Our Church, The Open Door, hosts a stations of the cross art exhibit every year, and this year I volunteered to create a piece out of LEGO bricks.  I definitely hesitated until the last minute to speak up, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a couple years now, just never had the courage or ambition to take it on.  The station that was open was Jesus being denied by Peter.  I pulled up the related verses, Matthew 26:31-35 -

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

³¹ Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’^[a]

³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³ Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

³⁴ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

³⁵ But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Once I read that, I had a clear vision of the rooster in my mind.  I knew I couldn’t just sculpt a rooster and call it meaningful though.  I wanted the text “I will never disown you” incorporated in it somewhere.  Over the next few days I stirred up ideas of what to do with the text.  I had toyed with the idea of creating something like a 3 sided platform for the rooster, and on the 3 sides would be three different quotes of peter denying he knew Jesus, but the quotes would be too long to fit, and triangles are harder than anything in LEGO bricks.  I settled on a wall around the rooster.

I set off developing the head of the rooster first.  As luck would have it, I didn’t have to buy a single piece for this project!  That’s a first.  I had just bought 9 of the same Toy Story Pizza Planet Truck Rescue set for a class I taught that had the red bionicle 1×3 tooth that I had thought would prove to be useless in the future, but actually was PERFECT for the rooster’s crown!  The first time around on the rooster didn’t work out well for structural integrity reasons, so I scrapped that design mid way and started from scratch with a strict enforcement of adhering to ratios and spacing.  Simple is structurally sound I kept telling myself.

All told, it probably took 15 hours of work.  As far as pieces, there’s about 4,000 with all the bricks in the wall, all the technic connectors, and then all the plates for the rooster.  It’s 20″ wide, by 20″ long, and about another 20 some inches tall.

Honestly, this was one of the most rewarding, but also easy builds I’ve done to date.  Sure, there are a bunch of things I’d change, like trying to fill in all the holes in the exterior of the rooster, but some people said they really enjoyed seeing into it to appreciate the engineering work and how it all went together.  I was really nervous about 2 things before the exhibit.  First, I wondered how a LEGO work would be received by the community.  It’s not the oil on canvas or interactive piece that, I think, has become the norm.  Second, I worried about it being destroyed.  I had a 27 year old friend come over to my house, and when I showed him it, he immediately touched it and broke a piece off.  The same was done (and more so expected) when I showed it to my 2 nephews under 5.  I just envisioned people touching the piece throughout the day and rendering it a pile of indiscernible plastic, just waiting for me to come back and put it back together.  Not only did it hold up throughout the entire show, but they even moved it across the room from where I had set it up!  Brave souls who did that deed!  I had put effort in for originally planning to have the rooster balance solely on his 2 feet, which were purposely not rigid to display the horizontal details between bricks, but I decided against it in case someone decided to push it over.  Not to mention the uneven floor of the gallery space.

Here’s the “artistic statement” that went along with the sculpture:

Jesus had many supporters when he walked the earth, but he had to die on the cross alone.  I can only imagine what Jesus must have felt hearing Peter’s words but knowing full well that Peter would still disown him.  Christ not only forgives us when we fall short, but loves us without pause.  Even when his own disciples fall short after being in direct contact with Jesus, Christ still suffers and sacrifices for us;  God’s children.

Even though our words can build up confidence and pass off as strong wall against denial of our faith, our walls can still be shattered with just the slightest adverse push or pull; much like this delicate piece in front of you.

On that Good Friday, the rooster was pictured on the home page of the Post-Gazette, with a link to this story – http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/stations-of-the-cross-artists-create-their-own-interpretations-at-union-project-630228/

Steve Jobs is an interesting fellow who has had quite the interesting life.  We’re probably reaching a point where some generations don’t know that he was actually fired from Apple back in the 80′s.  He went on to form Pixar, then sold it to Disney to become the largest single shareholder of Disney stock shares.  With all that money, he’s also infamous for not giving to charity.

