A Report.

A Report of Recent Activity:

Declared Major: Global Studies

Job: Pedal Cab Driver with MileHi Pedicabs

Currently Reading: "Freakonomics," by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner; "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.

Purchases: Tall iced coffee (extra sweet with cream); gasoline; "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo; No. 3 Meal at In-N-Out.

Listened to Recently: "My Response," message by Robbie Halleen; NPR Reno; Mewithoutyou.

Angry At: The cost of education

Satisfied With: My choice in education

Occupying my Time: Reading (see above); Final Fantasy XII.

Worrying me: The fact that I'm running low on money.

Comforting Me: The fact that you can see the stars better in Nevada.

Getting me Excited: Disney World!

Living: In Dayton 'till the 25th.

Driving: Ford Thunderbird. I want to wear a leather jacket and listen to some Deaf Lep.

Getting me Pumped: Videos on Youtube found by searching "Wolf."

Mellowing me Out: The fact that I have no homework/schoolwork to be doing for the next few weeks.

Challenging me: Doing push ups.

Inspiring me: Living Stones.

Calling to me: A new blog entry. Hence this off-kilter post.

Thanks for Reading,

-Daniel K

Oh Theology.

I went to Theology class the other day expecting to get our final exam review sheet, maybe some words of encouragement, and a chuckle or two. Dr. Turner's Intro to Theology class has been a favorite of mine this semester, partly because I have never taken a formal study of theology, and partly because Dr. Turner is a great professor. What I got was a mind-blowing lesson that still has my thoughts racing.

Dr. Turner started out with three key positional truths. "I'm going to say some things today that might go against what you've been taught. Realize that everything I say, however, will not violate these truths;

1. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Heaven never gets worse, only better.

3. Hell never gets better, only worse.

With these three points scrawled on the board, he drew two diagrams, explaining each.

You may view your life like this: You are born, sometime in your life you accept Christ and are "saved," then you live the rest of your life, then you die. From death, because of your decision to accept Christ, you enter into eternity with Him and begin your eternal life.

I agreed - this was the model I was familiar with. We live our mortal life, then once we die, we begin our eternal life.

He drew a diagram sort of like this (I'll try my best at drawing with letters:)

Born |--[saved]-----| Die

\-------------| 'Born' into eternity |----> [live eternally]

He paused, then continued. What if, instead of being born into a finite life and then someday entering into eternity, we are born into eternity? What if our life looks something like this:

/------{heaven}---->

Born |------[saved]--------| Die

<-----{hell}----/

This way, Dr. Turner explained, we are eternal beings from the get-go. At first, I thought he was splitting hairs. Then he explained further.

If we are born mortals and one day become eternal, there seems little point in living after you have accepted Christ. Once you are saved, you might as well die and go live in heaven, beginning your eternal life. Some would claim that the point of living after you accept Christ is to "preach the Gospel."

"But... what does that mean, exactly?" Dr. Turner asked, "I mean, do we preach 24/7? Or what? It almost seems like a cop-out answer."

But if we are born into eternity from the get-go, our lives take on a whole new meaning. Because if we are eternal from birth, our actions matter. What you do in this area, (he circled the line segment between "[saved]" and "| Die") matters.

I thought about this. It made a lot of sense but raised even more questions.

This means that you can't merely accept Christ and then live a life doing whatever you want, knowing that you have your "fire insurance." It means that your life, your words, your actions, matter.

It seemed like I had heard all of this before, but never explicitly mentioned all at once. It was awesome to see it all hashed out. But there was more.

Dr. Turner then wrote the word "Misthos" on the board. He defined misthos as the transliteration of a Greek word meaning essentially "payment for labor." He then cited several instances in Scripture where the word was used. The first was Matthew 20:8, where the master of the vineyard pays his workers their wages. (The word 'wages' was translated from misthos). The second is in 1 Timothy 5:18, where Paul quotes older Scripture, saying that the worker is entitled to his wages (again translated from misthos). Third, in James 5:4, where James warns not to withhold wages from workers, because by working they are entitled to their wages (and again, 'wages' was translated from misthos).

