Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego...

So, not technically the world, but if she's not in America, I'm not looking for her. This is every state I've been to. Have you been to them all?



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Food for Porn...

Here is an interesting article from Craig Gross over at xxx church. It'll take a second and read the comments too, but check it out and then come back...

What do you guys think? Is it all a clever marketing ploy? What exactly does it mean to be in the world but not of it? Does this cross the line (Hooters, Porn Shows, Club appearences, etc)? Or is this exactly where Jesus would be?

My dad has a quote under the glass top of his desk that goes something like this:

"Some try to save people from the safety of the pew or the church bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell"

They certainly have done some things that have made me wonder about "the line" but on the other hand, for a lot of men, they might be the last stop between a life with Christ and a life of despair.

What do you think?

Where Was I...

I'm usually up on the viral video scene. Most of my day is spent surfing the net, so I have time to check out my favorite sites and get the best of the best. Every now and again, I'll post something that's worthy. Well, apparently this has been out for a pretty long time, but this weekend was the first time I'd ever seen it. My buddy Aarron showed this to me on Sunday night and I thought it was hilarious. I hope you enjoy...Charlie the Unicorn.

Reality in Pearl Harbor...

May 23, 2007. A day which will live in infamy.

No, not because I went to the dentist for the first time in 10 years, though this is true (well, I did have my wisdom teeth removed about three years ago, but that was by an oral surgeon, not a dentist, but this was the first cleaning in 10 years). That is a horrifying experience in and of itself as the hygenist scrapes 10 years of plaque (isn't that a gross word?) and bacteria off my teeth and gums. But that's not why.

No, not because the dentist found 7 cavaties, which are the first of any I have ever had in my entire existence. Though yesterday before 8 was the last time I could honestly say (even though it was in ignorance) that I had never had any cavaties in my 27 year existence. But, low and behold, the good doc found seven of them bugars in my pearly yellows. For reasons I'm not surprised, see above.

No, not because I had my second interview in as many weeks and am 99% sure I am going to get the position, though that is true as of yesterday as well.

No, the reason yesterday will always be a momentous day in the history of Jake Keck is because of my entrance to reality and adulthood. You see, as I've mentioned before, I've always had a secret desire to be a rock star...or not so secret. This wasn't born of my awesome singing talent or my natural ability to rock the mic (which makes sense because I posses none of those). No, despite my lack of natural ability, I was still born with the gift of desiring to be worshipped by millions of adorable fans.

I mean adoring fans.........either way I guess.

Though this amazing gift was bestowed upon me, it somehow hasn't come to fruition. I tried my best. Got a tatoo. Had my tongue pierced. And my body has always been an object to be worshipped (wait....I mean my brother's body...)

I was even in a band.

But alas, as I lay in the death, er I mean, dentist chair, waiting to be examined, I had this thought:

"You know, I haven't been to the dentist in 10 years. And I've never been to this one. I don't want to hear about how bad for my teeth my tongue piercing is. Plus, I don't want it to screw up the x-rays. I'll take it out.

But if I take it out for that, I might as well leave it out for my interview. I want to make sure nothing holds me back and allows him to have a reason to not give me the job.

Oh man...should I just leave it out for good? How will anyone ever know I was supposed to be a rock star? Maybe that will never happ..."

And that's when reality set in. I reached inside my mouth and removed the shiny little post.

Single tear.

The Power Hour...

During my lunches lately, I've been reading through Jeremiah. There was no particular reason I picked Jeremiah except for the "fire in my bones" line. That's a good one.

What a depressing book! It's all about how horrible and awful God's people were. He compares them to prostitutes, old rags, donkeys, mother deer who abandon their young, and much more. Apparently, they weren't doing a whole lot right. So God picks this young man, Jeremiah, to speak to them. Everywhere he goes, all he gets is resistance. All his efforts are futile. He's real discouraged and a little scared, and then God says this to him,

“If you return to me, I will restore you
so you can continue to serve me.
If you speak good words rather than worthless ones,
you will be my spokesman.
You must influence them;
do not let them influence you!
They will fight against you like an attacking army,
but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze.
They will not conquer you,
for I am with you to protect and rescue you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!"
(Jeremiah 15:19,20 NLT)
First of all, I like how God ends his communication. It's a little more powerful then, "Seacrest out!" The NIV starts with, "If you repent..." Now, Jeremiah wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong, but God was always wanting to draw his people to himself. This must always begin with humbly confessing what it is that draws us away.

He encourages Jeremiah to influence the culture without letting the culture influence him. For 5000 years that has been the cry of God. In the world but not of it. Redeeming culture through our participation in it, not our abstintion.

I'm not the greatest theologian, and sometimes when I read my Bible, it's more like quantity instead of quality. But today, I couldn't get away from this verse. I'm not sure why, maybe because it scared me.

Dear God, may our words be useful and not worthless.

Amen.

It Appears...

...that Lehrer's Flowers and I have the exact same goal!

Remember When...

...Dan Mejerle used to do this for you on NBA Jam? It's fantastic.

I Can't Wait...

...for Conan to replace Jay. Then there will be nothing stopping Conan from taking over the world...or, at least the 11:35-12:30 time slot.

Weekday Update...

