Enter San Francisco.

I arrived safely in San Francisco, thankfully. Not that there were any problems - or even near-problems - I'm just thankful that there were no hitches.

I landed, got my enormous backpack, and hoofed it out of the airport to the nearest BART station. It took me several minutes just to figure it out. It's not quite as simple as Manhattan's subway system. Or maybe it's not as complex... Either way, I figured it out and got on the train.

When I left the station at Powell St, though, I was impressed by the view. It literally felt like a video game. Crowds of people everywhere who probably wouldn't talk to me if I talked to them... Huge buildings extending up to the sky... Green gardens and bright sunshine... Homeless guys... Pretty much picture perfect.

If I had gotten my new camera before I left, I definitely would have taken a picture.

It also felt vaguely Disney-like. All these people walking around (the cities I normally roam don't have this many people about), the good weather, the variety of smells and sounds... It's quite remarkable.

I'm off to check out the conference space and see if they need a hand. The hotel room isn't ready yet anyway.

Read this.

http://stillsearching.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/are-you-a-christian-hipster/

This article sort of echoes some of my own observations and satire of the current Christian culture - especially at a Christian school.

Yay satire!

Chew on this.

I've been reading Leviticus lately. It's a fun book... And by fun, I mean somewhat difficult to get through. It's a lot more interesting when you consider the historical context of the book, but still, it's hard to read about wave offerings when that has little to do with the lives we lead now.

One verse caught my attention, though. Leviticus 19:9-10:

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

What does this mean in a modern context? For the ancient Jews, it was meant to provide a small amount of sustenance for the poor. By leaving the edges of the field unreaped and not being too thorough in harvesting, those with no fields would still be able to harvest. But what about us?

My sister does strange things. This shouldn't surprise people who know her. When she gets change after buying something at a store, she goes out in the parking lot and drops it. Sometimes all at once, sometimes one coin at a time. She figures that finding a penny cheers her up, so why not cheer others up? Is this a modern day application of this verse?

Or does it suggest that followers of the Lord should not always seek efficiency. Surely planting crops and then purposefully not harvesting them is inefficient. Maybe it means that we should even financially invest in ventures that we know will not yield a financial return (or, at least, not shy away from doing so).

I've been reading a book for our mission trip to Memphis called Theirs Is the Kingdom. (You should read this book.) It's written by a man who has been a missionary to inner city Atlanta for 15+ years. Our investment could produce jobs for those who don't have them and countless opportunities to share the message of Christ.

I can't really claim to know how to apply this these verses to our lives, but it's worth considering. What does this verse say about our God and the way we are to interact with the fruits of our labors?

Answered Prayer.

I wrote the seeds of this in my Moleskine yesterday. It was cool, so I thought I'd share.

Today, God answered prayer. I prayed last night at 2am that, if he wanted me at Sunday morning prayer (at 6:30am, no less), he would wake me up with energy before my alarm went off. I went to bed not really wanting to get up in the morning, but trusting that if Jesus really wanted me there, he'd get me there. I went to bed with my alarm set for 6:25am, knowing full well that I might get up, stare at it in bewilderment, then shut it off and go back to sleep.

I woke up at 6:20am awake and ready to go. In fact, I made sure my roommates didn't ignore their alarms.

The time ended up being very, very good. The scripture lined up with other things God has been sort of showing me lately - things I'm still exploring.

At church, I worshiped well. I had, for the first time in a long time, something specific to praise and thank him for. It feels good to praise God for something that he has done - for a specific answer to prayer.

But how cool would it be to worship him based on who he is - for his attributes - rather than just for what he had done? It's something I'm familiar with these days, but it is so intellectual for me. How great would it be to worship him with the same emotion and intensity despite what visible actions he had taken recently - just for his grace, his omnipotence, his love?

Fear.

It's late. Or early, depending on how you look at it. Either way, I won't be able to sleep if I don't write something and the evening has been filled with other... activities.

I was reflecting on something in the shower today that I thought I'd try to spit up in a readable form for you all. I've been reading Genesis and I recently read the story where Abraham goes into Abimelech's kingdom. When they get there, Abraham is afraid that the men will hurt him on account of Sarah's beauty. Perhaps they would kill him to get her. So instead, he tells them that she is his sister - not a complete lie we find out, but still a strong deception. Turns out that Abimelech isn't that bad of a guy. When he finds out about the "mix-up," he quickly remedies the situation. God had it in control from the beginning.

Jump two generations later: Jacob is returning to Canaan to meet Esau again. But Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob makes all kinds of crazy plans to ensure his survival, but in the end, Esau bears no great ill will against Jacob. God had it in control from the beginning.

What stuck out to me in both of these stories was the theme of fear. Both Abraham and Jacob were afraid of what was waiting for them at their destinations. For Abraham, it was unjust treatment because of lust for his wife; for Jacob, it was justified anger for the cheat he was. In both stories, we find out that the fear was almost unjustified. The God that protected them occasions past continued to do so. In fact, he would have an easier time of it if these men had trusted him a little more. Instead he has to send prophetic dreams or literally wrestle with these guys to make their paths straight.

It caused me to reflect about what I'm afraid of. Certainly the future is uncertain, but am I afraid of it? Is it the uncertainty that I fear, or is it something deeper? A fear of failure? A fear of the opinions of others? A fear of living the kind of life I never wanted to live?

Just some thoughts that help me fill my word count for the day.