Ecola- My Place of Ghosts

I haven't really gotten into the time I spent at Ecola Bible School during the 2010-2011 school year on this blog yet. And I figure the best time to do so is now, as I am currently spending the last overnighter here in Cannon Beach for what will probably end up being years to come.

Ecola Bible School is a small post high school Bible school located in Cannon Beach, OR, which is on the northern coast of the beautiful state of Oregon, where I grew up. I first heard about Ecola in 4th grade when my teacher, Mr. Wood, told us that he had attended there. I was again exposed to the school in high school when my some of my camp counselors at high school summer camp had gone there. Finally, my pastor's daughter Allison Fletcher went after high school as well. After that, I visited a couple times, where I attended one of Darrin Ratcliff's 'Life of David' classes, and on the second trip, was exposed to the 'Personal Disciplemaking' classes. After these two trips, I was sold.

In October of 2010, I started my 7 month adventure at Ecola. The first thing I remember about that first day was meeting Josh Duff, who knew me, where I'd come from, and what I liked to do, right off the top of his head. That blew my mind. Then after registration, I went up to my dorm. I was in Ad Dorm 6 with Keith Mast, an awesome guy from Pennsylvania. We went around the campus trying to meet people and ended up at Anchorage Dorm, where I met Kirill Gillis, a homie from LA. Soon we made it to the rec room, where I met my first female, Jordan Preston, who was awesome! That night, I remember going to the welcoming time and sticking close with my new roommate and these two guys from Montana named David Hughes and Kent Weaver, who I thought were completely awesome and I knew that I wanted to be their friend. After that awkward ceremony, a bunch of us gathered in the parking lot to get to know each other. This group became 'The Circle Group', which slowly went away as the weeks went because people would find their niches. The 'Circle' was where I met Eliza Sang and Jessica Reif, two awesome girls I would remain friends with until now.

Ad Dorm would become a very close group. I soon was friends with David and Kent, and became friends with a guy down the hall named Benton Trerise. David, Benton, and I would be a tight group throughout the year, as well as in the future (as in now).

The classes at Ecola are life changing, and the growth you experience is driven by the fact that everyone around you in growing too. It's a greenhouse for spiritual growth, as you are protected from the outside world as you are there. Spending 4 1/2 hours in a classroom a day learning about God! There's no other experience like it! And getting two new teachers every week made the perspectives on God and His Word so great! They say 7 months at Ecola is like sitting through 20 YEARS of sermons in church. 20 YEARS!!! :)

First term for me was the term that God started to work on me, showing me the places I needed to change. The second term was blissful. Everything I wanted. Third term was the term that God took that bliss away from me and broke me, which I am so thankful for!

When I went to write this, I was hoping to cover Ecola. But I can't. What I have written here doesn't even scratch the surface. I didn't even get to Tim Meyers, Zach Ricks, Baylee Hofman, David Spencer, Matt Gunderson, Nikki Parsons, Danielle Johnson, Kylie Marble, Cameron Nohl, Jessica Brooks, and so many others, not to mention my Ecola Team, Matt White, Katie White, Rhianna Moriarty, and Lisa Matz, all of whom I didn't know when I met them! It is stunning to think back on all of what has happened in the last year and a half. I am a completely different person than I was when I started 14 months ago, and am even a different person from who I was when I left this place 4 months ago. I wish I could just write everything down for you, so that you may understand what I am talking about, but I can't. I wish I could get it all back, yes. I do. But I also realize that God is working in me to prepare me for whatever future He has planned for me.

I have many ghosts in this little town of Cannon Beach. Every important thing and almost every important person that has altered and set into motion the course of my life at present happened here. I walk around and the ghosts of amazing memories are everywhere all the time, which is bittersweet.

I can't wait to be reunited with my friends, all together in one place. How I long to hold everyone's hands as we stride into the New Jerusalem when Christ returns! Until then, my brothers and sisters, keep fighting the good fight, keep running the race, striving to love God more and more with each breath.

Revelation 22:20- "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes I am coming soon.' Amen. Come Lord Jesus."

A Christmas Eve Reminder From God

Tonight is Christmas Eve as I write this. Christmas has always been a special time of year for me. It's always been the time of year that life just feels right, and it feels even more so this year, as this is the first time I've been home in a while.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to watch "The Soloist" for the first time. It's the story of an LA Times reporter who finds a homeless man who is an amazing musician, but has an incredibly hard life since he has schizophrenia. The movie does an amazing and artful job of portraying the world of the homeless. Now, I am not here to give a political, social, or judgmental view of the homeless. No. I'm just saying that it exists and that I have been moved by a film about said people, and I want to share that with you all on this Christmas Eve.

I am thankful that God chose this night to remind me of what Christmas is all about. Obviously I have been thinking about what it means, since it's the time of year that we think about the amazing breadth and width of how much God loved us to send His Son to die in our place. But it has been a bit crowded out by the business and family and whatnot. So God wanted to remind me using the mode that gets my attention the most: Film.

My prayers go out to the many homeless in the world tonight. Those without family or a roof, those without clothes, those without a "Merry Christmas". "The Soloist" said that there are 90,000 homeless in the LA area alone, which breaks my heart. I know that most churches have homeless ministries out there all over, but from my experience, only a few per church are really involved each week. What are we really doing to help these people in need? In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus says that we will have to answer for the deeds we do or do not do here on Earth, for what we do or do not do for our fellow man. I want to be Jesus to as many people as possible (in "Christianese", to "be Jesus" to someone is to reflect who He is to the people around us. Just wanted to make sure you didn't mistake my language for wanting to be God...). So what will I do to make sure this happens for this next new year? It's a question that I will grappled with for the duration of it. What I do know is that if I ask God for an opportunity, I'm sure He will gladly give it to me.

There is a rule in film: Either you can make a movie that says something meaningful, or you can make a popular movie. Great right? It's annoying. But I want to make sure I use the films I make for good, to say something meaningful. Ya, I'll probably make some stuff that's just fun to watch and go along with too, but I really do want to make things with a message. And I pray to the opportunity to do so.

And thus by writing this blog, I become a hypocrite. I write about what I can do, instead of actually going out there and doing something. That's something I want to change for the future. I have lived in two areas of high homelessness, sure. But I have been blessed beyond anything, and consider myself officially spoiled. So I want to use those blessings in my life and spread them around. It will be interesting to see where God takes me this year. This last year has involved so much growing, experiences, and fun, so I'm so excited for this next one! :D

SMT, Part 7= Five Mile Lake- God Chooses To Use Us

Well, here I sit, at the Grand Rapids Airport, waiting for my flight back home to Portland, OR for the holidays. It's amazing to think back, to last year at Ecola, to SMT, and to first getting here to Grand Rapids, MI back in August. I have learned so much about the film business, how life works, and who I am and who I'm going to be. I am sad that it's taken me this long to chronicle my adventures this summer, and I'm noticing that they are getting shorter and shorter as time goes, since I'm loosing the detailed memories slowly as life goes on. But here goes!

