It's done

Yes it is true the model is done! It is now about 4 am but it is done. Enjoy the photos. I am going to go to sleep.
JG

Prelude to the Grandeur

It seems like it has been an eternity since I last wrote. These keys I type are cold. This room I write in hushed by what seems an eternity of stillness. It would appear with such breadth of distance between the past writ and the writing to come...thoughts would refuse to echo off the blank walls.Perhaps though with the motion of these keys a once still place may once again begin to reverberate in this chorus of praise .

My heart is amazed by how God always ends the school year with a grand finally.

I was reading my bible this morning, something I haven't had the time to do amidst all the crazines that is utilities.housing.finals.final projects.packing.new furniture. girlfriends. friends. meetings. bibles studies.roomates.eating.sleeping.rent.summer jobs. grocey shopping.arch supply shopping.9 month anniversaries. phone calls.lunch dates.email. Late nights etc. I was not struck by the words this morning but merely the thought of how good it is to simply be still. As the pslams declare "be still and know." To enjoy the stillness for a moment.

I was thinking this week if like each year I wanted to record another album of the music I had written this year. I still have not made up my mind on that but I did decide if I were to do it I would call the album" Prelude to the Grandeur."

I believe this: that God truly wants to blow us away. What I have seen this year is a beautiful prelude but it is not at all the composing genius that is God. He has much better things in store. What He's done this year is incredible I do not discount that...BUT...He has much more in store.I am confidently assured.

I got to witness one of the most beautiful things this week...a heart gently broken and tears of joy fall without hesitation as the heavens and the floodgates of a man's heart were opened. I saw the love of a father in the reflection of the most beautiful tears. Tears of joy.

I saw God's love in those tears and I was taken a back because it was so much that my heart became a fire within. These keys burn my hands recounting such a thing. And to be taken a back by this God and see the heart of a Father reflected...that is something truly wonderful.I know this much...we are in the midst of a prelude to something much grandeur.

God is truly Good. And He loves us so dearly!
JG

A Hymn God gave me tonight

STILL for thy loving-kindness, Lord,
I in thy temple wait;
I look to find thee in thy word,
Or at thy table meet.

Here, in thine own appointed ways,
I wait to learn thy will;
Silent I stand before thy face,
And hear thee say, "Be still!"

"Be still! and know that I am God!" -
'Tis all I live to know;
To feel the virtue of thy blood,
And spread its praise below.

I wait my vigour to renew,
Thine image to retrieve,
The veil of outward things pass through,
And gasp in thee to live.

I work, and own the labour vain,
And thus from works I cease;
I strive, and see my fruitless pain,
Till God create my peace.

Fruitless, till thou thyself impart,
Must all my efforts prove;
They cannot change a sinful heart;
They cannot purchase love.

I do the thing thy laws enjoin,
And then the strife give o'er;
To thee I then the whole resign,
I trust in means no more.

I trust in him who stands between
The Father's wrath and me;
Jesu, thou great eternal Mean,
I look for all from thee.
-John Wesley

Hosanna

I see the king of glory
Coming down the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes
I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing, the people sing

Hosanna, hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take the place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a new revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees, we're on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what is yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

-Hillsong United

The footsteps of the Almighty

Each year in its process becomes another so effortlessly... time progresses... and leaves us breathless at its scurried pace. Another year gone ... So quickly.

I sit tonight at the edge of another year passing. It may be a months breath away but I know it will pass and not slow down ...Time has a way of doing that. Life is in full motion.

Tonight I praise God that He gives moments such as these where we are compelled to dream the impossible: slow down time itself and reflect in a finite moment on the infinite. We can focus on God himself, waves become still, every breath becomes a beautiful deep breath, every tear is as real and honest as the first. It is in these moments why I remember why I cling to the only thing that is unwavering.

Time is. A wrecking ball. An avalance. Tsunami. We sing to God though because he passes by. Calms the waves. Stops the unstoppable. Shelters us in the overwhelming.

If God has taught me anything this year it would be this: If we dare defy what we already know we will certainly miss what is coming. God in His nature wills all. He loves us. We are redeemed. We are the delight of the Father. He walks by us every moment. God is God and nothing less. Everything He calls us to is for our benifit to makes our heart enter into what it was tuned in birth to resonate with. Do not cease to praise because times are hard.

I have learned this as well:The footsteps of the Almighty are hushed unless you lie close to the ground. He has willed marvelous ways. We are called to be observant. To hear the king of the heavens decrees.

Tonight my thoughts are scattered but my hearts eyes are fixed. May he fix my heart to hear better the hush of His beautiful footsteps.

JG

Lately

She's a beaut isn't she...
JG

Spirit led

I believe when we title something give it a label we end up pinning it down as we would pin a butterfly to a board. I was pondering today about such ramblings and wondering if in a sense like the scientist who examines the butterfly we look too closely, try to think we know everything and in sense miss the fact that perhaps the buttefly once flew...was once alive...and once perhaps was nestled within a beautiful flower. We oftentimes try to pin down our lives..pin down formulas...and by doing so we lose the whole fact that these lives are not our own.

I went out sharing with my good friend last week and ran into one of the "F God" people in the world. I count the experience as a very enlightening one. I got to experience a hard soil where the seed will not take root easily and without much opposition. I got to see by the opposite things I would have never noted otherwise. As I mentioned before i count the experience as a blessing.

JG

Our House!

Here are the long awaited house photos...it's ours now. It is very strange to have a house...anyone else feel this way? idk? Anyway though these are some photos that capture the highlights of our new casa hope you enjoy and I'm sure I will get the chance to show many of you it in person. I wonder if I should name the house?
-Our wonderful backyard with one of my most favorite things in the world...a huge giant palm tree...
-Matt and I's room...it looks bigger in person
-The fire places of fire places...yup that's what I thought
-The kitchen which is huge aka awesome!
-the brick barbeque pit...aka tizzight!
-And our little serenity known as a nice mowed lawn
- The front of the house...so beautiful!

JG

Christian Revival and Riot

This whole week struck me as very strange.Anyone else?

