The Dancing Preacher

2008-06-12T19:50:00.002-05:00

Things have their seasons, including this blog. It'll be back at some point, but it's done for now.

Momma's Boy...

2008-06-04T13:51:00.002-05:00

Hey Sterling,

I am a Casting Producer for NBC. We are currently in North Carolina this week casting great looking guys looking for love to be on a new hit show produced by Ryan Seacrest. You are just the type we are looking for! If this is something you would be interested in please give me a call. You can also check us out at www. nbcdatingshow. com for more info! Hope to hear from you soon:)

ML,

N-- T--
NBC Casting
#

---

Are you kidding me?

HECK.

NO.

I don't see it as wise to trust serious relationships to Hollywood.

Sorry, Ryan Seacrest.

International Flavor

2008-05-31T12:17:00.003-05:00

Site Stuff

Looking at visitor statistics this month, the top visitors this month are from:

1. China
2. China
3. France
4. Spain
5. China

...and for the first time, the most popular section is Movies (mostly DDR videos), and the second most popular section is Music (mostly mp3s of old stuff).

I'm wondering if one of my missionary friends to China told people about my site.

Trinidone

Yeah. Done with Trinity. I did finish with a 4.0 in my Master's concentration (Pastoral Care), and all the Counseling electives I took were As (10 courses if I count correctly). My cumulative GPA was a 3.7, which is a far cry from the 4.0 I got at NC State in both my degrees. I did resolve to do a few things before starting at Trinity (not to make grades an idol, not to risk sanity over perfectionism), but I still feel a little annoyed with myself in that I could have aimed higher. However, that's easy to say now that I'm not taking 18 or 19 a semester of grad credits while doing 40-50 or more hours of ministry per week. I tend to seek overachievement a little too much sometimes.

Things are a little too quiet for my liking. I feel idle when there's nothing to do, but I'm not sure that I can handle doing much of anything for at least another week or two. I feel better than I did last time I posted, but I still feel the trauma of the 7-year grind I just undertook. I finished 11 years of coursework in 7 years. I also feel the shock of the contrast between having everything to do and having everything not to do.

So I figured that I'd pick up a game and obliterate it. I asked Ken if I could borrow his Nintendo 64, and I started from scratch with Mario 64. I've taken about 15 stars a day, and I'm at 111 right now. I have 9 more to go, so I'll try to get some time this weekend to finish the game off. It's been pretty therapeutic...except for that Shifting Sands world. I can't STAND that world. I need to finish that world, though. I have one that I can't find on Rainbow Ride, but it should be pretty easy to get once I find the cannon. Don't give me any hints, either.

I also have about 99% of everything backed up from my old computers and on this new laptop. It already has some issues, so I might take it in at some point soon. The headphone jack doesn't work quite right, and the keyboard lags out quite a lot. I'll optimize the system when I feel up to it. It's nice to encode videos on this thing, though. It's much faster than the 2001 laptop that I was using for the last ...many years.

lol @ some of these pictures:

Here's an inverted image I did for 'Grand Slam Magazine' from a basketball party I had back in like 1995 or so. Wow, that's a long time ago. I'm going up to dunk it --

The next one is me hosting Teen Scene Jeopardy, which was back in 2000 or 2001. I should really know the date, but I don't. That's about it!

Anyway, I have tons more pictures, but I'll put them in picture albums if and when I feel like it. Yay!

The end.

Contrast

2008-05-25T00:21:00.004-05:00

I didn't think that the adjustment would hit me so hard.

No ministry.
Nothing in sight.
No church to attend.
Very few friends left in the area, and none currently available.
No income.
No prospects for a date.

I'll refrain from posting anything else. I need silence and solitude so I can think life through right now.

Done!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-01T02:34:00.004-05:00

Wow, um, I got bored after the evening service tonight, so I finished all the rest of my written work at Trinity.

YES!!!!!

