moving up out this place.

you can check out the new blog here.

hebrews is awesome

my friend Toni and I have started a bible study on the book of Hebrews. if you've never done a bible study on Hebrews, you should probably either join ours or do one with someone else who doesn't live and hour and a half away from you (that one was for my Greer readers).

I got the privilege of starting us out in chapter 1, and quite frankly, it blew my mind. introductions to books of the bible don't usually do that. for instance, the writer of Hebrews was more than likely a Jew. we don't know that for sure, but his tone and knowledge of the Old Covenant seems to hint that he might be. if that is true, he may have very will upset a great deal of the Jewish community by writing Hebrews. in short, the author of Hebrews takes verse after verse of the Old Testament and says "if you are reading this and not thinking it is talking about Jesus, you're wrong." he's a little nicer than that, but essentially that's it. that's quite a bold statement, as Will Ferrell would say.

another thing I would mention is that if you're studying Hebrews, don't use the NIV. nothing against it necessarily; it just doesn't quite do a lot of parts justice. for example, take my favorite part of chapter 1:

(vs. 3, NIV) The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.


Now, there's nothing really WRONG with this translation. but if you look up the Greek, it the word translated as "sustaining" is actually translated better "to carry; to carry some burden; to bear." I don't know about you, but the image of Christ sustaining all things and Christ bearing and carrying all things are two pretty different images.

and maybe this explains just why Jesus gets so mad at the Pharisees at one point for loading people down with burdens, and not "lifting even a finger" to help. maybe he is mad not because they aren't helping anyone but because they are painting the exact opposite picture that He came to paint. Jesus says he wants people to trade their burden for his, which is "light and easy to bear," while taking our personal burdens (assuming those are included in "all things") and bearing them himself.

so we need to be careful to help people carry their burdens, not just because Jesus said to help the needy, but because we shouldn't be painting the EXACT OPPOSITE picture of Christ to people. more on that next time. I'm late for class.

the most awesome two-person band ever

so here's some pictures from our show a few weeks ago, for those of you who didn't get to come. it would mainly be my fault if you didn't, considering I posted about it 5 hours before we went on. I'll get better at that, I promise.

laziness

do lazy people get on your nerves as bad as they get on mine? as you can probably tell, this blog is not gonna have an awful lot to do with Christ, but I really have to say this. And this comes from someone who has been, and sometimes still is lazy. I get on my own nerves. but I am thinking specifically of the kind of people who do absolutely nothing but take up space unless they are forced to move. the kind of people who you ask repeatedly to find time to go do something with you, that they have to be there for. then they tell you that they have a really busy couple of weeks coming up, tests and whatnot, and that they will do it when they get free time. you then find them sitting or sleeping literally EVERY TIME you see them. and if you happen to live with them (I am speaking hypothetically of course), you get to see first-hand just how "busy" they are. I am not expecting any of you to get anything out of this post, but just wanted to mention that. more meaningful and less griping posts are coming soon. sorry.

pray

just wanted to let you know that some people at my church back home need some prayer.

Donnie, one of the pastors at Freedom Fellowship in Greer, was hurried to the hospital this morning. He is currently waiting on a MRI to try and figure out what it is that is bothering him. That's all I can really say right now, but I'll try to keep everyone updated on what happens. Just please pray for Donnie and his family. thanks guys.

straight-up sweetness

so I've really been slacking on the posting lately. I'll work on that.

In the meantime, for those of you wondering about what visual communication (the new major) involves, check out this website:

Trollback & Company

Jakob Trollback is the guy's name, and he's a graphic designer who started a company in New York City. He was in Columbia last night for an AIGA meeting. Basically, Trollback and Company does about one-third of all of the ads, movie opening sequences, and network promos you see on TV. You may want to go ahead and have an hour or two of your day blocked out though. This stuff, like I said, is sweet.

shameless plug

so this is kinda late notice--but if you have nothing to do tonight you should probably come to The Channel in Greenville, even if it's not to see the two greatest musicians ever (namely myself and my friend Paige). We're opening for three bands: Austin Webb, Jethro's Advice, and Corey Crowder are also playing. (So you're bound to like something you hear.) The Channel is right across Orchard Park from Outback Steakhouse in Greenville, off of Haywood Road. Hope to see you there. Here's some links to the bands:

JETHRO'S ADVICE MYSPACE PAGE


COREY CROWDER MYSPACE PAGE


Hope to see ya there!

p.s.--We'll be playing lots of "Christian" music.