Wherever you go, there He is...

Today was rough- I'm still sipping tea in the hopes of alleviating my headache... I left the house stressed, late and just generally frazzled. My jeep's gas gauge was buried and I still had to drive to my other office out of town.

Sigh.

But you know what's funny?

The Beatles.

yes. that's right. You were probably expecting something deep and spiritual... nope- not from here you're not getting none of that.

My sister lent me her iPod (I really REALLY need to get my own... someday)

And as I drove- I just sank into the music.

And when I got to my office, and I had a spare moment to journal- as I was letting my frustrations flow with the ink of my pen onto the page- I noticed the verse at the bottom.

Jeremiah 29:11-12.

Just so you know, God haunts me with that verse. It just keeps popping up in my life- and I've learned that whenever i see it, it is not an accident or coincidence- God is up to something... (as usual)

so there it was: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.

The journal was probably printed in the 90's... and I don't usually bring my journal into work, either. But there God was. It's comforting to think that wherever we're going in life, God is already there- with a plan and open arms, ready to help us out with exactly what we need most. Remember that. And trust Him- especially when He's mischievous...

Summer Storms and Dreams

Last night a massive thunderstorm rolled through Albuquerque where I live. My sister and a friend of ours went to an old film noir and outside I could hear the rain pounding and the thunder clashing- inside, just a couple dozen people and celluloid flickering on an old screen. And I was thinking how many people have dreams for their lives- and what they're doing about it. Whether its working in Christian radio, owning your own coffee shop- or just having a little piece of something just for yourself- I wonder why we don't reach for our deepest desires more often.

Why do we dream- if we don't allow ourselves to reach for them?

I think these deep desires of our hearts and souls come from somewhere- I think that all the good we see flickering in this world is the glinting reflections of the goodness of Heaven. And that is what draws us and calls us to yearn for our dreams. Like magnets or umbrellas and rain- we go together- Heaven's love and us (in the deepest sense). And so it makes me wonder why we don't follow hard after our hopes and dreams all the more.

See, it's like flying- for a couple hundred dollars we can fly almost anywhere in the whole world, but most of us don't cross state lines too often. It's like we harbor our hopes inside while the world turns, and little by little, we convince ourselves that "the real world" is the only one we'll ever reach- the black and white, tasteless, odorless and mundane.

I'm not saying to give up on living life today, but I am saying- never give up what you most hope for- within reason, why cant we actually live them one day?

"Some people see things that are and ask why, I dream things that never were and ask, why not?" -JFK

Fed by Ravens

Today I was reminded, yet again, of just how great God is.

Despite all my worries and all my scheming- he supplies me in the deep places of my heart. And through it, I think I'm learning to be more and more thankful for even the littlest of these. There is a goodness and a beauty which resides there that I feel I'm not even qualified to look at, let alone touch. But Im blown away when God tells me its for me. Wow. I guess I'm so used to fake people and cynical offers that I've grown distrustful in my heart towards others. So when genuinely good things come around, I find myself eyeing them doubtfully and heaping all the worry and stringent guilt on myself. Learning to love others can be easy enough, but learning to love myself- that's hard. And I honestly don't know what to do. It seems like there are so many people around me who are hurting or destructive- and my heart yearns to help- and as I instinctively reach out, I leave nothing for myself. Run long enough and I go empty. I need to learn to seek out God's water for my soul- until then I'm only a summer cloud without rain. Pray for me.

All Things

What humbles me most, I think, is that God works through all things.

He takes all situations that we find ourselves in, or see ourselves with no way out- and uses it to show us more of Him if we are looking for it. Don't get me wrong- it still takes eyes to see! But once you begin to practice taking in God, you come to find He's a blatantly sneaky fellow- which makes what he does all the more awesome. Whether he humbles us or honors us- what a joy. Wow.

I just finished reading Philippians- and in this book is the secret to joy.

Are you ready?

Are you listening?

When we quiet ourselves down, when we, from the depths of our souls express to the Lord our deep-centered thankfulness- then we have joy. There is no anxiousness there- only peace. And that is a wonderful thing. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

He gives us each day- what beauty!

He loves us, whether we fall or stand, what mercy!

And when we live in him, we are hidden in him- what a sanctuary!

There is no fear in Love, and God is Love.

So it is written, so shall it be done (Amen.)

Honor, Glory and Good Friends

I just got a facebook message from a friend of mine from college. What really blew me away was that she told me I was someone she looks up to. Wow. That's incredible. I mean, Im really, honestly, just your average guy. I try to do the right thing while also trying my best to be honest and genuine. I guess the funny thing out of it all is that we always seem to forget how God honors us through how we live our lives. Let me explain. (Not that you couldn't let me, since this a blog and you can only read it... heh heh...) When people live good lives, honest, loving, uncompromising, caring, there are natural, built-in consequences. You can become known for being Christian through your love. To de-mystify John's words here, it is through your relentless strive, your heart's foundation, to emulated what is good and right, just and true.