I'm not fully done with everything while still here, so my list is still full, but taking care of the written stuff makes things much lighter.

School stuff:
- Exit Interview, Church Planting Class (I have no clue why, but he's doing that with everyone in the class)
- Exit Interview, Internship

Church tasks:
- Service planning on Thursday
- Sunday service, will find out my part tomorrow
- Spiritual Gifts assessment curriculum
- Finish surveys and evangelistic tracts

Other stuff:
- Fill out medical insurance forms
- Insurance phone interview
- Inner-city event, Friday 5/2

Visits:
- Racine, Wisconsin
- Romeoville, Illinois(?)

Here's a link to the basic sermon outline, sans-introduction and other tangents: http://www.djsterf.net/sermons/spiritandflesh.swf

I will see if I can get the audio from it. It was a powerful time. Lots of red eyes at the end from the time of response, so the Holy Spirit worked, and it was refreshing to see. :)

I also was blessed this week with an Evangelism Award, which came with a decent sum of cash. I had $7 in my wallet until then. Sweet! Anyway, I have to pray about how I'll use that. I used my Leadership Award money from last year to dedicate toward finding a wife (i.e. money for dates). Hopefully I can use that again soon!

Graduation on May 10!

MPG Driving

2008-04-24T00:35:00.005-05:00

Graduation comes once again on May 10.

MPG Driving

Well, since gas prices are insane, I've been working on getting as high a Miles-per-Gallon reading as possible. Here are a few obvious tips in conserving gas --

- Don't be heavy on the accelerator. If your car jerks when you take off, you're probably wasting gas.

- Know your most efficient MPH -- my minivan is most efficient around 60, and 55 is generally not far off.

- Use cruise control if there are flat stretches of land. I've had a lot lower MPG from hills in using cruise control, though. It seems to really push the gas to maintain the MPH on hills.

- Close the windows. More wind resistance = more energy required to keep the car going. It's much less aerodynamic to have your windows open.

- Turn off the A/C or Heat. This made about a 0.3 MPG difference on my minivan.

- Stay consistent with your speed if possible. At stoplights, try to glide into it so you don't have to jam on the breaks and then wail on the accelerator.

However:
- Use the accelerator if you need to. Don't get into an accident because you're trying to increase fuel efficiency (obviously).

- You don't have to be an ascetic driver. I mean, why not enjoy the wind on a nice day?

The End!

lol that was lame.

Here's a link to a Bag AAA video. I also got Legend of Max AAAed today, praise the Lord. That gives me 511 AAAs on Single Expert/Challenge at the Arcade.

Sermon on Sunday. I have it done, text is Romans 8:1-11. Yesterday was sweet. I'm putting together a slide show to go with it tomorrow at the church office. I'll miss this church a lot.

The End!

'Til May 10...

2008-04-11T14:12:00.002-05:00

This is more of a logistics-based and planning-oriented post, but I'll throw in a Paranoia Survivor AAA video at the end just to balance it out.

Here's what I have left to do this semester:
- At least 1 more meeting w/ my primary mentor & 1 more meeting w/ my secondary mentor
- Read the rest of the Missional Leader book (PT 7220), 4/24
- Read the Trull & Carter book (PT 7210), 4/29
- 4 more Internship Journal entries, finished 4/30
- Internship Paperwork, 4/30
- Research paper on a pastoral leadership topic (PT 7220), 5/1
- Internship Exit Interview (I need to schedule this, too), early May
- Take-Home Exam (PT 7210), due 5/8

Ministry-related
[- No more midweek services to preach]
- Sunday School finished this Sunday (Malachi & Conclusion are left), 4/13
- GMO stuff as it comes up
- Start up Cross Allegiance for 'Season 2' (second burst of videos)
- Article for CF due 4/15
- Put together a curriculum for Spiritual Gift Assessment, 4/15-19
- Preaching Sun. morning at New Hope, 4/27
- Crossroads Baptist, 4/27?
- Inner-city Kids Home, 5/2?