After we left Pinecroft, we headed back to western Washington to our next camp, Five Mile Lake. When we left the camp, we found out that it wasn't a good weekend for us to stay with Kaylyn Brown again, so we had to find a place to stay. But God is so cool! It was during this week that I started talking with Jessica Brooks, a classmate from Ecola. It turned out that her dad was the speaker scheduled to speak at Five Mile that week! So we asked her if we could stay at her house. Her and her dad said yes, and we made our way to Silverdale, WA and we stayed two nights there. On Saturday, (after I felt sick for the first and only time on the entire summer trip) we met up with the other SMT group, which was AMAZING and just what we all needed. We then spent the afternoon at the Tacoma Mall almost dying, shopping, and just enjoying each other's company. The previous 2 1/2 weeks had solidified our friendships and "sibling-ship" like it had never been before. So to be able to just hang out with Katie, Lisa, Rhianna, and Matt was a blast! :) That evening we went and did laundry. That was good, but it was what happened afterwards that was so incredible! We went out to the van with our laundry, where we saw a girl on the phone, yelling and swearing at someone (whom we later deducted to be her girlfriend). We prayed for her and got in the van. We sat there for a second, everyone knowing we needed to do something. The girls got out and asked her if she needed a ride or help or something, while Matt and I prayed. Next thing we know, she had said yes, and we were driving her home. We talked about who she was and who we were and told her about God. It also turned out that she knew Jessica Brooks!  So we dropped her off at her house and found out that she worked at Dairy Queen, so we made a plan to visit her the next day.

The next day was Sunday, so we went to the Brook's church, where a sermon wasn't given, but a Q and A time, which was so amazing! After church, we got our stuff and headed to Dairy Queen, where we ate lunch and gave our new friend (who's name escapes me... I have it written down, but it's in my luggage.) I also got a call from my grandpa, which was great to hear from him :)

So we made our way to Five Mile Lake camp in Federal Way. I'll never forget driving up and Rhianna screaming, "This was the camp I went to as a kid!!" Great moment :) Anyways, we settled in and started to get to know the other counselors. We immediately realized that the staff there were less than... grown in the Word, which would make the rest of the week tough for all of us. The campers showed up on Monday morning. I had 4 campers, Andrew, Darien, Garret, and Eli, and a CIT. The camp was run by two guys who had gone to Ecola in 1999 and 2000, which was cool. But the rest of the camp was a huge struggle for me. I was so tired, but I had to give my all, so I did. I had tons of fun playing night games and ultimate frisbee, and putting together the air band mock thingy we did for the final night. Chapel was good too. I enjoyed listening to Jessica's dad speak.

The final night was the biggest struggle for me. What usually is the call to the kids to fall in love with Jesus turned into a crying/emotion fest. Should I be saying things like this? Well, I'm just calling it as I saw it. BUT, I'm not putting God in a box. I'm completely sure that God used that night in many kids' lives, and have grown closer to God because of it.

After the week ended, we took off towards central Oregon to our next camp!

This was the week that I realized a solid truth: God chooses to use us. He doesn't have to. It is within His power to share the Gospel with the world all by Himself, but He wants us to participate in His will, so He uses us in powerful ways. That week, I felt that I wouldn't have an effect, let alone all the rest of the staff. But we did! We all did! I don't understand why. I don't. All I can say it is that God works so powerfully as He pleases, and I thank Him for that!

I hate that I remember more specifics from the weekends than I do from the actual camps. But I'm doing the best I can. If you have the desire for me to get deeper into my experiences, come to me personally. :)

It's good for me to think back on the events of this summer... It reminds me where I've been, and where I should be aiming to go. I desire to fall more and more in love with Jesus everyday, so please remember me in your prayers, that I would seek His face at all times and desire to do His will.

This is John Friend, signing off. God Bless!

"The Day The Movies Died"- what do YOU think?

Read this article, then we can talk.

The Day The Movies Died - by Mark Harris

As you all probably know, I am currently going to film school. As I am doing such, I am learning a lot and forming a lot of opinions. But I do want to keep in touch with the "outside" world.

So what do you all think about this article? Please leave your ideas below :)

Small, But In Training

Tonight has been a strange yet enlightening night.

Have you ever truly felt so aware of who you are on a spiritual level that you feel confined in your body, like you need to burst forth from it in order to become what God fully intended us to be? (Gen. 1:27) Or have you been so aware of your humanity that you suddenly became aware how utterly small you are compared to God? (Job 38) Tonight, I felt both of those, only at the same time.

For some reason during my life, I haven't been able to fully recognize that I am very small. It's so hard to do so when all you see in your life is your point of view. It's natural to assume that you are all that matters. But tonight, I finally cracked a little bit of that assumption, and only by the grace of God. God is too big for us imagine! And we can only begin to tap away the me-centric view that we are all naturally born with. But once we begin the journey with Christ as Our Lord, as Aslan says in 'Prince Caspian': "As you grow bigger, so will I." As we grow, our view and recognition of God's bigness grows as well.

Beyond that, I also felt so entrapped in my feeble body, like I wanted to explode out of it, literally and figuratively.

Literally, I was aching to jump out of my body and just get into God's arms! I thank Him that He took the time to write a longing for eternity on our hearts. (Ecc. 3:11) Which got to me to thinking, if we long for a place, Heaven, that we've never been, how much more incredible is it that God humbled Himself into a man and walked this earth for 33 years knowing full well the place He had left in order to live, suffer, and die for the sins of all of us feeble pathetic creatures known as humans. How incredible is that? How often, as He was just as human as God at the time, did he go out on evening walks along the Sea of Galilee and just long to be in Heaven with His Father once again? How much did His feeble body ache to be in that place again? I can't imagine how amazingly hard that must have been! (Phil. 2:5-11)

But figuratively, I'm feeling the same way. I feel as though I am trapped in this time of my life. I want to be out in the world making movies! School is great, and I know I have to go through this time of my life in order to move on, but I am just so intensely longing to GET OUT THERE!!! Now, I know I use Smallville and Superman's journey way too often, but he is so incredibly relatable to me. I feel like an alien (John 15:19), am supposed to be more than just some guy (Jer. 29:11), and desire to show off the glory of my Father who created me, to wear His symbol on my chest to show the world who the God is that I serve (Ps. 34:1). I want to fly to great heights and show the world who God is! But I am still in my dark training phase, where I am learning who I am and who I need to be and what I need to know and what skills I need to develop in order to be effective as a man and filmmaker, if that is what God so desires me to do, which I'm confident He does. But that is why I keep a Superman cape that I got from Benton Trerise on the corner wall of my room: to remind me that it's not yet time, that I have so much to learn as of yet.

God is doing some amazing things in my life! He has started off my life outside of my childhood at Ecola Bible School so that I would learn the basics of what it means to follow Christ, He started off my year at film school slow and light, and is about to test me and build me this next term as I take up my first official position as Producer. From there, I don't know where God will take me, but what I do know for a fact is that God is in complete control of my life, has been from the very beginning, and always will be. God is training me up for something. I don't know if it's big or small, but it will be what He planned for me from the very beginning, from the very foundations of the Earth.