Something I hit on a long time ago was that whatever is right is good, and whatever is good, is right... and if you encounter something which claims to be good, but isn't right, you have my permission to raise an eyebrow and disengage yourself from it. This principle, coupled with a motivation to love self-sacrificially, has helped guide me through many a turbulent storm in my personal life, and in the pursuit of the formation to my own personal theology. How I deal with people, regardless of age, rank, race, religion, sex or political affiliation is grounded in it. Choose to love, for the day is near. Do it long enough and you will incur one of the highest human honors- you will be known for it- and that is a gift from God.

Oh Humor- Muse of mortal men!

I just finished a wonderful meeting with Shawna Rampley, a friend I've met as I start to put roots down into KKIM Christian News and Talk. She had great counsel for me about how this process of shifting into this new phase in my life can take shape.

A little back ground for those new Archaens among us: On that little sidebar next to this post, it says something pithy about how I just graduated from Hannibal LaGrange. When I say "just" I really, actually, honest-to-God, do mean just. Only a few months ago, I was sitting in such beloved classes I called Inter-Personal Excruciation (Communication), voice and diction (VD or, more popularly, Vice and Affliction) and the weighty Media Law and Ethics...

Anyways, something I'm learning is that switching from college life to my present state is something massive and full of much brow-furrowing. And yet, the secret lies in little things we all ought to have been practicing all along. Things like honest thankfulness to God (the secret to joy); or being able to truly love on ourselves (because, after all, the Big Man upstairs does...); and even simply remembering to breathe once in awhile really do help transition for any change in life. And, may I remind all who faithfully and introspectively read Archaen, that as my wise high school world economics teacher (who I have forgotten his name) once said, "Change is one of the few constant things in life..."

Sagely advice from a public school teacher is now coupled with learning the hard way. From thinking and using common sense- and, most importantly and effectively of all- learning to laugh at our selves- to play in our minds, so to speak. To not take ourselves or our situations so seriously to- as Matthew Hill so eloquently put it on his show, to, "Rock the Apathy!"

Now let me say something else, now that you've already invested several seconds or minutes of your life (depending on how fast you read): we can only really laugh at ourselves not when, at the immoral Lord Byron said, "and if I laugh at any mortal thing, tis that I may not weep.", but when we laugh because our lives and situations are truly funny. When we come to a point when we realize how much God loves us, how much He cares and is actively working and planning in and for our lives. And when we come to actively know this day by day, you and I sport our depth or shallowness of how much we know God's love for us, by how we love ourselves.

MIND BLOWER!

and I thought I knew love and I wasn't apart of those namby-pansy who try to make God's love all boring grand-theologian and philosophical like... but I realized only minutes ago, that I beat myself up to a mental pulp sometimes... I mean, how does that denote how I love and know Im loved by God... not to mention how I treat others?
Wow.

That's where humor comes in, you see. Those ancient greekses believed that all life could be equated to either a tragedy or a comedy, depending on how you saw it. And I say, life is unequivocally a comedy of epic proportions. You just have to be in on the joke, so to speak.

God loves us... a lot.

There.

You are now officially in on the joke.

Now, go out among the people of earth and laugh heartily!

God bless- ryan

Speakeasy Radio

I have the wonderful opportunity to guide a brand new talk show into existence. KKIM and Archaen Ministries presents: Speakeasy- a talk show which tackles the hard issues that other youth shows won’t. The word “Speakeasy” started during the prohibition era of US history- where people who still wanted a glass of wine were driven underground to special, semi-secret locations dubbed, you guessed it- “Speakeasies” There, they could relax and be themselves among friends; unlike where outside you had to “speak easy” about that special secret gathering, there you could drop the act and share with others. So Speakeasy radio, likewise, strives to be your semi-secret place where the issues you deal with can be brought out of the dark and discussed. So pull up a radio or internet browser and tune into Speakeasy where people like you and I unite. Coming (I Hope!) by the time schools tend to start up...

Archae-What?

Is that even a word?

...

Nope.

But the wonderful thing about the English language is that all you need to do is make up the pithy sounds, attach some meaning and wvolla! A new word is born to communicate Truth. Fascinating. Archaen Ministries is a dream which has changed and grown as I change and grow. That's what I love about living with God each day- our relationship with Him and each other is living and active, not stagnant or stale (hopefully). Archaen is grassroots ministry- and so, you'll hear a lot about what's on my mind, and about issues I've worked through already- also; you'll hopefully be able to hear from other Archaens who are already in on the adventure too! I would love to get to know you, oh dear and faithful reader- let us know about you and what you love-

Until then, fellow Archaens...

I love you more than I love vanilla chai! (which is saying a lot!)