Posted by
MCDCava on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 12:00:00 AM
This is a test blog/1st blog. So don't count it official!
I'll first introduce myself. I am a small town college kid that lives on the Central Coast in California; the North County of San Luis Obispo County. I have lived in the same town all my life, and I'm currently going to Cuesta Community College while living with my parents. I work at my church as the Missions Video Tech., where I create video and internet media on missions events, and I keep the congregation updated on our missionaries and ministry partners around the world. I run the media for Spotlights on the World, when teams come back from countries and give theri testimonies about their short- or long-term trips. I'm going to the Czech Republic in two days to help teach ESL at a local church in Prague. This will by my second missions trip this year.
I am a devout Jesus-freak, and I suppose I'm an evangelical, but my church, Atascadero Bible Church (ABC) is considered "non-denominational," as in it doesn't answer to a diocess or a "higher-up" except for God Himself. We have church members that vary in political and theological views, but all of us are united in the idea that God is sovreign and that the Word of God, the Holy Bible, is 100 percent accurate and true. Our church is a "megachurch" in our community, but it is not as large as what some city-folk would consider mega. Yet it is the largest Evangelical church in our county, and one of the most effective church's when it comes to ministry, service, discipling, teaching, and spiritualy-growing people in our community. I'm currently one of the student leaders of our college-aged ministry called Fusion, and I volunteer a lot of my time with church service and praise-and-worship teams. Our conservative church is also probably one in a handful of churches in our area that will refuse to give marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. Many more liberal churches south of our area are hosting same-sex marriage ceremonies.
I'm one year to attaining my A.A. in Business Administration, and I hope to transfer to Biola University to get a masters in their Film Production program. After that, I would like to (God-willing) attend the Talbot School of Theology and get either a Masters of Divinity, M.A. in Christian Ministry & Leadership, or M.A. in Missions. One of my career goals is to artistically combine my relgious devotion to Christ with mainstream media, whether in film or video, radio, publishing books, or journalism. I love to write, and I love expressing my views and opinions (after the facts, of course!). However I am fond of the visual arts, such as film or photography, and I wouldn't mind having a few, fun hobbies to help bring in some money.
I have worked at Starbucks, and I have an addictive passion for coffee and tea. I can't go a day without one or the other, and my browning teeth prove it! I have my own coffe brewer and my own latte maker in my parents' kitchen; my friends love to come over to grab a drink and then jump on our gymnastics trampoline. Our family has two dogs, one half-labrador, half-queensland, and the other is half-border colie and half-french bull dog (please don't ask my how it is possible, it just is!). We have three chickens, and various critters like opossums, racoons, cyotes, and neigbors cats that we indeliberately feed with leftovers from our pets.
Most of my friends attend my church, so it's hard for me to get out of my "Christian-bubble," especially since I'm so involved in ministry and service on behalf of the Body of Christ (there's some of my Christinese). However my best friends are awesome, and they only live a couple blocs away from our house. Some just graduated from high school, others are almost done with college, wheterh Cal Poly or Cuesta. My guy friends and I love to camp, fish, swim, and go to the beach. All my friends love to watch movies at eachothers' houses, and most of us are fans of book and/or movie series, such as "The Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," "The Chronicles of Narnia," and any of the Marvel or DC comic movies coming out. Some of us went to see "The Dark Knight" yesterday, and we thought it was tensely amazing.
My many so-called public heros or influentail people include J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Mother Theresa, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, John Piper, Josh McDowell, Christopher Tolkien (for compilling his father's post-humus work), Dennis Prager, Hugh Hewitt, Glen Beck, John Eldredge, Pastors Tom Ferrell, Rich Fisher, Ron Smith, Bryan Baldwin, Adam Weatherby, Bryan Pogue, and Chris Key of ABC, Stan and Wendy McDonald and their children (for a miraculous testimony that affected our entire community), as well as Dale and Cindi Dalke (McDonald's and Dalke's are teachers for Fusion), Brian and Jill Dagen, Peter Jackson, Christopher Lee, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Chuck Norris, Tim Burton, John C. Maxwell, Josh McDowell, Donald Miller, Dan Kimball, Rick Warren, Lee Strobel, Jim Wallis, Rob Bell, William P. Young, A.W. Tozer, Randy Alcorn, Anthony De Mello, and many, many, many of my public school teachers, whether conservative or liberal. Eache of these people have influenced me in large or small ways in many areas of my life, be it personal, spiritual, academic, or career.
That's all I can think of; got to go to work!