I preach in GA at the conference 'Young Guns for the Lord 2008' on May 16-17. I still don't have a church opening after I leave here on the 11th/12th of May. I might check in with the Salvation Army back home to see if they want to do a Baptismal class & water baptisms with the inner-city kids. I might also need to take a side job, though I'm not sure on that one.

Here's a video of me AAAing Paranoia Survivor:

CF Articles: April

2008-04-04T00:25:00.007-05:00

This font is Arial.

Here's the latest Sterf article as posted in the Christian Forums newspaper (starts at http://news.christianforums.com/christian-news-1 and continues on http://news.christianforums.com/christian-news-6).

Poignant Posture

Oftentimes in Scripture, one will find poignant images that stick to the memory bank like glue. In preparing a sermon this week, I was struck by a very short part of the passage at hand, which I hope and pray is an encouragement to the reader, as well. In 2 Chronicles chapters 5 through 7, the new Temple which Solomon built is being dedicated to the LORD for present and future service. The LORD shows His approval in several ways, including saturating the place with His Glory so much so that the priests could not even remain in the Temple to minister! This has consistently been a major point of awe in my own life – really, may we long for the sweet presence of the LORD to fill our own hearts so much so that we cannot help but worship Him! Just as the Temple was present in the Old Testament for worship, today we are built to be Temples fit for the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19-20)! Even so, may our lives be as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (cf. Romans 12:1)!

But this week, I was struck by something else – something new to me. In 2 Chronicles 6:12-13, Solomon gets up on a platform in front of the Altar, a location where everyone can see him and participate in the prayer. As this was a celebration, he was no doubt dressed in his royal garb. Jesus noted the splendor of Solomon in the Gospels (cf. Matthew 6:29, Luke 12:27), and the nation of Israel was at a time of massive affluence. There was one Kingdom of Israel – no split had occurred. In this time of abundance and unity, Solomon arrayed in his extravagant garments was getting ready to pray to dedicate the Temple of the LORD.

What hit me powerfully was the posture that King Solomon took. Although he was up on a platform with royal garments and a crown, he kneeled down in a posture of obeisance (2 Chronicles 6:13). Even more, he spread out his hands before God, showing his dependence on the King of Kings who had granted him the privilege of being King of Israel. Solomon, though blessed with unbelievable wealth, realized his personal inadequacy as well as the true source of Power. This is true worship! I am reminded of Heaven, as we are promised a crown of righteousness for persevering in obedience to Jesus. We will have this crown, but we do not deserve worship. We have a Mighty King, regardless of our own status, and the proper posture is as Solomon’s – one of humility!

In our own lives, when God places us in a position of authority, will we lord it over others, or will we obey Jesus in Matthew 20 where He states that the greatest among you will be the servant of all? Will we be as Herod in Acts 12 and receive the praise of the people without giving God the glory? Or will we be as John the Baptist, who understood, “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30)? As we stand in service to the LORD before His Altar in everyday life, may we remember Solomon’s posture, and may we recognize the Lordship of our Savior Jesus Christ, by whom all things consist. May we have clean hands and pure hearts in approaching Him, knowing that it is only by Him that we can have boldness and confidence (cf. Hebrews 4:14-16). May we be humbled in the presence of Almighty God, who gave His own Son for us, that we might live through Him.

So let us seek Him if we have not yet found Him. Let us also serve Him wholeheartedly in all that we do. Finally, let us give worship to whom it is due – our wonderful Father in Heaven, the blessed Son and Savior, and the Holy Spirit our comforter!

Birfdae

2008-04-01T11:58:00.001-05:00

My ultimate Birthday request list to God circa 2008:

(1) A wife!
(2) A flock to shepherd
(3) Ordination
(4) Blessing and amazingly good fruit in ministry

Contingent on (1): A large family
:)

25...

2008-04-01T01:28:00.003-05:00

This will be a good year. 24 felt like the worst year of my life. 25 will be full of amazing things.

