Sunday, November 11, 2012

Personal praises and criticism of the Men of Influence blog

In his series of blogs, Jordan desires to inform the reader that God has a specific purpose for him/her, but decides to write just for the guys. I believe the way that he started his blog is a necessity to win over the hearts and the open minds of the reader as he begins to explain that in the field of masculinity, he has failed many times. Stating this, he can then go on to picture his journey so far for the reader and help provide the men words from God and from experts on what Christian Masculinity looks like. Jordan uses videos throughout his blogs to tug on the readers' hearts and to prove a large point: Christian masculinity is being lived out in huge ways every day. In his second blog he presents a video of Rick and Dick Hoyt and the story of sacrifice from the father to live out God's plan in his life. He is anything but mediocre, and his life and legacy, because he allowed God to live through him, is that of a true man. The next blog in the series takes a similar story of a man overcoming obstacles...with no arms or legs! A video of this God fearing man is used to provide inspiration to the viewers, and Jordan explains that Vujicic used his unfortunate circumstances to challenge and inspire others around the world. He speaks world wide, helps change many lives, but understands that God is who gets the glory. So after using the first three blogs to explain how Christian masculinity should be seen and showing examples of two men who are walking images of "men," an article denouncing masculinity is used for the next blog. The writer of the article, Paul Couglin, says that the world has a sour taste in its mouth when hearing the world "masculinity" because the word is not seen in the correct light. Society sees the corrupt things that have come from "boys" and immature guys, but they then immediately tie this to Christian masculinity which is incorrect. Society also strips guys from any wildness that God wants them to have, as the men are domesticated and chained to their jobs and the busyness of life. For his natural forces post, Jordan applies an interesting touch to what his "natural force" will be. He ends up using Roberto Clemente's life to address the topic of "natural forces." I think this was well done because he took a topic that is broad and used an athlete who defied the odds and was one of the best players in history, yet still layed his life down for people he did not know and ended up dieing for. Finally, he does a blog review on Zoe's blog, which he believes is what a blog should look like. Overall, I think Jordan did a good job with his topics, but in the beginning blog he did say he would address a few things that he did not use which include: what mentorship looks like and the exact definition in God's eyes of Christian masculinity. Overall, I believe that Jordan did a good job starting a young man off on the journey.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

A little blog review, ya dig?

So, where to begin...My critique is of "Microbeautigology: Beauty in the Small Things." The author, Zoe, does an incredibly good job with explaining the identity piece and how important it is to have a solid foundation with understanding that you are a son or daughter of Christ and that you are blessed every day with small things given from the love and grace of God. Right from the start, Zoe presents herself as her natural friendly self, and forms her writing to be in a conversational style which I greatly enjoy for blogs. She follows this identity with the identity of a natural disaster in which it creates humans that begin to be humbled by crazy God created phenomenas. She gives us three solid reasons which we should create a thanksgiving for the storm, although it has its misfortunes for families and communities. I am very fond of her blog about getting caught in the daily routine. She expresses the necessity of enjoying life and free time to explore God's beauty and purity in life. A strong point from her blog comes from citing another blog that she uses to make points. She not only cites ideas and statements from the writer's blog, but also gives her views on it. She provides the strenghts and weaknesses of the author's writing. For me personally, I enjoyed what Zoe had to say about the article in her next blog because she specified how much more we would get out of life if we got our "hands dirty." It is such a personal struggle of myself and for others to not judge so quickly, yet to dig into the filth and mess and really understand that the person is a child of God and that they have much to offer. In her next blog, I thoroughly enjoy what Zoe has to say about not only enjoying the external things of life, but looking deeply into your internal attributes and having a joy and pride about them. This is supported then by the verse from Luke, which is very important. She concludes all her posts with almost a "wrap-up" blog post with the topic of thankfulness. This thankfulness produces a celebration, whether major or minor things, good or bad. Overall, I thoroughly read through her posts and honestly critiquing, did not find anything to be lacking or incorrect. The only possible thing I could think of which would personally help me would be more verses from the Bible to support points she made. But more importantly, so many things were done to create a friendly environment and an inspiring blog. The reader feels as if he/she is sitting with Zoe listening to her. Her easy-going and God loving personality makes the reader feel like they know Zoe at a deep personal level because of her openness. It was an honor to read her thoughts and the facts that she states. Thanks for blessing me tonight Zoe!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

A little free writing: My dream

I believe one thing a person always has weaved into their identities and their lives is a dream. Whether they think about it day in and day out, or whether they have a moment of understanding what their dream is just once in their childhood, dreams are a huge part. I believe that if you are passionate about what you want in the future, and you have full confidence, often times it can be God confidence leading you to think about it and want it, to further His kingdom. I love speaking on my dream because I have a clarity and drive behind it that I believe is inspired by God. Because of my work ethic and passion accumulated towards baseball, I believe I will make it to the pros one day. Through my experiences there, and thanks to the income I obtain, I will have the money not only to produce for my beautiful wife and kids(hopefully at least one boy). The remaining money will be used towards starting a private school founded on the essentials of leadership and Christian masculinity and feminity. The teachers and coaches will be driven towards traveling on a journey of excellence with the young men and women. I also believe that God is going to send me to El Salvador in the future, backing up my trip I made this last summer. A large piece of my heart is still with the beautiful people of that country, and I would love to continue the gang prevention and prison ministry work that I got to engage in. All these components put together is equal to my dream. I am enjoying living every day in preparation, and if God decides to give me something different, I will run with it and enjoy every second of it.

