Solo

Last Sunday, aka Mothers Day, i saw a movie with my mom and brother called the soloist.  I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was great.  Not to spoil anything about it, but at one point Jamie Foxx's character ends up going to this community center Called LAMP Community.  This community is right in the middle of the slums, the projects, the worst of the worst of Los Angeles full of the poor, brokenhearted, lost, confused, mentally ill.

My thought during this movie was that our world is so broken, not just because there are people homeless and hurting, but because there is just so much hurt and pain going on around us.  I don't think i could comprehend how much struggles and troubles there really are.

As i was thinking about this fact that our world is broken i thought, "i can do nothing about it."  You may be saying Paul that isn't true, you can do plenty of things to change the world around you and i would only partially agree.  I am not saying that i have nothing to give, because i have tons of shirts and jeans and other items.  I am not saying that i have nothing to offer, i am just saying that on my own i am nothing and without God's grace and love i can give nothing with meaning.  Only by God loving me can i truly love others.  

This movie just re-confirms my call to missions and i love that.  I can't wait to see how God will use me to help the brokenhearted, lost, and confused.  I can't wait to see how i am changed.  I can't wait to really see the world as He really sees the world. 

I am nothing and have nothing to give, but because of God, i can change the world.  Because of the passion he has put in my life, i can help others and be a part of the joy that is around me... meaning that even though people have nothing, they still have joy, they still dance and sing, which is another scene that you will see in the movie.  

One thing i have learned and what i will end with is this. Just because they are poor and homeless, doesn't mean people who are poor, hurt, mentally ill have no joy or anything to live for.  There is joy in all situations and i want to be a part of it, or unveil peoples eyes to it.

Will you join me?

A Reply to The Matt Scott ladies and gentleman.

So my friends blog is being a little sketchy so this post is actually a reply to his Post... Make Sense?  

OK!

Before you read my reply, read his post, it is very very.... You guessed it... interesting. 

Matt Scott's Post: Conversing With The Other

Enjoy

Matt, is interesting to hear you say that you struggled to listen and hear what others say. Well only sort of now that i really think about it. One reason being the fact that your wife loves you for being so open to hear her thoughts and opinions on things as you grow together. But i also understand how you could consider yourself struggling with that with the desire to question everything (most everything) and not just listen.  

But it is fun and actually really cool for me to hear you are a part of a group, a cohort as you put it, of diverse people with multiple views. Excited and wish i had something of the sort. (Hint hint) i mean i would just like to visit, but that is off point.  

What i am trying to say is that i am sure you could realize at times it is hard for me to just listen. Just listen and not offer advice or thoughts or whatever i feel i should, but then i just rest and am still and God has grown me in that. One last thing, just a thought, bullet point number two seems contradictory to itself and the blog. Maybe i am just putting a different light on it. But... lets discuss.

Freedom

Freedom isn't really free, ever heard of those cheesy quotes.  I mean sure they could be true and some would say they are but lets be honest... free or not, we really don't live with freedom.

Christian or not, we really don't live in freedom.

American or not, we really don't live in freedom.

This thought of what if i really lived in the freedom that i was given has hit me hard.  I find myself falling into the same traps, snares, (sins) over and over again.  I find myself putting back on chains and shackles that really have no locks to hold me down.  I find myself reverting back to my old self, to my old ways when there is so much joy and brightness ahead of me.  I find myself living in slavery.

It seems kinda funny that most people that get the taste of freedom never want to go back to slavery, but over time they slowly realize that with slavery their was guarantees of what was going to happen and what you could expect.  They realize that with some forms of slavery there is comfort and short term pleasure.

Now don't hear me saying that slavery is good and people loved and African Americans should still be picking cotton because that is not what i am saying at all.

If you look in the old testament, when freedom got tuff, the Israelites complained and wanted the comfort and guarantees of slavery.  If you looked at anyone around you, even after they escaped from their addictions or corrupted actions, you still find them struggling not to turn back to their old self and go into the sureness of their highs and problems.