I don't know if any one caught it but I but it seemed God was booking it to get a few things done within His people. It seems ever since I wrote a while ago every day seems to be full of stuff to do, full of ordained conversations and there is very little down time to simply blog or get some nappage in, read a book etc.

As best as I can tell, on the large scale, Satan is trying to distract and God is giving the oppurtunity for His children to rise up and proclaim His name in almost every facet of everything. It is a wonderful oppurtunity presented but I beg the question what will "we" do with it?Will we get distracted by our enemy or fix our eyes on the only constant, our lord Jesus!?!

Just something to think about.

Anyways though that is not the reason I write. I wanted to mention here what I have been dwelling on for quite a while now...I was listening to Jaeson Ma a while back. I heard his heart for the first time that night. He said something quite profound...

"wherever Jesus went He either started a riot or a revival."

Think about that for a moment...

We are supposed to be a mini Jesus to our surroundings. Why then are there no riots on a daily basis? Why no revivals every moment a "christian" speaks?

I mean it is a good question to be asking for something that I would be willing to give my life for...

This is not the first time I have thought such things...I ask this a lot and I understand the lost when they say " why would I want to be a part of something that looks just like everything else? Good question, I wouldn't looking at the state of the church. When someone says that to me I say to them look to Jesus not those redeemed...there is a disconnect there anybody else see that.

The way we conduct ourselves as believers is worth much tears and frustration. Somehow we have become complacent within the christian circles. We take our example from the world rather the bible. We look more to a role model than Jesus. We don't look at who God is correctly and in turn as Romans 1 tells us "professing to be wise become fools."

I mean read your bible people. Paul in Romans praises the church there for being a place where the gospel was going out to all nations. Is the gospel circling the globe? Is it circling our nation? Are lives being changed within our state by this message that is truth? Are people in our immediate circumstance seeing Jesus in each one of us, people willing to start revivals and riots?

One of my good firends kicked non christians out of his house to have a solid fellowship of Christians next year. Did they see Jesus in him? Another one of my friends is leaving the christian community he was in because each side did not pursue community in the way it was supposed to look like. Did He see Jesus in his christian brothers? And then one of my roomates is finding there is no community in the non christian world besides the drinking parties etc. Is there any hope of a christian community that is true and what God wanted from the begining?

I do hope so!

I bring this up not to blame people...that is the furthest thing from what the issue needs. God will do what he desires to get done Job assures us of that. But we need to work on this!

I have seen bits and pieces of when a christian community is doing what it is supposed to... it is something truly wonderful. I pray to that end.

This past weekend I felt my first earthquake on Elise and I's date. It was the most pathetic excuse for an earthquake I had seen! I want the ground to be shook because physical manifistations of the spiritual plane are coming into the present! I want the Lord's name to be Hallowed and his kingdom come! In every matter of everthing!

Long Live Jesus. In his Name I write all these things,
JG

The far surpassing greatness that comes from holiness

There are those moments where I get a glimpse and I see what it looks like within a body of believers when they are doing all that God has them to do. It is beautiful. I have been sitting in my chair for about an hour now letting my mind drift and meditate on such things.

My dear borthers and sisters, those few that read this. What God has is far better, do ALL He asks and step into what He is doing. May sin not be a choice because you see the far surpassing greatness that comes from holiness and a heart fully gave to our God.

I desire to see what God can do. May we let Him.

JG

Tonight I saw...

Tonight I saw…
…a fire ablaze

the flame’s warmth on my face
…a fire fully ablaze

Hands together in joyous unity
Bringing forth the full weight of those in grief

Tonight I saw
…the fire stand amazed

And I Wonder….
Oh how I wonder?

Gleaming as the noonday light
In the darkest of night

Tonight I saw…
…I saw.

JG

Ramblings...little did I know

There are times in your life where you come to a page...to a keyboard and you feel as if you should be able to offer some form of wisdom to others. I wish tonight I could offer something that I know without a shadow of a doubt will actually benefit you but I feel I don't have that.

I know at least for me there are moments when I feel like I could never offer anything even remotely whole to those who read this. The extent of my lack of insight as I continue to grow up reminds me every day that I will never be able to do that .BUT my God has a way of dumbfounding me with the fact he can use these ramblings to encourage my dear brothers and sisters. That is so amazing if you think about that.

I remember when I was a kid the world being my neighborhood. Little did I know it was infact more than a thousand times bigger than that. Little did I know. Little did I know.

What ever happened to believing we could do anything, was it just a young naiveity?

As I progress more and more in my field here in college I find I am infinately more stupid in regards to the matters of my major. As I progress in my walk with God I find I am infinately loved but more stupid with each passing hour in regards to matters of much importance.

Is this just a more clearer view of truth that we have yet to discover? That we a very "capable" people are very uncapable of doing most things.

The greatest piece of wisdom I have found is that we can do nothing without God going before us and ordaining that we walk into it.

All I know is I praise God that He uses ramblings such as these to speak.

Questioning the Exclamation

What direction and way will God call us to in this new day? What new blessing will he call us to? Swift as the morning breeze blows. As destructive as the tornado. Things are gave and taken away. But the day shines out all the clearer in the morning after the dust has settled.

I write tonight with this lesson ingrained within me: when we make something certain and are unwilling to give it all away at a moments notice we do not worship our God wholly. To take it all away is what God is known for allowing to be done. He will give it back a thousand times greater than before though. We have to be willing to go wherever the wind goes to do whatever the present calls us to and worship God.And perhaps in this grand chaos we will see something so radically different than everything around us, our God.

May with the new mornings knowledge...something truly wonderful be born from apparent ashes.
JG

Lessons from the Whirlwind

There is something mysterious about God how He can give us such peace in times of such adversity. Give us moments of sweetest joy when everything else falls apart. How he is as Job talks about: the God who makes men walk barefoot who "though He slay" us,we "will hope in Him" because He is the "Redeemer" who when we see our" heart faints within" because we "know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted"

This is the God I serve the all powerful, ever King, uncomprehensible, indescribable "Light of Light, very God of very God" God whom is nothing less than everything we could ever dream of the one who fulfills our inmost desire.