Fear- Proverbs 1:7

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to an abandoned building in Grand Rapids and explore it. This 10 or so story building lies virtually empty, right in the middle of the cityscape, probably due to some economic trouble, as we've all observed over much of our nation. The building was big, empty, and abandoned. Now for those I was with, it was extremely unnerving to be in such a big place with all of those nooks and crannies, not knowing what loomed in the darkness. But for me, it didn't really bother me at all. And I don't know why. It should have, but it just didn't.

I stopped fearing things around the time of the summer after my sophomore year. I like to say that dealing with girl "stuff" at the time scared the fear right out of me, because it was right at that point, after a "potencial relationship scare", that I stopped fearing things for the most part, except heights of course. But ever since then, fearing the unknown just hasn't been a problem for me. That may be why I like horror movies now, because they are manufactured to create fear, a fear I haven't felt in 4 years. I miss that thrill of being freaked out of your mind, no matter how strange that may sound.

Which brings me to an interesting realization: Proverbs 1:7. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." The American way of thinking about this verse is very much dumbed down. We tend to explain the fear in this verse as being "reverence", but I just don't see that as the case. Whenever we read about prophets in the Old Testament seeing God, they fall flat on their faces because they are SCARED OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!! So often, we feel that we can go to God as a buddy and just ask Him for whatever we want. Which to a degree, is true! Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we have the right to come into the presence of God to be with Him, because He wants to be with us. But we have to remember that this is the God of the universe we are talking to! And He is HOLY HOLY HOLY (it's said three times each in Revelation for a reason). When we are told to fear God, that's exactly what we should be doing! We are unclean creatures coming to a perfect God for help. I am so thankful this Christmas season that I have a God that, even though I am a sinner and continue to sin everyday, over and over, He accepts me where I'm at and continually helps me through the days, grabbing my hand when I fall.

In Isaiah 41:10 and 13, it says: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.... For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." The God whom we should be scared out of our minds to even approach loves us so much, He promises to uphold us. I love that in those two verses, God says with His right hand He will hold our right hand, which is what a loving Father does for His children: helps them from behind so that they may stand strong, or at least learn to stand strong. He tells us not to fear, talking of fearing the world.

In Luke 12:4-5, Jesus says, "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after killing the body, has the power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him." Jesus tells us that it is God we should be fearing, not this world, for it is God who has the power to throw us out of His presence and into hell.

I am so thankful that He loved us so much, that He provided a way out of that eternal damnation. I am also thankful that one day, I get to experience the full on fear of being in the presence of a holy God that loves me, despite how unclean I have made myself in this lifetime.

I AM. <= (That's the God I live for.)

I'm not going to lie, life has been pretty rough for me in my head for the last 3 months. Change is not something I'm accustomed to, especially in the context of last year. But I think that that has been the problem: I haven't been able to just let go of Ecola. And it's time I did.

Last year was full of experiences that I will always remember and people I will always want to be close to to, at least as much as I can long distance-wise. Ecola marked the first time away from home, the first time I truly learned who I was in Jesus, the first time I was able to really admit my own human depravity, the first time God really smacked me with His truth. I got close to so many people, many of which are out doing there own thing in the world or are back at Ecola, so I don't hear much out of anyone, only once in a while now. It's understandable, as I'm doing the same thing here. I'm sitting here trying to express what last year was, but I can't. God took me, tore me down, and began the remolding process, a process that will last my entire life. Then I was able to take some of what I learned and take it out into the world, to kids at camps and just love on them with everything God allowed me to be. And it was AMAZING.

But that is all over. Ecola is over. SMT is over. And I've made a huge mistake: I made Ecola/SMT just as high as God. NO! God only USED that experience to redirect my compass and allegiance towards Him. I have been living for the past I miss and the future I can't see, but I haven't been HERE! I made up my mind that if I can't be in Cannon Beach, God wouldn't work as much, He wouldn't have as much of a presence. This is so wrong... God is just as living and active as He ever has, and it was me that wasn't recognizing that. It wasn't God that wasn't "here", it was me looking to other things in order to fill the "gap" that didn't actually exist!

I serve a big God. I serve a mighty God. I serve a God that works. I serve a God that loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to live a life of example for us and to die for our sin so that we may be with Him and have access to Him forever and ever! That still and will forever blow my mind, because I of all people DO NOT deserve that kind of love! What I need to remember, and I'm sure that I'll forget often as I am very human, is that God is here with me, using me, working to build me, where ever I am, whether it be at a camp somewhere, or among my peers at school, or in the film industry.

No matter where I am, The Lord is still there and working! :)

SMT, Part 6= Pinecroft- Week 2

So after our first week working at Pinecroft, we took Trudi Fountain up on her offer to stay at their house for the short weekend break between Primary camp and Jr. camp. So we drove to the Fountain's farm in Cusick, WA. We had gotten to know Trudi, Ethan, and Andrea pretty well through that first week, but we met the rest of the family for the first time: Jennifer, Bridget, Sonja, Evan, and her husband Steve. Their farm was beautiful! The house was over a hundred years old, as well as the rest of the buildings (I think). We spent that Saturday resting, swimming in their awesome home made pool, and in the hot tub.
(PS- this was where I was when I got that first contact from Nikki, but I don't want to slip into the whole "getting this off my chest" mentality again.)
Anyways, I don't even know how long we spent in that pool... 3 or 4 hours if I remember right. It was such a great bonding time for our team :) That's also where I first really bonded with Jennifer and Bridget. They are Trudi's younger two daughters and they are great! In fact that weekend started a close friendship between them and I that has lastest even to this day (we still write letters back and forth). We started messing with each other from the beginning. In fact, if I remember right, there are was a water gun involved.... ;)

After that just amazing weekend that we all needed, we headed back to camp on Sunday evening. We got to sit on a chapel for Teen Challenge, a group that helps addicts get out of their entrapment and steer towards the light of Christ. That chapel was amazing....

And so that week started. It was a 5th and 6th grade age (if I remember right).

That was my toughest week of the summer. I just couldn't get my mind wrapped around being there in the moment. I had a hard time remembering my kids names and I just... couldn't get my head in the game. The devil did a masterful job of messing with me that week. I honestly have a very vague recollection of the week... I remember getting closer with Jennifer and Bridget Fountain. I remember  cabin times. I remember judging cabin clean-up with my SMT group. I remember making camp videos (big mistake by the way). I remember games somewhat. I remember the craziness of Matt's weird dreams. I remember playing Darth Vader in Human Clue. I remember the water park! But everything else is such a blur... Which is sad because I loved Pinecroft so much!

I had a co-counselor named Mike. Mike was awesome! He was a seminary student doing an internship with a pastor a couple towns over. He had an amazing knowledge of the Word and and learned a ton from him! I also was able to teach him what counseling was all about, and what to do in certain situations. He was also a nerd like me. He knew a lot about movies and such, something I had been missing for a solid month or so. So I'm glad God provided that friendship. It was a nice break from the "non-nerdyness" that I was so used to by that point.