It's been awhile since I wrote a blog with any sustenance, but this isn't going to be one of those. I just felt like it was time to give an update on my life:

Had an interview yesterday with the VP of Sales for my company. I'm trying to get a job as a New Home Consultant. Basically it's the real estate agent that works on behalf of my company with the home buyers. It'd be a pretty good pay jump which would justify the schedule change. They work either Thursday through Monday or Saturday through Wednesay. That'd be a bit of a change and Candice and I would have to figure out how to see each other. But it's the way I want my career to head, so you gots to do what you gots to do.

Thursday and Friday of this week our big boss is coming to town. Everybody is on high alert. I try not to let these things bother me to much. I figure I'll do what I've always done because it's always been my best anyway. But my bosses are driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!!

Hope your weeks are going better than mine.

Did Anyone Else...

...puke after seeing this? Not so much for the crap movie that it was, but for the crap money they took from my wallet. Apparently, when you make a good movie you get to follow it up with two crappy sequals. If you thought it was good, well, you were wrong. It wasn't. It just wasn't.

The hype was amazing. I mean, just look at that movie poster. That looks like it could be incredible. When will a movie live up to it's hype?

Oh wait, I know, when they make it awesome and call it 300.

The Most Extreme Hockey Fight In Ages...

I'm not sure how this happened and I didn't see it....oh wait, that's right. It's the NHL.



Awesome.

It's not The Office...

...but it's still pretty stinking funny.

Heard a quote...

...by a famous preacher. It goes something like this:

"If your sin is small, your savior is small. But if your sin is large, your Savior is large."

Agree or disagree? Discuss...

The Matrix Reloaded...

There are four men in my life. Each has his own role. Three of them are awful, one of them is good, and only two of them are real.

The first man in my life is the me I want you to see. This is who you know me as. This is the me that cares about others. This is the me that reads his Bible at Starbucks. This is the dedicated employee me. This is the blogger me. I repent and confess only of those sins I am okay with you knowing I do.

The second man is the Jesus I believe in. This is the Jesus that allows me to explain away greed as taking care of my family. This is the Jesus the prompts us to manifest destiny. This is the Jesus most of us pray to. This Jesus wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. This Jesus just wants me to be comfortable in life.

The third man is the darkest man. This is the real me. The one who sins, though it's not just my sinful nature. This is the me that wants to sit on the couch all day. This is the me that slacks off as much as he can at work, yet makes himself look as good as he can. This is the me that is racist. This is the me that is scared. This is the me that worships. More often then not, I spend more of the real me's time trying to hide my sin then I do trying not to do it. No one really knows the real me. Sometimes not even myself.

The fourth man is Jesus. I don't know a lot about this man really. I read about him, but most of the time, my pre-conceived ideas only allow me to hear what I want to hear. So I only get to know the parts of Jesus that I want to know. This Jesus is very mysterious. He says things like, "Those that aren't for us are against us" and, "Those that aren't against us are for us." But He is the Savior of my soul.

The bible tells us in second Peter to grow in the grace and knowlege of Jesus. I had a prof in college tell me this meant to become more like Jesus and to know more about Jesus. The problem with this is it takes the two real men in my life.

To really grow to be more like Jesus calls the real me into action. The fake me will try to make you think I am growing by reading the bible in public. By blogging about things such as this. By praying long and lengthy prayers. But it takes the real me to wake up and do this.

To get to know Jesus I have to be okay with learning something I didn't know. Most of the time that's a really scary thing. Think about a subject you feel like you know a lot about. Maybe it's math or football or beauty pagents. Go ahead, think of one. Now pretend there is a law or a rule or some requirement that you had no idea existed.

Did you know that Jesus only talked about Judgement Day once? I know He mentioned His second coming and signs of the times and all that, but about the activities on that day He only spoke once. He said He's going to put us into two groups. One on His right and one on His left. The group on His right, He will thank for taking care of Him on this earth and welcome them to heaven. The group on His left, He will curse and send to hell. They will ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?" And He will say, "You didn't recognize me? You didn't see the real me in everyone else?"

It will be the real me that stands before the real Jesus. May they both become more known to me.

I Have Crossed Over...

Or maybe I was always on this side to begin with. Either way, I now know firmly where I stand.

When I was in grade school, I didn't even realize there was a separation. I lived within the tension of the two sides and didn't even notice the difference. I played trumpet in band and was on the basketball team. I was in Art Stretch and played football at recess. The line in the sand was a little blurry.

Then came junior high. At our Junior High, it was the combination of two elementary schools, which meant the first weeks were spent establishing the heirarchy. I did my best to bridge the gap again, but I slowly realized where the power lay. I quit band. I started working out. I did good enough in school to stay in the honors program, but not good enough to be the best. Still, though, I had my feet firmly planted in both camps.

This continued on throughout High School. I tutured the football players of which I was the captain of the team. I wrestled, but I ran track. Still straddling the line.

I remember growing up, wishing that it was all over. No, not my life, but the whole growing up thing. Stop getting hair in weird places. Stop having my voice crack at the most awkward moments in the world. I'm finally there. (well, I do still have the weird hair growth...)

Last night I think I was at my pinnacle. I was watching "Heroes" and at one point I literally jumped out of my chair and started cheering. I'm not sure when it was. But I have firmly lifted my foot from the 'cool' and am now fully residing in the 'nerd' camp.

You can go for the obvious joke here, it's okay. Or allow me, "You were never in the cool camp to begin with!" For all you jokers out there, allow me one last retort...

You just remember what camp you want to be in this weekend when you watch a guy in a spider suit fight crime with his super-spider abilities. Then I ask, "Which camp do you want to be in?"