I have been reading through Job for a while now and spending some time in meditation on it.After a week or so of doing this I come to this thought: I am amazed to find how I am so " prone to wander, Lord I feel it/ prone to leave the God I love." How I forget so often to look at the all encompassing character of God . Focusing on one aspect and losing sight of the bigger picture. As Tozer writes " afraid to whisper mystery," I am so quick to say God if you love me everything will go wonderful. Forgetting the whole time that God is not my soldier, He is my commander.

We can never instruct God. One wise man wrote in Job 37:1 " at this my heart trembles and leaps from its place" There is a paradox and a mystery in this that on one side it scares us to think we are not in control, yet it is as we are" lost for words, so lost in love, sweetly broken, wholly surrendered." There is an utter peace that comes from God himself when we finally realize that it is not us who controls God. He is the untamable Lion. As Lucy in Narnia puts it though 'He is good."

My prayer for you that read this is this: that God may fully instruct you that though adversity comes there is no reason to grow weary and tired. God called peter the Rock " and upon this I will build my church." God's showcase of who He is is built on people such as Peter. Those people that are strong when everything else is crumbling. God is constant, there is no reason to doubt God to be who He is He is ever the same. May we put our foundation deep within His steadfastness and who He is ever reminded He is the same" yesterday today and forever" -Hebrews 13:8

JG

We Endure...

To believe God’s children are the objects of His eternal pleasure is most exhilarating. But to believe God is pleased to chasten and crush them is less than exhilarating. And what kind of God would do this? It is the same kind of God who was pleased to chasten and crush His own beloved Son, so that He might redeem us from the curse. And why did the Father ask the Son to endure such cruelty? Because He saw the greater good rather than the immediate need. With infinite wisdom, He foresaw the blessings that awaited both the Son and His Bride. Likewise, it was Christ’s joy to be crushed for the pleasure it would bring the Father and ultimately us. May we come to appreciate not only God’s eternal pleasure in us because of our identity with Christ, but also His pleasure to chasten those He loves for purposes greater than our finite wisdom can comprehend.
-Donald Smith

The Beginning of Something Great

The heavens declare thy Glory, Lord
in every star thy wisdom shines;
-Isaac Watts

Glory Thine attributes confess,
Glorious all and numberless!

One God! One Majesty!
There is no God but Thee!
Unbounded unextended Unity!

Glory to sit and think on God
Oh what a Joy it is!
To think the thought, to breathe the Name
Earth has no higher bliss

And all things as they change proclaim
The Lord eternally the same
-Charles Wesley

-amen
JG

The Book Always Gets Better

I stand on the edge of the next chapter
waiting to jump head first into the waters of uncertainty
I see the depths below
a road still left unexplored

Blessings birthed out of blessing
and more to come

What word will you use to illustrate the next point
what effect do you desire to be reached in me
The book always gets better
The book always gets better

Your words! I behold thee in fair line
the penned phrase before the dawn of time

Blessings birthed out of blessing
and more to come
The book always gets better
The book always gets better

Infitude meets a certainty
a growing love evermore
I see the depths below
a road still left unexplored

The book always gets better!
JG

Sweetly Broken

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

[Jeremy Riddle]
[Sweetly Broken]


JG

Eb and a Minor Second

If you could put your life in a slideshow what would it include? Would it be those funny faces with friends, the late night coffee shop conversations, that phone call that should never have been? That trip with friends? The moments someone says something that slices you to the core? Those moments we realized we had someone else to lean on?...?

This question has been running through my mind as of late...

To speak openly and without restraint tonight.Why do we forget to simply look back and remember those moments we would want to include in that slideshow. Why do I especially forget so often those moments where I have felt the most alive? Stupid me refuses to accept the terms to the continuance of that such thing .

I am left with a question instead of an action plan, what happened to the old John who did the part that was Spirit more than the part that is flesh?

Am I advancing or backsliding?

Sitting here tonight and reading and reflectingI have made so much progress in so many little areas YET in many it seems by the attention I have given to others those gardens are now full of weeds.

There are very few things that I can't deal with and swallow very well...one of those is conviction and truth. When God rebukes me I don't handle it well. When God shows me what things can look like if I choose to step out in faith I can't shake that vision and that right view of sucky self I see. Tonight I am convicted not by some elaborate sermon or some reading of God's word but the kind I can't not shake, conviction of the conscience.

I believe so often I am so far off target and act in apparent disobedience to strict direction from my father. I bring it up tonight not to answer that question afore mentioned, I think everyone would want something a little different than the next in that answer. My answer is this:I am sorry for not allowing many of you to see who God is because I was too busy being preoccupied in disobedience.

Loved ones of the Father in Heaven,I approach this page tonight deeply convicted that I have desobeyed my Father.I have refused to love you in the way my Father does. I refuse to take that initative that I took for so long in yesteryear. I get discouraged easily by opposition. I refuse to pray for you. I refuse to do all that I am called to do for you and on your behalf.


Tonight may God make known himself for He is worthy of the highest worship whether or not I choose to honor him back by giving it to Him. That fact will never change...thanks be to our Majesty the unchanging unknowable God.

JG

On those seldom occasions

On the seldom occasions I do get to sit down. Be still. Take my mind off the billowing memories of the day's ordinance I oft find myself simply in wonder. Able to recline in this place...take off my shoes throw them to the side and be barefoot before my blessed Lord with each moment being more and more amazed.

As I oft write I wonder why I am here writing. I wonder why God would by choice choose one such as I for the things he chooses to use me for. As I find myself these days I find myself in one of those seldom occasions.

And perhaps tonight I will let silence speak rather than my words.

May God find you wherever you have traveled in this evening. May he wrap you up in the shadow of his wings and may your tears wet His shoulder. May he continue what He has surely begun...
JG

In the field where the white flowers grow...

Authenticity the desire deep inside,
That the skies would open, and release me from the corner that I hide

And let Light drench these fields
Where the white flowers lie
That perhaps this time we might lay down our shields
And let honesty reside, in this pasture of the most high

Hills that proclaim and voices now raised
Birds that sore , clouds now unhazed
In this valley of the Vision, where we find ourself amazed


Authenticity the desire deep inside,
That the skies would open, and release me from the corner that I hide

And in the place where the white flowers grow
God began to tell the evermore
Where something quite wonderful has come forth
Secretley in the hills of the east-north

In the field where the white flowers grow...