Introspection

2008-03-21T15:55:00.004-05:00

Today is Good Friday -- the commemoration of Jesus' death on the Cross as a sacrifice for our sins.

Time to be introspective: How can we put sin to death in our lives? Have we trusted in God's strength, or are we trying in our own power and failing?

Let's pursue holiness, as the reason for Jesus' death was our sin.

But let's temper our inner misery with the joy of the finished work that will be commemorated on Resurrection Day, because God knew the end from the beginning, and Jesus completely did the will of the Father in order that we might be at peace with God.

Romans 5:8-9
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Dental Ow-age

2008-03-05T16:23:00.003-06:00

This week has been ridiculous, but hopefully after tomorrow's meeting with H&R Block, I can be done with obligations for the break!

Dentist & Orthodontist
I'm very good about brushing my teeth and flossing. I got a perfect 10 on dental health, and I got a "none" rating on gum bleeding after the dentist's brutal flossing adventure. On a typical day, I brush 4 or 5 times and floss, but even with this all in mind, I had three cavities in my front four teeth.

They were shallow and early in their decay, but today's trip to the dentist was ridiculously painful. I don't know what my deal is with being numb. First, when the topical anesthetic is put on my gums, my heart races, and I keep thinking, "I'm going to be numb," and I have to breathe deeply so I don't black out. I don't know how much is mental and how much is physiological. I know some is definitely physiological, and probably most of it since I've fainted from a reaction to a numbing eye drop before, and my heart does crazy stuff after the topical stuff.

However, even more, once I get the numbing shot, in 10 minutes, I feel everything again. EVERYTHING. Maybe it was because the cavities were so far forward. However, every time the drill went on (I cringe every time I think about today), it was horrible. Oh man, especially when they'd drilled it down and then the assistant blew cold air on it. OWWWWWW.

Ug. Yeah, so I kept getting shots, and then 10 minutes later, I would feel it all again. About 5 minutes after walking out, I felt everything again. Yeouch.

I'm glad that's done, but man, my teeth were throbbing after I felt it again.

I told my nephew Evan (he's 5), and he told me:

Evan: "Uncle Sterling"
Me: "Yeah?"
Evan: "You should brush your teeth...EVERY DAY!"
Me: "I do! I usually brush 4 or 5 times a day!"
Evan: "Oh.......You should stop eating food!"

haha

Evan also insists that I want a boomerang for my birthday (instead of a wife or ordination or both, which I really could go for).

Done in May
It's about TIME! I can't wait to be done with school for all intensive purposes. Maybe one day, I'll be "Dr. Sterf" instead of "DJ Sterf," but I really just want to get out and pastor a church. I'd do the degree if the church or elder board wanted me to keep up some form of Theological education, though that'd be well within part-time.

32-Minute Video
I had an interview with a French gaming mag, and they literally took out everything I said about Jesus and Salvation. They did keep a general 'God' in there, but yeah, here's the entire interview unedited:

http://www.djsterf.net/articles/franceinterview.html

They did want to link a YouTube video from my channel to the interview, so I made a 32-minute evangelistic video with a lot of random stuff in it (DDR in a suit, a tour of the church, Buffalo Wild Wings, Psalm 23 devotional, etc.). It's 32 minutes long.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJVzkMeF1W4
Embed:

Church
I finished the series on being sent & commissioned by God (Isaiah 6 - Matthew 28 - Acts 13). I'm starting another on some passages relating to the power of Prayer (starting w/ Acts 3 & 4). The Minor Prophets continue with Micah this Sunday. I think I'm done with Youth Group for a while.

I did a show for the Youth Group, and I played MAGIC Speedball as the last song. I still have the audio from when people absolutely freaked out during the speed-up. I had eight sections this time, each separated by a song or set of songs. The sections this time were: General Intro - Testimony - Talents - Glorifying God - Perfection (our lack of and God's solution to) - Discipleship - Suffering - Hope.