Here’s some of the top 10 unusual things about Steve:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-altucher/steve-jobs-resigns_b_935874.html

Some of them include that he made the game Breakout, he’s half Syrian Muslim, and he was adopted.

Kallie’s Aunt Dorothy published a book!  Check out the trailer and let her know what you think!

There’s a new webisode (online episodes) called footnote, and the first episode features how people live in community and interact with one another. Pittsburgh was chosen, and it’s a pretty cool picture of some of the more unique groups in the city. (features some friends as well)

You’ll have to follow the link to watch the episode:

http://www.fntv.com/episodes/s1e1/

“The most popular religion is self-justification.”

- Bob Lepine

I’ve been meaning to post a review of Joy Ike‘s new Album, Rumors, but I’m just getting around to it now.  If you’re already a fan, this album reminds you why.  If you’re not a fan yet, here’s a review through bias eyes and an unprofessional (and unapproved) opinion.

In retrospect, Joy’s first album, Good Morning, was coming from someone who loved to play music and write songs and was entertaining the idea of people actually paying to listen to it.  It was…but, it also worked.  Joy’s sound was original, familiar, raw, and somehow catchy all at the same time.  I was hooked right away, and I’ll be the first to admit her style is certainly a departure from my normal listening.  She had heart, believed in her music, and it showed.  Something about someone doing something they are passionate about is so engaging.

With Rumors, I was expecting more of the popular sound that I was used to from Joy.  What I got, was something a lot more serious and a lot more -real-.  That isn’t to mean that the previous songs were superficial at all, but I think they succeed at being the catchy, groovy songs they were meant to be.  The songs, and more specifically, the lyrics, on Rumors, are not as secular or topical as her first album.  Where we talked about children growing up too fast (“Hey, Where are the Kids?”), we’re now honestly talking about faith and personal struggle (“Untitled)”.  Where we were talking about getting lost in the city (“City Lights”), we’re now confronting the earth’s mystery and that man alone doesn’t have the answers (“Power”).

The result is a more potent message and it’s delivered with more powerful melody.  She stays true to her stripped down mixing, going with hand drums and a piano and the occasional strings, so we still have the same Joy Ike sound, but she’s pulling us closer by revealing, what I assume to be, herself, and her own thoughts.  An undeniable Christian philosophy is threaded through her lyrics, which wasn’t present in Good Morning. In tracks like “Power” and “Rumors” (not to mention the “Amen” at the end!!), we hear a progression that is something similar to a hymnal.  It’s moving.  It’s great.

To put it simply, I think Joy’s matured, as well as her music.  She’s giving us quality tracks, original and inspiring lyrics, and an honest message that’s not somber, but engaging.  If I had to compare her to someone more mainstream, I’d say Sarah McLachlan, which is appropriate seeing that Joy has been selected to join her in the Lilith Fair line up for Philadelphia on July 28th.  That’s going to be a big show for her, and I’m positive that we’ll hear a lot more of her, sooner than you think.  Better get your gear on while you can.

In our Bible study, we’re going through Hebrews, which has its ups and downs for sure (controversy around Melchizedek, God swearing against Himself in 6:13 when it’s against the 3rd commandment, or not to swear at all in Matthew 3:34, the differences between a promise and an oath, etc), but an interesting clarification occurred to me today, and I wanted to get it down on here to preserve it for later research for historical roots or existing thoughts.  I am going to keep to the theory of 2 covenants with God and His people, even though there are arguments for multiple.  The old covenant (AKA Old Testament) and the new covenant (AKA New Testament) being how we obtain salvation and how we are cleansed.

My thoughts were around the transition from the old covenant into the new covenant.   A brief comparison between the 2 covenants can be found here.  In Hebrews 8:13, depending on what translation you are reading, the old covenant is called obsolete and will decay away.  Even in 8:6-7, the new covenant is called better.  This right here would be the building blocks against the Jewish faith.  In some articles I’ve been reading, they take the perspective of uniting the Gentiles with the Jews with the new covenant (see Ephesians 2:15 and Galatians 3:28).  The key part in the Galatians verse is "…for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  He is the catalyst to a new covenant.