JG

-photo courtesy of Tom

The Lord's Candle

We glimpse, we see, we listen, we wait. The lofty breeze runs through the tall grass. We stand, we see, we listen, we wait. The rustle in the grass beckons the change. WE proclaim, we see, we listen, we wait. the ripple of pages rip the scattered lines. WE proclaim we see, we listen, we wait.

God swept me off my feet once again as I got the chance to spend really all weekend in the hills. On friday spending time in the hills around Cal Poly and on Saturday spending time in the Hills near Bakersfield.

I remember being on a rock overlooking a valley and God asked this question "why John are you here? Why have you climbed physically exhausted to this place, and why does it take a silent place for you to feel and find me"God asked me this question along with a few other that I perhaps may mention at a later date..

God encouraged me greatly this weekend by reassuring me that what He wants to get done will get done. He showed me once again that but also something I think I had forgotten amidst searching for something greater.My mentor back home said something profound one of the nights I was leading worship " we can only move forward upon our knees." God brought me back to this this weekend that we can only proceed humbly. That there must be an authentic view of self. That the heart must be molded and naturally flowing out holiness and goodness.

I wrote a song back at man time while we were up at Hume I think it should be republished here in regards to what happened this weekend. God heard my cry for authenticity that night and answered it this weekend at mens' retreat. Men were being real with one another confessing sins and proceeding forth on their knees not in a battlelike cry. It was beautiful...in the manliest way possible. Here are the words I penned at man time...

Oh the great multitude of confession
that weighs against my soul
in the evening of my momentary weaknesses
in my lack of strength, that peirces in this cold

and to find myself once again entagled in your grace
knowing I am nothing apart from you

Oh the great necessity for repentance
that yearns within my soul
in my words exhorting the Spirit
in this moment giving glory to the King

and to find once again I am entagled in Your grace
knowing I am nothing apart from you
and to find myself once again in full assurance
knowing you are surely faithful to do and be true

oh that You might grant us Your desire
that You alone have made

oh grant us grace to pursue Your face
grant us the grace to see and do
oh that we might desire Your heart
grant us Your desire...

All I can write here is that God is God and He is acting quite Godlike and never ceases to be that way. He is doing great works in his Sons and in His daughters, making them more and more like Him. And giving them authority by Truth and Authenticity. It is wonderful and very encouraging to see. May we all proceed forward on our knees.

JG

In Protest of Blog Titles

Week 1...
Death, encouragement, tears, new friendships,cookies, dates, models, bunny suits, street preachers, reunions, bible study, parents, new classes, different directions,e-cards, e-high fives,horses,grilled cheese,houses, dumpster diving, Narnia, salvage yards, 2 corinthians, carmel apple cider, facebook salvations, 1000s of eggs,Librarys,choirs, 3D movies, old people...Yup!

Sometimes I find myself at the end of each week in rediculous disbelief at how God can weave thousands of very strange things into a really good story. But even more beyond that weave it together to a greater purpose. I mean look at life, it is a good read and if you are paying attention God has grafitied his name everywhere as of late.

I was telling Elise last night on our date that this quarter is so rediculous in so many ways and most certainly God is on the move. I can honestly for the first time at the end of each day say God did this wonderful thing today. How often does one get to experience that in such a dark and fallen world. Seriously that is so awesome!

For instance: I know of about 7 people that came to Christ this week alone. That is quite something. That is not including the other decisions I know of to return to their first Love, the only true Love, Jesus! It is no Acts church by any means but Cal Poly can say for the first time " and He added to their number daily." That is incredible!

To those who doubt God can do something wonderful still in our time... I have seen His working...He is still Mighty and Powerful. He is as Hebrews 13:8 exclaims " ...the same yesterday today and forever."

There is such a tendency to get discouraged in this age...but brothers we are called to joy and unending peace, " He will keep in perfect peace he who has his mind set upon Him." Scripture promises that to us. Brothers and sisters " we sing cause He is bigger than any reverence we could make and we dance until we are tired because we know His name is great"

So when I title this blog In protest... I mean that no blog title can capture what God is doing here and who He is. If you want it summarized go somewhere else...God is too big to be contained. We lose who He is when we try to define Him with anything we have to offer.

So I close tonight at the end of this week, the day before the anniversary of my Jesus rising from death and conquering sin once and for all, knowing that we at CalPoly have experienced nothing yet! And far greater things are to come! I don't know the specifics but I know my God!

Long live Jesus!

JG

My Accolade...

With one word you set my heart afire
This is my accolade
The deepest affection and desire
My highest praise

Blessed be…
To the king of infinite glory
infinite mystery…
The son who came to die on calvary
Glory be…

A fires warm breath
Fanning reaching
A new depth
Brooding, Unraveling

A distant spark
Illuminating the depths
A distant dark
illuminated by the depths

Blessed be…
To the king of infinite glory
infinite mystery…
The son who came to die on calvary
Glory be…

With one word you set my heart afire
This is my accolade
The deepest affection and desire
My highest praise

Bold

A funny thing happened today...I was sitting down ready to get down to some much needed time with my God...when all of the sudden God chose to speak through a small creature out my window pane. It is not uncommon for God to speak through such things but today it stuck me as kinda odd.

I was struck this morning by this marmot who would climb boldy up past the barb wire to see beyond his vantage point. Longing so desperatly to see truth, the world from above.

I began thinking...this marmot is bold. I mean honestly if websters was a picture book this creature would be in the definition of bold.

It played my heart's strings and made me want to be like this creature who desperately longs to be where God is and to see truth at all cost. If only more of us were willing to seek out God and boldly approach His very face. Knowing that Jesus died and we are spotless. May our faces reflect who He is and shine. May cameras capture only a lens flare because it is so profound! That would be something.