My camper's names were Joel, Joe, Josh H., Rudy, Josh B., Jake, Josiah, Noah, David, and Jim. Yes it was a big cabin, but that made it great for cabin discussions. We actually got into some good stuff. As I said, it was an incredible blessing to have Mike there, especially in those discussions. I didn't have any guys come to Christ because they were all already saved. So I got to pure into them and encourage them in their walk with Christ.

There is so much more to say about this camp, but the haziness of the week is preventing me... I loved this camp so much and I wish I could remember more... But God is still good! He used me in what ways these kids needed me in :)

Soon, the camp was over, and it was time to drive. We said our goodbyes, which was tough, especially saying goodbye to the Fountains. But soon, we set out on the road again, driving towards the Seattle area of Washington.

This is John Friend, signing off for now :)

SMT, Part 5= Pinecroft- Week 1

Hello all! It's been a while since I've blogged... First off, I want to apologize if my last SMT post was too... love life detailed. My original goal of this was to glorify God, not show everyone my dirty laundry. So I want to ask your forgiveness for my lack of focus on what was really important.

So from Lake Retreat, we drove to Spokane, WA. Matt and I stayed with Tia and her parents, and the girls stayed with Rhianna and her parents. This was the long weekend of July 4th, so we had a ton of free days off. We hung out, slept in, and hung around the house, thankful for the brief break that we all knew we would be longing for in just a few weeks time. We went up to Coeur D'Alene, ID for a day and jumped off of the cliffs, which was so fun! And we got to hang out with Isaiah Joner and Katie McMurphy at the huge Cabela's store, and got to watch fire works with them up at Coeur D'Alene on the 4th.

After days of much needed regathering and recuperation, we headed up to Newport, WA, where Pinecroft Camp is located. We got there early, so we had time to go get food at Safeway. When we returned, we unpacked and started to get to know the staff. That was the first camp where I felt really... out of place at first. But it wasn't long before I felt completely at home. This was to be the only week that Matt and I got to co-counsel, along with (name is escaping me, I'll change it later), who is an awesome older guy with a huge heart for the Lord and for kids. This first week was 3 days long, age range being Primary (1st-3rd grade). We had 9 boys in our cabin: Josh, Ben, Angus, Wade, Ethan, Jordan, Joel, Derek, and Justin. They were EXHAUSTING! I've never seen so many naked children at one time in my life! You would tell them to put their clothes on and the next minute, they'd be running around the cabin with less than they had had before! It was insane!

But so much fun! You would think that most people would vow never to have children of any kind after going through the week that we did. Not me! Ever since that week, my desire to be a daddy has only increased :)

I was amazed and even humbled by their childlike faith. The way that they just knew that Jesus was their Savior was so amazing... As we grow older and experience more and more of this messed up world, God gets so crowded out by, well, everything! But the way these children were so understanding, the way that it all just made sense to them was amazing!
Luke 18:17 says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Jesus wants us to know that we have to accept Him with child-like faith, but otherwise we will not spend eternity with Him. When we say in our hearts, "No, God. I cannot believe in what You have done", we have said no to an eternity of the opportunity to worship Him. These children reminded me that I have to have that child-like faith day to day, the faith of knowing that "Of course God is going to take care of it all! He's God!"

That week, Matt and I had the opportunity to lead 4 of our boys (2 a piece) to Christ: Josh, Angus, Jordan, and Justin. It was so simple too, coming back to that child-like faith. :)

A story worth mentioning happened the next week, but had to do with Angus. When we were doing orientation for the camp the next week, a woman came up to me and said, "Are you the culprit?" I panicked because I thought I had done something wrong. She told me that she was Angus's mom. She said that he had come home the weekend before, not telling her about his acceptance of Christ. But in the evening, he curled up in her lap and showed her his Bible, which said on the inside flap "Angus accepted Christ on --date--." At this point in the story, she broke down crying, so happy that her son had accepted Christ. She said that it was so hard being a parent and not knowing whether or not your child would become a believer. She thanked me over and over, and gave me a hug. I wish I could have stayed longer to talk, but I was late to chapel. But I had never really thought about the stage of not knowing about your child's salvation...

All in all, it was a great week! But I was so glad when the 3 days were up, as they were so exhausting...

During this week, we befriended Trudi Fountain, who was working at the camp and was the mother of Ethan, who was in our cabin. She offered to have us for the weekend, as we would be coming back to Pinecroft the next day. So we headed off to the Fountain home, and to 8 friends I will not soon forget.

Well, until next time, this is John Friend, signing off :)

Ecclesiastes 1:2- MEANINGLESS.

In Ecclesiastes 1:2, it says "'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!'"

Pretty uplifting huh?

Ya that's what I thought too. But now I think it's one of the most beautiful concepts that we could understand. If we can take this to heart and start living it, our lives will have true meaning. Let me explain.

This book was written by King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. This book that he wrote was about how meaningless everything we know really is when we look at it from how big and great God is. The literal translation of "meaningless" is "empty, smoke, senseless". Essentially, its saying that everything that is not God is empty. And I have found that to be true.

In the last weeks, I have been so distracted. I've been distracted by movies, school, and not being in Oregon. And I've tried to fill the holes I've been feeling in my life with friends, movies, etc, but they just don't do it. And I've come to realize "what am I doing?" I've been trying to fill myself up and make myself feel better with worldly things (worldly being not God). God is the only thing that satisfies in this life. It's why every culture has deity worship of some form. It's why we try to fill our lives with material items, sex, and drugs. It's our quest to find importance. It's our quest to find meaning.

And it's only found in God.

When we think about this verse, it's easy to say "OK, ya. Everything is meaningless! God is better! Cool!" But it's when we get specific that the concept feels uncomfortable. So let's get specific. Let's start simple. Food is meaningless. That could make us feel a little uncomfortable, but we'd get over it quickly. OK, how about this: Our friends are meaningless. Ya, that stings a little more doesn't it? How about I just go on and you decide, ya?

OK, here goes:
Food is meaningless.
Friends are meaningless.
Movies are meaningless.
My health is meaningless.
Clothes are meaningless.
Looking good is meaningless.
Music is meaningless.
TV is meaningless.
Smallville is meaningless.
The Office is meaningless.
Comfort is meaningless.
Family is meaningless.
Star Wars is meaningless.
Cars are meaningless.
The beach is meaningless.
Ecola is meaningless.
Your future wife is meaningless.
Your past girlfriends are meaningless.
Your current girlfriend is meaningless.
Girls are meaningless.
Money is meaningless.
Having fun is meaningless.
Work is meaningless.
Advancing in life is meaningless.
Owning your own home is meaningless.
Having a career is meaningless.
Understanding film is meaningless.
High school is meaningless (which is true anyways).
College is meaningless.

It's all meaningless compared to Christ our Lord.

