded by. It became
increasing frustrating to see innocent children become
products of their environment. The streets are divided
by the gangs and violence and your hardworking parents struggling to show their kids a positive way of life. One of the few children I have kept in contact with is Yesenia Madrigal. She is now 13 years old and attends Gage Jr. High School in Huntington Park. Recently she was chosen as one of four students given the opportunity to visit Washington DC. Winning participants were chosen as a part of an essay contest. Children were ask to identify "the best day of their lives." Her essay was entitled "The day I became Christian." I believe this is a chance of a life time for her...something that will not only be enlightening but will stay with her forever. She is attempting to raise 1400 dollars to cover the cost of the trip. She has been working extremely hard doing everything possible to reach her goal. Selling chocolates at school, around her neighborhood, and various locations. She is also conducting weekly yard sales, baby sitting, and sending letters to family members. Yesenia's Mom is a single mother who works cleaning at a local beauty salon. While unable to provide certain material things...she has raised her daughter to become a respectable and level headed young lady. I feel she is undoubtedly deserving of this opportunity and while she is not aware of this email...I have made it my personal goal to get her to Washington DC. At this point she has raised just over 200 dollars...so she is approximately 1200 short. The remainder of the money is due by Jan 5th. I sincerely ask for any donation and assure you...your money will make a significant impact in her life.

To Donate, Go here:
http://www.bidinhouston.com/Donate.html


Thank you,
Josue Omar Ortiz

Canceling LA Fitness Membership

McDonalds has opened a gym in place of their playgrounds.

2 Grown Men Hug.... Good Day for USC

ok.... for the haters, the skeptics (including me at times this year), the faithful and everyone in between. i love november college football. here are some of the amazing highlights of this weekend.

1. USC Beats Cal by 14.
2. Ohio St beats Michigan (score looks closer than the game) Congrads Ben... Sorry Brian!
3. Rutgers gets their butts handed to them by Cincy. (i thought this was footballl not basketball)
   
4. BCS sucks, but if SC wins out it should work out.
5. Notre Dame beats ... whatever lame school they played this week to make themselves look good. Give the AD an A+ for creating a schedule to help them make a bcs game.

that is my top five things in college football and my christmas wish is that the bcs dies a horrible death and we will all see a playoff system before we die... christ returns (for you predisponsational theologians) or we enter the next ice age. lol.

My 100th Post

ok this is not monumental for some of you out there... aka jeremy and rudy. but it does beat some of you out there with like 4 posts (danielle, jen jen) just playing. haha.

i will make the official announcement that i am reading a book... haha. for everyone who thought it would be something a lot more interesting and personal. but like i have said, i have been pretty lazy in adding new information in my head to think about, so i ordered two books that should give me a lot of things to think about. they are classics too. brian mcclaren actually did not write either of them, but i will read whatever brian writes next, because he really makes me think.


i have posted a picture of the books with a link to their description.

Bono the New Model of Christian Activism

i was very intrigued to see the cover of newsweek and the articles it contained. i have been busy and not able to read a lot, but was talking to myself the other day (i love to talk to myself) and said i need to at least read something. i use to read a book a month, but have been pretty lazy. i chose this article to read from newsweek and will attempt to read the rest of them by the end of next week. i was intrigued by the statement that a younger evangelical is more interested in stating what we are for and not what we are against. the statement really resonated with me, because for so many years i could tell you what i was against better than i could tell you what i was for, but as i am really in a discovery mode i continue to be drawn into things that i want to be for and care less about what i used to be against. i like the ending statement from the article that i placed below and it is like four pages long, but it is a good read if you take to the bathroom with you. haha.

"When it speaks, a new evangelicalism should be distinctive for its tone as well. The goal is not only to stand for Christianity's moral teachings but to emulate the manner of its Founder, who showed that kindness is not weakness, and had more tenderness for moral outcasts than for moral hypocrites."

j-lou is out.

spirituality and practice

i was directed to this page awhile back and decided to revisit it today... here are a few of the quotes of this page i have been encouraged by.

Be A Good Steward of Your Pain

"Being a good steward of your pain...It involves being alive to your life. It involves taking the risk of being open, of reaching out, of keeping in touch with the pain as well as the joy of what happens because at no time more than at a painful time do we live out of the depths of who we are instead of out of the shallows."
— The Clown in the Belfry

Compassion

"Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it's like to live inside somebody else's skin.

"It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."
— Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith

Two Kinds of Church

"The visible church is all the people who get together from time to time in God's name. Anybody can find out who they are by going to church to look.

"The invisible church is all the people God uses for his hands and feet in this world. Nobody can find out who they are except God."
— Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith

urban and rural defined

i am so happy that someone is helping me better understand urban.

Evan's 3rd Birthday Party

evan was dressed as a pirate with a superman cape. super pirate!




the pinata ended up like lt. dan with no legs by the end of the multiple attacks.


kade and his boys (tyler, anthony and jonathan) spent most of the day playing game cube!