So far, so good. But then things got a little tricky. Dr. Turner explained that misthos was used a few other times in Scripture. In Matthew 5:11-12, we are told that though we will be persecuted, our reward in Heaven will be great. Yet the word reward here is translated from misthos, the same word which was translated 'wages' on other occasions.

"It seems that our... dare I call them cowardly?... Bible translators were a bit uncomfortable with the concept of us receiving our misthos, our wages, from God," Dr. Turner said. He then pointed out two other instances, in Luke 6:35 and Revelation 22:12, where misthos is translated 'reward' instead of 'wages.'

Next, he explained the difference. Reward implies that it's something that might happen out of good graces. A wage is something you are entitled to by a legal contract. If you work, you get paid. It's not up to the good graces of your boss, it's up to the letter of the law. He has no choice but to pay you.

It seems that the same thing happens between us and God. When we diligently serve Him, we are entitled to our misthos. We work for God, God is required to pay us.

This is where a lot of my questions come from. Referring to those three positional truths, I realize that we cannot earn our way into Heaven. Furthermore, God is the one Who gives us the opportunities to serve. We cannot do good for God without God having set us up to do that particular good. Therefore, we do not by any means control God - quite the other way around. But by doing good for God, we are entitled our reward. Because God is just, and He rewards the good and punishes the bad.

Thus, we are able to build up wages in heaven. Our experience in heaven is able to become better the more good we do on earth.

I told Dr. Turner that this sounded a bit like Christian Karma, where we do good and are rewarded for it, or the theology of Mormonism, where there are different "levels" of heaven which we can earn our way into. He denied both counts.

First, Karma implies that we are repaid for our good in this life. If you lend someone in need $5, you will find $5 later that day. (Obviously this is a simplified version, but you get the idea.) Dr. Turner explained that with our misthos, we are not entitled to it until we are in heaven. Thus, we are to do good expecting nothing back.

Furthermore, "Mormonism claims that at some level we can become like God. This is not supported in Scripture," Dr. Turner said, "the idea of misthos is not that we can become so good that we become like God, but rather that God displays his divine justice by paying us back all that we have done for Him."

I asked what exactly our misthos looks like. "I mean is it, like, a mansion we get or something?" I said facetiously.

"Honestly," Dr. Turner answered, "I have no idea. I only know that Heaven is incomprehensibly good - better than we are able to wrap our minds around. Yet by diligently serving God, our experience can become better."

I'm still not exactly sure what I think about all this. Nor have I read the original Greek to see the different uses of misthos. But I was blown away and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all. Let me know what you all think.

As for now...

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

Jet Planes and Snow Storms.

I flew to and from Nevada this year for Thanksgiving break. It was awesome because I was able to wake up in the Ghetto, go to my Global Century class, attend chapel, leave campus, and arrive at the Cat Hut in Reno later that afternoon. The miracle of modern science. Although I did not get nearly as much homework done this break (23 hours on a train each way leaves you little option but to read about World War II, India, and the "Fault Line Wars" of Islam,) I still enjoyed the trip.

I decided, gliding over the Sierra Nevadas in an aluminum tube, that I like flying for the same reason I like snow storms.

I once complained loudly to a good friend of mine that I hated missing classes for the newly instigated "CCU Symposium" earlier this year. Yet a month later when 24 inches of fresh, scintillating powder ventured from heaven to CCU, I rejoiced via text message to that same friend at the news that there would be no classes the next day.

Luckily, she called me one it. She asked me why I despised missing classes for the Symposium yet enjoyed missing them for a snow day. It caught me by surprise, really. I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm glad I have friends who do that.

Thinking about it, I realized why I was okay with missing classes due to snow. When we get adverse weather and classes are cancelled and businesses shut down, our human plans are hopelessly foiled. Observed correctly, a snow day is an inescapable reminder of how small and powerless we humans are. I think when we start shooting big guns or driving fast cars, we humans are tricked into thinking we're these all-powerful, unstoppable beings. Then some clouds roll in and we find that it's too cold to shoot stuff and our fast car only has 2-wheel drive.