What are the idols getting in the way of your relationship with God?

SMT, Part 4= Lake Retreat- The Beginning of a Month in Washington

As a disclaimer, I'm going to say now that the weekend preceding this camp was the hardest of them all for me for multipul reasons and I'm going to be frank about what I was feeling.

We drove up I-5 towards Washington, but first we had one stop to make: My grandma's memorial service. I'm sitting here, trying to dictate how i felt that night... It had been two long weeks since I had seen my family, so to see them alone was emotional. But lets be honest, the context of why I was seeing them didn't help.

Now, I know where my grandma is. She's in heaven with the Lord. She is running, leaping, dancing, and worshiping the God who loved her so much that He came down as a man to save her from her sin. And she recognized that. By the time that I realized that I really wanted to know her testimony, it was too late. I remember sitting in the hospital room with my grandma, right before we found out about the cancer. I asked her if she remembered when she had accepted Christ, but the Alzheimer's had progressed to the point that she did not remember. In fact, after that question, I asked her if she remembered how she and my Grandpa had met. She said she didn't. I regret not asking her about those specific memories while she could still remember them, before the disease had erased them. But this much was clear: she knew who her Lord and Savior was, even right up to the end.

I remember the last time I saw her. It was two days before I was to leave for Cannon Beach. I had gone over to my Grandparent's house. The house was filling up fast by this point. Both my Grandma's sister Vivian and my Uncle Don were there, as well as my family. I really don't remember anything from that day, except leaving. I had a meeting at my old high school, so I had to get back to Forest Grove by a certain time, and that time came. So I sat down by my Grandma. She was barely there, it being an off day. I told her that I had to leave and that I was going to see her later. I didn't specify because I wasn't sure if it was to be after the summer or after I myself die. I kissed her and got up, moving towards the door, with my Mom and Grandpa crying as they watched. The last thing I ever said to my Grandma was "I love you, Grandma."

We arrived in Beaverton a half hour before the service and met my parents at my Grandpa's house. We drove to the church, and began greeting people. It all didn't really hit me until i walked through the doors into the sanctuary. Suddenly, like a flood, it all washed over me. She's gone. Actually, it's interesting because I didn't actually cry sad for her. I cried sad because my Grandpa and Mom and Dad were. It's hard to see the three pillars of my life crying. But when I got up in front of everyone to talk about my Grandma, I bawled. A lot. I've never cried in front of a crowd, not ever. But I did. Half because my Grandpa and Mom and Dad were crying there in front of me, but also half because I had such joy about where she is! She's with Jesus! Frankly, I AM SO JEALOUS. I'd much rather be with the Lord than here on this earth, this crazy messed up earth... But I'm here because God has more in store for me. That's why He allowed me to go to the memorial service. When I stood up in front of everyone, I gave the Gospel message. That was so special for me because I got to publicly proclaim the love of God for all of us, something I've been intimidated to do my whole life. But not anymore. Why should I be intimidated by the thought of telling as many people as possible about Jesus? Why should I be afraid? There is no reason whatsoever. None.

And let me just say, it meant so much to have Katie, Lisa, Rhianna, and Matt there to support me. I love you guys!

And so that was done. After saying our goodbyes, we continued our journey north to Puyallup WA to Kaylyn Brown's house, where we stayed for two days. I slept all the way there because I was so emotionally DONE. We chilled at her house and did shopping around town.

Here's where we get personal again. While at Ecola, I dated Nikki Parsons. She lives in Puyallup and I had, in fact, gone to her house one weekend, so I knew where everything was. Now, at this point in the summer, she was still not talking to me and because I hadn't had that closure yet, I wasn't fully over her. That was the weekend I felt the nagging feeling that I was going run into her. I would walk through the stores constantly expecting her to pop out from nowhere. But that didn't happen.
Not until church the next day. We ended up going to Bethany Baptist, which I knew well because I had attended it will the Parsons. But I wasn't even sure if they still went there. We went to the first service and it was good. As we got up to leave the service, there she was. Scared me half to death, but I waved to them anyways. As we got into Martha, my hands were shaking. The girls noticed and asked if I was going to be ok. I said yes.

OK. Now we can get to the camp. The next camp was called Lake Retreat. It was a great camp, spread out along the edge of a lake. I had a cabin of 5 middle school boys: Chance, Adam, Jordan, Ricky, and Rodney. I also had a CIT: Nathan. Only two of the 5 boys were Christians going into the week.

I knew that this week would be a tough one. We were 3 weeks into the summer, and we were starting to get tired. But we kept going on. We really liked the staff, even though they were all relatively young. The worship and chapel times were amazing! The activities were a lot of fun too! The camp was pretty big, so all of the teams that we were divided into were good sized.

That week was a blur. I remember it being really long, but really great. But the thing that stands out apart from everything else was the night my boys accepted Christ. Now, Ricky says that He had accepted Christ early in the week and had told me, but I honestly don't remember that at all, which I still feel horrible about. But the night that I'll never forget was the night that Jordan and Chance accepted Christ in front of there good friend Adam, who had brought them to camp in the first place. That night, internally, I was fighting how far to push the boys. From previous experiences, pushing the subject of Christ has backfired and blown up in my face. But I remember that night that God kept telling me to push more, little by little. So I listened. It turned out the boys were afraid of what their parents would think, which is legit. But I had to keep telling them that God loves them EVEN MORE than their own parents, and what they did that night could end up influencing them for the kingdom! Finally, they said that they wanted to accept Christ in front of Adam, who had left the cabin. So I ran all over the camp looking for him. Once I found him, I brought him back, and they prayed the prayer in front of him, me, and God. It was amazing!!!

That was a tough week. That was the week God grabbed me and looked me square in the eye and said, "JOHN. TRUST ME. GOT IT??" And finally, I did. That week, I finally discovered what it meant to lean completely and utterly on God. God's will will be done, regardless of whatever we think that is beyond control. No. God is in complete control. COMPLETE CONTROL.

Other notes, Matt blobbed me like 30 feet into the air. That was fun! Also, this was the week that we took some advise that Darrin had given us the week before: meet together everyday during free time and talk about whatever was going on. And it ended up helping a ton! Also, contrary to popular belief, oatmeal wars suck. But that's just my opinion. Oh and never play games that involve telling middle schoolers to go pop the other teams balloons in any way possible. EVER. It just ends up being a war with injuries and hurt feelings.

Soon, once again, it was the end of the week and was time for us to move on to the next camp. (Man, I feel like no matter how much I talk about each camp, it'll never describe them enough...) Anyways, we packed up Martha, said our goodbyes to all of the people we had come to love once again, and drove off towards Spokane WA.