Hehe that's enough for an entry. God bless.

North Carolina!

2008-02-28T22:51:00.002-06:00

I wonder if this will be a vacation at all.

To-do:

- Taxes
- Driver's License Renewal
- Vehicle Registration Extension
- Orthodontist Appointment (new retainer, though I don't have mine right now due to some circumstances today)
- Dentist Appointment
- Fix the rest of my parents' computers

Today was a rough day. I'll leave it at that.

Sterfer, Illinois Ranger

2008-02-22T23:08:00.002-06:00

haha, title edited.

The end.

YESSSSSSSS!!!

2008-02-22T10:53:00.007-06:00

2008 Formation Group Volleyball Tournament

The Manetsch Maulers WIN!

Regular Play
Game 1
Carson/Manetsch: 21
Cha: 6

Game 2
Carson/Manetsch: 21
Ott: 18

Game 3
Carson/Manetsch: 21
Roy: 15

Playoffs
Semifinals
Carson/Manetsch: 21
Cha: 17?

Finals
Carson/Manetsch: 21
Roy: 13

If you know the full story, last year, we played with 3 on our team, and we picked up a 4th mid-way through the regular play. The other teams had 6. We got to the Finals and lost 15-11 or 15-12.

So yeah, it feels really good to win this year. We had a full team of 6, and it really really helped. haha I did pray before for us to do our best, so the Lord apparently honored that prayer. Other than that, I'm going to rest. This week, I had 10 papers/assignments and 2 sermons on the same day (3 for the week if you count Sunday School on Sunday). I have 3 sermons to preach next week, and only 3 assignments, praise the Lord. Today, however, is my day of rest.

Chillax time!

Sunday School Stuff

2008-02-17T14:24:00.006-06:00

Man, it's been a crazy week. This next week is going to be another toughie, perhaps just as tough. I definitely went up for prayer today at church for this week, haha.

Today's Sunday school probably went better than I thought it did. I didn't have nearly as much time to prepare, which did stink, but I thought my organization was horrible. I didn't like it. Anyway, the class generally has been going well. One man walked up to me today and told me, 'In my 30 years of being a Christian, I've never done a good study on the Minor Prophets, so this is really helping.'

So praise God. He uses our frailty.

I do think Wednesday night's sermon went better, though (on Isaiah 6). This Wednesday's will be on Matthew 28. Notice a theme?

Next week is Hosea...the longest of the Minor Prophets. Yikes.

This last week, I had 12 papers and assignments for school, and 2 messages for Church. This week, I have 10 papers and assignments for school (one of which is a sermon), and 2 messages for Church (the week after, I have either 2 or 3 depending on when I go on Spring Break).

I get to church at 7:15 am every week to set up everything. I can't imagine Daylight Saving's time. Ugh. Well, it'll be like an adventure, haha. Getting up massively early to set up.

In a few weeks here, I go from 6 classes to 3 classes. That will be a very happy time. I have to go into Beast Mode this next week. But yeah, during these insane times, prayer time is always excellent, and I definitely feel refreshed spiritually going into this next week. I do feel physically tired, though, so I'll need to relax and rest at some point soon.

Cross Allegiance is over 800 friends strong now, praise the Lord. I'll hope to formalize the structure of operations a lot more in a few weeks here.

Anyway, this post was full of random stuff. The end, lol.

Ridiculous Week

2008-02-15T00:06:00.003-06:00

Crazy week. It's not letting up until the end of next week, either. Yikes.

Watch this video:

Pretty sweet.

I spent some time today praying for my future wife and family, so that was my Valentine's Day activity. Outside of that, I've had 12 papers/assignments this week, I preached Wed. night at the midweek service, and I have to prepare Sunday School on Amos for Sunday. Weekend class yet to go!

As Isaiah said, "OY!"