Slavery is an evil demonic thing.  Slavery goes beyond the physical and goes into the spiritual realm.  Slavery goes beyond what we can see and into the human psyche.  Slavery corrupts and makes you see roses when really it is all thorns.  Slavery makes you smell fresh Krispy Kreme Donuts when really it is a vile putrid rotting carcass.  Slavery makes you see beauty instead of the pain, hurt, guilt, remorse that really comes with it.  Slavery is corrupting and easy while freedom is life giving yet so hard.

Slavery... Freedom...

Which are you living in?

How different would we be if we really lived in freedom, if we let love when out.  I keep falling back into slavery, but in all honesty... I AM FREE!  I WANT TO LIVE IN THIS FREEDOM! I WANT TO BE FREE, and yet i am... but still live in chains that i put over myself.

Do you want to be different?  Do you want to live in the freedom that Christ died for.  Heck if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, do you just want to escape from the pain that these short term pleasures bring you.  Do you want to live in the freedom that each one of us is given, or in the slavery that has been taken away from us.

Slavery it goes beyond the physical, i hope you realize that, and i hope you choose freedom, but don't just say it... act it out.  Lets see if we can hold each other to this freedom.  Ehhh, sound good?

Climbing with the Bro's

So yesterday after picking up one of my great friends from the Ritz in Buckhead i went climbing at Escalade climbing gym with my brothers minus one of them.

Erik and Michael went climbing with me and it was a ton of fun.  I am just glad that we got to bond and hang out a little.  Little sad that Conrad couldn't come because his church went long but hey... maybe next time.

Well, it was a blast just showing them the ropes, pun intended, of Escalade and letting them try out all of the different routs.  They did pretty good and Erik even had some hidden skills and Michael had some endurance in his arms, maybe it is from working at PCE.  Any who, i just wanted to let you all know that it was a blast.

I mean even if Mike did fall, fly across the room and slide on the floor and gently hit someone, we made up a rout.  Any who, we did a lot of climbers and i feel that i was able to be better at gripping all of the stuff.  I mean i have been working towards that.  I still didn't complete some routs that i would have loved to, still need to build endurance and hand grip, but hey, that just means i know right where to go from the beginning so i can bust it out and rock it.

Well that is all, hopefully there will be some more posts in relation to me and the brothers hanging out. 

I miss him.

I know this blog is going to sound... peculiar but i am WAY ok with that.

I MISS Andrew Walden.  Let me explain why...

He got married this past weekend to an amazing woman now known as Claire Miller Walden.  I know i know, great last name.  So any who, i am beyond pumped and excited for them and this journey that they get to share, even a little envious, but i know i am supposed to wait, and i am sorta ok with that.  I can't wait to discover who my beautiful bride is.  But none of the last few sentences have really shed any light onto this missing of Andrew Walden.

So during the wedding i was talking to a friend named Greg Britt and we mentioned how are relationship with Andrew is going to change, and the amount of time we see him will change.  All things that are ok and i am good with... even though i hate change. 

All this to say that this whole marriage thing has really set in for me and i just miss Andrew, so much so it is making me not even care about Call of Duty (COD), and i love COD.  I mean we used to play at night and last night around 11:30 he had twitted that he had gone to bed, and on a normal night before this weekend he would have been bright eyed and bushy tailed playing with us.

I just miss him

But, i would hate for him to choose games or us over his wife, not because it is the first week of marriage but because i mean really, lets be honest, she is way more important.  So Andrew i am sad about the changes, i hate the changes, but i love them all at the same time. 

 Enjoy the youth and beauty of your bride.  I am pumped for you and welcome the change with open arms.

Hectic Morning

Well this morning kinda sucked.  I have been a little sleep deprived because of a small addiction to COD (Call of Duty: World at War) don't get any crazy ideas. haha

I mean even if i didn't mention that game i still am just not going to bed early so that kinda took a toll on me today.  Basically i had about 2 hours of sleep the night before and so my body thought it would be a great idea to make up for some of that sleep this morning, you know, when i was supposed to be places.

Well this morning started with a call from Andrew Walden because we were playing at Walton's FCA this morning.  He had called me twice before and i had slept through 3 different alarms on my phone before getting his call.  So i completely missed that FCA.  Luckily i was only playing hand percussion and not guitar or speaking.

