good bye blog... well, almost.

As last year's summer can attest, I'll be taking a sabbatical from the blogsphere for a few weeks. When I say a few weeks - really I mean about 12 weeks. Or, for those of you who like smaller numbers think 3 months rather than 12 weeks. However, this summer may be a lil' different than the last; I will actually have my computer with me this year. So, before you completely abandon the blog - - - just know that there is the possibility of an occasional super-surprising post arising over the next three months. (Besides, the great blogging legend himself: Wes Cooper occasionally surprises us with a post. Just think of me as following his footsteps for May, June & July this year.) Once August gets here > expect things to be back to normal...

Just know that this post hurts me deeply. But I have to do it. And besides, it may be refreshing to take a brief break from the blog world...

Where I was last summer: Reedsville & Lewistown, Pennsylvania
Where I'll be this summer: Iowa, USA
What I'll be doing: Selling Books
What company I work for: The Southwestern Company
Who'll be doing it with me(?): friends + hundreds of college kids
Why I'll be doing it: to glorify God

good bye, well sorta...

little did you know...

We are now 3 days away from finals week at UK.
This means that I need to get my movie line-up ready for the week!

Most of you may not know this - but I have a tradition of watching a movie every night of finals week. It's kind of a small tradition... After all, I've only had 3 total weeks of finals in my college career. (at first I didn't make a big deal about it - - even my freshman year roommate {Bryce} may have not even known about my secret finals-movie-week indulgence.) Nevertheless, I love being able to 'de-stress' and take my mind of the books for a lil' bit.

There really is only 1.5 rules for the tradition: Rule #1 Watch one movie for at least every day that you have a final. There is no specific genre. *Nor does it matter if you've already seen the movie. Rule #*.5 at least two of the movies during the week must be one's that you've never seen. Whether you watch it in the morning, middle of the day, afternoon, or night it doesn't matter. Just do it. (hopefully that wasn't confusing)... I love this tradition and I'm finally confident enough to share it with you! >>I had to test the tradition (for 3 semesters) to check and see if this tradition would have a negative influence on finals my performance before I would recommend it to the public. {it seemingly does not, although further testing is in place.}

Here's this semester's line-up:

• Monday - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
• Tuesday- Pursuit of Happyness
• Wednesday- (?) not sure yet
  
• Thurdsay- (?) not sure yet
  
• Friday- Blacksheep and/or Tommy Boy
  

*I've already watched Into the Wild (excellent movie) last night and Braveheart (just as excellent) will be tonight -- just gettin' things rolling. You have to build up momentum heading into this sorta thing...

any suggestions for Wednesday and Thursday?

recent snacking...

I think it's no surprise (by the picture on the left) in regards to what snack I'm about to mention....

Anyway, I can't help but mention my on-&-off love affair with David's sunflower seeds. For some reason my intense desire to eat them fades during the winter months. However, during spring, summer, and fall > the craving for these lil' seeds comes back. But I'm not sure why I like them so much... (?) Maybe the start of baseball season ignites my appetite for 'em. Maybe it's because I get the chance to spit when I eat them. Maybe it's from the fun workout that my teeth and tongue get from taking the lil' seed out of the shell. Maybe it's because this snack is rich in fiber. Or maybe it's just a combination of all these reasons. (that is more likely).

Well, nothing profound here - - - just wanted to shed some light on my recent snacking habits. I feel that I should always be real with my readers and give glimpses into my everyday life; even snacking habits.

Mmmm. Eat. Spit. Be Happy. or to make this slogan from David's sunflower seeds have a spiritual twist, you could phrase it: Eat (the Word). Spit (the Truth). Be Happy (in tha Lord). Just keep livin' out 1 Corinthians 10:31 and it's all good.

So, what's your recent snack of choice?

semester 'bout done...

When a college semester comes to a close, more than just the classes fade out. Aside from 10-page papers, multiple choice tests, profs, and lab-reports - -students are also saying goodbye to things like UK parking, W.T. Young library, K-Lair, skipping class (jk), residence halls, etc... While these may seem trivial, there is one thing I'll miss way more than all the others: the Ingite Old Testament 1 Fuel Group!