Old Man vs. New Man

2008-02-07T22:29:00.000-06:00

New Cross Allegiance video, done by Chris Fowler, with music from Sonstruck. I edited this tonight, and I'm really psyched about how it turned out.

(Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0EOFjVIiOo )

So watch that. Pretty sweet. This one is more of an edification video. I'm also finishing up one on Jonah, so that should be out in a few days.

Hot & Jonah

2008-02-05T12:25:00.000-06:00

Hot

The sun is hot. The picture on the right is one of the backgrounds I made for Cross Allegiance. Some upcoming ideas for CA --

(1) Theological observations from Jonah, as they're still fresh
(2) Maybe something on Isaiah 6 since Wed. night's message will be on Isaiah 6.
(3) Jeremy needs to do another video now, lol
(4) Chris does, too, lol
(5) Something relating to aim, as I have a lot of trick basketball clips ready to use.
(6) Something with Sonstruck music in the background -- not sure on this one yet.

If you have any ideas, then lemme know. Many of the friends/subscribers are Christians, but most of the messages we get are from skeptics or seekers. I really am passionate about the evangelism side of it, but I do want to get more edification-related clips up, as well (e.g. the Jonah video idea).

I remember when I was much younger (like 8), this one guy tried to tell me that coming up with ideas was called "Rain Storming" and I was like, "Don't you mean, 'brainstorming?'" He told me no, so I asked my parents and they told me that he was wrong.

On Sunday night, we had a snowball fight. It was hot (cold). I went in when my right foot was numb -- my boots' laces are lame, and they let snow come rushing in by the ton. I didn't want to lose any toes, so I suppose that I was probably smart for going in and taking a warm shower.

I also need to get more sleep. We did some visitations yesterday, and one guy wanted me to sit in this really comfortable chair. He talked for 2.5 hours, but after 1 minute in that chair, I knew I was in trouble. Man, was that a struggle. Holy cow. It's very easy to fall asleep early in the morning when you didn't get much sleep and the other person isn't always talking directly to you! SO yeah...I'm going to try to get 8 hours a night or bust from here on out. If I could do that even 90% of the time (to allow for emergency situations), it would be a definite plus.

Minor Prophets - Week 1 (Intro & Jonah)

The Sunday School series on the Minor Prophets went really well. I didn't get much sleep on Saturday (notice a theme?), so I had more ums and uhs than I would have liked. I'll tighten that up on my end, but that's minor compared with the overall message. That's more of my own compulsivity, especially since I've done several years of media and can do much better than that.

The Intro to the Minor Prophets went really well.

Jonah went really really well.

The text is really rich, and the applications and theological observations were really heavy. I have a few extra booklets, so if you want one, let me know.

The whale may or may not have thought, "YEAH, LITTLE MAN!" when he ate Jonah.
VOTE NOW: [Yes] [No]

Anyway, here were a few of the basic Theological Observations, Themes, and Applications from Jonah that I derived (without in-depth explanation) --

Theological Observations:
1:2 – The LORD punishes wickedness – He is Just.
1:2 – The LORD very often uses people to carry out His warnings.
1:4 – The LORD is in control of nature (see also 1:17).
1:7 – The LORD sees and reveals the heart in various ways.
1:9 – The LORD uses people to bear witness of Him and His power.
1:14-16 – The LORD can use any circumstance to bring people to Himself.
1:17 – The LORD preserves life (see also 1:12ff.).
1:17 – The LORD uses His Creation to carry out His purposes.
2:2 – The LORD hears the prayers of the righteous, and He hears them from anywhere.
2:6 – The LORD saves (see also 2:9).
2:10 – The LORD speaks to His Creation and it obeys.
3:1 – The LORD is a God of second chances.
3:2 – The LORD is not forgetful.
3:3-9 – The LORD works unexpectedly through our obedience.
3:10 – The LORD hears the cry of the desperate and repentant.
3:10 – The LORD is merciful.
4:1-3 – The LORD uses imperfect people to do His perfect work.
4:4 – The LORD is patient!
4:4 – The LORD often asks challenging questions to form His people.
4:6-11 – The LORD often uses creative object examples to speak or communicate to His people.
4:11 – The LORD is understanding.
4:11 – The LORD sees His lost sheep throughout the world as valuable.