So then my day continued to suck as a stayed awake for about 45 minutes as i tried to go back to bed for another hour and a half before waking up for school.  3 hours later i wake up when i am supposed to be leaving for class.  I mean COME ON!!! REALLY, i couldn't believe that i had slept through another alarm after i pushed the snooze buttons a few times. So i rushed off to school, or really tried to before remembering that my parking decal thing was not in my car and so i spent 15 minutes searching for it before finding it in between my Bibles that i put in my back pack.

So i get to class 30 minutes late but only after my teacher had left the class a little angry.  So any who my day was crazy and hectic but i wasn't ever really worried the whole time.  Sure i was a little stressed but i listened to some praise and worship music and just drove to school.  Honestly my morning has been crazy and hectic but in all of this mess i have the faith and trust in God that it is all going to be ok.

On the other hand, my teacher who left in a furry doens't believe in God and because of things that didn't go as planned with the class, and because of the economy and the state of the United States, she is worried out of her mind.  Because she doesn't have a faith in something greater, God, she has no hope and she feels the weight of the world is on her shoulders.  She feels that she has to fix everything.

It is interesting to me how having faith and a hope in something more then yourself can be so relaxing.  It is interesting to me that having faith and trust and a real God who desires to advance His kingdom can be so peaceful and stress relieving.  Also, in the midst of all this, it is amazing how we as believers can unveil peoples eyes to the hope, joy and peace that is really around us all the time.  God gives us these opportunities and a group member of mine from that class is burdened for our teacher.

How amazing is God!

How has he lead you through stressful times peacefully? Comment and let me know.

BOO YAH!

Not about ME

Something so obvious but something so true... It is not about me. I mean I have realized this for quite some time but i think it takes new meaning as i go over it in my head.

I know this phrase means to me that life is not about me. That i am not the end all be all. That i have nothing to give. That humility needs to reign in my life instead of arrogance.

But something more clear has come up since i have really started thinking about this phrase and that is this, life can and will go on without me. I do not have to be a part of everything that is going on around me ministry wise and life wise.

The biggest thing for me honestly is realizing that as much as i want to help out North Metro, or SWAT Ministries or whatever have you, it isn't about me. The things i do for those ministries are things that God is allowing me to do and accomplish only because of his mercy and grace. If something good happens, it isn't because of me, it is because i listened to Gods plan and was who he designed me to be. This is something i am still trying to grasp and hold onto.

This Summer i will be doing missions all the way across the world and it is going to be an adventure. It has been a tuff time getting to a place where i feel ok to go, but that is not really the point of this blog. Since i am going to this place all the way across the world i am missing out on plenty of ministry opportunities. I am missing out working for the GBC this Summer, I am missing out doing many keeps like ones and Texas and one put on by SWAT. I am also missing out on working with North Metro in many other areas instead of just this mission trip. As i have thought about all these opportunities this one phrase comes to mind, "It isn't about me."

It isn't about me serving with the GBC, SWAT, or churches. Life is about where God has me going. Life is about living to the hilt of where God has you. Life is about God. Life is about living love. Life is far more about the other instead of about me. Life, my life, has nothing to do with me. My life has to do with living for God, being who he has made me anew. My life is about serving. My life... haha, My, it is funny that i keep on using that word.

Gods life is about doing what is planned and purposed to advance HIS kingdom. Gods life is about being humble and not worrying about these opportunities missed but living fully where HE is taking me.

I hope you get that last paragraph, because it is not about Paul Michael Stippich, it is about God. It is about everything but me and the opportunities missed, because in all honesty i have not and will not miss anything, i am exactly where God has planned for me to be.

Subtle reminder

So i was having some free dinner with a friend at Chick-Fil-A at East Lake when all of a sudden a certain man walks behind me and just starts talkin to me.

Not to mention any names or go into any details, but let's just stay he was not in a perfect state of mind.  I am not judging or incriminating, i just want a more full picture painted of this story.  So as i begin to talk to this guy i discover, and he outright tells, he is not in a "perfect" drug free state of mind.  As we talk he just opens up and shares so much about himself.  He mentions that his birthday is next Tuesday and so i wish him an early happy birthday.  He mentions he is 26 and then he asks how old i am.  I tell him i am 21 and he asked if i got drunk and i said that i didn't.  So he jumps ship and says that he goes to church too.

