Too Good to Pass Up

Maybe I will edit this later but here is a quote that I saw that was too good to pass up. It is from an article called "Stop Hanging Out With Women and Start Dating Them" and the author is talking about the decline of dating. One of his reasons is the internet being the source of weak social skills. Here is the money quote : "If you’re over 18 and you’re still using Facebook applications to let someone know you’re interested in them, you need to be punched in the face." Hilarious. True.

Free Music Friday: Check out Tokens, a variety show of sorts, and their music from the first show featured this amazing gospel singer, my personal favorite Andrew Peterson, and some quality bluegrass. So click HERE, listen, download, enjoy.

I like Hillsong United: check out a free preview of their music/documentary at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/index.php

The Good, The Tough, and The Shovel to the Face

And The Beautiful... my new niece "Mia" Joni Caruso

The Good: We had Bible Study tonight and it went from a potential 6 students to 2 students showing up. Why is this under the good, you ask? I got to hang out and talk more after with Emiliano, a kid who is an all-star. At the beginning of the year when Sara met Emiliano and then introduced me, I had no idea where he stood spiritually. Quite honestly, I don't think he probably knew where he stood but he was certainly searching. After tonight, I am more and more confident about him. He is one of the most sincere, quality guys I know here, which is funny because at first glance, he wears mostly dark clothing, a goatee, and has hair past his shoulders. That doesnt make anyone insincere, but he is certainly not your "clean cut" looking kid.

So the talk we had tonight after was such an encouragement. For one, he sees a big change in his life since he started to "figure out that something was missing in my life with the spiritual aspect" at the beginning of the year. He is going through a tough time right now but is seeking God throughout it and that is so encouraging. As we talked tonight, I think we both came to the conclusion that God is breaking down the things that he had built his life on, slowly removing them until only God remains. I want to be going through that in my own life, so it is a privilege to see someone else growing in that way, even if it is tough. His attitude is so mature about it all; "I just want to learn something from this, I dont care if I understand it all, I know whatever is after all this crap is better." He is even starting to be open with others about being a Christian... I love this kid and tonight was good, real good.

The Tough: I am realizing once again that I have no power over peoples hearts. I think I have written about my good friend David here before. He has given me my quote of the year, a quote I will never again forget in all my life: "It may not seem like it, but I am a desperate man. I am desperate for some hope but I think I just need to accept that there is none." After another tough, honest conversation with David about why he doesn't believe in God, I have realized once again God will have to change his heart. I told him I would pray for him. He told me that he appreciates it, but I should really spend my time praying for someone else because he is "a lost cause, a lost soul." I am thankful that I serve a God who is in the business of seeking and saving the lost, who gave his life to redeem the unredeemable. And I will continue to pray that David is one of those that the Lord finds. Please join me in that.

The Shovel to the Face: I am coming back here next year and I just got the support goals of how much money I need to raise monthly for this next year. If you want to help me out with that, shoot me an email at christopher.rule@gmail.com because I am not too excited about that :) But God is big.

Since I have not posted a Free Music Friday in quite some time, here are two brilliant websites. One is archive.org, though HERE is a link to a list of all the artists that they have on the website. I know for a fact they have good recordings of The Weepies, Ryan Adams, and Marc Broussard, but there are a ton more so have a ball. And it is totally legit, I promise. The other great website is off of Relevant Magazine. So click HERE for a bunch of great artists. I recommend Derek Webb, Jonezetta, Matt Wertz, Andrew Peterson, Phil Wickham and David Crowder (yes all of them have songs to download here) but I am sure the rest are pretty good too.

For the Link of the Day, this website posted the 100 Must-Read Books for Men... it is actually a great list, I need to get to the library and get some of these. So check it out... really, good books, read and dont watch yet another movie or tv show tonight. Although this list did include Moby Dick, which is an atrocious, horribly overrated book.

And for your daily laugh, who doesn't love Dave Barnes?

This is Home

Ah, my friends, do you feel it like I do? The ache, the longing, the somehow certainty that this world is not home. It is a feeling of homesickness but not homesickness for Columbus, OH. Because I feel it there too, I feel the draw for my home. It is funny, sometimes even in the moments which are quintessentially home, the warm fireside, curled up on the couch listening to Dad's deep voice and laughing at my siblings mingling commentary about some story from our shared past, I feel it the most. The deep pang that this world is not what I was created for.

