The Gospel

This is what I believe and is the core of what I believe. I have listened to this clip 5 or 6 times and it never gets old.

Responsiblity? What's that?

I read a great article on Desiring God the other day about more and more adults putting off growing up well into their late 20’s and early 30’s. I don’t think this is a good thing. Funny enough my friend Chris Barksdale had some similar thoughts on this article. Its some thing I noticed while I was in college. I am catching my self far too often my self caught up in being stuck in the same cycle. I am in the middle of repenting of this in my life right now (Yea, I am a loser still living at home). Far too many college kids are putting off responsibility in the name of education. Sure college is fun but far too often I find it only pushing people to mature in certain areas of life and is not very holistic in how it matures a person.
There are a couple of things I have noticed as the piece talks about one is the putting off of financial responsibility and just plain responsibility by spending 5+ years doing school. We rely on mom and dad or the government with loans to pay for school, room, and board. This, honestly, just not build a great foundation for financial responsibility later on in life and sets many people to be in debt for the rest of their lives.
The other major point is the putting off of marriage. Marriage (I am told) is a maturing process I often got this myth told to me you have to be super mature before you marry. You do need a certain amount of maturity but you gain so much in the process. I find my self more and more encouraging young dudes in college to find wives while they can now. There are many reasons why you see the premarital sex number so high and why everyone and their mom has to deal with porn these days and in part it is to blame on how long the average person is waiting till they get married. We were not designed for the most part to be single into our late 20’s. Listen I am all for people becoming smarter, and being educated. But as a good pastor friend of mine put it "Don’t let schooling get in the way of your education".


Album(s) of the moment: Watisha Wa – Eager Seas and Thrice - Alchemy Index Vol. 2 Water

Job Update

Hey guys, I thought I would update some of you on my current job situation. For those that may not know I am trying to move to Hollywood, CA to help and be apart of a church plant while going to seminary in September. I have been trying to get a job out there sense just before I graduated this past August. I have visited out there twice looking for a job already, with at best, mild success both times for interviews. The second time I went out to Hollywood I went to interview with AT&T. I had not heard any thing back from them in a while (I interviewed in the middle of Sep). Well yesterday I got a call back from their HR saying they need me to update some information on their website because they just switched databases and systems, for lack of a better word, human resource requisition (that sounds really official sounding, If you ever get a job in where your job is to give jobs names remember, I came up with that one.) But I would be disappointed if that’s all they wanted, but they wanted to talk to me after I update the info. This is definitely good, but I know I could be reading things wrong so I am not going to go get my hopes really high. I need times where I receive a little encouragement. And regardless of how things turn out I am still set to move there in Jan. So please be in prayer for me in that this job works out. I am really interested in the position.

A Blogger In The Ambulence

Lately I have been listening to allot of Thrice. One of the songs that has struck me is the title track off The Artist In The Ambulance disk. The song is about ones failures and desires to be more than just a bunch of empty talk to his listeners. He wants to actually reach out with his art and make a difference in their lives. (read the lyrics here) I kind of understand where he is coming from I want this blog to up lift you and hopefully mean some thing to you. I want to be the blogger in the ambulance.

I have been thinking about resurrecting this thing for a while now. I have thought and thought about what I want to put up here. Do I make it a deeply personal journal? Do I just do a bunch of music reviews? Do I write a bunch of post about what I think of issues facing Christianity? How about issues in this culture we live in? It could be so many things. I think honestly for right now I will just try to post on a regular basis, and honestly I hope its most of those things. I don't want you to watch me vomit all over this thing so I don't think it will be deeply personal but I do want to open up a little more on this blog. I don't know who has read this in the past or will in the future but I know me and I'll be a changing. But this I do know I want to be a pointer to Jesus that I know will always remain the same as long as his hand of grace is upon me.

A City,A Search, A Struggle

I love the city. I sit here in my last night in Hollywood, disappointed. Not in the city. If any thing it’s the fact that I can’t move in tomorrow to the city. It was every thing I had hoped it would be and more. Is the city of Hollywood perfect? By no means. Matter of fact I can think of no where else that needs Jesus more. Its stark honesty in how lost it is, is refreshing. It is the perfect soil for a new church. Part of the reason why I love it, is its diversity, density and design. It is a phoenix-like city that is starting to rise from the ashes of dirtiness and poverty and is starting to become a thriving city center. It even has its own feel and look that is starting to emerge. I have been at the home of gracious Chris and Sara (The pastor and his wife of the church plant here) who has been more than welcoming to me, showing me around the city and introducing me to people.

In so far as the job search goes. It seems to of been an empty trail this time out. One real interview and a lot of dead end streets, which for me is a great trial of faith, and contentment in where God has me. I just need more time. Something I don’t have much of. So my first request as you pray for me that I become content with where I am, and then to find direction on where to go from here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. There is so much more I could write and I wish I had written over my trip. To those that prayed for me and helped me in trying to find a job thank you sincerely your prayers are very precious to me.

God bless, Alan

The Hope of God in Prayer.

Hey guys, I am sitting in a coffee shop in Hollywood right now. I went on a tour of the city, and from what I have seen I love it. I want to move in here next week. I have not stopped smiling sense I got here. I love the life of the city, I love the diversity, I love the honesty of the city. The time I have spent with Chris has been up lifting encouraging and his insights have been water to my soul.
The time on the plane was interesting. The flight was completely broken up in to 3 1hour to 2 hour legs on a 737. The longest leg was from Huston to Phoenix and I was crammed as the last person to get a seat, so naturally the last seat on the plane is next to not one but between 2 guys over 200 lbs. (one guy weighed close to 300) I weigh about 240 lbs. Needless to say I was like a fat man in a chines subway. But other than that my trip was fairly painless and over all went off with out a hitch.
On my way their I had to have a time with God as you saw in my last blog post, I was anxious, stressed and worried about what to do with my time and how to go about looking for a job. How sweet the time I had in prayer on the way there (in between the two sumo's ). I also had allot of time to catch up on sermons. By the time I had landed, God had my heart set right and hope embraced.

Anxious in an Airport

Hey guys I am writing this in the airport in New Orleans on my way to go visit Chris in Hollywood. I wanted to share with you guys honestly where I am at and that is I don’t know a lot of things right now at this point. There is some thing funny about ones believes and their actions. I believe this is where God wants me, it’s just funny that I don’t know when and how. God is using this to show me how to trust him. The stress I have been feeling lately is actually worse than being in school. There is a certain structure and predictability to school. I have one interview and I am grateful to get that. But I have no clue how to go about searching for a job in a strange city when I have no job experience the thing that is virtually gold in my industry. Just thought I would share my thoughts here. I'll try to keep you updated though my blog on my trip.

Alan Munger

Hey guys I thought i would post this from the other day I wrote it right as i was in the airport
I will probably be writing at least several post while I am in Hollywood.