Nothing Better than Following God's Lead.

Without making Francis Chan an idol or making him seem better than other Christians, more Christians should follow his example. I'm not saying every pastor should quit, but his humility and willingness to leave a job that was secure and dependable is astounding. He felt like he was in the spotlight, so he got out. He made sure that Jesus is first. 


What makes me laugh about this article is that the author keeps on bringing up the fact that he did not leave because of scandal. The sad thing is that for the most part, that's the only reason why famous pastors leave their churches. Anyway, don't put your pastor on a pedestal. If he's a great speaker, awesome. It's because God gifted him that way. The most important thing is that he is constantly pointing toward Jesus. Don't base a church off of its pastor, but of its devotion to Jesus.


Here's the article, check it out.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/22/%E2%80%9Cchristian-famous%E2%80%9D-pastor-quits-his-church-moves-to-asia/

Balancing Who I Am on the Internet with Real Life.

It's easier to tell a person what I am thinking, how I feel, how I am doing, where I'm at spiritually, argue with someone about theological issues, wish someone good luck, tell a joke, be sarcastic, and tell people where I am whenever I do it online. Being the same person outside the context of social networking has become extremely difficult for me. My sarcasm is still there, but having a good conversation with friends has not been a strong suit for me since the invention of Facebook. Even during my 40 day hiatus from Facebook in September-October, I didn't make an effort to talk to people, I simply just didn't talk to people. 


The main reason I'm more apt to communicate on Facebook is because it's my own world. I decide what I want to share, I decide which pictures to show, I decide what emotions to show. It's all about me on Facebook. Narcissism. I want friends, so I add all the people I know, but I don't take the time to talk to them in person because it makes me more vulnerable. On Facebook I'm safe. They don't have to see my face (ironically). I can just act like I'm talking to them on Facebook Chat, when I'm actually going in and out of my room or checking out another website while "talking" with a friend. 

Don't hide behind your computer.

Yesterday, I talked to Kelsey and Rachel via group video chat on Skype and I completely checked out. I didn't engage in conversation as well as I should've, but did what I could to simply get by. Skype video chat is the best tool the internet has to offer because I actually have to talk to the other person. I can't type a little message and run away to talk to someone else. The other person knows if I'm talking with him or not. I've argued myself out of video calling people because it's just too awkward. Honestly, it's only awkward if you don't actually talk to that person in real life. You can't expect text conversations to be the same as face-to-face conversations. Skype is as real as it gets on the internet.Video chat is not the answer though. Engaging in conversation requires me to put down my selfish attitude and become vulnerable. The internet is like a big shield from vulnerability (unless we are talking about hackers...). 


At other times, I only reveal things on the internet. As easy as it is to hide from people on the internet, it's just as easy to share too much on the internet. Just like you don't break up with someone over a text message, you shouldn't talk about stuff over the internet that you would hide in person. One of the main reasons I use Facebook is for attention. So if I'm in a happy mood, I'll let the whole world know it, but if I'm depressed and having a bummer day, I'll let everyone know it as well. In person, however, I'll tell everyone that I'm doing fine. Why? Because I'm not comfortable facing reality. Again, another problem that can be fixed by just taking time out to talk to people.


Skype is currently down right now, so as much as I'm wanting to call people through the roof, I can't. You might be thinking writing a blog on this matter is slightly hypocritical, and I'd agree. However, if you are in another country and Skype is down, I think a blog is the only solution for ranting. 

Look at their happiness.

The end of the matter: I want to focus on talking to people in person. Right now that's nearly impossible because of that thing called the ocean, but when I get back from Christmas break, I want to talk to people. This means more coffee shops, more getting out of my room for homework, and more pursuit of relationships. As of right now, I can only video Skype to make this possible, so expect some video chats with yours truly. I want to know how break is going and so on. So help me talk to you. I want to, it's just difficult to get started. 


Stay funky fresh. Smell ya later.

Walk About.

This morning I didn't have anything planned to do, so I walked around the neighborhood and took some pics.

There are random stray dogs everywhere, but they are nice and usually lazy.

Clock Tower of a big Greek church.

Entrance to a public sports complex.

Greeks like to stay fit. Not too many obese people here.

I'd be excited to work out if I was in this good of shape when I'm this old.

Public turf field couple blocks from my house.

Acropolis, Mars Hill, etc...