Beyond that I will report only that God is doing wonderful things...I do not need to encourage my readers beyond that because God is God and He is acting everywhere in the same manner...doing wonderful things. Open up your eyes and see what God is doing it is unprecedented, extraordinary, exceptional,and truly incredible.

JG

Familiar...just enough to be in awe

"But you have come to Mount Zion,
to the heavenly Jerusalem,
the city of the living God.
You have come to thousands upon thousands
of angels in joyful assembly,
to the church of the firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven.
You have come to God,
the judge of all men,
to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood that speaks
a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.
If they did not escape when they refused
him who warned them on earth,
how much less will we,
if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
At that time his voice shook the earth,
but now he has promised,
'Once more I will shake not only the earth
but also the heavens.'
The words once more indicate the removing
of what can be shaken—that is, created things—
so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving
a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
let us be thankful,
and so worship God acceptably
with reverence and awe,
'for our God is a consuming fire.'"

-Hebrews 12:22-29
JG

Da Hood

How do you begin to attempt to summarize God's moving in a particular area? How do you accuratley say all that God is doing without a thousand words? And how do you put God into a finite box when He doesn't fit into one?

YOU CAN'T DO IT, it is impossible without showing people God himself, the very face .

I long so desperatley tonight to ,as with my life, give God glory, to try and recount a remarkable work of God in the city of Compton, to show people who God is. I know most certainly though, that I will fail to give God the Glory He more than certainly deserves. I will most certainly fail to show people who my God is because He is huge. I imagine that although this may do God a grave injustice, my words do not define my God He defines Himself. I choose to write because I will still minister to some, because I know this heart burns to recount and worship through my rags that I offer my King. I am truly nothing in comparision to my God, to my sweet Jesus. Nothing in comparision to the Spirit that moves through me.

So as normal I will write...INCOMPLETE and UNPERFECT.

I got the blessing to go down to Compton, CA this spring break...to dance with broken and hurting children, experience unbelievable true fellowship, have misconceptions shattered, plant seeds,encourage others, ball it up, walk dangerous streets, fall more and more in love with Jesus, eat great mexican food, learn about culture, do behind the scenes ministry, and show an unloved people love. I count every moment an incredible experience.

I sit tonight at this computer and have very little or nothing to say about this week or in general because I have found myself in perfect peace and in perfect love with the one that made me. I am in love one might say. Nothing matters but Jesus and I.

But I remember tonight that we are called to many things in the christian faith and I am called to write... so I will turn this love into writing...

This week was incredible...

I remember this week being amazed at the people God blessed this trip with, and I caught a glimpse that I have not had for a long while into the very face of God. I saw sparks in peoples eyes being kindled and becoming raging fires.

I remember this week being astounded by the faith of woman who were mightly bold and strong in the Lord whose prayers are protecting and changing a city.

I remember this week being caught up in the rhythm of the divine dancing with broken and hurting children, seeing glimpses of heaven.

I remember this week truth being proclaimed in every form and fashion within the body of believers. Walls being torn down. Hearts being softened by God's very touch.What God wanted in community from the begining.

I remember this week and I will not forget that the God of Compton reigns. What we percieve from afar is not what we see when we take a deeper look.There is a greater need for our hearts to be as God would have and fashion us.The 95%

I remember this week the 5%.

I remember this week that God can completly make what is old new.That much bigger things are in store for those who love and believe. That I serve a God that is God of ALL.

JG

Overtake Me

Damn this senseless direction!
Stare me in the eyes and show me
how your tears still drip misery

Return to me
…that I may return to you

A rope measuring your heart
sings the harmony
“OVERTAKE ME “

Return to me
…that I may return to you

Anesthetic numbs this core
Still I miss you so, still you miss me so
Stare me in the eyes and say it isn’t so

A rope measuring your heart
sings the harmony
“OVERTAKE ME “

I sing…OVERTAKE ME
JG

More than simply doing

I have been recently struck by some thoughts. Bible reading, prayer, other book reading, and massive amounts of "God waving his arms at me" has given rise to the thoughts that are about to be written and penned. I pray you would consider them well and let the spirit do His work in you with the message below.

"Another type of religous leader must arise amoung us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions from the throne. When he comes( and I pray God there be not one but many,) he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth generation holds dear. He will contradict, denounce, and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. He will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath. "
-Tozer

I said in my last blog "With events that are to happen that will showcase God's power over the next few years we need to stop... God will show himself to an unbelieving generation and for the first time in a long while they will begin to turn accepting the baptism and embracing belief. But it can't be anything we as christians piece together for them!" I still stand by that thought. We need to get out of the way and stop doing .We need to have everything be an overflow of the heart nothing less than that is God's design. I know all the ways a church could be "succesful" in the eyes of many in Christendom and I know what I could do to help a church achieve that. But I choose not to for a time because that is not the point. Perhaps in so doing I may be a catalyst for change? I certainly do hope so.Until the time I begin to once again overflow I am working on the foundation of all things that go big, the heart. The only thing that matters. "For who has despised the day of the small things"-Zechariah 4:10.As I write about over and over again it boils down to YOU AND JESUS. When we get that right we are given keys to the kingdom and step into something far greater than anything anyone has seen in this lifetime. . God delights when we simply delight in Him. We were foremost created to worship, we need always have that at the forefront of our mind. IT IS ALL ABOUT JESUS .

There are many tendencys within Christendom that I do in part despise. But one above all is that our days do not need the same old thing that we, christendom, have tried and failed at. We need to get to the heart of the issue, the heart. I know that when the God of the universe is aroused from his Holy habitation the flesh is silenced and wonderful things start to happen( Zecharaiah 2:13.) God is aroused by his servants being aroused there hearts longing for God himself this is often showcased by the doing but it is never about simply doing. God is on the move and is being aroused as we speak moving in huge ways in many areas of the world not by action but by heart. I want God to be aroused in our country, God does not have me here for some small thing. I will not let him do small things around me and as much as it is in my power to make sure of that I will influence things. He deserves all things all worship and all praise.