It's fun to have to change your plans because of weather. Comforting, really. It's a relief to realize that you are not all-responsible for the running of things. When in the Bible Job's life is demolished - when his family dies, his wife leaves, his fortune is destroyed and his health is compromised - Job cries out to God and asks the Almighty, "God, what the heck?!" God answers his likewise; "Brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer Me." God then proceeds to ask question after question for three whole chapters. Job, Who is it Whom stores the winter snows in the mountains? Who is it, exactly, who calls the stars by name? Job, remind Me Who knows the comings and going of every mountain goat and locust. And Who is it Whom measured the foundations of the earth?*

Because it's not Job. It's not me. It's not you, either. But sometimes we forget that, y'know? We get a little too full of ourselves, a little too confident that we'll ace the test in Nonverbal Communication the next day. Then we wake up and realize that the test is cancelled because God called snow from the sky onto your doorstep.

The same realization hits me when I fly. The plane jams you back into your seat, the wind roars past the windows, over the wings, creating lift enough to hoist a 20,000-pound hulk of machinery and people into the sky. The ground runs away, leaving you with the intangible clouds for comfort. Then you look down onto Reno, onto Denver, onto wherever. And you see all of those huge obstacles - all of those highway patrol cars in speed traps, all of those tall buildings which tempt you to reach their uppermost floor, all of those fences too high to climb - and they suddenly are put into perspective. Tiny objects on a tinier world. Insignificant compositions of circuitry and hormones and brick held by an invisible force to an insignificant sphere of magma and water in an insignificant solar system.

Looking down onto the familiar streets of Reno, one realizes how out of control we really are in this life. We may be able to compute the third derivative of sin(x-9) or build bombs that destroy cities or decide which pants to wear today. But then we walk to our door and realize that we're trapped inside our apartments by trillions upon trillions of uniquely crafted flakes of crystalized water.

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

*This is the Daniel Paraphrased Version of the Bible (DPV). Look up Job Chapters 37-42 for the actual text.

The Story.

I want to write a story.

It's an adventure story, sort of like an action movie transposed from the silver screen onto tangible pages. The stunts are real, the special effects are amazing, and the acting is superb. The characters are real - more real, it seems, than most people you meet on the street - so full of emotion and hope and agony are they that we all yearn to meet characters like them. There are fight scenes that make adults gasp and high schoolers cheer and stomp their feet on the sticky movie theater floor in excitement. There's this really tense moment (or maybe two or three, I forget exactly) where you are literally on the edge of your seat in anticipation, wanting to yell out loud in the theater, "hurry up! They're coming!" but at the same time you know nothing will come of it except annoyed fellow spectators.

Wrapped up in this action is a love story. It's a story so pure and heart wrenching that it's enough to make old men tear up. The main character falls in and out of love, the whole time missing out on the One who loves him the most. At times, he and his Lover are so very close to perfect union when something happens which draws his attention away. The audience rolls their eyes in frustration at the main character's immaturity and blindness, but at the same time cheers him on as he stumbles in and out of crushes, in and out of danger, in and out of heartbreak.

There's also a horror element. The main character has a seedy past which resurfaces time after time in the most gruesome ways. The character witnesses unspeakable evil, stands by as hatred and injustice run the show, and frequently finds himself allying with such atrocities to advance his agenda. The audience has a lot of trouble telling if the character is the villain or the hero.

Side by side with the horror is the mystery. The plot line reveals innumerable unexplainable occurrences which never seem to resolve. It's like a perpetual episode of Lost, as one mystery stacks up on top of another and then another. The audience shakes their heads in confusion more than a few times as the plot reveals twist after twist. One moment the antagonist is clearly defined, but the next scene leaves a nebulous understanding of who's who.

The setting is one of the best parts. The whole story takes place in this whimsical land of wild animals and exotic plants, with danger and beauty waiting with a smile around every turn. The land is huge, the oceans are bigger, and the people who inhabit it all are a mysterious bunch of pilgrims, each on their own way to writing their own best-selling story. Yet however big the whimsical world is, it pales in comparison to the greater World, the universe surrounding it. The gigantic world is but an atom in the body of a superior system, beyond comprehension of any of the characters.