Today was a long day; woke up at 6am due to jet lag. My parents and I went to downtown Athens today. We started off by taking the train there, but a train decided not to show up so we waited for about 30 minutes for a train to get down there. We got there and randomly ran into Mr. Brown, a Moody alumnus who goes to our church. Literally, we just happened to run into an American that we know out of all of Athens. Crazy awesome.

We went to a mountain right next to the Acropolis as the Acropolis costs money everyday except Sunday. So we are going to do that some other time. But we went to Mars Hill and to the Olympic Stadium and through the market place and stuff like that. I had a lot of fun, but I was so tired of walking by the end of the trip. The public transportation was on strike from 11-4pm today so we had to wait until 4 to leave. 


After the sight seeing, we came back and I fell asleep. I slept from 5pm-11pm. So I'm just up chillin' right now. Cursed jet lag has been mocking me this entire trip. One of these days I'll win. One of these days...


Over and out. 

Grocery Shopping and Ναρνια!

Sunrise a couple of mornings ago. This is from our deck.

This morning I woke up a little early to try to snap a picture of the awesome sunrises here. The only problem was that it happened to be cloudy today. Though it was disappointing, there will be many more mornings to take awesome photos.

This bird was just chillin' so I snapped a pic.

Today, my mom and I went to a German Aldi-type place called Λιδλ (Lidl). It was pretty cool seeing the same idea of stores that we have in America that are in Greece. We also went to a place called AΒ. It's basically a Schnuck's or Dominick's. Most everything in the stores are in Greek, but you can usually figure out what the stuff is by pictures or looking for small English translations that may be hidden on the bottle somewhere. Speaking of bottles, there is no age limit on drinking here, so if it wasn't for the fact that I signed my life away to the SLG ....

Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3-D!

Anyway, tonight, my dad and I went to the movie theater and watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It had been awhile since I've read the books, and I hadn't seen Prince Caspian, but I thought the movie was really good. Though there were some parts that were a little cheesy, overall, the quality of the movie was good. The content, being taken from C.S. Lewis, was thrilling. 


The entire time I was wishing that Aslan would talk more. The movie does a good job at bringing the experience of peace when he is around. At the end of the movie (this is talked about a lot, but it's the best phrase of the entire movie), Aslan is talking to Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Caspian, and they are wondering if they will ever see him in their world. Aslan says that they will. Lucy then asks how? Aslan then makes a statement which explains the entire reason C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia. He says, "Because there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there." The very reason C.S. Lewis wrote the books was to see what Aslan is to the world of Narnia and meet Him in our world. This Lion, this beast which is "very dangerous", is with us. Just like Eustace, He will rip off our thick, impenetrable dragon skin and restore us. Whenever I see Aslan, there is something about Him that carries reverence and power, but at the same time love. This is the picture Lewis was trying to paint. Pictures of Christ are everywhere in his books, once my luggage shows up I'll probably read them.

quietly brilliant...

Tomorrow, we are going downtown Athens, so hopefully, I'll be able to take a ton of pictures. Over and out.

When in Greece, throw flares and fire crackers at professional soccer players.

Not Greece, but still looks awesome.

Greece. What a place. I've been here for 2 days and what an experience. Aside from my duffle bag being left in London thanks to the airport and can't get here because of the all the snow, life's been awesome. The weather here is chilly, but it's definitely not Chicago cold so I'm happy. The weather this week will be around 65 degrees, but it gets pretty cold at night. 


Yesterday, when I got here, my luggage was lost and I took along time to get through immigration so my dad was wondering around the airport looking for me, making sure I was on the plane. Then I just walked out the door and everyone was relieved. Funny situation...at least for me.


That day I was blown away by the beauty of Greece. The landscape is unbelievable. Being from Illinois, anything higher than a small hill is a mountain, so I'm freaking out. All around the deck of our house is just a beautiful sight with mountains in the background, I can't wait to hike up one.

Olympic Stadium.

Last night, my dad and I went to a Panathinaikos soccer game, one of the best teams in Greece. They play in a giant stadium that was built for the Olympic games in 2004. It was about half full for the game, but there is a section in the stadium where the fans just go nuts the entire game. They light flares and throw them everywhere. When they don't like something that happens they light firecrackers and throw them. Panathinaikos played awfully. The team they were facing was not too good, so it was embarrassing to watch. They ended up getting scored on with 15 minutes left in the game, and the crazy fans started throwing flares and firecrackers at their own goalie. So with about 10 minutes left in the game, my dad and I decided to leave because we didn't want to ride the train with the crazies. 