Watching that video by Switchfoot I felt it. 14th century Dominican friar Meister Eckhart said "God is at home. We are in the far country." Nothing seems to resonate so deeply with me as this simple quote at this point in time. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is in Hebrews 11, which says "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them." Ah the better country, the far country.

This past weekend was spent on a beautiful beach location in Tuscany, near Livorno at an Agape Italia staff conference. During one of the sessions, we had the chance to break into groups and discuss the questions, "Do you often think of Jesus' return? How would that change the way you lived your life?" For me, the sad answer to the first question was that I don't often think about His return, yet when I do, it is often this homesick feeling that brings it about. The desire for the country I am made for, to see the brokenness that mars this world gone, to view the masterpiece of creation as it was originally intended. This brokenness, the very real presence of death and persecution, was what made the early church say "Come, Lord Jesus!" And their lives were lived out in the reality that this world is not home.

Imagine with me, if you will, that Jesus was coming back tomorrow to take us home. What would be important for you? Would that new iPod? Or that 300 gigabyte harddrive that you won't fill, even with all those pirated movies? Or perhaps it is the new car, the bigger house? Because though none of these things are bad, none of these things truly matter if Jesus were coming back tomorrow. Why do we invest in the things that are here today, gone tomorrow? And I am not pointing the finger, because for me it is the new iPod, the new computer that I want. Yet all these things pale in comparison to home.

My friends, there is more. I was going to try to wittily steal from Andrew Peterson's song "More" but I figured it most effective to simply quote the entire lyrics. Live for the reality that there is More.

This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill
And every heart can feel it still--
Our nature hates a vacuum

This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground
Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain

There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down
And the getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point
In this vast eternity
There is more

A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve
Your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more

There is more
More than we can stand
Standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess
More and more, forever more
And not a second less

There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything
Wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more

In His Time

God is good. Have I ever told you guys that? Let me tell you why. Today I had 5 appointments planned while I was on campus. Of those 5 appointments, 2 were late and 3 did not show up. Why is this a good thing? I never thought you would ask!

I was sitting on a bench in the middle of the Citta Universitaria garden, waiting for my friend Juan to show up. Juan was supposed to meet me at 2:30 but because my appointment before didn't show, I was able to eat with him a little earlier. I was sitting with the sign for "Conversations in English", which I have a love-hate relationship with, when a dude walked up that looked vaguely familiar. I don't know if we had met before but he asked if I was with the English conversations group and I said yes, but we are done for the day. However, since I was waiting on a friend, I could hang out and talk with him and his girlfriend for a while.

Lauren joined us as we chilled on the lawn and began to talk about where they are from (she is Romanian, he is Italian), what they study (architecture), and what they think of Italian vs. Romanian culture. I kept checking my phone and calling Juan, and got no answer. The conversation went deeper and soon we were talking about their ideas of God. She is Orthodox and he is Catholic but both said they were not sure what they believed. In the hour and a half that we sat and talked, we got to share life. I loved it, talking about our college experience, theirs, how we grow and change, and how Christ has affected my life (and Lauren's). It was a complete gift from God to have this time open, to be able to talk about this stuff, and to be able to plan out that we are going to meet next week and read a bit of John together and talk about it. I love how God changes my plans, and makes it better. How he arranges for someone to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, when all I knew is that I was frustrated that I got stood up. God is Good. Amen.

And since I won't be able to post on Friday, here is 5 Free Death Cab for Cutie downloads
And for good measure, you can download The Weepies in a great live concert. I just bought their new cd, I dig it, and you can listen to all the songs from this concert before you download it... really, at least check it out . If you don't like it, I am not offended, I just thought it was pretty good.

'Rents in Rome and Risky Business

My parents came to Rome 2 weeks ago and we had a lovely time together.

I like this picture... my Mom's first time overseas and she got to go to cool places like this :)

My Mom and Dad aren't perfect but they are a great example for me to try to follow. And I love em lots, and think this is an excellent picture of them.

You can see where I get my good looks and charm :)

My Mom is beautiful, my Dad is handsome, and I live in Rome... combine all three and you get a heck of a picture.

FREE MUSIC FRIDAY:
The New Frontiers - I know I have mentioned this band before, but if you click on their name, you can listen to the whole album (jury is still out on the album for me) and download the song Mirrors (which I liked).
Micah Dalton : Ok, so I apologize that this is not free, downloadable music, but I have to give this guy a shout out. I have met him, man has got soul, and I just bought his new album and it was completely worth the $10 I paid. So check out his new album, Pawnshop, and listen to the songs from it on his myspace. I hope you enjoy.