Sorry for being so long winded... I can't sleep tonight, plus this week as a whole was just crazy! But amazing :)

Well, this is John Friend signing off again, for now :)

SMT, Part 3= Camp Praise- Just Jesus

And so, we drove all day back towards Oregon: back through "Jefferson" (northern California's new "name"), over Mt. Shasta, through Weed, and up into Medford. Noteworthy events of this trip included Katie throwing up on me, and calling my family and getting details of my Grandma's passing, such as when the memorial service was to be. Now, those of you from Ecola are about to get really jealous at what I'm about to say: We made our way to our over night pit stop at DARRIN RATCLIFF'S HOUSE!!! We got there pretty late, but it didn't seem to matter to Darrin. We all sat down in his living room and discussed the events of the previous week and watched "Swamp People", from which jokes that would last the entire summer came from (such as "Willyy!"). We realized that we needed to make a run to the store for some things (such as something to help the horrible sunburn I had gotten during the last week). So Darrin said "Let's go to Walmart!" So we did, even though it was around midnight. Now, hanging out with Darrin at midnight in Walmart is just as epic as it sounds :)

The next morning, after spending our night on the Ratcliff's couches, we headed to Gold Hill, prayed with some members of the church that Darrin pastors, and then went to the service. Before Darrin's sermon, he brought our team up in front of the congregation and they all prayed for us. We had to leave at that point because we had to get to Camp Praise at a certain time. So yes, we missed Darrin's sermon, which was very sad. But! It was ok! Because he was the speaker at Camp Praise that week. Yes, that's right, we got to spend an entire week doing ministry with Darrin Ratcliff! I have to say it was a huge blessing on all of our lives :)

Anyways, and so, we got to the camp and settled into our cabins. Now Camp Praise was the exact opposite of Mt. Gilead, and it shocked us. We really didn't know what to make of it. But we all had to realize that it was just a different week. It was all going to be just fine! My cabin's name was Guy Womac (Don't ask. I still have no idea why to this day). It was another high school week and I had Joe, Nick, Mack, Howie, Morgan, Nathan, Ceder, and William in my cabin. One of the things we noticed immediately was the incredible about of hurt in that camp. It was the first week we realized that we all needed to really lean on God.

When we got to Darrin's house, he told us that he would be going through Colossians that week. But the coolest thing happened. During chapel worship time, I remember looking back and seeing Darrin scribbling in his notebook. When it was time for him to speak, he got up and announced that the Spirit was leading him to speak about Jesus this week, and thus the theme of the week became "Just Jesus". And so the Spirit took over that place. Usually at camps, the speaker builds the messages up to a last night "alter call", but this week, just like that, Darrin felt lead to give it on MONDAY NIGHT. By lights out on Monday evening, my entire cabin had accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior!!!

That was the night I had my first experience leading another person to Christ. :) Now, I wasn't sure what to do with myself after that chapel. Kids were going in different directions with different counselors. Suddenly William came up to me and asked if we could have our one-on-one. I went to the guy in charge of schedule, Troy, and asked if I had the time to do it. He said yes, so I went back to William and sat down with him. He told me that he had been coming to camp for a few years, but had never trusted anyone. However, he trusted me. (Mind you, he had known me for only a day!) He said that he wanted to ask Christ into his heart, and that he wanted my help and guidance. So I lead him through the a few passages and prayed with him. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it... God is so good!

And so, after that powerful night, the whole camp atmosphere changed. For Matt, Katie, Lisa, Rhianna, and I, we came together as never before. The staff were bonded together. So many of the kids' burdens were lifted. GOD WAS AMONG US. It was amazing! So after that change, the Lord focused our attention to building the kids up, so that they might leave stronger, and, hopefully, solid in their faith. And God did.

As the week went on, we had lots of fun! The pool was a favorite afternoon activity, along with the field and rec room. The games were pretty good, though to be honest, it was hard coming from Gilead's amazing activities program to Praise's, but I didn't mind :) It was the night games that were really awesome that week. Games such as Bible Smugglers and Capture the Flag were awesome and favorites of the kids. And I started to realize that week that though games are fun for campers, I definitely had more fun playing as a counselor than I ever did as a camper at the camps I went to as a kid and in high school :)

Then there was the day I got to sit down with Darrin and talk about life. Being able to talk to that man one-on-one was so amazing... Darrin was the guy who spoke the first time I had visited Ecola the winter of my senior year before I attended. Essentially, he was the man who sold me on Ecola. His "Life of David" class is still one of my favorite classes of the entire year. In fact, David and I are listening our way through it when we can this year! Anyways, being able to get inside the way he thinks was so great. I wish I had talked to him during the two times he taught at Ecola. Just a plug for him: His sermons are free on iTunes, so just look up "Darrin Ratcliff" :)

This was the week I started to realize that exhaustion was going to start becoming just our way of life during the summer. I napped every day that week because I was so tired. Going to bed late and getting up early became just the way life was, and it would continue through the summer.

Before we knew it, the week was over. Once again, those deep connections we had formed were about to be left behind once again. The kids we had grown so close to weren't ready to go back to real life. But life goes on...
So we all packed up Martha and once again headed north up I-5 towards Washington, where our next camp would be.

For more photos, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Camp-Praise/205558762805928?sk=photos and go to "High School 2011!!!!!" :)

This is John Friend signing off for now! :)

SMT, Part 2= Mt. Gilead- A Road Trip to California

After our 3 weeks of being at home (or Hawaii), we all traveled back to Cannon Beach to pack up our van, which we named "Martha", and head out on our 8 week adventure together! We guys got in Martha and the girls got in Katie's car and we headed east to Redmond, OR to go to Matt and Katie's brother's graduation, which was that night. We went to that and then stayed at the White's house for that night (Lisa, Rhianna and I slept in their trailer, the girls in one part and I in the "man" area haha). The next morning, with much apprehension, we headed south on a 12 hour drive (or so, I cant remember right off) to Santa Rosa, CA, which is just north of San Francisco. We ate at an In-and-Out, visited with Abbi Sanchez, and headed to our first camp: Mt. Gilead. Now this camp was HUGE. If you're familiar with the concept of a mega-church, well I liken it to a mega-camp. It had around 300 kids and around 23 cabins, with each being able to hold 8 campers and 2 counselors. That was a weird week for me. It was the first time I'd ever legitly been a counselor. But God worked amazingly and allowed me to be one of the few guys with a co-counselor: Jeremiah Auer. I am eternally thankful for that guy. Whether he meant to or not, he slowly integrated me into the position of counselor. At the beginning of the week, I was lost. But by the end of the week, I had a firm grasp of what I was doing :)

My campers that week were Justin, Nick, Devin, Dominic, Nick, Justin, Nick, and Adolfo (for you campers, just know I did that from memory :) ) We had our ups and downs that week. At first, they didn't get a long much and hated our "cabin time", which I found to be a brilliant binding tool. Even though they hated the stuff we did, they grew a lot in that week! And so did my leadership skills.

The activities were great that week! We did a huge slip and slide, pool games, human clue, a rock concert, and "the gauntlet", among other things. As I said, Mt. Gidead is a MEGA camp! This was the camp that I definitely had the most FUN at, just cause their program staff and program was just plain amazing and very much one of the biggest main focuses of the camp.