This bible study (fuel group) has been so refreshing. My eyes have been opened to God's character in ways I never imagined. I'm not seeking to trivialize or diminish the impact of the New Testament in any way - - - but I do want to stress that the Old Testament has been absolutely rockin' my world. Mmmmmm it is good.

Moving through 13 weeks of study (Genesis to Esther) has completely shattered my once shallow view of God. We have a God who doesn't just say that He's faithful, patient, longsuffering, holy, righteous, merciful, creative, just, sovereign, (although He does say these things) but He does more than say it --> He shows it through action! The Old Testament shows it! Solid, through and through...

Rather than write for days (even though I really want to) telling of the O.T. impact on my walk with God - - - I think it suffice to just end this post with one story, and one overall book of the O.T. that I was most surprised to learn from:


(*let it be known that to narrow this down to one favorite story and one most 'surprising book' is extremely tough, but I gotta at least try and pick one...)

Favorite Story: "The 12 Spies" (Caleb & Joshua)
This story captivated me the most of all the O.T. historical narratives. I loved seeing the faithfulness of Caleb & Joshua in the midst of the other spies who had abandoned their trust in God. Moreover, I love seeing how God rewards their faithfulness.

Most surprising book (to learn from): Esther
I used to think that Esther was just a beauty pageant with a story of a courageous woman; essentially truth's only relevant to women. (sad but true) However, after taking a good look - this books is amazing at magnifying the sovereignty of God! Despite name of 'God' not being mentioned anywhere in the book - I was totally surprised to learn so much from this great O.T. story.

Best of all > In every O.T. book we studied this semester - we looked at how everything points to Christ (redemptive-history)! Maybe now you've started to get a glimpse of why it will be so tough to bring an end to this semester...

***Leave a comment: tell your fav O.T. story (be brief), why, and/or one book in the Old Testament that you didn't expect to learn much from > but then were totally surprised!

gotta get that Crazy Love...

Francis Chan's new book- Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God will be out soon. (May 1,2008)

Francis Chan is an amazing communicator - so 'down to earth' and real every time he speaks, always pointing to Christ. He pours out an intense love for God in every sermon. (If Chan's book is like his preaching, I know it will be amazing.)

Ok, maybe you aren't the biggest Francis Chan fan in the world, that's fine. But just know that if I were in a room with John Piper, John MacArthur, Francis Chan, Billy Graham, and Joel Osteen --> Chan would be the first of those 4 real pastors (and yes, I mean 4 not 5) that I'd wanna talk to. Don't get it twisted : I love MacArthur and Piper and Graham - but there's just something about Chan that resonates with me each time I hear him speak...

Oops, this wasn't supposed to turn into a 'Taylor loves Chan' post... I just want to simply say go get the book Crazy Love! Also, for more info on Francis himself - go to his website.

a fresh cut...

pre - cut



post - cut



between - cut

some sweet chivalry...

it's World Blog Day (?) ...

I think I'm supposed to make a post today b/c it's World Blog Day....

but I'm not totally sure what that means to you (the readers).

For more info on 'world blog day' --> check out Adam Baird's blog.



so, in order to spice up this post a lil' bit - - - please enjoy the picture below.

wonderful wedding... (in photo)

The 'Ross Wedding' in Louisville this weekend was excellent. The focus was on Jesus Christ; how marriage should constantly be a picture of how Christ loves the church. This wedding was certainly one of the best I've ever witnessed! Why? --> Because the ceremony was all about God's glory and the specific roles he created men & women to fill within marriage. Yes, very solid indeed... *side note* The Reception was one-of-a-kind too! Everyone who attended enjoyed delicious coffee and sweet morsels of goodness. Moreover, we all had a chance to select a coffee mug of our choice (the mugs were crazy, from random places and with random sayings written on them) and we were allowed to keep them! My mug was apparently a 'Merry Christmas Dad' mug . oh- good times, what a wonderful wedding...

Making Time- no excuses...

Do you ever have those days where you stop and think about reading your bible (but thinking about it is only as far as your effort gets), yet you just move on to something else? Maybe that happened to you this morning, maybe now (which could be one reason why you're online), or maybe it will happen to you tonight just before you go to bed. Either way, I think it happens to us a whole lot more than anyone would like to openly confess.

