Psalm

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3

How to be a Successful Evil Overlord

It gets hard to read, but is priceless in content.

http://www.proft.org/tips/evil.html

James 3

3:9–11

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same stream?”

I do talk quite a bit and this verse/chapter has left me wondering about all the little things that I say to people that I consider to have no significance. It reminds me of all the things I say in jest, but could potentially hurt or degrade someone—even if I know them and think they know I’m “joking”. To be honest, it reminds me of how friends are normally the ones that we become the most sensitive to (even though we give them the benefit of the doubt). However, when we beat something/someone over the head enough, it starts to seep in. But enough about the tongue for now; let’s get on to the good stuff: wisdom!

3:13

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.”

3:16–18

“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that come from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

I love these verses! I feel like God has truly given me this kind of wisdom over the past several months, but it makes me reconsider just how weighty of a thing it actually is—and how I’m not always acting out wisdom with the qualifications listed.

If we claim to have wisdom, we are to show it by our good lives and deeds stemmed from humility. Here’s when earthly wisdom and logic versus heavenly wisdom and logic come in. Most people claim to be wise because of what they know and how they have solved problems (which generally leads to boasting), but heavenly wisdom is directly related to humility—becoming the least.

I could take forever to go through all of the list, but I have to go to class. I guess I keep thinking about how many of us claim to have wisdom, but what kind of wisdom do we really have? Is it full of mercy? Is it considerate? Does it produce good fruit in your life and in the lives of others? Is it submissive or impartial? Sincere? Pure? Peace-loving? Yeah, it’s a pretty hefty checklist and I’ve got quite a bit of work to do.

As always, I’d love to hear thoughts.

The “Aha!” Moment

Only recently am I making connections between my personality and what I chose as my career. It seems strange because one would think that you should be obviously aware of yourself and know yourself enough to pick a career based on that knowledge.

In a sense, I know myself and the tendencies I have more than anyone. However, after attending more and more lectures by world-class designers, I am becoming increasingly convinced that my role as a designer is more of a problem-solver than simply a “maker of things”. I suppose this realization might seem obvious to others, but when I think about it, it fits. Where architects, engineers, mathematicians, and scientists solve problems of structure and all things technical, the designers of the world do the same thing to a certain extent, but with more of a business/marketing, psychological/sociological, and cultural perspective.

Think about it, designers communicate. Designers simplify. They have to have certain knowledge of their audience, clients, etc. in order to make an effective product. One story I heard at a recent lecture was about a woman whose grandmother almost killed herself by taking the wrong medication on accident. The grandmother couldn’t read the labels well and therefore used the wrong bottle. As a result, the woman saw an obvious problem with the way the labeling system was organized, designed a system of her own, and ended up selling the product to Target (see the images below). That is entrepreneurship in design.

I used to want to be a doctor or a physician’s assistant when I was in high school right up until I started college. I wanted to help people and that was the most tangible way at that point—at least in my mind. Then I moved on to marketing, always knowing that I wanted to use it as an aid to art. You see, art moves people emotionally, it evokes a response (whether a static one, a subtle one, an eccentric one, etc.), and it asks questions; it challenges the way things are—specifically design. It takes an understanding of people and their responses, their habits, their concerns and their culture to design well.

I am a problem-solver; I always have been. Not in the mathematical sense but in the social sense. It’s almost a responsibility that some might view as indirect, but I see it as a positive correlation. This is it. This is how I do big things—all to the glory of God. Granted, if He sends me to Wisconsin or St. Petersburg, I’ll go; it’s just a different venue of serving Him. Whatever it takes. Whether it’s a painting, a packaging project for a company, a corporate identity, non-profit work, etc. I want to help people in this way. Not all designers view design with this sort of responsibility; most think that they just pop out a poster and some business cards and that’s it. There’s so much more to it though—and that excites me; it challenges me to do better, to be the best I can, to think critically about my work and the work around me. By this dialogue among designers and everyone else, we can further and challenge design itself.

Today in Church

Church was amazing today. God was just…there. I mean, He always is, but today you could tell that everyone knew…and they were excited about it. They were excited about it from the first song. They were excited about it when the power suddenly went off and there weren’t any lights, video, or audio…yet we kept singing with ever-increasing volume:

Savior, He can move the mountains, our God is mighty to save, mighty to save. Forever, author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave. Shine a light and let the whole world see; we’re singing for the glory of the Risen King!

Phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal.

At the end, we all read Psalm 136 aloud. His steadfast love DOES endure forever. It doesn’t matter the small or big things that come about in our lives, God is the same; He loves his people. His desire is that we come to know him and make His name great among the earth. No matter who is elected on Tuesday, no matter if our lives don’t turn out like we planned, no matter if God blesses us immensely…it doesn’t matter compared to the fact that God is, quite simply, good.