Themes:
1. Repentance --> mercy
2. God’s merciful sovereignty to a heathen nation
3. Evangelistic success even through failure
4. Imperfection of the prophet (note that Jonah seems like a case example of clinical depression!)
5. God vs. false gods

Applications from Jonah:
1. Listen to God (Jonah 1:2, 3:1-2, others)
2. Obey God, serve Him, do His work, and delight in it (Thematic)
3. Superstitious? Don’t be – be faithful and obedient (Jonah 1:5-11)
4. Have God’s heart in seeking the lost (cf. 2 Peter 3:9, Luke 19:10; Jonah 4:6-11)
5. Trust in God to bring about good purposes (cf. Genesis 50:20, Romans 8:28; Thematic)

Jonah is a really neat book.

Geezer Sterf

2008-02-02T01:35:00.000-06:00

Face Time

I should have eaten my Wheaties...

You can transform your face via two different ways:
(1) Punch yourself in the face a lot until you transform your face.
OR
(2) Use the Face Transformation applet at http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Transformer/

Month 1 Over

Cross Allegiance: First month stats:
Subscribers: 1 --> 79
Friends: 1 --> 488

:)

January 18 was pretty neat. I started to pray directly for God to multiply the outreach of the channel. That day, the subscribers went from 21 to 42 (literally doubled). I have a graph of most of the days' data, and there's literally one huge spike in the subscribers, from 21 to 42 in a day.

Application to everything else? God is an amazing answerer of prayers. He is also a great multiplier, but even more so, He brings the increase, as in 1 Corinthians 3. We can plant, water, or "accidentally" eat some of the plant, but we aren't responsible for the end result. We are to be obedient and faithful so that our works will be proven legitimate at the Last Day, but we are also to leave it up to God to bring amazing things to pass.

So yeah, I'm excited about the possibilities with CA as well as with this church. As the remixed song goes, "Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow." This semester should own a lot.

Basketball

Haha video time:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHokULoXD48
Embed:

Jonah & Frozen Eyes

2008-01-30T15:01:00.000-06:00

Jonah

First week of the Sunday School series on the Minor Prophets starts Feb. 3 (this Sunday). I'm ready to go for Jonah. I just have to finish a few thematic things on the Intro part to the Minor Prophets. I have a booklet that goes with Jonah, and I'm hoping to have a booklet with each of the books, as well as the Intro & Conclusion to it all. Sweet sweat, piglets.

Anyway, here's a short preview of some of the content of Jonah: http://www.djsterf.net/sermons/02jonah.swf

Frozen Eyes

Man, today was cold. Last night, there were monstrous winds and snow, and literally the roads looked like a misty swamp. My minivan has lame traction, and I almost got in a really serious wreck. I steered just enough so that only my back right tire hit the curb at about 5 mph, but still, it was jarring to me.

The temperatures were Sub-Zero (GET OVER HERE) this morning, and the wind chill was much worse. Literally, I blinked and my eyes were frozen shut for a second or two. I was like, "Dang." The end.

I always think about Psalm 147:16-17 when it gets really cold and windy here -- He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast?

...and just think -- they were in Israel!

Three "New" Videos

2008-01-29T12:27:00.000-06:00

Not the -most- new, but still...

(1) Jeremy Chambers: The Evangecube, in English

(2) Jeremy Chambers: The Evangecube, in Spanish

(3) DJ Sterf (Sterling C. Franklin): Snow

It was neat one day: the first day I intentionally started prayed for God to multiply the channel, and the subscribers went from 21 to 42 in a day. Sweet, God is blessing very well :D

Air Time

2008-01-26T16:27:00.000-06:00

Crazy Semester

This semester is crazy.

