1. New Zealand
2. Australia
3. England
4. France
5. Switzerland
6. Italy
7. Greece
8. Austria
9. Hungary
10. Germany
11. The Netherlands
12. Mexico
13. The Dominican Republic
14. Peru
15. Colombia

My Personal Statement of Faith

I believe there is, has been, and only ever will be one God. God exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Each member of the Trinity is fully God, but together they exist as only one God.  God is the Creator of everything that exists, including humanity, the universe, matter, and time.  I believe He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and eternal.  I believe He loves every human being and desires to be in relationship with everyone.  I believe that God is completely good and that there is no evil in Him, and that He is the only thing deserving of worship.

I believe Jesus is God’s only Son. I believe He is uncreated, but instead existing eternally alongside the Father and the Holy Spirit.  I believe the Son, following the wishes of His Father, decided to be Incarnate on Earth, becoming fully man while still being fully God.  I believe He was born a human baby, to a virgin mother through the Holy Spirit, and grew up on Earth and led a ministry where He preached the good news of the Kingdom of God, taught, healed many sick and demon-possessed people, performed many miracles, and gave an example for how we are to live, living a completely sinless life.  I believe He knew He would be killed and brought back to life, but chose that path in order to save humanity and to honor His Father.  I believe He was arrested, tried, crucified until He died, was buried, and resurrected, after which He was seen by many people and then ascended into Heaven.  I believe He is still alive, in Heaven with the Father, and awaiting His second return to Earth.

I believe the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity and fully God. I believe the Holy Spirit is given to every believer, and helps strengthen, teach, and guide them.  I believe that for times in history, the Holy Spirit would indwell in some people temporarily, but that starting at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit lives within Christians permanently.

I believe the Bible, as found in the original manuscripts, is divinely inspired and inerrant in everything it affirms. I believe God guided human authors to write the 66 books of the Bible, and that within them there are no contradictions.  I do not believe God dictated word-for-word what the authors should write down, but that his influence completely permeates what the authors wrote and he used their own unique personalities and backgrounds to fully accomplish what He set out to do in the Bible.  I believe God has protected the Bible since it was first written and kept it from any major errors during its preservation and copying, and that the earliest manuscripts we have now are very close to the original, God-inspired texts.  While I believe the Bible itself is true and inerrant, I believe human interpretation is fallible and open to misunderstanding of the Scripture.  I believe correct interpretation of the Scripture requires an understanding of context, genre, personality of the author, and divine guidance. I do not believe any one translation can claim the inerrancy that the original documents can.  I believe that the Bible is a historical document that makes true claims of actual historical events.  I believe the Bible is meant to be taken seriously and authoritatively and is the most reliable source of divine revelation we have.  All other forms of revelation must be tested by the revelation God has given us through the Bible.  I believe the purpose of the Bible is to instruct and encourage its readers, and to reveal God to them.

I believe that God created the world and everything in it and His primary purpose for that was for His own glory and good pleasure. I believe He created man in His own image, giving humans qualities like His own, such as creativity, compassion, justice, and love.  I believe He is intimately concerned for each individual.  I believe God created human beings very good, but gave them the ability to choose to disobey Him, and man, exercising that choice, chose to reject God’s instructions and sinned.  I believe that first act of disobedience brought sin and death into the world and created a separation between man and God that man cannot bridge alone.  I believe that each person is born inheriting this sinful condition, and that apart from God, each person is filled with selfishness, pride, and evil.  I believe every human is responsible for their own sin, and that that sin separates them from God, because God is Holy.  I believe that apart from God, humans will continue to make sinful choices until they die, and that upon death will be held accountable for their sin.  I believe that no human being, except Christ himself, has ever managed to live a sinless life, and that every person will fall to the temptation of sin at some point in their life.