Yes my friends, it is risky business to post a song I have written. Many of you do not know, but I have tried to write songs in the past. Most were horrific, one was decent and my brother wrote music for it and it was good. Well, I tried my hand at writing another song recently. Since I am still working on this epic post on the topic of redemption, here is my attempt to give you something to read... enjoy, dont be too harsh in your critique. If it had a title, I would call it "Abraham's Stars."

He saw her from afar, or at least across the room.
The beautiful girl that somehow didn't belong there.
He wasn't sure how to ask because of the butterflies,
but if that night was a cliche, he was lost in her eyes.

He got caught staring and did a guilty look away;
and thought I'm too old for this, at the age of 25.
But unknowingly she stole it, that little piece of his heart,
and he followed that theif as she went outside and that became the start;
(chrous)
And she danced, beneath Abraham's stars
and she laughed, sweet music to his heart
with Abraham's stars as the only light,
it began, yea it all began that night

Knowing he had to make a move, he uprooted his feet.
Picked up his jaw, his courage too, and opened his mouth to speak.
To this day, he'll still say, it was like waking from the dead.
"Yes it's true, i'll dance with you" were the words she said
(chorus)
And they danced, beneath Abraham's stars
and they laughed, sweet music to the heart
with Abraham's stars as the only light
it began, yea it all began that night

If it was a dream, the ending he could create.
But life's no storybook and happily ever after is only for Disney.
He couldn't control, he could only trust, when the end is out of sight
But he thought, "This is enough" as he held her close that night
(chorus again)

A story and a song before I go

My team went to Tropea last weekend, a beautiful seaside town in the south and had some great adventures. Check out the pictures below to get some idea. Hopefully soon I will have a post I am working on about redemption, something that has been on my mind a lot lately, but in the meantime, here are two encouraging stories (at least they were for me).

Me and Steve got to hang out with our buddy Big P, a Italian guy who speaks brilliant English over a beer Tuesday night. We ended up hanging out for 3 hours, laughing and telling stories and comparing observations about life and God. One of the things that stuck out to me is that P is, well, intrigued by us. He asked (for the second time) "I am not just part of your job, right? You guys just don't want me to join your club?" It was good to be able to tell him honestly that 1) I wouldnt be hanging out at 1 AM with him if I didn't want to be, so I think he is a cool guy 2) I could care less if he becomes a member of Agape and 3) I would love to see him become a Christian because I think it is the best thing in the world I can share with people. He accepted the answer and we had a great night together. It was just so cool to hang out and be able to talk about the Gospel, God's love, our Fall and the Redemption offered.

Second encouraging story is from Bible Study on Wednesday. We had two girls come (one a believer, one not) and we looked over some passages in Luke and talked about them. One of the girls, Rosa, shared her testimony about how she came to know Jesus. Her story literally caused my jaw to drop. It began with seeing Jesus in a cartoon on TV and wanting to have a relationship with this "cartoon hero" because the other little girls on the TV show said that Jesus loved them. The story is too long to tell here, right now, but needless to say it followed a journey through the Russian Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Evangelical church into a relationship with Christ. It included being disowned and kicked out by her Muslim family, going back to them to serve them, and having one of them eventually tell her, "This God you serve must be the real God." It was an encouragement for me to hear her story but also for the other girl there to hear how Jesus Christ changes lives. Yes, Amen, Christ is alive and in the business of changing lives!

This Free Music Friday is courtesy of Ben and David. Thanks to all who have been sending me links to people they enjoy, because it makes it a little easier for me to post music for y’all…

So House of Heroes is courtesy of Ben. House of Heroes is a band hailing from Columbus and is a little different than my typical choice of music but I dig it. So check out the link HERE to listen on myspace or HERE to download 3 free songs (if you don’t want to give them anyone elses email, you can skip Step 2 and still download).

Josh Woodward is courtesy of David. Not entirely brilliant, but I liked the song I'll Be Right Behind You and I Want to Destroy Something. If you like it, go to his website and download a boatload of stuff.

My favorite team picture ever... we are laughing because I tried to sit down on my chair and fell off backwards.

God is the best artist I know.

The water was incredibly blue and cold.

Matt Reis standing on the rock we jumped off.

The view from our porch; cost? 10 Euro a night!

March Madness

For starters, check out this video about Rome and the vision of Agape Italia. Amos M made it and did a pretty good job in the limited amount of time and it should give you a solid idea of whats going on here.