I read things like "Return to me...that I may return to you." ( Zechariah 1:3) and I read things like" He who has believed and been baptized...will lay hands on the sick and they will recover(Mark 16:16-18)." And I understand for once why I doubt and many doubt. It is because we as Christians are not doing all that God says for us to do . We are not taking the first step. He will not return, be aroused if you will, in our lives unless we take the first step. I beg I plead I pray for that to happen but ultimately it is up to the individual to open up the doors and say "my dearest Lord, come into my house lets fix what is broken between us."

Deal with it and fix it! It is most certainly worth fixing...

Until that though my heart will echo this song:

Don't try to wake me up
Even if the sun really does come out tomorrow
Don't believe anything you say anymore
In the morn, in the morning
Bricks to this old house are breaking
Steel would have weathered
But now forlorning
It's alarming how loud the silence screams
No warn, no warn, no warning

Addictions fill the table where the family used to sit
And conversate, conversate to the sounds
To the sounds of a record player
With it's jumping needle
And the lights that grow dim over time

With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive

Are you where you thought you'd be
So beautiful and only twenty-three
Opposition rests in the hearts
With no, with no, with no opportunity
It's not that we don't talk
I'ts just no one really listens

And honesty fades
Like a politician lost in the course
All smiles and no one remembers our names

With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive

Don't try to wake me up
Even if the sun really does come out tomorrow
Don't believe anything I say anymore
In the morn, in the morning

With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
With downcast eyes
There's more to living than being alive
-Anberlin



I love you all dearly,
JG

On the conclusion of Mark

So here I am. I sit here in the same chair.I write from the same computer.Still at the same desk. Yet amidst all this same it seems the spiritual season is hinting at changing. It's like one of those movies where leaves are blowing off the trees, gently falling as you walk under them. The wind sweetly blowing against your face. And the perfect score is playing as backround music as if some wonderful journey is about to begin. Such a wonderful thing about to begin.

I have often wrote about the quarter at this time... trying to leave it behind bulletpoint it, categorize it and find the answer to what each quarter was about..and then move on. As If I could pin down all the subtlies all the teaching all the shaping God has done. I would do God a great injustice if I were to speak and do as I have done in the past. I feel no need to do any of that anymore. Each season boils down to the knowledge God is God, unchanging, ever good, ever wonderful, and ever true. Beyond that very little needs to be said about each season besides the showcase of who God is.

I finished Mark today and I was amazed to find that Mark's last four or so chapters are simply a chronology of events. They differ greatly from the rest of the book and read much like a history book. As did Mark and Peter the writers of the gospel of Mark I see the importance of merely stating things as they are for certain things. With events that are to happen that will showcase God's power over the next few years we need to stop speculating and merely write as things are. God will show himself to an unbelieving generation and for the first time in a long while they will begin to turn accepting the baptism and embracing belief. But it can't be anything we as christians piece together for them!

There's the utmost necessity for the individual to meet God individually and for a heart change to happen within the individual. In a lot of ways we need to get out of the way and let the spirit work. Taking the oppurtunity to embrace every oppurtunity to share the good news...because we are still hands and feet mind you. But we must be ever mindful that prayer is the only thing that will change the unbelieving heart and get rid of the spirits that bind belief In Jesus and the baptism from taking place. Prayer is the muscle that opens the clammy heart.

I was reminded today as I was finishing up Mark that there is an understanding and a knowledge that needs to be within the children of God about Daddy's business and what He has worked to do over not just our short stay on Earth but over the history of mankind. We as people need to understand the propecy of the old testament and need to know how it is going to be applied to our time. For most that means understanding the new testament first and who Jesus was and who He is. We need to be reading our bibles more, not for the sake of doing but because our heart wants to because our God is God, unchanging, ever good, ever wonderful, and ever true.

I plead here as well as in my prayers that we would be a generation known for our hearts...not our actions alone. There is so much that appears to be good in the world...not all of it truly is. But a heart that is pure and has right intentions that is beautiful before the Lord and naturally flows driven only by love...that speaks far louder and resounds. May we have that heart.

EPHATHA!

JG

Rise

In the morning he will rise
…a heart defeated
Before the world wakes
…may he sing to you my King

With golden pains reflected in this glass
More unbearable with each moment
Surrounding me this momentary aloneness
If only…he would fall apart before You

Fighting for so long
A war that rages in his heart…

When I rise in the evening
… necessity to wake
When I can’t fall back to sleep
…Your spirit moving

Before the world wakes
…may he sing to you my King

with golden pains reflected in this glass
that’s all surrounding me
…he cries

Around he goes… another day
Another endless cycle

These things he grasps in his hands
The road ahead
This hour
This feeling

To simply fall apart in Your arms
And be embraced

Do not forget these momentary tears
And cease from wiping all of them away

Find this one...he cries

DA QUARTA

Actually the picture above does not represent the quarter at all. I am begining to think God gave me a sabbath this quarter for some odd reason, obviously necessary for me but the question still lingers why? Why did I have so much time this quarter and why did I learn so much this quarter and what are the purposes of circumstance and lessons? Guess we'll see!!! I thought I should for all those who tune in show you what I did this quarter...not much but still I am in college and it is nice for those who arn't here with me to see I am actually doing "something." ENJOI!


FINAL PROJECT: redesign the section of campus around sandwhich factory. Make it into a cafe and gallery that is built around daylighting, dynamic vertical circulation, and the functional uses of a gallery and cafe.







9 SQUARE MATRIX: Create 9 8x8" squares tied together using chings design principles. Employing different complexities of space through the use of walls, planes, and overhead elements.



DAYLIGHTING: Create a model that is designed around daylight



PIRANESI: Create a really big pencil drawing expanding one of piranesi's etchings 6x or larger



CASE STUDY SCHEMATIC DRAWINGS: basically do a detail, and a wall in construction drawing detail



THAT'S ALL SLEEP WELL ALL!
JG

a longer journey, yet

As of late there has been a deeper joy that has begun to take over my countenance.Likewise, as of late there is also a deeper pain that has begun to take over my countenance. It is odd to smile even in the midst of tears and knowing this is deeper than before , but yet there remains still something deep within that is rippling because the source has come near: my God, my Father's comfort, forever joy and peace. These are my thoughts meddled with tears and joy.