I believe that every human needs salvation in order to spend eternity with God. Without salvation from their sins, they will spend eternity in Hell.  I believe that God Himself provided the only means for that salvation, and that is through Jesus alone.  I believe no person is capable of saving themselves or attaining salvation through any means other than through Jesus.  I believe Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid the debt that sin in our lives created, a debt that must paid if we are to be able to be with God.  I believe His death was necessary for God to be able to forgive our sin.  If we are to attain salvation and accept the gift of forgiveness and eternity in communion with God, we must accept Jesus as our Savior, put our faith in Him, repent of our sins, ask forgiveness, and desire to live our lives for God instead of for ourselves.  Our faith must be in Jesus for our salvation, not in anything or anyone else.  I believe that we are saved only by God’s Grace that He extends to us, and our faith is in response to God’s Grace.  I believe that once a person gives their live to Jesus and is saved, that they are adopted as heirs and children in the family of God.

I believe that Heaven and Hell are real and eternal. I believe Heaven is a place where God will dwell forever, along with the angels and every Christian believer.  It is a place of unending happiness, contentment, and joy, where everything is done in worship to God and for His glory.  I believe Hell is a place of eternal pain and punishment for everyone that does not believe in Christ or receive His forgiveness.  I believe in Hell there will be complete separation from God, and unbelievers will share their torment with the Devil and his fallen angels.  I believe that once you die and are sent to one of these two places, there is nothing that will change your destination.

I believe in the reality of the spiritual world. I believe that God can and does perform miracles that are supernatural.  I believe that human beings have a soul and a spirit.  I believe that there are angels and demons that exist on earth unseen but influence the world around us, angels who do the work of God and demons who try to thwart it.  I believe that God supplies Christians with supernatural power beyond themselves, and that at certain times, in certain situations, will allow Christians to exercise that power to perform miracles, heal, and prophesy.

I believe that the church is God’s family of believers on Earth, and that Jesus is its head. I believe the church is fully capable of error as is every human being, but that God has allowed it to survive and change over time despite its failings.  I believe the church provides a necessary community for the Christian, and that just as God exists in community, whenever possible, the Christian believer should strive to be a part of the community of believers.  I believe the church exists to organize, instruct, encourage, and help believers and non-believers, and that one of its greatest responsibilities it to preach the gospel to all people in order that some may turn from their sin and be saved by Jesus.

I believe in the eternal security of all true believers.  I believe that once God has forgiven your sins, that all sins, past, present, and future will be forgiven, and that nothing can separate you from His love.

I believe that Jesus will return a second time to Earth, and then there will be the Final Judgment, where God will once and for all separate those He has saved from those who rejected His gift of Grace.  I believe the time of His second coming is a mystery and that no one will be able to predict when it will be, but that every believer must remain vigilant and ready for the Lord’s coming.

I believe that God has called Christians to love every person, no matter who the person is or what they have done. With God, there is no prejudice.  I believer that Christians are to strive to be loving, righteous, compassionate, and humble, along with all the fruit of the Spirit.  A Christian is not saved by these things and their salvation does not depend on their personal righteousness, however a Christian should always been striving to be more like God.

I believe that God has given his people certain sacraments. I believe God created marriage to be an example of our relationship with Him, and that marriage is between a man and a woman as God created it to be.  I believe that Christians should be in the habit of joining together and sharing Communion with each other, in remembrance of what Jesus has done for the church.  I believe that a Christian believer should have a public baptism to symbolize their death to sin and rebirth to new life and publically proclaim their allegiance to Christ, but that baptism is not necessary for salvation.

I believe that Christ’s life on earth along with his death and resurrection, brought on a new era on Earth, and that things are fundamentally different than before Christ’s arrival.  Whereas before God’s people were under the Old Covenant and the Law, now believers are under the New Covenant and Grace.  Christians are not required to fulfill the Old Covenant law and their salvation is not through following rules, but by accepting Grace.  I believe that Christians should no longer live under the burden of the Law, but rather experience the freedom of Christ.  This freedom should not be used to sin, however.  It should be used to boldly live a life of righteous in thanks and obedience to God.  Also, the era of “an Eye for an eye” ended with Christ, and under the New Covenant, Christians are called to love their enemies and do good to them.  Violence, hatred, and fear have no place in the Christian life or heart.  Instead, Christians should have special concern for the poor, the oppressed, and the unloved.

