Almost Humorous Conversation

I'll should qualify the title a bit. The conversation could have (but didn't happen). If it had happened, it would have been funny.

Setup: A close friend of mine in Santa Barbara just got engaged. He is also a big Cardinals fan. I talked to him on Saturday, at which point he was engaged and the Cardinals had won the World Series, neither of which I yet knew. If I had known about the Cardinals winning the World Series, it is quite possible the following conversation could have occurred:

Me: Congratulations! (Meaning the Cardinals)
Joel: Thanks, but how did you find out. (Thinking I meant the engagement but not knowing how I could possibly know yet because they hadn't told much of anyone outside of their families yet.)
Me: Um... isn't it public information?
Joel: Really?!? I didn't realize.
Me: Come on, it's all over the Internet.
Joel: ... (Confused silence)

Career Fair

Last Friday I had the privilege of being one of two Toyon representatives to the Harvey Mudd Career fair. I enjoyed the experience of the other side of things. By the end I was sure of one thing. The way I had approached career fairs as a student, I never would have considered hiring myself.

Faster than a Speeding Bicyclist

Yesterday while I was biking home, I passed one of those traffic displays that tell you your speed. I was in a 25 MPH school zone, and the readout currently said "Your speed is: 45." I glanced around, to see where this reckless driver was. There wasn't a moving car around anywhere. I suppose the logical conclusion is that I was biking at 45 MPH...

Sri Lanka in the News

This happened in Galle, Sri Lanka. As you may recall, that is the town in Sri Lanka I was in for three weeks last year. While I was there, it never seemed like the sort of place where something like this would happen.

Philippians 1:15-18

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

I've been thinking about this passage recently. I've realized that quite often Christians (myself included) complain about how other Christians (or Churches in general) are pursuing the gospel. In my experience, the concerns are rarely about something as blatantly sinful as false motivations, yet we worry as if these groups and individuals were undermining all of Christ's power.

I find Paul's response, however, to be quite surprising. Rather than be upset or worried, he rejoices! Even though the preacher may be evil, what does it matter if Christ is shaping the evil for his own good? I think that there is something quite deep here, and that the Church would grow much closer to Christ if we understood and practiced this principal.

There are quite a few little details that I could hash out, having to do with things like this, but I'm not aiming for this to be a book, nor even a sermon, so I will let this be enough.

Change in Theme

As you probably noticed, this blog has a new look. This is because the blogging site is now in the beta of some major changes (remember, Blogger is part of Google, so long, usable betas are the norm). Anyway, I could have stuck with a nearly identical layout, but when I looked at some of the new, pre-packaged layouts, I liked this one better. The primary reason is that the text fills the whole page now, although I also like the way it organizes the archives into a tree structure. There are also some other nice features included in the beta on the editing side, but you won't notice that by reading my blog. My guess is that most of you won't really care about the minor changes, but perhaps will find it strange that this makes two posts today, when most of the time I've only been writing once every week or two.

The Circle of Life at Mudd

Last weekend I visited some of the people I still know at Mudd. This year's seniors were the freshman my senior year, and it was wonderful to just spend time with them and see how they're doing. I had some good conversations with each of the three that I know particularly well. Even during the short time I was there, it was clear that they have grown a lot, and have picked up on the importance of loving each other, as well as younger students. It made me realize just how cyclic love is. My freshman year some of the seniors really poured themselves into loving us. Our senior year we did what we could to pour love into the freshman. Now, as seniors, they are doing the same. Praise God!