As I said in my last blog I have been making my way through Mark and have been amazed as to what fruit it is bearing and the very things Jesus Himself says . But to speak honestly, frankly and candidly here there is some, more a lot of ,really troubling thoughts that come when I read through the book. Like for instance all throughout the book Jesus says " do not proclaim the miracle I have just done for you." what? He also says if we believe anything can be done...it will be done. What's wrong with us that this isn't happening? Why did Jesus take this tactic to ministry? Do we not even know our own God? All this troubles me deeply that there are seldom in the pages of history accounts of christianity working the way it was supposed to originally.

For many this would be the point where they are like " this whole God Jesus being man thing I'm over it." But the thing is over the years I have come to know my God in an intimate way and to understand the way He moves and His intents. He is not predictable by any means, He surprises and amazes me all the time by who he is. The thing is though He never proclaims himself beyond what he needs to and doesn't desire to be proclaimed because He desires our heart more than anything else.

Through a lot of really sucky friendships around me as of late I have come to realize that we as a culture and as a time period suck at being nice. People are not nice, they don't love and they don't care for one another. Argue all you want with this one, but if you have even a sense of perspective and truth within you you'll see this. Take for instance housemates in a lot of cases, they will not go into each others rooms and say hello for some reason, mainly because they don't think about it. People are seperated by a wall both physicallly and metaphorically for some odd reason and what troubles me is the thoughts of trouble arn't there they are covered up. You can seldom find a person that loves in the way that Jesus loved . You can seldom find someone who is going to have things like friendship come naturally. I doubt as well you can find someone who has things flow from them naturally, that is a major bummer. Because the bible tells me what Jesus' intent through all that he taught was for that to happen. And when I read things like Mark 11:26 which says if you don't forgive and love all the Father will not forgive you. And see pictures of Jesus in the garden praying and sweating blood because he is troubled by the fact we are not one I am deeply troubled . We need to get this whole love and intent thing down and we need to deal with the heart just like Jesus was doing and deal with why the heart isn't bringing forth streams naturally.

Ministry shouldn't be a forced thing that is why Jesus had it on the down low because he wanted it to ripple naturally out from Himself and not be a forced thing. Love that is forced is not real love.

The thing is we are sinful people, yes, duh! We all knew that when we said yes to Jesus. But did we become stagnant there? I think a lot of us have. We have fallen from the original design and arn't really working to get back to the original design... we have fallen away from reading and hearing God's words, from talking via Jesus to the Father through prayer. We are a generation so far gone and it deeply troubles me to find us this far gone. Something needs to change and it starts with the heart.Where intentions flow naturally and we take time to deal with what is going on within ourselves this weed of sin and stagnacity that has reaked havoc in our garden.

I have seen a lot of good effort put toward remedying this and that is in part the source of my growing joy . But as 1 thess talks about aim for more still " when we claim we are without sin, we make God out to be a lier." Some of you just don't get it.
My prayers are with you all, that God would begin with the individual and it flow to the masses.I don't care necessarily about my joy but make His joy complete by being of the same mind and letting our ministry be known by love. Remember it is all about Your heart.

"You shall love the Lord YOUR God with all YOUR heart and with all YOUR soul and with all YOUR mind and with all YOUR strength and the second is this you shall love YOUR neighbor as YOURself."( EMPHASIS ADDED PLEASE NOTE IT! )
Mark 12: 30-33

Know I love you all dearly so much. Do not neglect the longer journey, the road is still worth the travel.
JG

... in the Night

Tonight I stand by the ocean...

Where Light breaks this silence

beneath my feet
Ripples
Waves captured by light

Darkness that would hide the power
Yet still the ocean ripples
And in the fullest of time
There is sanctity of the night

Flicker of moonlight
reflection
captured here in this moment

here in the vastness

Where Light breaks this silence

JG

frustration

It is odd what inspires us, what gets us to hoot and holler, what make us cry tears, feel pain, etc. I was recently reminded by a movie that we are a generation far far gone. That phrase cannot be understated and to say I know it deepest meaning I cannot say.

I come, honestly tonight to my computer being frustrated with the male christian community. Actually honestly I don't know what I am frustrated about. I am probably frustrated with myself for not being the leader I need to be. I am frustrated with the way God crafted me uniquely. I am frustrated with sin, the human condition, etc.

But before I go to bed I want to type something out, and I don't believe this only to benifit me in the typing. We as Christian men are supposed to understand what inspires us and makes us move, we must learn how to wield a sword and wield it correctly or we will never learn and take hold of what is there for us.

JG

Scribes, Engagements, and Immediacy

As of late I have been making my way through the gospel of Mark. It has been a long while since I actually sat down with a gospel account. I normally get lost in the old testament somewhere being like " Jews threw huge parties, we should do that" or like " Nehemiah prayed and fasted for three months and then got the king to accept the impossible, maybe in doing that we can make the impossible plausable." I find myself fascinated by jewish culture or something to that end but when I finished reading through 1st kings, I was like hey it is time to do something different. How bout Look at an account of this Jesus character who was the fullfilment and the energy that made all this passion and power happen. So here I find myself on a beautiful sunny day in early march, somewhere in the middle of Mark.

There have been mainly three things that have caught my eye that I want to try and note on real quick...well, maybe real quick.

The first one being scribes. All thoughout the gospel account of Mark I see people referred to as scribes who I at least see as should being able to realize this Jesus character is the son of God , for some reason they don't. I think it boils down to a phrase tozer said " the kingdom of God does not lie in words buts in its understanding, the true power." I have sat down with this phrase for a while now and thought about what it means along with the whole fact that the writers and historians are literally put next to in association to the pharisees. The reason they are put next to them so many times is because honestly they have all these words but they do not see. And I think and believe that this means for me as a writer to make sure that my words are more than mere words. They need to be meaningful. They need to be honest, and I shouldn't puff up myself. There is a tendancy amoung bloggers to pretend they are doing something but in accuality they are doing nothing. This is no good. That is lying using an artform as a corrupt thing. There are some people that say if Jesus lived in our day he would have a blog. I'm positive he would not. He would acually go do stuff not pretend he was. We need to be super careful not to merely learn for the sake of learning. Learning and knowledge should come in order that action might be taken upon the knowledge.