I believe that prayer is a way for Christians to communicate with God. I believe that God listens to every prayer, and understands completely the heart of the person that prays.  I believe that God is eager to act on our prayers and has promised that our prayers will not go unanswered.  I believe that prayer is a vital part of the Christian life.

I have completed my list of 100 things that I want to do in my life.  Some of them are simple and trivial, and others are difficult and expensive.  But all of them would be so much fun and I hope I get a chance to do them all.  Here’s the list:

100 Things To Do Before I Die

Do:
Go skydiving
Ride something bigger than a horse
Fly in a helicopter
Go up in a hot air balloon
Sell a photograph I took
Fly an airplane
Watch a shuttle launch
Experience weightlessness
Sleep in an igloo
Read the Bible from cover to cover
Earn a Bachelor’s degree
Watch all 100 AFI movies
See a movie I made in a theater
Take a photo good enough to blow up
Tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue
Experience a natural disaster
Donate blood
Run a marathon
Publish a book
Get married
Have a child
Write the story of my life
Start my own business
Go bungee jumping
Train my own dog
Take a cross-state motorcycle ride
Save a life
Lead someone to Christ
Go to an NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB game
Perform at an Open Mic night (stand-up/slam/storytelling)
Build a tree house
Help build a house
Participate in a protest
Carve my name in a tree I planted
Plan an elaborate practical joke
Do a triathlon
Climb a mountain
Build a fire from scratch
Go on a blind date
Street perform and make $100
Shake the hand of a President
Attend the Inauguration of a President
See a hypnotist show
Pack my bags and set off for a random location with no itinerary or plans
Graffiti somewhere outside
Sleep under the stars
Go hang gliding
Beat Super Mario Brothers 2
Do something that a million people see
Play Duck, Duck, Goose with real animals

Learn:
Learn to play piano
Learn several worship songs on the guitar
Do a standing backflip
Memorize the prison epistles
Learn to whistle with my fingers
Learn one amazing magic trick
Learn to scuba dive

Goal:
Be debt free
Accept Jesus as my personal Savior
Keep my virginity until marriage (so far accomplished, but I’m not married yet)
Be in excellent physical shape

Travel:
Backpack across Europe
Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef
See the Mona Lisa
Visit the Sistine Chapel
Visit the Sydney Opera House
Visit the Acropolis of Athens
Visit every state in the USA
Hike down the Grand Canyon
Gamble in Las Vegas
Visit New York City
Attend a Broadway show on Broadway
Hike part of the Appalachian Trail
See the Northern Lights
Hitchhike
Travel to each continent
Hike in Nepal
Visit Israel
Visit India
Visit South Africa
Visit Ireland
Visit Rio de Janeiro for Carnival
Visit the Pyramids
Visit Stonehenge
Visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Visit the Hagia Sophia
Visit the Panama Canal
Visit the Forbidden City
Visit the Amazon River
Drive on the Autobahn
Run with the bulls in Pamplona
Go on an African Safari
Visit all of the modern Wonders of the World (Taj Mahal, Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, Colosseum, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra)
Go on a cruise
Get baptized in the Jordan
Travel up the Nile in Egypt
Swim in every ocean
Swim in the Dead Sea
Spend a week at sea
Drive in another country
Visit an active volcano

So it’s time again for the Days of Discipline.  The DoD was something I invented in college.  Basically, I was finding myself not really getting anything done.  I felt like I was just spinning my wheels and days would go by without me accomplishing anything I actually wanted to accomplish, and just wondering where all the time went.

So I created the 12 Days of Discipline.  I made a list of 12 things that I wanted to be disciplined in.  These would be things that I wanted to be a part of my routine, but because of laziness or bad habit, was not.  Things like flossing.  And working out.  So I made my list, and I told myself for the next 12 days, I would just simply force myself to do them.

No excuses, no exceptions, no special circumstances.  These 12 things were daily non-negotiables.

And what did I discover after my 12 days?  I learned that discipline really is a choice, and that I was lying to myself before when I thought I didn’t have the willpower to do them.  Some of the things were hard to make myself do, but ultimately it just takes the decision to make it happen.  I had the willpower in me, I just had to exercise it.  On top of that, after 12 days of doing these things every day, I was well on the way of turning these things into habits, and they were much easier to do by the end.

