What is a Man and how do I become one?

First off, let me say that no, I do not think I am currently a man. Right now, there is way too much boy in me for me to rightfully lay claim to that term. However, I have seen men and know men, One in particular, to realize that I not only desire but I must become one. And I hope and pray that I am clearly heading in the right direction, and that someday very soon God will make me a man. When expressing his own lack of faith to a Moravian, John Wesley was told, "Preach faith till you have it; and then because you have it, you will preach faith." So that is what I will endeavor to do. I will preach manhood until I have it. Stay posted...

Saxy

In the last few weeks I've had an almost unhealthy obsession with saxophones. Listening to them, shopping for them, reading about them, studying harmonics and tone production, etc. In fact, the main reason it has been over a week since my last post is that I've spent so much time in sax world. I have no idea where it started. I'm kind of worried as to where it will end. Since coming to college 5 1/2 years ago, I have probably played my saxophone fewer times than I can count on two hands. In high school, I practiced on average 1-2 hrs. every day for three years and studied with Dr. James Ator in Fort Wayne, IN. While I do not in any way regret where I am now in studying optometry, at times I do wish I would have stayed with my horn in undergrad. But alas, I can't change where I've been, I can only determine where I go from here (with God's grace). I have pulled the horn out, conditioned the pads, checked the condition of my mouthpiece and reeds, and have it ready to go. Much to my excitement, by 11 year old brother has chosen to play the saxophone as well, so now I have extra motivation to play myself and teach some things to him.

I play a Yanagisawa A991: http://www.wwbw.com/Product/ZoomImage.aspx?img=Yanagisawa/50540.jpg

I have been itching to buy a S991: http://www.wwbw.com/Product/ZoomImage.aspx?img=Yanagisawa/yang.jpg

or the curvy model: http://www.wwbw.com/Product/ZoomImage.aspx?img=Yanagisawa/102935.jpg

Some saxophones that I will NEVER even dream of buying:
The soprillo sax: http://www.eppelsheim.com/soprillo.php?lang=en
The subcontrabass saxophone: http://www.eppelsheim.com/tubax_bb.php?lang=en

Here are some of my favorite sax players:
Charlie Parker (alto)
Paul Desmond (alto)
Cannonball Adderly (alto)
Art Pepper (alto)
Michael Brecker (tenor)
John Coltrane (tenor)
Todd Williams (tenor)

Speaking of Brecker, here is an absolutely amazing video of him with Bobby McFerrin (THE jazz "beatbox"...did The Cosby Show season 4 opening theme): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LYXdNW7uYI

Well, I hope that I've at least piqued your interest in jazz a little...if not, at least I'm feeding my obsession!

That's Offensive!

In my first post, I mentioned that most likely you will be offended at some point. I would like to expand on that a little. I will not, nor should we ever, seek to offend for the sake of being offensive. I will offend you because you may strongly disagree with what I say, or it may "cut to the heart" or rub you the wrong way...and that's OKAY. In this ever-increasingly "politically correct" and post-modern world we live in, we are being indoctrinated by media, congress, and the PC police to think that we are never allowed to tell anyone they're wrong, or say anything is wrong, b/c it's OFFENSIVE. Well, that offends ME. Not to mention that it's a self-refuting idea. Think about it. Person A tells Person B that they are WRONG and JUDGMENTAL for telling Person A that what they did or believe is WRONG. How absurd!

I'm reminded of a conversation I heard recently between Todd Friel of Way of the Master Radio and a post-modernist. Todd was preaching open-air and this guy in the crowd says something to the effect that Jesus can't possibly be the only way to God because what is right for you may not be right for me and we all have our own "truth". Todd asked him, cleverly, if he thought Todd was WRONG for preaching that Jesus is the only truth. The guy said no. Wait a second...Todd says Jesus is the only way, this guy says everyone has their own truth, therefore they disagree, right? Todd could not get this guy to say since they had opposing viewpoints he thinks Todd is wrong. Ensuing was a conversation that went something like this:
Todd says "What am I standing on?"
"A bench."
"Well, I think it's a watermelon."
"Okay."
"Am I wrong?"
"No."
"But you say it's a bench."
"Yes."
"I think it's a watermelon. Am I wrong?"
"No."

And on it goes. Todd likes to say, "It's like nailing Jell-o to a wall." There are two things going on here, but I will only address one for this post. What kind of world are we living in now that we can't even disagree on anything? This country was partly founded on the principle that it's good and okay to disagree, hence the first amendment. But we are quickly heading down the road where all thoughts and speech will be censored at the risk of offending someone. The same thing is going on in "evangelicalism" (I use that term very loosely) today with the emergent movement. Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt and others are saying that the "fundamentalists" are wrong for preaching doctrine (God's yes and God's no) and being "offensive."

We may and will disagree on some things. Again, that's OKAY. Let's discuss it. Take it to heart. Ponder over things. Then do with it what we will. After all, the only way to get your clothes clean are to throw in some strong detergent and agitate the snot out of them.

Now that's offensive!

Aqueous Humor?

I chose this blog name for a variety of reasons. First, the obvious. I'm an optometry student, and God willing, will be practicing by the summer of 2009. The aqueous humor is a watery substance produced and actively secreted inside the eye to provide nutrition to your cornea and crystalline lens. It ends up draining into your venous system. Normally it is "optically empty" and helps light form a clear image on your retina. In eye infections or injuries, it can become clouded with white blood cells, blood from hemorrhaging (called a "hyphema"), or proteins leaking out of blood vessels (called "flare"). The aqueous humor is also responsible for maintaining a (fairly) constant pressure inside your eye. Abnormalities in the production or drainage systems can cause too high of pressures--causing or aiding in the progression of certain types of glaucoma (a progressive destruction of neural retina), or too low of pressures--making your eye "squishy"(an official medical term, of course).

I tend to be dry, and I enjoy dry humor...so this title will hopefully encourage me to make things a little more "aqueous."

A third thing I thought of when coming up with a name has a spiritual application. If we let foreign (worldy) things come in like cells, flare, or blood, it can cloud our vision (judgement). We need a proper filtering system like tight junctions of the ciliary body (or the Holy Spirit and His covering) to keep us clean and clear. We must be constantly aware of what we allow ourselves to see and hear. Remember, "garbage in, garbage out."

Lastly, I thought of James 4:14. Heating up the aqueous would turn it into vapor, which is exactly what God calls our lives in this verse. Leonard Ravenhill has an excellent sermon based on this text, and can be found here .

That's aqueous humor as I see it.

Here We Go

I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, and reading the blogs of two friends (The Big Diehl and A New Direction) inspired me to go ahead and start it up. I have to admit, I don't think I have any idea what I'm getting myself into, but we'll see how it goes. I hope to encourage and challenge those who read this. You may laugh (although I'm not that funny), cry (probably not), get offended (likely, depending on who you are), or think I'm a blithering idiot (which many times is true). It's going to be interesting...