Top Five.

Top Five songs:

5. "Beautiful," by Phil Wickham

4. "Cannons" by Phil Wickham

3. "Jesus" by Page France

2. "Twenty-Four" by Switchfoot

1. "The Fox, The Crow, and The Cookie" by Mewithoutyou

Top Five most annoying things:

5. Pre-dated merchandise.  I went into the store the other day and saw the "2010 Road Atlas."  (It's June of 2009, in case you were wondering)

4. Misplaced apostrophe's.  Just because word's have an "s" at the end doesn't mean you should add an apostrophe

3. The weather in Nevada

2. Huge trucks that skirt puddles.  Seriously, your truck is fourteen feel tall.  It can handle it

1. The cost of education

Top Five favorite things

5. The electric guitar riff in the chorus of the song "Majesty," by Delirious (I dunno, it just sends shivers down my spine

4. CCU.  I can't wait to go back

3. Education (a part of CCU, I know, but it still gets its own slot)

2. Community

1. Forgiveness

Top Five books

5. "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller (an oldie but a goodie)

4. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith

3. "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper

2. "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne

1. "1 John," by the apostle John.  I realize it's more of a letter, but humor me

Top Five wants

5. Warm weather

4. To see the stars.  I know this sounds fruity, but I haven't seen them clearly in a long time

3. A car

2. To see the world

1. $10,000 in cash (not gunna lie)

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

Current Events.

I came to the conclusion the other day that my plans have changed both dramatically and frequently within the past couple of weeks.  Some of you are up-to-date on the changes while others are still sitting on the edge of your seats, ears poised to hear the precious information.*

Regardless, allow me to divulge the details of the current events of my life:

My original plan was to return to Nevada in early May, continue employment with the Incline Village Fire Crew, stay here for the summer, and then head back to CCU in mid-August.  Simple, straight-forward.  Those were the days.

Things began to get complicated when the fire crew royally screwed me over.  They called me on April 1st (after we had previously talked in February about me being fine coming in on May 10th,) and said that I needed to be tested out** by April 8th.  Given the timing and money situation, it was impossible for me to leave school and hop on a plane for Reno.  They said they'd put me on the waiting list, said I'd be the first on it.  Last I heard, two guys have quit since the crew started in May.  Still no phone call.  And they refuse to return my calls.  Excellent.

My altered plan was then to return to Nevada anyway and immediately seek employment.  This plan changed relatively quickly when I received a job offer as well as a free place to stay over the summer in Denver.  Deciding to stick with the assurance of employment in CO rather than risk it in NV, I opted to stay in the city.  I started work the Monday after school got out with Environment Colorado and was there for two weeks.  I didn't really like the work, though it was an incredible learning experience.  I met some really awesome people there, so it was a total bummer to tell them I wasn't too into canvassing.  I just couldn't put up with the schedule*** and the people we canvassed.  I met some sweet people out there, but a lot of them were mega-jerks.  On the bright side, I've gained a whole new respect for anyone who goes door-to-door, and I've also decided that I will not change the world through canvassing.  I'll have to try something else out until I hit the nail on the head.

After I left my job with Environment CO, I spent a week hanging out in Denver with friends.  I body-surfed some Platte River rapids, drummed on 16th street, watched the sun come up over the city from Red Rocks Amphitheater, and even started planning for the upcoming semester.  At the end of that week, I flew home to see Sarah's graduation.  It was kinda weird, being as my kid sister graduated and all, but I also realized that it was my first time ever watching a DHS graduation from the audience standpoint... I was in the band for three of them and then walked for the fourth.

My week in Nevada was awesome.  I caught up with a lot of friends and family, biked around Reno, rode a Ducati Monster, and even dispelled some rumors that I had dropped out of college and was living on the streets.****  I flew out of Reno on Sunday afternoon and was picked up from the airport by Scooter and Camo, two of my friends from CCU.

