Well lookie here!

I just wanted people to see this. I think it is a cool pic and I don't really have anything to say today so enjoy this for whatever it is worth to you. Also I didn't take this photo, a friend of mine did. You can see him at www.twentythreescadoo.blogspot.com. It's pretty good stuff so go and check it out. Later.

Valentines Day Re-cap. and stuff.

I know that it is pretty late to talk about Valentines Day, but my experience was so pleasant I must share it. The reason I enjoyed Valentines Day so much this year is because it wasn't a big deal. My fiance's birthday is on Feb. 12 and we had a big celebration for that so we decided to just relax on Valentines Day and not make a big deal out of it. We went to Chili's for dinner, Krispy Kreme for desert (ala pic of me enjoying doughnut), and we finished the night off with a movie. It was perfect. I just wanted to share that.

Speaking of movies I just saw Unleashed, with Jet Li, last night. I mean Jet Li was in the movie, he wasn't watching it with me. I WISH!!!! I do have to say that Jet Li did a pretty good job acting in the movie. I kinda figured him for the awesome Kung-fu guy and not an actor. Well he sure proved me wrong. He did a good job with a complex character. Kudos to you Jet, kudos to you. On to the next thing!

I have just realized today fully how much of a hold money has on me. I am ashamed to admit that but that's how it is. Let me explain. I was subconsciously worrying about how much money I had in the bank and didn't even know it. I woke up this morning dreading the day. I definetly didn't want to face the world. It was one of those mornings where you just wish you could spend a week in bed even though you know that would only make your stiuation worse. I was thinking that my money would pretty much depleted. I finally swallowed my fear went to the bank and had found that I made a mistake in my calculations and not only had the money to pay all my bills, but also had some left over. My day since I have left the bank has been great! I have had one of the best days ever. Just the fact that I know I am financially secure has vastly improved my mood and outlook on life. That is the power of money. It has the power to alter moods, change your outlook, and potentially has the power to make you destroy yourself with frustration and worry.

I guess that's why the bible says the root of all kinds of evil is money. I find alot of people hear that and take it to mean that if you have lots of money that means you are evil. Not so. The bible doesn't say that having wealth means your evil the bible says that money can cause all sorts of evil and who are we kidding it definetly does. Money causes greed, death, murder, slander, backstabbing and a number of other unpleasant human actions. The power that money has to corrupt is great.

Lets do a little test. Imagine this. You are given a choice. You will recieve one million dollars if you kill someone. All you have to do is take the silenced pistol that is handed to you and shoot in the head the man that is on his knees in front of you. The man has a black bag over his head and can't see you, but he does know that he is about to be killed. The money is to your right on a table in a briefcase. The briefcase is open. You can see all that cash. You start to think about all the problems that cash could solve for you. All you have to do is kill this guy. Will you do it? By the way this guy just raped and killed two teenage girls lastnight. Be honest. What would you choose? Did you kill him? Did you take the money? If you did you just killed a father of two who never actually did anything to anybody. He was just grabbed off the street. You killed an innocent man.

How many of you were leaning towards not killing the guy until you found out that he was a rapist and a murderer? If you were tottering on the edge and decided to kill the guy as punishment and take the money you just displayed the power and persuasion of money. Money made you decide to kill the guy, it made you the executioner and made you feel as if you had the right and power to judge and punish this guy. While money in itself is not evil it can be the source of all kinds of evil.

Well I'm interested to know people's thoughts on this so leave some comments and tell me what you did. Later.

The Zombie King Has Awoken!!!

Still just kind of experimenting with adding pictures to my posts. Though this picture does kinda look like a zombie king. I need a crown, definetly a crown. I pretty much just want a crown anyway. When I get married I want to walk into my home put on my crown and I'm gonna build a throne and put it in the living room. That isnt egocentric is it? C'mon you can be honest with me. I won't get mad. Go on tell me the truth. I KNEW IT!!!!! YOU'RE TRYING TO DEFAME ME!!!! TO THE ZOMBIE PIT WITH YOU!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!! I know that probably seemed a little dishonest and underhanded but what would you expect from a zombie king. Jeez.

Well Spring Break is only 25 days away and boy am I counting down. I am not ussually the type of person that gets homesick. I'm ussually content to just float around and go with the flow. I guess I will sum up my feelings in one manly statement. I wanna go home and see my momma. I really don't know what to do with this feeling because I rarely, if ever feel it. I think I was homesick once when I was six. Luckily though with the aid of technology I can see and talk to the people I miss. Moving on.