Second are engagements. I was struck last night as I was going through chapter six of Mark the phrase he includes in I believe chapter three " the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." Going back to the sixth chapter, Jesus doesn't get a sabbath for a long while because people need to be healed they follow him every where and never has a down moment. But when he can he takes advantage goes to a secluded place and communes with his father being filled to an overflow so He might affect many.But he is interupted by a storm that is brewing out on the sea where his disciples are. So he goes intending to pass by, but he jumps in the boat to help them out. He is not engaged to anything he can be interupted. Can we take a lesson from this? Most certainly. We need to be able to be interupted and go wherever we are needed at a moments notice. If we can't do that we need to somehow do something radical, and trust God.

The third thing is Immediacy. God is a God of immediacy. We are a people of little faith. These two things don't mix. I am reminded in reading through this account of the gospel that if people simply believed, had faith they would be healed they were healed. Bleeding hemorages gone, leprosy gone, all these things that they couldn't cure gone. What happened to that type of faith? I will say that again what happened to that type of faith? I will say it a third time what happend to that type of faith? I have accounts from all over the world of people being healed of their ailments. Yet we don't believe. Why? I do not know. We should though. If you haven't realized it we are in the last days and it is apporaching quickly I see signs and wonders all around me, I see men prophosying and dreaming, I see the gospel taking root in places it has never taken root. I see entire towns fraternities etc. coming to Jesus. I see the works of the devil being defeated. We need to get on the wagon with the rest of the world America. Myself included. We need to be radical and step out in faith. We need to pray more. We need to read our bibles. We need to be interupted. We need to trust this God of immediacy to do what he has said he will do, if we merely believed. As Isiah 45 talks about " I have not spoken in secret, in some dark land"-Jesus Our God does not hide himself unless we as a people do not wish for Him to come and show himself. WAKE UP AND ARISE, LET OUR GOD SHOW HIMSELF. All I can do is pray. And that is what I will do. I will do what I can, but christianity is not an "I" sport it is an all inclusive sport. We are weak when we try and play it alone. Even weaker when we try and play without God on our team.

JG

Turbulence in the Transition

So I am here. Where you might ask? In my room eating a bowl of cheerios staring at the calender infront of me. A thousand thoughts are running through my head. Thoughts of how awesome and much of a man one of my friends is. Thoughts of the progression of time and how the heck is it already march.Thoughts of what the heck this "blog" is going to be about. Thoughts of what God is going to do with my spring break on Urban Immersion. Thoughts of why the heck my most prized possesion is a wooden elephant from India. Thoughts of how I can develop my building concept further. Thoughts of how happy I am to be in a relationship with Elise. Thoughts of how much I suck. Thoughts of how awesome God is. Thoughts of what God did with those things I'm not quite sure I said this week. Thoughts of future, and what that entails. Thoughts of what God is going to do with this evening. It's like a fricking universe in there. That is how I come to these keys, swirling, a thousand and two thoughts running through this mind.I can't make much more sense of the unseen and seen beyond that and because of that these blogs arn't up to par, I know that, and I am truly sorry. Perhaps in time God will grant my writing ability back , but until then I am sorry if these things don't make sense, I haven't got many of these thoughts down either. Until then though I will shut up until a coherent thought does surface. Until then...

JG

Procession of Progress

Why is the begining always the hardest? I swear! There are times that I will spend hours, entire days of thought life thinking about the first sentence. I must say! There are far better things to do with my time then pondering about the beginning of things. The beginning has already begun by the action of deciding upon writing, and it is in part begun by people choosing to decide upon an action and the feet that have tread before me. The ball has already been set in motion in many things. The first step has already been taken.

So shall I begin? I will continue...I think a lot, a lot, most often about meaningless and inconsequential things. This is to my emotional downfall a lot of time. By nature I ask a lot of questions,and have always had trouble with this aspect of my character. I continuously am setting rocks in motion rolling down that metaphorical hill called progress .I don't think it is just to be an ass. Who knows, maybe I am frustrated to no end with what I see. I believe I ask and think to make people observant that many things are in movement around them. Not limited to my own rocks but the boulders that have been set in motion by other far more important men than I. I have come to realize after stepping back for two weeks and seeking out God and not starting many rocks down that hill known as progess that there are threads that are continuous through everything in life. There is a thread to life, and I must not try to do it all on my own. I am a part of a much larger mountain.

I believe and have come to the conclusion after much thought about the society I live in, we don't view ourselves in our proper context. We all see it right? Our society has big issues. Something is missing, things are not good, not perfect. What is wrong? Mr. Papas said this week, our generation will most likely not be known by the natural progression of generation x, y etc. We our so arrogant , stupid and selfish that we will be known most likly by generation "I."

I am not proposing everybody gets less selfish all of sudden because of the knowledge that they now have. Don't do that at all, IT IS NOT COMING NATURALLY AND THAT IS THE REAL ISSUE. Christian brothers come to me all the time wanting to bypass the issue. I will oblige by listening but I tell them foremost " you need to deal with things with your Father in heaven." The best thing they can do is take a day off get on there knees and simply sit there and let the overwhelming nature of silence set in. You can't keep covering the pain you must comfront it head on and deal it. We have got to get this down and realize this above many others:There is a progression of progress that has been begun a long time ago. Progress, reconciling, it has and will continue to happen despite us.I will say this though: we are hands and feet and must set things in motion but before we do anymore we must get in touch with the one who makes the rocks roll. I would love to see christians not force anything until they take a week off to pray fast and deal with the REAL ISSUE. I took my two weeks. God shattered my perceptions. God made me cry. God made me deal with this issue. We all need so much work, it is overwhelming.

If you do anything with what you learned here do this 1. read God's word and don't get frustrated, sit and meditate on a passage for more than your ADD mind normally would. And 2. figure out why things don't come naturally, the insight you gain from that question is well worth the soul searching. So much for my nap, bummer.
JG