Christmas party with my Mom.

Needless to say, I crashed that night. Jet lag sat in pretty early yesterday, so much so that I almost fell asleep at the soccer game before it started. Tonight, we had a Christmas party at the church where there were tons of desserts. Afterwards we had to "quickly" drop a ham off at the Dutton's house (the pastor of the church). We were supposed to be in and out... we ended up staying there for 2 hours. We basically watched YouTube videos so it was full of laughs.


I'm not quite so sure what we will be doing tomorrow, but I bet it's gonna be fan-freakin'-tastic. My dad has a sweet camera so I've been trying to take pictures with it, but it's pretty tricky getting the pictures I took off of there, so we'll see.

The Greatest of Ships are Friendships...

Highlights of my semester:
(no particular order)


-My brother's wedding.
-15-5 Moody Soccer Record.
-Zack and Kristin's Christmas Party.
-Dr. Litfin entering the Snuggle Pad.
-Grabbing Wall.
-Finishing finals alive.


One of my biggest struggles this semester was not jumping into different friend groups every week. I know a lot of people on campus, and while that is really cool, I'd rather have 3 really close friends than know 1500 names. Whenever I start to become vulnerable in a group I tend to jump ship and sail another flag. This started to change at the end of the semester when I was feeling like I found where I belonged. Now Christmas break has hit and I'm going off alone. It's gonna make me appreciate the friends I have even more now. 

"A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." -Proverbs 18:24

I want more nights like the night at Zack and Kristin's apartment. I want more honesty and openness between FRIENDS. Don't give me jib-jab and small talk, I want to share my heart with you. Community like that needs to be regular not random. I could use something like that daily not monthly. I want to love my friends which means I need to open up as well. 

I have 3 weeks to prepare my heart before the Lord to come back refreshed, alive, and ready to be a good friend to those who matter to me. Pray that I would be in God's Word constantly over break. Remind me to pray for you if you are hurting. Finally, talk to me over break, I don't care about what, just stay in touch. I may be on the other side of the world, but love has no limits so reach far.

Dealing with the Trite.

Ever had that day when you know if someone does one more little thing that irks you off, you are going to just flip out? Like a volcano of emotions about to erupt on the pedestrians climbing its base. Dealing with the trite can be easy at first, but as time moves along, it almost feels like its too hard to contain.

I feel like I've been disrespected too many times, and it's time for vengeance. Well, that's a terrible idea on my part because there are many things that are pointless to get angry about: people who cut in front of you, the guy who chews too loud, rogue unicorns, the guy who holds the pound key on your phone for a really long time, that person who doesn't respond even though they've answered the last 3 you've sent, and the like.

Sure, it'd be easy to just whack them upside the head for doing something that's annoying, but there's many things in my life that I know annoy others with. Getting upset over little things won't get you far in life, but it will give you a black eye (not from experience).

So don't throw a hissy fit when your co-worker, roommate, or student group member does something (alot) that gets under your skin. You wanna know why? Because Jesus could've punched about 300 Pharisees in the face during ministry, but restraint. Being a Christian is about becoming more like Jesus; game, set, match. Better yet, heap burning coals upon their heads by baking them something delicious. That's what the Bible says to do.

Smell ya later,
Sam.


A fun little video.

when the fights go down in the city.

Hello (enter name) __________

Tonight at my Men's Soccer game in Lincoln Park, there was a brawl. Pretty legit. The dude on the other team got upset because my teammate fouled him. The dude got up in my teammate's face, so my teammate pushed him back. The guy came back angrier and looked like he was going to punch my teammate, so my teammate literally beat him to the punch and clocked him square in the nose. Then the all hell broke loose. Before I knew it, there was a pile of grown men fighting each other. Of course I was throwing down too. When I say throwing down, I mean I was watching from a distance because I was on the other side of the field when it happened. Needless to say, I would've back my teammates had anything escalated more.

This whole ordeal got me thinking about what I would fight for and what's worth it. I'm a super scrappy player, but rarely, and by rarely I mean spider monkey rarely, will you see me get mad at someone, especially mad enough to fight. But let's say some guy punched a girl, we'll just say they don't call me "Furious Fists" for no reason.