The soundtrack is something out of this world. The opening number itself takes a lifetime to compose, not to mention the theme song and the closing title. The music is so rich and full of life that it makes you want to dance. No matter who you are or what your background, you want to let loose and move to the pulse of the song. It's music that makes you wonder what being truly alive is and leads you to question whether you are really living.

I've already started the story, but I'm still very near the beginning. There are a lot of unknowns and a lot of sketchy drafts so far. The plot line has changed a bunch and I expect it to change a bunch more. I'm not exactly sure who will play what character or even if those characters will make the final draft. But it's been fun so far. I look forward to sharing it with you all sometime.

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

GDP.

Ghetto Dance Party. This Friday. 9:30PM. Ghetto Stairwell.

So read the posters which we scattered all over campus earlier this week. The Ghetto Dance Party is one of the biggest traditions on campus, dating back more than ten years. About this time, (either late October or early November,) the Ghetto stairwell transforms into the hip-hoppin'-est place in all of Lakewood.

Starting Friday morning, we gathered up the Ghetto guys and set to work. Trevor, Eli, Tim, and myself went off to Wal-Mart and cleaned them out of rootbeer and Gardettos. By the time we came back to the Ghetto, the guys in bottom-left and bottom-right had already started clearing their stuff out. We hauled all of the rootbeer and snacks into the RA room and then checked in with Chad, Justin, Zach M, Zach T, Tyler, and Damian. Most of their furniture was stacked in their kitchens and their couched and armchairs were out on their porches. All according to plan.

Next, Trevor, Eli, Phil, and I drove over to the Music Center for some treasures we heard would be in one of the practice rooms. Sure enough, in the room at the end of the basement hall, between an ancient standing piano and the wall was stacked sheets of sound-proofing foam. We snagged all we could carry and headed back to the Ghetto.

Now came the tricky part - sound proofing the GDP (Ghetto Dance Party, that is.)

You see, Lakewood City ordinances demand that all loud, fun activities be over by 10:00pm, even on weekends. As such, we usually start the GDP at 8:00 and go until we get shut down, shortly after 10:00. This year, however, there was a jazz band concert the same night ad in order to get the GDP approved by Student Activities, we had to bump it back to 9:30 so the two didn't conflict. This left us oly 30 minutes of grace before the 5-0 chowed up to shut us down. Our solution? Soundproofing.

I covered the front windows in both rooms with sound-proofing foam, fitting two layers into the window sill and then another layer thumbtacked over top. On the outside, we piled couch cushions and pillows up against the glass. The back sliding doors were the hardest. We put the couches against them, then stacked the armchairs on top of the couch, then filled the gaps with cushions and pillows. On the inside, we taped sheets of foam onto the glass. Finally, we closed the bedroom doors and stacked the CCU mattresses against the doors from the inside, then exited through the windows.

On the front of the Ghetto, we put two couches on end at either side of the stairwell entrance, then draped a tarp over it with a slit cut in it so people could pass in and out. We tied mattresses to the bottom of the stairs to block music from going up the stairwell and out the top.

Once the sound system arrived, we thought we were in trouble. The subs were as big as our bath tubs and the mains were the size of clothes hampers. We set up all the lights and speakers in the two rooms, plugged in Trevor's iPod, and let her rip.

It was whisper silent outside in the parking lot.

In fact, you could drown out any sound at all by humming or carrying on a conversation with someone. Brilliant! It had worked!

We finalized the arrangements (by that I mean we put out the food and set up the Thug Jug,) and got the party started. By 10:00, the two rooms were packed with gangstas of all sorts dancing their faces off. The Thug Jug, unlike last year, worked marvelously, and the party-goers enjoyed as much rootbeer as they could possibly desire.

We wrapped things up at about 11:15, playing "Closing Time" by Semisonic and telling everyone thanks for coming. As the thugs shuffled towards the exits, we realized that the cops hadn't received any complaints, otherwise they would have been all over the Ghetto cul-de-sac. We cleaned everything up in a hurry and went to bed.

This morning, I woke up, walked out to the living room, and saw the place trashed with rootbeer bottles, chip bags, sound-proofing foam, mattresses, rope, and crumpled up peices of duct-tape. The morning after a CCU party.

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K