Natural Forces

When I turn my thoughts to natural forces, the first words are life changing, powerful, and memorable in the fact that it is not forgotten over time. In the 1960s in Nicaragua, Nicaragua was shaken by an earthquake killing thousands of people, setting cities to fire, and collapsing 80% of the buildings in the country. Citizens were left without water or electricity, and the country was at a major low point because of this powerful natural force. It changed lives and would leave its mark on the country for years. This terrible disaster caused by the natural force was counteracted by a similar human force. This force was the first Latino voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Roberto Clemente. Clemente organized supplies and relief funds for the victims in a severe effort to give hope to the country. Becoming upset that the money and relief he raised was not going towards the things he wanted, he boarded a plane himself to sacrifice his time and his comfortable life to join arms side by side with the natives to rebuild the country. The plane unfortunately crashed on the way to Nicaragua. Although the life of Clemente was taken, he exemplified the three words that are associated with natural forces: life changing, powerful, and memorable. His actions and lifestyle was powerful because of his love towards everybody. He changed lives by funding a rebuilding of the country, and he was memorable and still is through his legacy that he left. Even today, a "Roberto Clemente award" is annually awarded to a player that best exemplifies the standards of humanitarianism and sportsmanship. When I think of natural forces, I think of heroes and leaders that impact history in a beautiful way. We will always remember Roberto Clemente.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Masculinity: Unwanted critique

Paul Couglin's article, Masculinity: Unwanted touches on masculinity's image as poor in the world. Couglin explains that the culture sees masculinity as corrupt and provides an incorrect picture of masculinity to boys: pathetic. Our culture then questions why we have such poor father and husband figures and no true men leading the country. The answer to that simple question is that as boys they are stripped of their powerful and dangerous potential as being wild men for God. Society teaches and molds men into a domesticated lifestyle in that the workplace is the controller and drains the wild and passionate lives locked behind the doors that God wants to open. He concludes by telling us to fight for justice and raise the boys into powerful young men on fire for God.

I do not believe the blog was related to mine because the article did not analyze masculinity in the depth it should be analyzed. In fact, I believe that Couglin should not have used the world "Masculinity" in the article at all. If the word was in the title, it should have been the focus which it was not. For example, in the article Couglin elaborates on the Greek word, "thumos." His first sentence about the world begins with, "God created men and women." Understanding man and woman is crucial in acknowledging what God calls us to be, but if this article is supposed to be about the masculine faith, I feel it is unneccessary to discuss women. Christianity in general was the main foundation for the reader, and masculinity was only brought up throughout the article, here and there. This leads to my analyzing of the strengths and weaknesses of the reading. In stating what society looks for in a "man," Couglin may then emphasize why there is so much hurt and pain resulting from men's actions. Again though, weak points are results from his supporting sentences wandering from the main idea. Overall, I enjoyed the article, but did not find it important for my personal reading in understanding the idea of christian masculinity.
http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/paul-coughlin/masculinity-unwanted-11600960.html

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Embracing God's Purpose

I have always pondered what would happen if I lost the ability to use a body part, such as my arm. This would not only break me down mentally, but also completely eliminate the chances of me furthering my baseball career. During a mentor meeting this summer, my mentor quoted a man named Nick Vujicic saying, ""The biggest temptation I believe is to feel comfortable, to feel like you've worked through all of that here on Earth, and are satisfied with this life." This quote appears in Zaimov's article endorsing Vujicic's book, "Unstoppable." This quote is so important and relevant to the idea of embracing God's purpose. The worst thing you can feel is comfortability and Vujicic supports this with a quote later in the article:  "With me, in my life, I know that there are people who can get encouraged to see how God can use a man without arms and legs to be his hands and feet, but I wanted people to know that I am not a superhero, it is not about me, or how well I speak or articulate – it is the Spirit of God. It is an active relationship with him." Vujicic not only denounces comfortability but also states that he uses his disabilities as an advantage. Those watching his life understand that God can and does work through anybody as long as you open yourself to his plans for your life. This being said, as a reader it is necessary to acknowledge the importance of God's perfect purpose for yourself. Whether it is as drastic as Vujicic's situation, or whether you live an ordinary life, people will see a difference in the way a servant of God lives. Understanding that Vujicic went from trying to commit suicide multiple times, to embracing his purpose and evangelizing through the nations, is not only inspiring but God-breathed! Know that our Father has a purpose for you that is far greater than we can imagine and will only prosper us and not harm us. Nick Vujicic talks "Unstoppable"

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Lifestyles of Purpose

After watching this video for the first time, my life was turned upside down. This is a man who is wearing down physically and lives his life with a purpose that is ultimately greater than himself. Understanding that God calls us to live in a way that challenges others is crucial, and watching Dick Hoyt lay his life down for his son is a perfect example. First, Dick does not live a mediocre life. Many Americans are domesticated by the work place, take on tasks that are not passion driven, and live selfishly in their familes and friends. This is mediocre. The beginning of living a life of excellence comes from the knowledge and faith that God has a plan for you that is greater than you could ever hope ask or dream for. This plan is to prosper us, not to harm us. We need to understand that if we let God use us for His plan, people will look at our life storys and be impacted by them, as I was impacted by Dick and Rick Hoyt's story. I am so excited to dig into dreaming big for God in my next post. Blessings.