For me to fight someone I would have to be angry. Really angry. Though that doesn't happen often, there should be somethings that we should be willing to fight for. Jesus fought for the Father when He flipped the money changers tables for desecrating the Temple. Holiness and justice are the things we should be willing to fight for. To fight for something doesn't necessarily mean throw punches, but it does mean we need to stand up for it. If someone started cursing God's name, should that provoke anger within us, or do we passively let it happen without a second thought? I'm not saying we should jack that guy up in the nose, but show God some respect and let the guy know who he's really cursing. I mean seriously, "if God is for us, who can be against us." Who is going to mess with God Almighty? Stand up for things you love: God, family, friends, teammates. Things that matter. Don't go kicking a guy in the gut for making fun of Apple computers. There's a time and a place.

So next time you are out and about, and you hear someone telling lies about God, your family, or friends, stick up for them. Because love isn't about sitting back and having everyone like you. Love is an action and actions mean doing something. So stand up for your friends, even when they are not around.

Peace.

Papendorf Wedding

Today was Dave and Sara's wedding. It was fantastic. The wedding was outdoors in a beautiful area behind a mansion in Joliet, IL. The wedding itself was put together beautifully and everything went smoothly. Both Dave and Sara cried at least a little bit when they were up there. Dave looked so happy just about all the time.

The reception was in the mansion which was pretty sweet. The mansion looked like an old southern plantation farm house. Pretty neat design. The reception was a ton of fun, a great break from working this summer. Dancing, laughing, picture taking. You know, all that jazz. We got to see a couple of old friends that we hadn't seen since school got out. Overall solid day. Although Thad's dancing didn't make it any better, but luckily Kyle was there to make up for it.

Giving college kids bird seed may not have been the best idea, but again, it was fun. This was my first wedding this summer, so this has gotten me really excited about my brother's wedding in September (of which I'm the best man). Weddings are a ton of fun now that I'm older, when you're a kid, you don't really care. Well, only 2 weeks until preseason and school. w00t.

The wedding location.

Kate, Sarah, and Christina

Dave being excited.

you may kiss the bride.

Fire in Jenkins.

Last night there was a really serious fire in Jenkins Hall. What seemed like 30 firetrucks and ambulances were there. The news report said there was over 200 firecrew and paramedics.

Tyler and I were coming back from a late night run to McDonalds when we saw a bunch of firetrucks an ambulances going north up Clark. When we got to LaSalle we saw they were at Jenkins, so we went up there to check it out.

When we got there we were talking to some of the students and most of them didn't expect it to be as serious as it turned out to be. Rumor was that a meteor hit Jenkins Hall, but that theory was quickly quenched...like the fire. Turns out it was an electrical fire.

Pray for Moody for cleanup, finances, and the work power to get Jenkins back up and running. The cleanup crews have been working since 3:30 this morning and still aren't done. I put up a few pictures and videos on Facebook, so check it out.

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Stop Being Sam.

Stop being Sam and start becoming like Jesus. That's what God told me today. That's why He had me work the Legacy Conference which this afternoon I was dreading because I was unbelievably tired.

Francis Chan spoke tonight from what seemed the very mind of God. God used his words to speak exactly what I needed to hear. The phrase that really convicted me was, "Don't let reputation become more important than character." I lie to people. I act like I know what I'm talking about only to get that person to like me. I do this in everything from music to movies to favorite authors. I could honestly have no idea what I'm talking about, but in order to gain your friendship I will lie and tell you so half-baked lie that seems OK in my mind.

I've grown up hearing the phrase "just be yourself." The problem isn't necessarily reputation for me, but identity crisis. Yes, the horrid question, "Who am I?" When I'm around certain people, I change my personality to fit in. What bothers me most about this is that I feel like I'm lying to people about who I really am, but in reality I didn't know who I was. Francis Chan answer that question from God's Word tonight. It says in Philippians that was need to be imitators of Christ and that's when it hit me. We aren't supposed to "be ourself;" we are supposed to be like Christ. It's not about finding our identity, because if we are in Christ, He is our identity. He's my identity.

My fear of dislike from other people isn't solved by finding out who I really am, but understanding that my identity is in Christ. With that being said, Francis Chan also said that Christians under persecution are closer to God than any other time. So, I need to expect people to not like me because I'm in Christ. Luke 21:17 says, "You will be hated by all for my name's sake." If I don't have any enemies, it means I'm doing something wrong. Romans says that the Gospel is an offense and a stumbling block. I need opposition to trust God more. 


