_____ Drawing Lines _____

Don’t we just love to draw lines? I know I personally love to draw lines between right and wrong. Between what is morally right and what is not. We even use text like the Bible or from what tradition has told us, and we even say things like “that just isn’t right.” Though I believe we [most of us] have good intentions, there is something inside of me that screams, “that just isn’t right!” As I have gotten older, I have learned that these so called “lines” start to become difficult to have reasoning behind them. I try to live as a student: to take the situations that are in front of my life and examine them. I try not to judge them right off the beginning [though to a sense, it is inevitable]. Now granted, I take certain ideas and concepts as given truths, but I try to at least have reason with those given truths. I have started to come to grips that lines start to become blurry as situations start to become more difficult. Personally, I love that these lines are becoming “blurry” or “fuzzy” [aka indistinct], for the reason of understanding WHY they are blurry. Life gets complicated. There are situations in life that just are unclear.

Some may say, “why even draw lines?” The answer: there are universal truths in this world that create lines. The problem is that we as humans [myself included] are self-righteous, and love to distinct our own personal lines.

So what do we do with the lines that are created before us? Examine them, investigate them, test them, and question them. How does this “line” in your life affect the way you live? I would encourage you to become a student.

Having open hands tend to be more useful than white-knuckled fists.

Dreaming is a connecter.

[Passion /-->/ Dream /-->/ Change]

Dreaming is a connecter.

It is connected to our flame of passion.

Never have the flames of your heart be burnt out due to beating sounds of dismay.

It is within the flames that we realize that there is something greater in this world.

Dreams lead to change.

Through a dream, it causes the change of a current circumstance.

…a circumstance of the heart and a circumstance of an ever-changing world.

Feel the heartache of your passion.

Dream ‘til you sleep.

Fulfill the circumstance that the flame burns for.

grace upon grace

The story has never been so simple, but has never carried so much weight.


The story is grace.

Distance is a mind game.

Writing the words on the walls as if no one can see them

The others can see the crying of invisible, but they just stand

Standing for what they believe in, but only watching

Distance is a mind game

While they watch, they are tricked into believing they are solving

It is only a matter of time to realize

that solving comes to an end with action

Through action, the cries becomes visible

Through action, the others start to recognize the writing on the walls

Through action, the mind starts to understand the importance of closing the distance between standing and stepping out

Let's go through the process.

Transition is a process. We all process things differently, but we all go through the method of ‘processing’. For some, transition can be a definite and direct response, without much silence. While others, transition comes with time. It takes a period of time for the transition to settle in the hearts of others. While one person can quickly respond to an answer, it takes a period of time for the other to gather his/her ideas and respond. There are positives and negatives of both sides. We need to be willing to understand transition is a process.

Good 'ole Sardis.

This last past weekend was a very interesting. I had the opportunity to preach at a small back-woods country church. It was so small and ‘Kentucky-like’ that it seemed that everyone was related somehow. It was an old fashion kind of church. It had a wooden pulpit and they sung hymns. I am not use to any of this!

What I found interesting is that there are certain things in life that transcend culture. I first noticed this when I read Bob Russell’s book, “When God Build’s a Church,” which is a super cheesy title. The whole idea behind the book is that there are certain principles that go beyond the culture. For instance: community. Though this church did not have hundreds in their church, it appeared that they had a close sense of community. We all need community. Another principle is a sense of worship. The musical worship at the church I went to was super cheesy. I am not use to those hymns. But you do not need the coolest band to understand that worship is not about the actual music. It is about expressing your heart to God.

I started reading Simple Church. I have a feeling that this will be a good book.

Here are words Alec and I currently dislike that churches use: youth group, lock-in, prayer warrior, revival, youth coach, army of God…


Well, I feel like I’ve talked about too many ‘church-y’ terms for the day. Thanks for listening.

Starting a relationship.

It’s hard to get a job when you have no identification. That’s what I learned tonight as I hung out with two homeless guys, Vince and Stephen. I’m excited to see them next week. Hopefully I will be able to beat them in pool. They seem like good guys who are trying to get their feet on the ground and get a job. It’s tough to see these guys go through hard times when I live a very comfortable life. Despite material, we all share a desire to be loved and be apart of a community. There are things in life that exceed a price tag, like laughing. That’s what I focus on when I hang out with them, to know that they are cared for. Attention and time are just two of the things you cannot buy with money. We all desire that people give us those two things.

In Times of Questions

Actions creating character, and character showing through actions.

Step by step. This is how I will finish my half-marathon, step by step. If I never take the first step, I will never finish the race. Makes sense, right? But then how many times in life, do we never take the first step? We see the finish line or end goal of something we are trying to accomplish, but we never take that first step. As for me, I want to lose weight and be ‘in shape’, but if I never eat right, then my end goal will never come true. Furthermore, I want to be a man of character, a man that is devoted to God, and honors him. BUT, if I never steps towards him like ‘earnestly seek him’ as the book of Hebrews speak of, then I will never be a man of character.

Something I have been thinking of lately is how to be a man [or person] of character; you thus must be a person of action. I love the illustration that is shown in the Bible with a guy named David. Now most people today know David as a guy who killed Goliath or a man who was after God’s own heart. Both are true. Both are caused by the same effect. The effect was simple, David was a man of action.

The story starts with the Israelites fighting in a war against the Philistines. The Philistines have a man named Goliath who was a big boy, and Goliath challenged any Israelite to fight him. Every Israelite was afraid, so for forty days, Goliath came out and challenged any man to fight him. Well David went to the war zone to give his brothers some bread. While David was there, Goliath came out and challenged anyone to fight him. David knew he could take him. David told Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Of course, Saul saw this little kid and said, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy”

Then something interesting happened, David didn’t walk away. He has been waiting for this moment, whether he knew it or not. David replied to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Did you catch was David said? David simply said, “I have been training for this, day by day, step by step. I fought lesser battles so that I could be prepared for this battle. I have killed lions and bears, and now I will kill this Philistine.” David was a man of action. He took steps so that he would be prepared for further battles. The ending of this story is easy: David killed Goliath. David was a man of action. It would be noted later on that David was a man after God’s own heart. David was continually pushing what is ahead. Always making progress so that he could handle what would be down the road.

To be a person of character, you must be a person of action. Step by step.

I'm a talker, not a writer.

My life: Moments of remembrance- breath after breath.

I must first say that I am a truly blessed man. I am surrounded around by a very loving family, great friends, and a God who knows the desires of my very heart. My name is Eddie, short for Edward. I currently go to school so that I can be prepared for full-time ministry.

I have always found it interesting how people are just so willing to share part of their life with others, in this case [for me], it would be blogging. We all have opinions on how people should live their life, whether that means from trying to make the greatest amount of money possible to the concept of 'eat, drink, and be merry.' And what's funny is that we all think our way of life is the not only the best way to life, but the way life should be lived. I am stuck in a bind that says, "how should I live?" With so many opinions of living this brief life, how should one live? I am compelled to the idea that there are numerous ways to life, but all of these numerous ways to life all lead to the same end goal [or telos]. I consider myself to have a relationship with Jesus [a Christian], which doesn't mean I have everything together, but rather it means that I have an anticipated end goal. I must cease this topic of end goals, it is a different conversation for a different time.

The reason for starting this blog is to push my writing skills, which are very poor, and to share my thoughts about life in general.

Hope to see you around.

Thanks for your time, Eddie.