Chapel and one-on-ones with my campers was my favorite times of the day, as it would be for the rest of the summer. Being able to just go and worship God twice a day for 8 weeks was SO awesome, and I do miss it a lot! Also, having a Bible teaching every day twice a day on top of the worship.. wow :)

On a more serious, personal note, in the weeks leading up to SMT, my family had found out that my Grandma Moore had cancer, and didn't have much time left. Now, my Grandma and I were extremely close. My sister and I spent a huge amount of our childhoods at Grandma and Grandpa's house, especially in holiday events, and we went camping every summer. They had even come with us on our trip to Hawaii two years ago, which was so amazing! So to get the information that she wasn't going to last much longer was tough... but God was in every moment of it. The only set of 3 weeks I was home in two years "JUST HAPPENED" to be when we found out. The day she was put in the hospital and we got the news "JUST HAPPENED" to be the day that I was in Portland for the day and I could just drop by on the way back home. She "JUST HAPPENED" to be put into ER room 23, hospital room 23, and the meal number my mom and grandpa "JUST HAPPENED" to be 23, all reminding us of Psalm 23! All I can say is God is good. My Grandpa kept that attitude through the whole thing. He is an amazing man!
Anyways, it was during this first week of camp that my Grandma passed away. It was hard, but God made it easy because I was to be distracted with camps for the next 8 weeks, thus allowing me to recover with out even realizing it! And I want to thank Mt. Gilead's director Steve Todd for all of the support he gave me during that week! And for all of the support of the staff and, of course, Matt, Rhianna, and Katie!

Camp has a profound influence on kids, and it's so essencial to any kids growing up experience, especially a Christian in high school. High school is a time where nothing makes sense and you think that your life just sucks (for some that continues into college, if you don't let God address it). I don't know what it is about camp, but God uses those one weeks in kids lives so much, more than I ever expected to see. I mean, I knew it was always that way in my own life growing up, but I had never seen it from a counselor's perspective, and counselors see 100x more than campers ever do! And over and over, I saw God work in kids lives, transforming them right in front of me. It was a perspective that was easy to take for granted, a view that, if we weren't careful, could easily become "I'm doing this, not God", which was NOT TRUE AT ALL. All I was was a vessel used by God, no more, no less.

For lots of photos, including some of our team, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mt-Gilead-Bible-Camp/77656014121?sk=photos, and go down to "Daily Snap High School 01 Monday". There is also Tuesday through Friday albums after that! :)

Before we knew it, it was the last day of camp. We had to say goodbye to the staff and campers whom we had become close to in only a week. Time had gone by fairly fast and we thought we had an idea of what "being tired" was. We didn't. We had just barely begun our journey. So we packed up, prayed, and started our journey north, back to Oregon.

This is John Friend signing off for now... Part 3 coming soon!

ES-EM-TEEEEE!!!!! (or SMT for short, and Summer Ministry Team for long) -Part 1

Gosh. Where do I even start? Oh that's easy: GOD IS GOOD.

So last January, I found out that I was put on to Ecola's Summer Ministry Team, a team that goes out during the summer for 8 weeks straight, during which we was camp counselors at kids camps. There were two teams, each with 5 members. My team consisted of Matt White, Katie White, Lisa Matz, Rhianna Moriarty, and myself. We started training sessions together with the other team during third term, which was led by the director of Ecola, Dave Duff. We started hanging out on Wednesday mornings before class and praying. We would spend an hour or so a week together, hanging out or creating skits (or being led around campus blindfolded.. ya that was fun haha)

Soon, Ecola was over and I got to stay on campus to work at the conference center and do more training sessions. That was one of the saddest days of my life... to see all of my friends leave. For them all to be there one morning and.. gone that evening. It still brings tears to my eyes, even now as I type this. And so another chapter began that day. We stayed on campus for 2 weeks training and hanging out and working for the Cannon Beach Conference Center. Those weeks went by fast, but not fast enough. By the end, we were aching to get out of there. I think it hurt us all too much to be there while no one else was.

Next up was the SMT camping trip! Matt and I left a day early because we were ready to leave CB and we stayed at his house for a couple of nights. We went camping along the Metolius River in Oregon. It was a lot of fun! It was just the two SMT teams and Dave, and we had a blast! The nights were SO cold, but we survived. I've also never had so much freeze dried food in my life, which was cool cause real food was great to come back to! haha

It was on this trip, we started finalizing what we thought we'd need for the summer in the way of mental state, closeness as a group, and devotionals for the campers. Being out there in nature was great enough, but the times where we all went off by ourselves and prayed, did our personal devos, and made up the devos we would need for teaching our campers, it was some of the closest feeling time I've had with God. I love God and I love the way He reveals Himself through nature!

Another note worthy thing was when all of us guys drove up towards Mt. Jefferson to hike a bit. We found a trailhead and hiked a bit in, but hit snow packs, which we hiked over for a while. Soon it was too difficult to keep going, so we just turned back, but not after stopping and looking over the gorge. (I wish I had brought my camera that day...)

After the camping trip, we all went to our respective homes (except Lisa, she went to Hawaii) and rested from the year and the camping trip, and tried to prepare for what the summer had in store for us. Key word is "tried".

Training feels like such a long time ago... Heck, Ecola feels as if it were years ago, yet it feels like yesterday. It all does. I've had a lot of time to reflect on Ecola and all that came with it this week, since a good number of my friends are back down there at second year. I miss it, yet I know that I'm where I need to be. Yet, I miss my friends, yet I know that I'll get to spend eternity with them! And I long for that day! The day that A) I meet my God face to face, and B) get to be reunited with all of my brothers and sisters!

Well, this is John Friend signing off, at least for now :)

Why Smallville?

In the last year, I have very much been stereotyped into "The guy who's obsessed with Superman". I just want to come out and clarify: You're probably right. (Notice the subtle "Superman colors" of this blog...) However, it's not what you think.

It's not so much that I love Superman, it's that I love Smallville. For whatever reason, I have, in the last 7 years, latched on to that show hard core. Also to clarify, I've never read comic books. Ever. I've always been a movie and TV show watcher. That's why I'm perfectly fine with all of the X-men movies. Anyways, everything I know of the superhero world I know from movies and TV. Yes, I may look something up and know facts about random stuff, but it's usually instigated by something I've seen on these said shows or movies.

So. Why Smallville? In my time away from home in the last year, I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned things I don't even know about yet haha. But one thing I've learned is that I'm somewhat insecure. I don't like change that much. When I switched from my private Christian school to high school, I went into a depression. Now changing from high school to Ecola wasn't too hard, just because high school wasn't fun anymore and Ecola was the greatest place on earth, hands down. And the switch from Ecola to SMT wasn't that bad, but it was still hard. But the switch from Ecola/SMT to Michigan has been rough to say the least. As I said, I don't like change.