In the end, God taught me a lot tonight. This was something I really needed to hear. I need to stop trying to become myself and start becoming like Christ. I don't need to lie anymore because in Him my identity lies.

Man-Flicks.

This last weekend I watched three chick-flicks. Am I embarrassed? A little bit. I mean for the most part chick-flicks all end the same way, so basically I watched the same movie three times. The point is that there needs to be a new genre of movies that is a romantic, manly, funny, action-packed throw down. Am I asking for too much? Probably. But here is a suggestion on how these movies could look like.


Will Ferrell plays a fun loving FBI agent who always has the office laughing, but when it comes to crime, he packs a punch. During one of his jobs he meets a beautiful woman, Liv Tyler, who breaks his heart when she turns out to be an undercover FBI agent. When they both find out about each other's job, Will finds out that she's not interested in him, she's just doing her job, he runs away to New Zealand. Instead of them getting together at the end, Will meets another beautiful woman in New Zealand, and they live happily ever after. Include many explosions, guns, and car chases.

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Burnt Out?

Today, I had the first coffee of the summer. What does that mean for me? I'm tired.

Summer is supposed to be a time where a student gets to relax from all his school work and just get away. While I have been able to relax from school work, I haven't really been able to get away. I'be been working on campus since school got out, and I'm actually waking up earlier than I did during the school year.

I know what you are saying, "Welcome to the real world, Sam." Well, the real world sucks, at least during the summer time. During the school year, my mind gets burnt out but right now my body is burnt out. I'm physically tired, yet I'm ready for school to start.

I think this is a mixture of my poor social life right now and the excitement I have for this next semester. Seriously, I'm pumped for school. There's going to be soccer, Greek, friends whose lives have changed over the summer, and a whole array of surprises.

Right now I'm beating my body to a pulp by training for soccer and working 40 hours a week, but come Autumn, I'll be glad I did it. As far as mental readiness, all I've really done this summer mentally is watch LOST with Spencer, which is pretty mentally straining, but I think I'm going to start working on Green today. It should be a good start for next semester.

Tonight, I'm eating at the Wallace household which I'm pumped for. Spencer is gone this weekend which means no LOST for me. If anybody has some ideas of what I should do with my time leave me a comment. I always open to new ideas. Also, follow me on twitter if you have one. I generally yave some funny thoughts throughout the day that I put on there. @samis_1991

Smell ya later.

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Jesus, Man.

Time gets away from me sometimes. I'll take a nap and wake up 8 hours later. This stuff happens a lot. The same thing happens with blogs. I'll post 11 months after my last post, but that's OK.

The point is I want to write. I'm tired of trying to fit my thoughts in a Tweet or Facebook status. Tweets are too short to fully express my thoughts, and if I post my thoughts on Facebook, some people get worried and comment strange things on my wall. I had completely forgotten about this blog until Tara put up her Europe blog. I now remember how fun this is.

Writing has always been fun. Like reading and showering though, it's only fun when I choose to do it. If I'm forced to write, it becomes a chore, and I'll just avoid it as much as possible. I guess the best way to start off this new habit of my summer is to give a recap of my summer. Here goes nothing:

My summer began with 15 hours of work on a Saturday and Sunday. My job required me to help set up Moody's Pastor Conference. I basically started running before I could walk (In reference to my job because that'd be absurd if I could literally run before I could walk since running requires the action of walking). I've been working a fantastic 40 hour work week. Everyday when I got off work I would hang out with my friends before they started leaving one-by-one for the summer. Hanging out included biking, kayaking, playing soccer, watching movies, laughing at absurdities, and eating. Everywhere from Montana to Europe to L.A., my friends slowly started their own personal journeys into God's plan for their summer.

With many of my friends going to all sorts of cool and exotic places, I started to get malcontent here in Chicago, wishing I was out in the open air like in New Zealand or in the mountains like Colorado. Still, God is teaching me to grasp onto his sufficiency and be content and make the most of my stay here in Chicago. Ephesians 5:15-17 says:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

I'm praying that this summer God will reveal to me some of His plans for my life, because I honestly don't know what I want to do with my life. While I'm young, I really want to travel, backpack, camp, bike, hike, do something that I can only do because I'm young and have time to do these crazy things.

So if you guys could pray for me, I'd definitely appreciate it. Pray that God would reveal His will for my life to me. Pray that He would keep me in His Word. Pray that He would give me strength while I work this summer. Pray that my brother's wedding goes fantastic this Fall. And pray that I would love God and love people.