I am really enjoying my new job. It is definetly the easiest job I have ever had. I'm cooking in this restaurant that gets practically no business. I worked on Saturday and we did less than 20 tickets. I'll give you something to compare that to. At Outback we would go through somewhere around 300 tickets on a Saturday night. I feel like I'm cheating. I also need to note that I have just joined Gamefly. Some people have said that it's more trouble than it is worth but, I'm hoping for good things. Well I'm definetly going now. See ya.

Look it's me.

Well here we are, the day where you finally find out what I look like. Am I what you expected or were you hoping for something else. This is a pretty silly picture of me, but it was the best I could find. Leave a comment telling me what you expected me to look like and I'll do my best. Well enjoy the gazing.

I'll Open With A Quote.

"I'm not apathetic. I am a perfectionist who lacks the tools to create perfection"
J.T. Willwright

This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today. I am definitely starting to get behind in my classes. I believe myself to be a victim of my environment. I believe that the reason I procrastinate so much is because my society forces me to try to attain perfection in everything I do without teaching me how to obtain perfection in my work. It's a cruel, backwards system that drains the life and creativity of the user. Why do I believe this? Because this way I don't have to blame myself for not doing my own work. Isn't it beautiful?

I'm joking of course. I don't believe that. My procrastination is clearly my own fault. I am however starting to fall into a spiral pattern that reoccurs every school semester. I start the semester off well, by the middle of the semester I have gotten my self into an academic pickle, then I work my butt of to get mediocre grades. The whole process makes me feel bad about myself and it just isn't good. The thing that really drives me crazy is that I know this about myself and I always make the pledge to break out of this maddening cycle, but always find myself in it anyway. It really is ridiculous. Somebody help me, please!!

Another bit of news is this. My fiance's birthday is this Sunday. She is turning 20. It will be a fun occasion enjoyed by all who are present. If I had to say one thing about my fiance to sum up all that encompasses her it would have to be.........beautiful. Now some of you might be saying to yourselves, "Beautiful, big deal lots of girls are good looking! That's nothing special." Let me explain. My fiance is beautiful because her eyes tell me a love story everytime I look into them. She's beautiful because her laugh makes me smile even when I don't feel like smiling. She's beautiful because her thoughtfulness and caring attitude towards others makes me want to be a better person. She's beautiful because when I hold her I feel like I have something wonderful, precious, and a cause really worth preserving. She's beautiful for a million other reasons that I don't have the space or time to write on here. That's why the word I would choose for her is beautiful. It doesn't seem so commonplace and normal now, does it?

Well kiddies I'm off to start my weekend and see what challenges it will bring, but before I go I will impart to you a bit of family knowledge that has my whole psychology class perplexed. "You can shingle a dog house with pancakes, but ice cream doesn't have bones" Jackson family wisdom. Think about it. See ya.

I'll be a light, I'll be a freakin' torch!

I believe that as a Christian I am called to bear the light of Jesus Christ to the world in all I do. A Christian should have Christ in his heart and mind. A Christian should bring Christ to work? Well in a lot of Christians opinions this is true if you vocation is that of a spiritual one. In the Christian community jobs that directly cater to the spiritual needs of others are viewed as "better" or "higher" callings. What about the Christian who feels called to the secular job market? Is it impossible to bring Christ to a secular industry? Can you continue to be a strong, influential, and effective Christian in a seedy, secular environment? The answer is..... Yes! Christ is the perfect example. Christ didn't come to this earth and create a holy, godly medium for him to work in. He worked in the one that was already there and stayed completely holy, virtuous, and effective in that secular medium.

You might be a little confused on what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a personal conviction. I am an actor. I have a dream that I believe is God sent. I look at the influence of major actors in our society, and then look at what they are doing with that influence and become sick. If you look at the tabloids, the t.v., or the internet you can find out all the details of any given stars life. We knew when Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt broke up. We found out when Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher started dating. We know the personal lives of perfect strangers and are completely interested and what are these stars doing with their gigantic and effective influence? They buy more and more clothes, they have more sex, and endorse more products. It is ridiculous! I want to be a movie star, I want money, and fame. All the Christians reading this just shook their heads at me and made some comment in their head about my misguided goals and wonder how I can believe that God would give me such lofty and secular goals. Why do I want these things? I want these things because of the influence. The Bible doesn't condemn being successful. It isn't a sin to want to be great at something. I want to be a great film actor. The side effects of being a great film actor is success, fame, and fortune.

Being rich and famous is not wrong. It is what you do with your fame, your influence, and what you do with the money that God has entrusted to you. I'll get to my point. I want these things because there needs to be Christian examples in the industries of the world that are shunned by Jesus loving Christians. I want to use my fame as positive influence. I want to use my money as a means to support those who need to be supported.Charles Colson says, " The accumulation of wealth in itself is not treated as evil in Scripture. Men like Abraham and Solomon were very wealthy." Colson goes on to say, " Scripture does, however, warn against seeking wealth as an end in itself or using oppression and cruelty as means for amassing it. Paul called "the love of money" (though not money itself) "a root of all kinds of evil". How about reading in the tabloids the latest mission trip that the famous actor went to. How about seeing a movie star who drives a normal car and lives in a house that fits the needs of his family and not a mansion that could house a small town. How about seeing an actor that is amazing on the screen and lives a life separated for God at the same time.