You see, since my second plan was to stay here in Denver, my dad had arranged a round-trip plane ticket to Nevada and back.  Hence the short visit to Nevada followed by a stint back in Denver followed by more Nevadaction.

So right now I am in Denver until Saturday morning, at which time I will grab what little belongings I have left and ride off on my motorcycle for Nevada.  I've secured a job back at Baskin Robbins (what a tangled web we weave) so I'll start there on Monday and work through the summer until mid-August when I'll return to CCU for another exciting year!

So there you have it.  The past month or so of my life laid out for any ol' internet surfer to browse.

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

*Or, more likely, were driving and thought for an instant, "I wonder whatever happened to that Daniel fellow?"

**This means successfully passing the pack test and drug test.

***I was definitely the "absentee roommate" for those two weeks.  I left before everyone woke up and went to bed as everyone was just getting into the "let's do stuff" mood.  Though I did enjoy riding the bus downtown everyday.

****Gotta love Dayton...

A Piece of My Mind: "How Then Shall We Live?"

One of my favorite things to do in Denver is hang out downtown.  The 16th Street Mall is a great place to do just that.  I sometimes spend hours on 16h Street with nothing but my longboard, a pen and paper, and my iPod.*  During one of my visits to the Mall, I was longboarding through the parking lot of an office building when I saw a sign in one of the lower level windows.

The sign read; "Those who can, do.  Those who can't, blog."

I had a good chuckle or two about the sign as I made tight figure-eights around two manhole covers.  To be completely truthful, my first reaction was an angered sort of defense - I bet whoever owns that sign doesn't really do anything anyway.  Realizing at once what a dangerous mindset that was, I put an end to it and instead focused on what caused that reaction within me.

I think it was a Divine Echo.  A God-incidence.  Call it whatever you like, as I've heard several names for it (those were just two,) but basically it's God trying to tell me something that I'm a little bit scared to embrace.**  This all stems from my philosophy on life, a philosophy that Professor DeVore helped me to develop.  Here's some back-background;

In Philosophical Inquiry this semester, Prof. DeVore was constantly challenging us with this question: "How then shall we live?"  You see, Professor DeVore was a firm believer (and I am as well) that philosophy, theology, and really whatever else you study is useless unless you satisfactorily answer that question.  You believe in Jesus, the risen Son of God?  How then shall we live?  You think justice is important?  How then shall we live?  Otherwise, our ideas remain in our own heads and are not reflected in our actions.

I have been applying this question to my thoughts a lot recently, and God has been using it in tremendous ways.  I believe that we, as individual, everyday people, hold the creative capacity and knowledge to change our world.  The mindset of "Oh, well I'm just one in a million" is a crippling lie that tricks people into resigning themselves to a meaningless life.  I'm one in a million, so how I act can't possibly be of any consequence.  I'm one in a million, so what I think doesn't matter.

Wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  What we do, what we say, how we live our lives, matters.  It all matters.  Mother Theresa wasn't a doctoral professor, a possessor of incredible knowledge - yet she changed the word.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't a multimillionaire - yet he changed the world.  It really only takes us normal, "Everyday Joes" to step up and live a life different from the 9 to 5, Monday through Friday lives so prevalent in our culture.

Now then, back to the God-incidence.  I really think the Man Upstairs is sending me a message here: Practice what you preach.  My philosophy is one of making a difference, changing this world in a way that brings about more peace, more love, more joy, and more glory to God.  So how then shall I live?  For this philosophy is nothing but a dream unless I start living it.

As Marianne Williamson said, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so?  You are a child of God, small games do not work in this world. For those around us to feel peace, it is not example to make ourselves small. We were born to express the glory of God that lives in us. It is not in some of us, it is in all of us. While we allow our light to shine, we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. When we liberate ourselves from our own fears, simply our presence may liberate others."