I love the connections there.  Not being drunk on your 21st birthday means that you are a Christian, or at least go to church or are a Southern Baptist. Ha.

But he continues to open up and share his story and i mention that i go to Echo and North Metro, a non-denominational church, and he gets interested and says he would love to come, especially to Echo. 

Well after all of that and as we finish our conversation he says that we should hang out.  So i respond with "Yah, if you come to Echo we can sure hang out."  So we said a few more things and then i went on about eating my dinner as he gets his hand spun milkshake.

So i think to myself, why does he have to come to me for us to hang out?  Why does he have to be in the right state of mind for us to do things together?  Why is this about me and doing what is best for me?  I understand that there is some wisdom in being careful about how the hanging out would go down, but why does it have to be about me?

I immediately thought of Jesus and how he met others where they were at.  He met others in their greatest need's no matter the problems or junk that they had going on in their life.  I was thinking to myself, "What if I met others in their great need?"  How different would my life be?  How uncomfortable would i be?  As i walked away from this gentleman  with a phrase of basically come to me under these guidelines i thought of how selfish i was.

God seems to be reminding me of quite a few things lately and i will be sure to blog later about them, but as for now, he seems to be reminding me of this question of how different would my life be if i sacrificed myself and did things that would make me more like Jesus.  More like a man who trusts instead of tries.

What if i trusted in God to change lives including mine, and what if i trusted God to break me of my wants and meet others where they are at, where they are hurt, where they are struggling, and where there is death and pain.

I am...

Australian!

Yes it is true.  I know work at the Australian bakery in the Marietta Square.

I love love (Oh Brett Younker) working there with a passion.  It has been so much fun.  It is a job that consists of everything from running the register, making different Australian and American delicacies to dipping sheet cake in chocolate and rolling it around in some coconut.

I mean i really do love this job and i am going to give some partial credit to a big Rob McDeezy.

Well it has been a blast so far getting to know everyone that works there and getting to meet a ton of regulars.  I mean some of these people even have tabs, how cool is that.

Well i hope to see you around this awesome bakery getting some great Australian goodies and desserts.  Give me some mo of those.

Oh Hey Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:10-14 (English Standard Version)

 10"For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

So i have slowly been reading through the bible this past 3/4th's of a year.

Now after reading quite a few books of the Old Testament i am in the book of Jeremiah, and i seem to be at what is everyones favorite chapter and verse, Jeremiah 29:11

It was kinda funny though, i was reading Jeremiah 29 not really thinking about anything im-particular like, ewww Jeremiah 29:11 is coming up, what a popular verse. To be honest it kinda caught me by surprise... and i am glad that it did because i saw something that i only partly understood before.

To forgo delving into my past with this scripture lets just go into the now. So let me just say this, context is everything.

It seems that everyone uses Jeremiah 29:11 as pure encouragement that everything is in control, that everything in your life is going to go great because God has a plan for you, that you just need to sit back and relax and God will take care of your situations, just follow him and you will be ok. I think this verse has so much more meaning, and honestly verse 11 is just something that is really squeezed in there. Yes this verse packs a nice punch, but all 28 chapters and ten verses before make it truly worth reading.

Verse ten is where it is at and it seems we always skip over this verse. After 70 years of going through struggles and being torn away from their home do things only start going well for the Israelites, Gods chosen people. This verse is beautiful because it gives you reality. It shows you that life isn't a cakewalk, but that it will be tough. God desires us to follow him and trust him. God wants us to pursue him, not necessarily for 70 years before he will do something, but God is bringing us through a tough yet rewarding process.

As we read on we see that God then calls us to REALLY REALLY Seek after him. Not just say, God is in control and i don't need to do anything. I mean these verses say "seek him, WITH ALL YOUR HEART." That is huge, that is bigger then just sitting around.

I think God is beautiful and amazing. I am so excited to be reading the Bible all the way through. I am thrilled that he shows me the beauty that he has created and the literal sweetness of his word.

Glory to God, and in giving him glory, look around at the context, look at what he is trying to lead you through, because he truly does have a plan that he knows will rock your world.