A couple years ago I decided to again do the Days of Discipline, although this time I wanted to go more hard-core, so I instituted the 40 Days of Discipline — 40 daily disciplines for 40 Days.  Again, it was hard, but I forced my way through it, and halfway through, it didn’t seem hard anymore.  By the end, I formed habits that lasted me months and some for years.

But it’s come that time again.  I feel like with my busy work schedule, it’s hard for me to get everything done personally that I want to do.  I’m finding myself tired after work and just sitting on the couch watching TV or movies, instead of accomplishing the things that I really do want to have as a part of my life.  That all changes now.  For the next 60 days, I am going to be going through the follow list of 60 things.  The whole things seems a little daunting now, but if my previous experiments in this have taught me anything, the difficulty I experience now will go away and will be far overshadowed by the benefits of making these disciplines into habits later on.

So without further adieu, here is my list:

Daily:

• Wake up early and get out of bed immediately (no snoozing)
• Make my bed
• Track my weight
• Do stretches
• Do push-ups
• Do sit-ups
• Exercise
• Read Bible
• Pray
• Carry a pack between home and work
• Drink more than 4 glasses of water
• Write down everything I eat
• Memorize a verse
• Memorize something else
• Clean my apt/kitchen/bathroom/car
• Take a picture a day and upload to Facebook
• Call a friend
• Read a book
• Journal
• Brush twice a day
• Floss

Once A Week:

• Call home every Sunday
• Take contacts out
• Clean shower
• Go to church
• Study for Bible study
• Work on my life story
• Watch a Netflix movie
• Go for a motorcycle ride
• Hang out with a friend

General Principles:

Personal:

• Eat healthfully
• Plan out meals
• Only drink free diet soda
• No unhealthy fast food
• No candy
• Put dishes away right after using them
• Stay clean-shaven
• File mail immediately
• Write down everything I spend
• Get gas when it falls under a 1/4 tank

Work:

• Start work by making a To Do list
• Dress appropriately to work
• Keep office, storage closet, and portable clean
• Respond to emails and calls right away
• Keep files organized
• Keep my work calendar up-to-date
• Label all tapes
• Don’t look up Facebook or Reddit until all my work is done
• Track work hours and tasks

One-Offs

• Finish list of Things to Do Before I Die
• Sort computer files
• Get new gym key
• Burn Ish’s Wedding to DVD
• Put up Facebook photos
• Finish Waldo video
• Make dentist appointment
• Make eye appointment
• Visit Planet Fitness
• Do a Video CoPilot tutorial

1. Go big or go home

This is my number one life motto and the most important of them all.  In every decision we make, we can decide how we behave.  I want to live a life on purpose and with intentionality.  “Going big” means not taking the safe route, but the exciting one, the route that’s got risk but also greater reward.  I don’t want to do something halfway, but rather have big goals and big accomplishments.  “Go big or go home” is the reason I moved down to Florida.  It was an adventure and a stepping out of what was safe and easy.  Something else I love about this motto is that there is no judgment in whether you “go big or go home.”  Sometimes it’s time to go home, and that’s ok too.

2. Be the change you want to see

Ghandi said this first and I’ve just kind of stolen it from him.  Basically what it means is that if you look around you and notice a problem, don’t just complain about the problem, fix it.  Don’t look around the room and say to yourself, “Wow, no one here is talking to anyone else” and then leave because of how unfriendly everyone is.  Go and talk to people.  Help create the positive change you want to see, because the only responsibility you can control is your own.

3. You gotta dance with the girl that brought ya

This is a very important one to me.  I often find myself not wanting to say no to people or opportunities.  If someone wants to hang out or needs help with something, I’m most likely to say yes.  Unfortunately, if different people all ask you to do something, saying yes to all of them will often end in disaster, and the people you didn’t want to disappoint end up very disappointed.  This motto for me means that once you commit to something, you must stand by your commitment, no matter what other opportunities come up.  If you ask a girl to the prom and she says yes, then you need to go with her to the dance.  If later a prettier,  more popular girl asks you to go with her instead, you simply have to tell her that you already have a commitment, and you stand by your commitments.  In the end, you and the people around you will be happier if you stick to your commitments and “dance with the girl that brought ya.”

