35W Bridge Collapse

It has been over a year since 35W Collapsed. As some of you may know, the apartment I was living in at the time was only a block away from the bridge. The following was the monthly update letter I wrote to friends and family a few hours after the event.

Note: By no means will this be a normal monthly update

At 6:04 p.m. on August 1st, 2007, I sat in a coffee shop on 6th and University confidently discussing the joy in knowing that the God I have entrusted my life to knows what will happen tomorrow and has everything in his master plan.

At 6:05 p.m., with a few flickers of the building lights, that simple thought was amplified and scrutinized. The fall of a heavily traveled bridge produced inquiry, anxiety, wonder, helplessness, uncertainty, and sorrow.

At about 6:15, my eyes fell upon an inconceivable sight, literally one block from my apartment. The billows of smoke, sirens from every direction, crowds of people, a major highway standing vertical, and the faint site of a school bus bombarded my senses.

It is times like this that create many critical questions directed towards God, but paradoxically, leads us to ask God himself for help. In the same breath two quotes are heard: "Why would God do this?" and "Our prayers will be with the families that are suffering and the workers that have responded."

I long to believe that God has everything in control and knows what is going to happen. But I cannot comprehend then why He would let something so dramatic and destructive occur. Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding." Too often I want to grasp an eternal, immortal, and invisible God within the boundaries and confines of my limited, tangible, experiential mind.

Friends and family, you may wonder what the purpose/point is in this rambling? The brevity of life is magnified when seemingly inconceivable events occur in your own front yard. The hope is that, although many of you may have slim to no ties to "35W," you know "94," "90," "55" and "400." You can attempt to relate and understand.

In this process, my longing is that each of you deeply comprehends and contemplates the uncertainty in a seemingly routine daily life. Inevitably, we will all face death, whether dramatically or naturally, surprised or expected.

At 2:49 a.m., as I near the conclusion of these words, all my strength and hope stems from one avenue, Jesus.

Each of us is destined to drown in the sea of hell as the proper consequence of our sin. Will you and/or have you grasped the soul-preserving hand of Jesus, who died on the cross to be in a position to offer eternal life?

Josh
08.02.07

Indelible Grace Music

A couple weeks ago at church, we sang a song titled, “Father, Long Before Creation.” I was struck by the lyrics and set out on a search to find it. After having little luck, I emailed our worship pastor and he pointed me towards the website for Indelible (impossible to remove/alter) Grace.

According to their website, Indelible Grace’s “hope is to help the church recover the tradition of putting old hymns to new music for each generation and to enrich our worship with a huge view of God and His indelible grace.”

Most of their music is free to listen to on their website.

What music has "struck a cord" with you recently?

Enjoying Suffering for the Greater Goal

During our softball game tonight, I made a play at shortstop that involved diving to my left, fully-extended in the air, and snagging a ball destined for center field. It was probably one of the sweetest sports plays I have ever done. The aftermath was a mouth full of dirt, a shirt covered in it, a broken necklace, and a very sore left shoulder. But none of that mattered when I began in pursuit of the ball or after the catch. It was completely worth it for the greater goal of getting the out.


In light of the catch, this same tolerance (and even joy) of pain or persecution can be experienced as a Christian. As a Christian, we are not promised a simple or easy life (Luke 9:23-26, 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, 1 Peter 4:12-14). But suffering (or on the opposite end, the pursuit of safety) will not be our primary factor(s) of consideration if our physical and spiritual eyes are set on the greater purpose of pursuing Christ (his fame, kingdom and the spreading of it).

All of a sudden, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 starts to make a little more sense:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal

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The One Thing You Have To Do To Start Praising God

My friend Brian has a great post on praising God. He briefly but properly works through Psalm 99:1-3.

Here is a short excerpt:

If you're anything like me, you're probably not always feeling up to falling at God's feet in delightful worship. Some of you hate or avoid or want nothing to do with God. Others find yourselves longing to joyfully praise Him, but instead you battle indifference only to muster a trickle of response. How does Biblical praise happen? At what point do we change from numbness to happily exalting His name?

Check out the full piece here.

This Is What We Have To Look Forward To?

This small quote was on the front page of the local news paper in the "Birthdays" corner.

Jane Doe turns 89 today. She enjoys sitting on her patio looking at her yard and flowers, and spending time with family.

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I changed the name for sake of not pointing the finger at the person, but more so the trend that society seems be promoting. As a young professional, I am advised to save, contribute to a 401(k), invest wisely, and start a Roth IRA. But for what purpose? For comfort? For security? To look at flowers? To retire early and disconnect from life and coast into my death bed?

There must be more! There has to be some sort of purpose.

The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the Treasure he is. (Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, 122)

My reaction to this simple quote may be a bit extreme. What do you think? What is the point of retirement? What would you want your retirement years (if you have them) to look like?

La Paz, Bolivia.....is Now

About a week ago, a friend I met while on summer project headed down to La Paz, Bolivia to work with a Christian social welfare organization called Bolivian Street Children Project (BSCP). She has been keeping a blog about her experience and I highly recommend checking it out.

Here is a short snippet Patty included in her email about BSCP prior to heading down to Bolivia:

BSCP is a christian social welfare organization that seeks to love kids who live on the streets and introduce them to a new hope to live in the world, a completely different world from which they are familiar with. These children have left homes due to abuse or have been forced to the streets due to the death of both parents. On the streets the children may have their autonomy, but lack so much knowledge to live the life kids should live. BCSP serves the thousands of street children living in La Paz by forming relationships with them in their world, the streets. They invite children to live in their homes where they are able to receive education, food, stable housing, and most importantly a familial love. The kind of love that doesn´t hold back in loving the core of the person, but will also not hold back in offering order and guidance that every child needs from a parent-figure.

This is what she will be doing:

I will be working for the next five weeks with this organization to assist in establishing a more established volunteer program. This organization receives numerous requests from volunteers from both America and Europe, yet there are no concrete volunteer positions to which people can apply. Most often this organization will take volunteers and then create a volunteer position that cater to the skills of the individual, which can be fruitful, but inevitably leads to more work on the part of BSCP. My work will involve a week of observing all the activities of BCSP, creating and writing several formal volunteer positions, and creating a handbook that can serve to orient a volunteer prior to arrival in Bolivia.

Again, you can find the blog for her time down there here.

The Awe Factor of....

Folks, check out this video. If this will not blow you away, I'm not exactly sure what will. Usually, we are blown away with things that happen in our own lives (e.g. vacations, experiences, hopes, problems).

If we take time to think of others, famous people, corporations, and news events come to mind (e.g. Iraq War, the falling economy, Google, C.C. Sabathia going to the Brewers).

But where should our awe be of God? This may help in realigning our perspective to reality. What other things can we do to help our perspective of life?



HT: Liz Mathews

Pepperdine University

So we are traveling down the Pacific Coast Highway and lo and behold, we run into good ole Pepperdine University.

I'm not sure how students get studying done when the ocean is a few blocks away.
Joshua Mathews
joshmathews@gmail.com

Meghan Likes Her Cereal

Words Used in Various Circumstances

Are there words that you use in one form of communication but not another?

For example, I use "w00t" or "hooray" in written communication forms (e.g. email, Facebook, texting). However, I rarely use these words in verbal situations.

On the other hand, I often say "tough" or "sick" as verbals, but only occasionally in written form.

What are some of the buzz words you use as verbals? How about in written form?