The end.

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). Apart from Jesus, I can do nothing (John 15:5). They that wait upon the LORD will renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).

I have a printed sheet of everything that's due this semester. It's generally hard for me to focus on the narrow scope of things. I like to see everything that I have to do in the next semester and then try to chip away at the assignments ahead of time.

That's not the best approach to it. It shows that I stink at patience. I want to get things done NOW. I always have, and perhaps I always will if I remain foolish in the area. Sometimes it's better to focus on one thing at a time.

So I took my schedule of assignments and split them up into separate weeks. I'm done with all but one assignment through the start of February, but yeesh, the top half of the semester is ridiculous. Once I get to March, things should lighten up dramatically.

American Christianity

On one major Christian forum online (one where I used to give sermons in the 30+ year old fellowship and devotional areas), I saw a thread on the topic 'Engagement vs. Marriage'. The question was essentially, "Is sex during engagement considered fornication?" The thread got off into dumpster mode pretty quickly, so most of the later posts are edited out, and it's locked now.

Most of the responses were, "It depends on how God views the engagement" or, "I think it's fine" or, "We did it and we don't regret it."

I was pretty disgusted by the lack of reliance on Scripture on the matter.

Yes, sex outside of -marriage- is a sin, even if it's during an engagement. Engagement = time to prepare -- betrothal period. It's not the same thing as marriage, where you're committed to each other for the rest of your earthly lives. So a few texts came to mind:

- Matthew 1: Why did Joseph want to cancel his betrothal (viz., parallel: engagement) with Mary? She was pregnant. An Angel of the Lord intervened and savvied Joseph up as to what was actually going on (i.e. Virgin birth).
- Leviticus 21: An OT text relating to the high priest's marriage possibilities. Worth a read.
- Deuteronomy 22: Another OT text relating to the importance of a woman being a virgin until the day/night that she is married. It seems to have been a stoneable offense back then, so thankfully the New Covenant excels in grace.
- 1 Corinthians 7: The obvious text, dealing with sex & marriage. It's better to marry than to burn with lustful passion. The contrast is between single life and married life -- single life being chaste, married life being pure and undefiled, though definitely mutually selfless and giving regarding sex between husband and wife.

Especially these verses:
1 Corinthians 7:36-37
36 But if a man thinks that he's treating his fiancée improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin.
37 But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry.

But really, "I think it's fine?" The option given in the text is, 'Either be chaste or get married before having sex.' Do we really cut corners so much as Christians as to deny even exploring what God may have to say about it all? We always give license to sin in our own lives. I see it in my own life, obviously, as I'm not Jesus.

So there we have the need for the pursuit of holiness and continued sanctification. Yes, sin is a prevalent issue in each of our lives, but how much sin do we have in our lives towards which we have a casual and unrepentant attitude? The fear of the LORD is to hate evil, and even more, it's the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 8:13, 1:7).

Which is more important, personal happiness and self-fulfillment, or giving glory to God at all costs? I believe the latter will end up in the first two MUCH more than the first two will come about by our own selfish and sinful means (cf. Matthew 6:33).

So really, it's always time to get right before God, but hopefully throughout the course of time, we grow closer to Him and desire more of Him rather than to disobey Him grossly.

Perhaps our motto should be the line from the game Limbo: "How low can you go?"

American Christianity is more Laodicean than we've ever imagined...but there is yet hope...pray.

"Good Person"

2008-01-18T00:55:00.000-06:00

Newest Cross Allegiance video ("Good Person"):

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7u5u8AExSA

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Hotness. Other than that, I'm in beast mode, as always.

How do we define 'good person'?

The Sign of the Fish (Icthus)

2008-01-04T15:53:00.000-06:00

Check out the new video from DJ Sterf on Cross Allegiance! YAY! He's so dreamy! lol actually no, I have the tight fro going on, and it looks stupid.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pou6dSa1AqU

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