And who knows?  Maybe by me - one single everyday person - living my life with this philosophy, I can give others the inspiration they need to live theirs in a similar manner.  And the newly liberated can give permission to more.  And more.  Until this whole world is turned upside-down, and people no longer sit back and complain about how things are and how they should be, but rather roll up their sleeves and live like they believe in their dreams.

I'm reading the book "The Irresistible Revolution" by a guy named Shane Claiborne.  In it, Claiborne is talking about a comic strip he once read; "Two guys are talking to each other, and one guy says he has a question for God.  He wants to ask God why He allows all this poverty and war and suffering to exist in the world.  And his friend says, 'Well, why don't you ask?'  The fellow shakes his head and says he is scared.  When his friend asks why, he mutters, 'I'm scared God will ask me the same question.'"

Claiborne goes on to talk about how we the Church are God's hands, feet, mouth, and ears in this world.  When I read that paragraph, I stopped for a second and drew a deep breath.  Take a minute and think about it.  We have the capability to stop all of the injustice in the world.  All of it.  We could use our money not for iPods but for food for the starving.  We could stop buying cars we can't afford and instead make sure everyone on the planet has clean water.  We could cease to purchase $200 pairs of shoes and instead provide healthcare for anyone who needs it.  We could.

Think about it!  It gets me so fired up to come to that realization.

A skeptic will say, "Daniel, we can't honestly expect everyone to buy into that.  People will always be greedy, so that's a pipe dream."  To this I reply: Just because we can't change everything doesn't mean we shouldn't change anything.  Make a difference.  Snap out of the lies and ruts that the rest of the world have fallen into.  Do something worthwhile.***

How then shall we live?

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

*I sometimes even wear clothes.

**And by "a little bit scared" I actually mean "completely petrified."

***Or, I suppose, you could always just find a nice house in a nice neighborhood, get a nice car and maybe a nice dog.  Spend your paychecks getting the latest trends and technology, and die a quiet death in bed in the suburbs.  What a waste.

A Piece of My Mind: Alcohol.

Good 'ol alcohol.  Booze, hooch, brews, brewskis, hard stuff, juice, grog, sauce.*  As many of you already know, I'm not too much of a fan of alcohol.  I have never been drunk and I have tasted alcohol only on a select few occasions and haven't been too partial to the flavor either.

Yet I think my attitude towards alcohol has a tendency to become slightly misconstrued.  Allow me to give you a piece of my mind...

1.)  I do not like the idea of being drunk, and I'm not too fond of drunk people, either.  Why, you may ask?  Put shortly, it's because being drunk changes who you are... Drunk Daniel and Daniel are not the same person.  And I don't like the idea of not being me.**  I've heard the argument made that being drunk removes your inhibitions, so it makes you who you really are.  I think that's a load of dookie.  My inhibitions make me who I am, and therefore removing them makes me who I am not.

As far as other people drinking goes, the same principle applies.  I am friends with my friends because I like who they are, their sense of humor, their actions, and many other things about them.  Yet when someone gets drunk, they're really no longer that person I became friends with.  They have different attitudes toward things - they think different things are funny and different things are serious.  They do things they don't usually do.  They go about decision making in a different way.  Realize here that I am in no way saying that when a friend gets drunk, we are no longer friends.  I still like them, I still want to hang out with them, and I still care for them.  I'm simply explaining my reasoning behind my dislike for drunkenness.

2.)  I do not consider drinking a "sin."  Jesus drank and Jesus lead a perfect, sinless life.  End of argument there.  I do not, however, like the idea of breaking the law and drinking underage.  I will drink when I'm 21, and that's fine with me.  Sometimes I honestly think that lowering the drinking age would be good simply because it would get people over the thrill of drinking early, so we don't have 19 and 20 year-olds bragging about "how totally crud-faced I got last night" so much.  If you're old enough to own a gun and vote on the fate of the country, you should be able to have a beer.