When did we decide that holy, obedient living was living away from the secular world? Mary Hesse writes, "There has never been room in the Hebrew or Christian tradition for the idea that the material world is something to be escaped from and that work in it is degrading. Material things are to be used to the glory of God and for the good of men". When I think about my goal to be a light to an industry that needs a Christian beacon I think about that old, corny saying, "What Would Jesus Do?" I think just like Christ didn't come to this world and rearrange the world until it was suitable for him to work in he wouldn't create a new theatre or film industry to work in. He would work in the existing one and be an effective, strong, light to that industry.

Will working in a secular industry effect my relationship with Christ? The answer is yes. Will the effect be a negative one that will ruin me? No. Definety as with all types of ministry Satan will try his best to corrupt me and to detour me away from serving people and God with my gifts and instead focus on serving myself. The temptation to serve myself, the spiritual warfare that will take place in my secular ministry will take place in my life no matter what kind of medium I choose to serve in. All that will change will be the pieces that Satan uses to tempt me and try to sway me from my mission and goal. I can't stop myself from serving in a secular industry because the chances of Satan breaking me away from Christ is greater because it isn't. The risk is the same whether I'm serving in a spiritual vocation or a secular one. When ever anybody tries to futher the kingdom of God through any means, spiritual warfare is present and Satan is there trying to stop it. Satan doesn't look at serving God in a secular versus spiritual mindset. He tries to destroy any process of furthering the kingdom of God.

Will I be able to keep my morals in contact working in a secular vocation? I believe it is completely possible. Christ did it. Christ is my example for living. Christ is living in me. It's really that simple to me.

I guess in closing I'll recap a bit on the points I was trying to make.

1.Being successful and making money is not a sin. The love of money creates all kinds of evil.
2.The Lord gives us things and expects us to be good stewards of his property. We are expected to use our good fortune to serve people and God.
3. The risk of being detoured or corrupted while I serve in a secular vocation is not greater than working in a spiritual vocation because Satan doesn't care where the kingdom of God is being furthered, he just cares that it is in fact being furthered.
4. Christ didn't come to the world and change it around to better suit his holiness so he could serve in it. He served in the world the way it was and was a strong, influential beacon of God.

And finally..
5. We are called to do the same thing Christ did which is to be light bearers to the parts of the world that needs a light.

Well there we go that is me. That's what I think. Drop me a note and tell me what you think. See ya later.

I just have to say that refunds are awesome.

Well today I got my school refund back and it was a very pleasant experience. I have received 2,269.04 back for my refund. I have decided to blow it all on robot parts and create the worlds most sophisticated ninja toaster. That's right, it slices, it dices and it can kill a whole village in less than a second. It's the ninja toaster, don't piss it off!

Well yesterday was the super bowl and while I don't care about the outcome of the game the commercials were pretty dang hilarious! I think the Fed Ex commercial was my favorite. I was a little dissapointed at the amount of beer commercials that were on. There used to be a nice mix of commercials but it seemed this year that beer advertisement dominated. I'm not against drinking responsibly but it does bug me that beer is idolized by the media. The beer companies spend a truckload of money on advertisement during the super bowl. The kind of money they spend for these time slots during superbowl could be put to much better use. I mean does anyone actually watch the funny commercial about the streaking lamb, go to the store, pick up a six pack of bud light, try it and find out that it's disgusting and then keeps buying anyway because the commercial was funny? If you just answered yes to that question you have become a media zombie and I feel very sorry for you. I will also find you and pop a cap in your zombie head because you eat people and endorse beer. (Mainly for the eating people part though) What I say is baffling!

I have to work tonight and for some odd reason I'm kinda looking forward to going tonight. I'm guessing that it probably has something to do with the fact that wednesday is my last day working at the Outback. That's right, I will no longer be an employee of the australian house of steak. It's really a long story that invovles nudity, a boomerang, and a kangaroo but I really don't feel like telling it again and everyone will see it on the news in the next couple of days anyway. The important thing is that for some reason or another I'm not dreading going to work. It probably won't be busy which is a shame because I have been working on my new show tunes and was going to debut them tonight at work. Oh well, an audience is an audience even if they are drunk and full of steak.

Well as I close this entry I will leave you with a little Jacob trivia. I don't know whether I snowboard goofy foot or regular because I can do both. It's maddening. See ya later.