In the past few days this pattern of living has occurred more frequently than I'd be willing to admit. But I don't want to take it lightly, acting as if it's just a phase. There's too much danger that can happen when significant time has passed with a Christian not staying solid in God's word. Maurice Roberts in 'The Thought of God' hits the nail on the head when he says, "The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ...When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search of other lovers."

Moreover, C. J. Mahaney is rock solid by reminding us the essential reason we look to the Bible:
"When we look inward we live by the subjective, the temporal, the ever-changing, the unreliable, the likely-to-be-false. When we look outward, to the gospel, we live by the objective, the never changing, that which is perfectly reliable and always completely true."
No matter how you slice it - jumping in the word is crucial. If you 'feel like it' or not is merely an excuse. I was reading Mark 1:35 yesterday and was so convicted for how I've lived in the past few days. That verse talks about Jesus rising early in the morning while it was still dark... > I doubt Christ had 'happy feelings' of gettin' up that early, but He did. And Christ's example of having discipline should be followed by all believers. (that doesn't necessarily mean you will wake up before sunrise every morning - - - but it does mean that you will have discipline.)

I'm not really writing to bash emotion or feelings. They are wonderful - a gift of God. But I do want to keep them in proper balance; not heavily minimizing them, nor overplaying them. I'm simply getting to the fact that if we are led only by emotion, then we will never follow hard after Christ. We will just do what we want to do, when we want to do it. There are numerous books and thoughts on this subject much more in depth than this lil' blog post... Seek them out, and may you look to Jesus as the true example. - - - grow in the Lord.

gettin' it off my chest...

I've done something nobody would readily detect... I'm not too proud of what I've done either - but unless I tell you, here, now, in this blog post - you may never know about it...

here's the scoop:

Quick stat: 6 of my 7 most recent blog posts have included pictures... (Not that anyone's counting except me.) . . . ok, Here's why my conscience feels a lil' shaded: I fear that in some weird way I'm using the excuse of relying on a 'good photo' as a crutch in my posts. Allow me to explain: Writing a post is sometimes difficult; every blogger knows that. Especially when you try and capture your audience with just words. I mean what can you actually say that would be meaningful enough for someone to log onto their computer, take time out of their valuable, busy, stressful, 100mph-day to sit down and enjoy reading? Do you try and make people laugh a lot? Do you bring them to tears? Do you just give news feeds of political happenings? Do you tell about the latest book you've read? Do you tell about the weather? Do you do try and share the gospel in every post? Do you try and say something profound? Do you complain about something? Do you just not write anything - and use a picture instead? Or do you just type random thoughts (like this post) and string them together in hopes that readers will come back again and read your next post in a few days? What do you do?

Yes, a blog is usually simple - but can also sometimes get quite complicated. However, the good outweighs the bad (at least for me). A blog can be beneficial for a guy > Undoubtedly for a guy like me, who sounds much better in the written form than in person. I like written words - my low mumbling monotone-voice just sounds so much better in a blog post than in person. > ok, ok , let me jump off this tangent and get back to the point of the post: So, with regards to photos in my posts --- my point -- is that often I start to lean on the lazy side by thinking, "Just put a photo up, that will be enough." Then I casually make a few clicks, and voila! A picture is put up, a post is born. (Hooray, I put no effort into the post, but I led people to believe that I carefully worked hard to be creative!) Well, I can't keep laying my head down at night knowing that I'm doing such a disservice to the blogsphere. But before things get to far, know this: I am not saying that pictures in blogs are bad. I cannot make a sweeping statement like that. Yet, I do wish to say that sometimes (mostly just recently) a blogger (I) can 'hide' behind photos knowing that if he posts enough of them, then he will not have to write. Above all, I just feel kinda lazy merely tossin' up some quick pics, then sittin back. There's no work in that. Unless of course you go to great lengths to find the perfect photo (But that's another story). Ok, now that I'm in the 39th sentence of this post - just realize that the sole purpose of this rambling is just to clear my conscience about postin' so many photos lately. . . I mean, who am I kidding? I love pictures, and besides, selecting a solid picture for a post in not a bad thing - in fact the best Christian blogger out there uses them in just about every post. And when chosen carefully - the visual, picture, video, whatever - adds enormous quality to the post...

Now that that's off my chest - maybe I'll get back to 'normal' posting and use photos and ramble less.
Thank you for your patience (and reading down this far) while I worked out this little tizzy of random thoughts in my brain.