3.)  I think people put alcohol on way too high of a pedestal.  By this, I mean that people have a tendency to become dependent on alcohol to have a good time or even an interesting time.  I once heard a friend of mine explain to me, "but Daniel, I'm funny when I get drunk."  This was a friend whom I consider to be one of the funniest people alive.  She's made me laugh more times than I can count.  And all of those times, she was completely sober.  That comment conveyed a mindset of reliance on alcohol... as if she's starting to think that she can only be funny while drunk.  I think a similar mindset permeates many of my peers.  Drinking goes from a way to have fun to the way to have fun.

Notice I did not say that drinking isn't fun.  From what I hear from a number of people, it's a hoot.  I don't doubt that, it's just that a reliance on alcohol seems to develop a lot of times.  I'm also not saying that everyone who gets drunk becomes dependent on it and consequently becomes an alcoholic. .. that's just silly.

4.) I'm a little bit afraid of drunk people.  I'm pretty sure this originates from the first time I ever saw my dad drunk.  He came home one night and was unusually rowdy and loud.  I didn't understand why he was acting so different, but it kinda frightened me.  He wasn't acting like Dad, he was acting like a stranger who's company I didn't enjoy.  I was pretty young, so I went into my room and got in a box.***  My brother or sister (I forget which, but it was probably Jake,) came to see what I was up to and then ran to my dad yelling, "He's hiding in a box!"  Everyone had a good laugh at my expense.  That was my first encounter with drunkenness, and I was not too impressed.****

I hope this post has successfully conveyed my opinion towards alcohol and my reasoning behind those opinions.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

*I Google-searched "nicknames for alcohol" for those.  Hope you liked 'em.

**This is more or less the same reason I don't like the idea of being high, taking sleeping medicine, or even pain relievers...  I'm just not too keen on not being who I am.  I know I'm being a bit extreme with the latter two, but I'm okay with that.

***It was a thing I used to do a lot.  It didn't have to be boxes, either.  Laundry baskets and closets worked just as well.

****The point here is not my dad, the point is being drunk.  I'm not mad at my dad and I'm not accusing him of ruining my life or scarring me or any of that nonsense.  But I honestly think that's where my fear of drunkenness came from.

A Piece of My Mind: Christian Soldiers.

I consider myself a pacifist.  I honestly do, and I thought I'd start out by re-iterating that for you all.  Much to the chagrin of many other Christians,* I don't like the idea of Christians taking up a sword (or a gun, as things are nowadays,) and attacking the enemy.  I realize this is a pretty big statement, so please allow me the privilege of unpacking it a little for you.

I have several problems with the "onward, Christian soldiers, onward" mentality as it is perceived today.  They are as follows;

1.)  The "enemy."  To be both brief and blunt, I think a lot of Christians confuse who exactly the enemy is.  Believe it or not, the "enemy" is not the Christian persecutor.  The "enemy" is not the rapist.  The "enemy" is not the murderer or the drunk driver or the belligerent atheist.  They are not our enemies.  I think Donald Miller put it pretty well when he said;

"The problem is not a certain type of legislation or even a certain politician; the problem is always the same that it always has been.  I am the problem.  I think every conscious person, every person who is awake to the functioning principles within his reality, has a moment where he stops blaming the problems in the world on group think, on humanity and authority, and starts to face himself.  I hate this more than anything.  This is the hardest principle within Christian spirituality for me to deal with.  The problem is not out there: the problem is the needy beast of a thing that lives in my chest."**

I am the problem.  Doesn't that just send shivers down your spine?  It's not country music or the American Dream or rich people or ignorance.  It's me.  Say that out loud; "I am the problem."  To the Christians out there: I think that as followers of Christ, we delude ourselves into thinking that surely we are not the problem.  I mean, we are sooooo righteous and pious.  We are so knowledgeable about the Bible, about good and evil, about sin and salvation.  It can't be us.  Its them.  They are the problem.  They are the enemy.