In the first covenant, Moses uses the blood of animals to cleanse, but not grant eternal life.  (It’s important to make the clarification that killing animals did not guarantee the Old Testament followers salvation.)  So it was through death that we were cleansed.

Now, there is no plan for salvation explicitly stated in the Old Testament; unless you make a connection to Jesus Christ through symbolism or hidden meaning.  Only in the new testament are we told what we must do for salvation: Acts 4:10-12  "It is by the name of Jesus Christ…Salvation is found through no one else…"

So, we have a covenant requiring death for cleansing, jesus being a catalyst, and a new offering of salvation as a result.  So my idea was that Jesus was born into the old covenant, His blood was shed (as the Lamb of God) by the people, was put to death, and then he defeated death.  If we think of things chronologically, he dies, we would then be cleansed (if we are to allow the assumption of his death being a sacrifice, although inadvertantly) When he is resurrected, what then happens to our guilt?  My answer is that Jesus Christ now owns it, since it was washed away by His blood.  So we have no choice now but to follow Christ since we are not clean without him holding our sin.

Just like in the economy, debts can be bought.  The loophole in the old covenant is that Christ was operating under it, but had no sin, therefore no debt.  So when he is capable of maintaining integrity to the first covenant in that he remains without sin, but now that he has defeated death, he can offer it to us as well under a new covenant.  Basically, he bought us out of our old contract and is able to make his own terms so long as he operates by the original contract.  The only mentions of eternal life in the Old Testament is in the apocolyptic Daniel, where he says the dead will raise, some to eternal life. 

The unique thought here (at least in my opinion), is that Christ is not only the beginning of the new covenant, bringing eternal life to sweeten the deal, but Christ is also necessary to make the transition from Old to New.  It’s not just a "God says it’s over" and bada boom bada bing.  There is still a legalistic flow and logical understanding connection to be drawn, which is important in these days.

In recent sports news, Grapevine Faith played Gainesville State School in football, but the fans from Faith rooted for the other team.  The formed a line for the other team to run through at the beginning of the game, the made a sign for them to bust through, and cheered for them throughout the game.  Was this some kind of reverse logic to the Yale "We Suck" prank?  Nope.  This was a good deed, since Gainesville is a correctional institution, and even those players deserve to have some cheering.

Why does something so right, seem so upside down?

$emo = rand();

class dreamgirl{  var $family;  var $body;  var $faith;  var $humor;  var $intelligence;  var $sanity;  var $ambition;  var $interest;   function PhysicalAttraction()  {    foreach($attributes as $key => $value){    return $value;}  }

  function PersonalityCompatibility()  {    while($personality>0 && $interest!=NULL){ 	GetToKnow($personality);	$personality--;	NextStep($thisgirl);	}else EXIT;  }

$thisgirl = new dreamgirl();

>Error on line 21, function "NextStep" not defined.

i was thinking about creating a video or something for oprah and sending it off. i guess i’ll just give you the story i would tell, and see if you think it is worthy of getting oprah to help out. I’ll just give the facts straight out and not fluff it like i would try to do.

growing up we had the perfect family, mom and dad, J’aime is the oldest, then Caleb, then Serah, then me. My parents started a Christian school in the basement of our church for J’aime to start school. in 1986, Caleb was diagnosed with cancer and Keren was born. Caleb was a Make-A-Wish kid, and we took a trip across the country in a winnebago that year too. Deirdre was born in 1989, and my parents started to break up. Caleb died in 1990. all of us are very close and we all have very strong faith. in december my dad died so suddenly of brain surgery. he found out he had a brain tumor on a monday, had the surgery that friday, and passed that monday. All it took was a week. So now my sisters and I are trying to keep the 13 acre property that has been in the family since the revolutionary war from creditors and the bank. my sisters have had to deal with a lot of crap in their lives, and we need help accomplishing the goal of keeping the house, and i would like something special for my sisters.