But the three things that have stayed completely the same in my life have been God, family, and Smallville. However, as life goes on, the dynamics of family changes. We kids grow up, we get closer or not closer to siblings and parents, and the landscapes of the way life goes is constantly changing. But even my relationship with God has changed, gotten better. My room mate mentioned yesterday that the times you're closest to God is when you first accept Him and when you're about to die. I couldn't disagree more! My relationship with God has dramatically changed over my life, especially in the last year. So, strictly speaking (yes God never changes, I know, but..) my relationship with God has changed.

(Now I feel like I'm saying that Smallville is higher on the totem pole than God. THAT IS NOT TRUE! Trust me, God is bigger and better than anything... that what my next blog will be about :) )

So. Why Smallville? Why does it mean so much to me? Because it's been one of those things I can go back to to feel normal, to feel like life isn't as crazy as and bad as I think. (Which is ironic because the show is about a very abnormal boy and the most extreme life circumstances ever!) I started watching it in the latter parts of season 3, right before the amazingness that is season 4. And it remained there going into high school. And, as I entered Ecola, I started watching it again for a second time through the series, only this time, I got Benton Trerise addicted to it, along with several other guys who lived in AD Dorm. So many memories revolve around Smallville from Ecola. Watching it in Keith and I's room till all hours in the morning, making random references throughout the day, and, of course, the infamous occasion of watching it in the AD Dorm bathroom. :) While this was happening, I was also watching the tenth and final season, loving it cause it was so amazing, and also hating it cause NO ONE ELSE AT ECOLA was watching it with me, therefore I couldn't tell anyone about the twists and turns of that "fateful" last season. During the summer, I had no access to anything nerdy, which sucked. My SMT group was the most opposite of anything nerdy EVER! Which was good for me, because it forced me to throw that off for 8 weeks in order to serve God more. But when I got back home, I have to admit, I started watching through again, picking up in season 7 where Benton, David, Keith, and I had left off 4 months before. And it was great! :) Then I moved here to Michigan. Life has started to settle, and this week I introduced David (Buttons) to Smallville. How did he react to it? Well, let me put it this way: We started a week ago, and we're already 1/5 through the second season. So now, I'm going through the series a third time, while finishing up my journey through it the second time, at the same time.

So I'm going to film school. I love to look for details put into scenes, background, and plots of movies and TV shows. Smallville is no different. The most exciting thing I've found watching through the series this third time is finding plot points I've never seen before. The first time you watch through, you like it cause it's a cool story. The second time through, you seen the random plot points you missed the first time. But this third time through? Man... this show is all about the details! I see thing that connect across SEASONS. The biggest thing I've noticed is how amazing Lionel Luthor's character is! The first couple seasons, he just seems like a mean, heartless businessman, but after you learn what he really truly is down the road, watching his character in those first two seasons proved that the creators knew who he was all the way at the beginning! And THAT is amazing plot development!

Also, another cool thing that I've noticed is that Smallville has so many examples about life and how we should be living. When ever I talk to someone about life, where I've been, and where I'm going, I always seem to quote Smallville, especially season 10. Season 10 is the completion of our heroes journey, but at the beginning of the season, he still has a long way to go. Let's just say that by the finale, he is truly Superman. And it takes some deep psychological and moral discussion to get to a point as truthful and justified as the Man of Steel. I've often wondered why I can relate to Smallville so well. Now, after taking Story class here at CCCA, I know why: It's the heroes journey, a journey we're all on!

Another thing that David just mentioned about the show is it really is characteristically solid and unwavering. The plot of Heroes is so up and down, so crazy! But Smallville's plot is all about Clark Kent's journey to becoming the man and hero that everyone knows today. Yes, they have to add twists and turns to keep you addicted, but really, the show has a solid foundation, so you don't get your heart or brain ripped out because you don't know what the heck could be coming next for our characters.

So ya. This is only scratching the surface of what I know about Smallville. And I could talk about it more, but I don't want to give anything major away (besides, wait for it... He becomes Superman!). This show has a special place in my heart and life because it's solid. Because it's immovable in this constantly changing life. Yes I'm a nerd, but it also feeds my hero complex, my desire to see everyone in this world to know Jesus, my longing for everyone to be saved from their sins.

Well, this is John Friend signing off, at least for now :)

The Beginning (or, at least, one of them)

Well, here I am.

I've begun my final steps towards becoming a professional film maker. I am here in Grand Rapids, MI going to Compass College of Cinematic Arts. Now my hope and dream is to be in charge of making films, whether that be by being a director or, more likely, a producer. I just want to build my skills and use them to serve God. I so want to be OUT THERE, making films that will change lives, that will drive people closer to the God that loves them!

So. I have to comment on my life in the last year. "Whew." It's been so crazy!!! God has been working so directly and so powerfully in my life its not even funny. It really started with Josh Sandage, Dana Schot, Joey Meeuwsen, and I doing our Bond movie "Preceding Duty" for our senior projects. That was the project that launched me interest in becoming a film maker. During that time, I met Jessyca, who I dated for 8 months. It was very much a serious relationship, but in the end, it was clear that, though God used it very powerfully in my life (and boy did I truly learn who I was during those months...), it was very, very wrong. During that relationship, I also started my 7 month journey at Ecola Bible School. Going to Ecola has been the single biggest impact on my life. God got my attention. He gave me some of the bestest friends I will ever have (for eternity!). Also, I also applied to the University of Hawaii for their film program, and I got in! It was that same day that I found out that I was on the Summer Ministry Team (SMT). Anyways, God used that year to tear all of my idols down (girls.). By the end of first term, Jessyca and I were done (thank the Lord. It had gone on long enough.). During the middle of second term, I met Nikki. Now, she was great. Really really great! But by the end of second term, she didn't feel good about the relationship (for all the right reasons) and that was done. That wrecked me. I didn't eat for a week. I didn't want to go on. At all. But I did. I went home that weekend to fill out financial information for UH. But I realized that I didn't want to go there at all! So I went back to school that week with no idea what my future would hold. That first week back, I started forming some new friendships, and strengthened some old ones. It was at that point that i met a young man named David Spencer. He told me about a small film school in the mid west called Compass. My dad and I looked at it and prayed about it, and we both felt that it was were I needed to apply. So I did. And I was accepted! From there, life got better slowly. It was slow going. I felt very alone there for a while. But it was during that time that God said, "Dude. Rely on ME!" So, slowly, I did. I slowly crawled my way back into the society known as Ecola. It was during this term that I started the training for SMT, which lasted till the end of school. It was the single hardest thing I've ever done, saying goodbye to all my good friends... I'm so thankful that I was blessed with my SMT team. And so I began my summer quest: 8 Christian summer camps in 8 weeks. CRAZY! It was the most amazing summer of my life, and I'll probably write more about it later. Anyways, so that's the extremely short version of what has brought me to now.

Now. Ya... It's so weird being in another place, another culture really. It doesn't feel normal yet. But God is good! I'm here for a reason. I know that for a fact! So thus, I begin my journey. A journey I pray comes to something big, something amazing!

This culture is searching. Searching for the truth. I just want to be used by God to show that truth to as many people as possible!

This is John Friend signing off, at least for now :)