If God uses leaders to harden their hearts against him (see Exodus 7:3), that’s his choice. Things are bound to get worse for Christians in the future; I say bring it on. Maybe that’s what it will take to bring out “the fight” in us; to finally become consumed with declaring the glory of the Lord. It could sound lame, but in church today, I never felt more prepared.

I used to think that when God told me he had huge plans for my life; it meant something tangible like an amazing career or whatever. Yeah. Now…whatever! My life is not my own; since I came to know Jesus, my life has been meant to make Him huge – only I wasn’t doing it to the best of my ability until now. It’s a humbling thing to think that your life is forfeit (and so it should be for what we all owe to Jesus and his grace).

For the Benefit of Mr. Kite

Isaiah 29:13-15

“The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.

Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’”

I don’t want to just go through the motions of Christianity. To live a life full of mediocrity and hypocrisy just seems like such a waste. The problem is that I am so passionate about living correctly, but when I go to my classes, I’m just really nice and helpful. I rarely bring up my faith, and when I do, I’ll just say that I can’t practice for our presentation/performance because I have church. I mean, there are rare opportunities to have intense conversations about things other than art and design while I’m at school.

On the bright side, I found out that there are definitely two other Christians in Block with me, so that’s cool. One was having problems with her boyfriend and I got to talk to her about it from a Christian viewpoint in front of other people that were listening. Gah, but it all seems so indirect! So fearful of what others will think! But why? Why do I feel like this when I know that knowing Christ and accepting his grace are so much greater? It honestly astounds me. I feel like I am capable of so much good for the kingdom, but I don’t know why I don’t speak up more and be more “aggressive”. It bothers me that the times I’ve had spiritual conversations and tried so hard to lead lifelong friends to the Lord, that nothing comes of it. I feel guilty that I love God so much and have yet to lead even ONE person to know him. What if I’m not doing this right? What if I’m not being good enough? I know that not being “good enough” is what it’s all about, and God uses ordinary people to do his extraordinary work, but ugh, I feel so counterproductive.

Maybe I just feel alone and out of place right now concerning my values.

P.S. – I freaking hate Halloween.

Interesting Site

http://www.buzzdash.com/index.php?page=category&C_id=30

Peace.

Plans and a Good Name

I have a few verses and thoughts I’d like to share from what I read last night, okay? Okay.

Proverbs 21:30 “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”

I think this verse stood out to me because the whole book of Proverbs concerns attaining and living by wisdom, knowledge, and righteousness given by God. It’s interesting that Solomon (or another writer) takes time out to make the point that not even wisdom or insight or our own plans can supersede the Lord’s. My own personal fears for our government and economy immediately come to mind, but one of the pastors in my church has been preaching on the end times. It’s great to know that God has his own plan for the world and for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ. Nothing can change that; no matter how crazy and desperate things will become, no plan by Satan or man will succeed. I believe we can take comfort in that simple statement.

Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

A good name: Respect. Honor. It’s apparent that materialism is a drug that has infiltrated even the Christian arena that most of us are susceptible to. I want to have the money to do the things I love and live comfortably in a nice place; who doesn’t? But God says that having a respectable name is more important, no, DESIRABLE. Desirable means wanted or wished for as being an attractive, useful, or necessary. That’s exactly how we should want to attain a good name. And it’s not a “good name” for our own glory or to take our own pride in. It’s a good name to the glory of the Lord. If we live our lives in a manner that strives to do the things of God and live wholeheartedly for him, I have no doubt that estimation by others will follow. What a great way to minister to non-Christians! Character and integrity speak volumes to people.

One of the greatest compliments I got recently was from a friend who said that they respected the way I have tried to learn more about Christ and live my life fully for him. That single thing meant more to me than any personality trait that I think I have going for me. I desire a good name. I hope you do too.

Barack Obama’s LACK of Accomplishments

Check this out, if you will:

I’m Frustrated With Americans

I’m frustrated with Americans who can’t seem to grasp the fact that people who work hard shouldn’t be punished for being successful. I’m frustrated with Americans who hang on to every slippery, slithering word that comes out of the mouth of someone who lacks experience and doesn’t even give straightforward answers. I’m frustrated with Americans who seem to think that it’s the government’s responsibility to give them a break in every arena imaginable.

I can’t really watch the debates without getting upset at the DELIBERATE media bias – even down to camera angles! I’m just really flabbergasted that the election is a month away and it seems like everyone is giving in to the smoke and mirrors.

All I know how to do at this point is pray…and be fearful of what is in store for the future of America. I love America; I love this country and what it has stood for in the past. It saddens me to see that this “change” phenomenon could very well be our demise.