4. It can’t all be wedding cake

This comes from a song by Spoon called “The Underdog.”  Here’s what I take from it: There are many different types of cake in the world, but if you’re just looking and hoping for wedding cake every time, you’re going to be very disappointed.  Sometimes life’s going to give you birthday cake instead.  Or coffee cake.  If you only care about wedding cake, then you’re going to be upset.  But coffee cake is delicious, and there’s a time and a place for it.  If you can understand that it’s not always going to be wedding cake but that’s ok, and sometimes other cake is better, you’ll be much happier.  In fact, wedding cake isn’t really all that good all the time.  Sometimes a nice angel food cake will be even better, and you’d miss out if all you’re looking for is wedding cake.  Don’t get me wrong, sometime it will be wedding cake, and it’ll be delicious and there will be celebrating and that’ll be great, but “it can’t all be wedding cake,” and that’s ok.

5. You can’t wing a button

Where I got this motto from is a little sillier, but the lesson is important.  There have been a couple times in my life where a button has fallen off of my shirt and I’ve had to sew it back on.  Easy right?  That’s what I thought.  I’d take thread and make the most convoluted knots, convinced that it would then stay on.  Inevitably, at the slightest gust of wind, my button would fall off again.  What I learned was that there are things, like buttons, that I personally could not wing.  I couldn’t just go into that situation and say to myself, “I don’t need to prepare for this, I don’t need to give this any thought, it’s just a button, and I can wing it, and it’ll be fine.”  It turned out that I couldn’t wing a button.  To properly sew a button back on, I was going to have to pay attention and take my time and do it intelligently, maybe even ask someone for help.  And that’s ok.  There’s going to be things in your life, like buttons for me, that you have to work for and will take patience and time and energy and will not come easily.  Now that’s not to say there isn’t anything you can wing.  Somethings will come naturally to you and you can wing it.  But other things you will not be able to, and like buttons, you will have to work at.

• The Pilgrim’s Regress – Lewis
• Phantom Tollbooth (Reread)
• Bambi vs. Godzilla  (Reread)
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – Chabon
• Freakonomics – Levitt and Dubner
• A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bryson
• No Logo – Klein
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – Armitage
• The Secret History – Tartt
• Consider the Lobster – Wallace
• The Year of Magical Thinking – Didion
• Gilead – Robinson
• The Tipping Point – Gladwell
• The Road – McCarthy
• Life of Pi – Martel
• War and Peace – Pevear and Volokhonsky
• Bad Science – Goldacre
• White Teeth – Smith
• The Plot Against America – Roth
• Everything is Illuminated – Foer
• Eats, Shoots, and Leaves – Truss
• If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things – McGregor
• Blank Slate – Pinker
• The PowerBook – Winterson
• Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned – Tower
• The Ascent of Money – Ferguson
• The Carhullan Army – Hall
• Children of Men – James
• Traveling Mercies – Anne Lamott

I also recently got some great suggestions from friends on Facebook which I need to look up.  Do you have any more suggestions of book I need to read?  Or have you read any of these?  Would you recommend them?

Also, yesterday my friend Sam and I went and took some picture behind Publix.  He’s had this idea for a picture of a massive brawl for a while, and we decided to try to make it happen.  Here’s what we ended up with.

For instance, I went with Allen and Bethany to the Winter Park Sidewalk Arts Festival and had a really great time. There was a lot of interesting (and expensive!) art to look at, as well as some sweet live music playing. Here’s a couple of pictures from our time hanging out there:

I was also messing around in my front yard with my new camera remote. These pictures are what I got as a result (aren’t you glad there’s only one of me?)

And finally, I was taking a shower this morning and found this spider in my shower.  It was the biggest spider I’ve ever seen just out and about.  Needless to say, I called in the marines, who quickly took care of the problem.  Creepy little guy, isn’t he?