I disagree with who Christians perceive as the enemy.  I have lied, I have stolen, I have used God's name in vein, and I have looked lustfully.  Therefore I am a liar, I am a thief, I am a blasphemer, and I am an adulterer.  I am, we are.

2.)  The "sword."  Let me preface this with a little Scripture.  It's out of 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and it's verses 3-5; "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine powers to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Now then, about this sword.  I think the weapons we use to do justice are, quite frankly, a slap in the face to God.  A major issue I have with killing is this: who am I (or even who are you,) to play Judge, Jury, and Executioner?  Because last I checked, that was God's department.  Did God command the Israelites to wage war and massacre people in the Old Testament?  Of course He did.  But that's just it - He did.  Not the Israelites.  Not Moses or Joshua or David.  I have some big misgivings when we step into God's place and say, "you die, you die, you die, you can live, and you die."***  Call me crazy, but that just doesn't seem like our specialty.

So what is the sword, you might ask?  After all, Jesus Himself said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34)."  As Christians we seek to imitate Christ.  And Christ had a freakin' sword, so why don't we?  I say that we do, we just suck at using it.

Our "sword" is not an M-16, a Glock, a grenade, or an M1-Abram tank.  I see these as an arrogant declaration of independence from God.  Shooting someone is like saying, "God, I know you can't really help me here, so I've got it covered.  Bang.  All taken care of.  Busy Yourself with something You're good at, like cooking up some thunderstorms."

Here's what got me thinking that: In Romans chapter 8, verses 9-11, the apostle Paul writes this, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."  My initial thought was this: wait, what?  "the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you."  So I have that Spirit in me?

Again in 2 Timothy, we read "For God did not grant us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of love, power, and self-control (1:7)."  This leads me to ask a question of Christians: If we have within us the Spirit of God Almighty, Who keeps the universe spinning, Who built not only every star but also every molecule in our cells, why are using guns?

One day, Jesus was walking with His disciples and He told them this: "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, [Jesus had withered it by command] but you can also say to the mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done (Matthew 21:19)."  I have that Spirit, that power inside of me.  And I want to use a gun to defend myself?  I want to use a knife to protect others?

Our sword is not a sword at all.  Neither is it a gun.  It is the Spirit of the great I Am, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  That is the Christian's sword.  Is it even out of it's sheath?

A few concluding thoughts.  Realize that in no way am I saying that as Christians we should sit back and let things happen.  I believe that was Adam's first sin - inaction.**** If anything, we are the ones who should be blazing the trails for justice and peace in this world.  We should be on the front lines, we should be the first in and the last out.  But we need to be in this world and not of it.  We need to embrace the turmoil and injustice of the world without responding in a equally disastrous way.  We should boldly step forward to end poverty, to fight homelessness, to free slaves, to rescue trafficked women, and to defend the weak.  And we should do this by the Spirit and Power of God, recognizing that the enemy is not the terrorist or the communist, but the filthy nature within all of us, the slave master holding so many captive.  Maybe instead of aiming to kill the terrorist, we should be aiming to set him free as we have been set free.^

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

*Maybe not many Christians, but at least a good few.

**Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz.  Seriously... read it.

***I guess this brings up the issue of God's sovereignty.  God is completely sovereign, meaning nothing happens that trumps His will, right?  So technically, aren't we accomplishing God's will by killing them?  Because if it was against His will, He would stop it... divine intervention.  I think that here we apply the principle, "good is the enemy of the best."  God will have His will done, that we can be sure of.  But are we going to make it more and more convoluted or are we going to do everything we can to resonate with it?

****Honestly, if there are only two people on Earth, they're in perfect communion with God, they're the opposite gender and they're naked, do you think they'd be apart?  What the heck were you doing when the serpent was seducing your wife, Adam?!

^How do we do this?  How exactly do we harness this awesome power and use it to change the world?  To be honest, I have no idea.  I'm still working out how that works, and accordingly what my life should look like.  I'll keep you up-to-date on how that goes.