Keith Jason's 10 Random Thoughts

1. Have you ever called someone’s cell and got a voicemail message that states… “You have reached the mobile office of…” I don’t know why, but every time I hear that message I can’t help but think to myself, “What kind of furniture do you put in a mobile office?”

2. If you’ve kept up with my Random Thought notes or my Facebook page you should know that I am a life long Chicago Cubs fan. To see the way that they have been playing this year is absolutely AMAZING… However, my random thought about them in this note is actually a quote from my Father… I got an email from him entitled “Miracles” that simply read: “Being a cub fan right now is like having a severely handicapped older son that you've loved and supported his entire life and waking up one morning and finding he's superman.”

3. In retrospect, I probably should have come home to watch Obama’s speech at the DNC last night. However, this was the first time in my 9 years as a student and a staff member at EMU that I got to watch the Football team hand out an old fashioned butt whoopin’. I just couldn’t leave the game. Final score was 52-0!!!! It doesn’t matter that it was Indiana State! EMU did what they were supposed to do… Shot out to T.Blev and Tyler Jones! Great game fellas.

4. I was reading Luke 13:11-17 in the KJV the other day. What blew my mind is that a lot of people spend so much time praying and asking God what there purpose is and make it seem like a mystical thing where God cracks the clouds and says “You will be a GREAT leader” (You ever notice that people never really say things like “God told me I was going to be Janitor” or a trash man, but I digress). In this story, Jesus simply saw a need and met it. Which leads me to my new prayer “Lord develop my ability to recognize need”. Don’t get me wrong, purpose is important, and we should all strive to discover and fulfill it, but ask yourself if there is work that’s going undone while you are trying to figure it out.

5. Passion is a direct indicator PURPOSE. I always look at the life of Moses and see how when he found out he was a Hebrew his passion for seeing his people taken care of was ignited. So much so that he killed an Egyptian for mistreating one of his brothers. While his passion was misplaced (Murder is not cool) it was a indicator of what was to come…. What are you passionate about? I bet you’ll find purpose in there somewhere…

6. They shut the Rec down and EMU in between the Summer and Fall semesters. So I had to find a new place to work out for the two weeks and ended up at…. Bally’s… At first I didn’t like Bally’s AT ALL. Seeing all of the trainers walking around in phenomenal shape and the members in great shape and then…. Me in not so great shape. It made me a little insecure about working out there. I felt this way until my sister said to me… “Keith, those people probably feel just as insecure as you do.” That really put things in perspective for me. I actually kinda like Bally’s now.

7. If you’ve ever asked me “How’s the married life Keith?” you know that my response is always “Marriage is a BEAUTIFUL challenge”. It really is! I’ve learned soooooooooooooooooooo much from my wife and our marriage. We are in the process of leasing our home to a tenant as part of a lease to buy deal. It’s a lot handle and we are really learning…

8. Do yall remember back in the day when you could get 10 packets of Kool-Aid for a dollar? I miss that… But Project 200 doesn’t let me do Kool-Aid anyway so….

9. I spoke at UofM Dearborn earlier in the year about Interracial Relationships. It was a panel discussion and I had a really great time. You can check out my snippets at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w_rWCdnHkc

10. One thing I’ve learned in life is this….. The only way to get better at making tough decisions…. Is to make tough decisions….

If you like what you read, feel free to join the fan page for the Random Thoughts notes and videos. You can join by visiting http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keith-P-Jasons-Random-Thoughts/32876777081?ref=mfthen click the "Become a Fan" button on the top right side of the page...The Random Thoughts notes are also featured along with alot of other great stuff at www.righteoushipster.blogspot.com

How to Raise Your Confidence...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves who am it to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually who are we to not be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you" - Nelson Mandela (on his inauguration night)

Why are we so fearful? Why do we lack confidence so often? To be honest, I don't know that answer. Maybe its because we are so used to being average, maybe because originality is no longer celebrated in school. I mean this is the age of the assembly lines and college degrees. Or maybe we lack confidence because we have experienced failure to many times...who knows?

What i can tell you is 5 ways to overcome your self doubts and fears and increase your confidence:

1) Know who you are. Ever wonder why in the first chapter of Matthew 17 verses are dedicated to stating who begot who and what Jesus' lineage was? Well, simply put its because It helps us understand who he was! Sometimes to help build your confidence you just need a refresher course on who you are. Ask a relative to tell you some funny family stories, maybe some stories of triumph over adversity. Maybe ask around the family what peoples occupations have been, what talents they have had. All that information will help you to find out some interesting things that can help your boost confidence by knowing what others in your family have done. It gives you a sense of pride.

2) Preparation. I love to be prepared. I hate not being prepared. Whenever i have to conduct a meeting at work or speak at an engagement, nothing helps me feel more confident than knowing exactly what i will say or speak about. The more you know about a subject matter, the higher your comfort level and thus raise your confidence. In whatever area you seem to lack confidence, push hard to make your self an expert in this arena.

3) Swagger. I define swagger as the culmination of personal style, being culturally aware and charisma. Swagger is the ability to make yourself rememberable. Taking it a step further, swagger is also your ability to use what is unique about you to gain a personal advantage. If your haven't had this experience please hurry and have it, because it builds confidence big time. In order to have swagger, you need to find out what you like and learn about your surroundings. I know i have big time swagger! Wherever i go people ask me what i do, mainly because my swagger (and God's favor) is so big! Even though I'm small in stature, usually my presence in a room is big...because i walk in like i own the room. This is no brag on me...I'm just saying when you develop a swag, it boosts your confidence and others notice it too.

4) Attack! If you are afraid of something...don't run from it, attack it! I used to be the type of guy that would avoid conflict at all cost. Even if it meant not talking to someone I loved! I wouldn't demand great service when i went out, because i didn't want to have conflict. I even would back down in arguments because i didn't feel like conflict. Now i have learned to be like David...i hasten to Goliath. If i order food to be picked up and i discover that they left out the cutlery, i will drive back and demand it, even if i have cutlery at home. Why? because I deserve for them to remember the cutlery! I have to be extreme in this area, because my demeanor is naturally to be more accommodating. Some of you may have to do the same. Become more demanding and confrontational (sounds crazy don't it). Don't let people treat you any old way! Attack your fears and demand respect!

5) Remember the worst outcome really isn't that bad. Sometimes ask yourself; "what am i scared of?". If they say no...so what, life goes on. If i loose this money, so what...its money, i can make it again. Remembering that the worst outcome isn't death will help you become more aggressive in your choosing. Be confident in choosing and asking for what you want!

- the hipster

BlackBerry Bold! IPhone Killer?

Okay, so i love the iphone. I think it is a great peice of machinery and ive even owned one. However, nothing can beat the feel and usability of a BlackBerry Curve for a texter and email such as myself. Those of you that get my daily texts know this to be true, lol!

Anyway, BlackBerry finally has a phone coming out in the next week or so that can really challenge the iphone. I mean really challenge it. All the reviews have been great so far. BlackBerry lovers, here's a win for our team! Take that apple!

- The Hipster

God On The Shelf...

Question: "Do you think most people wonder away from thier faith in their 20's?"
- The Hipster
Another One From Relevant Magazine.com

Matt loved Jesus, you were supposed to believe. And you would have. The very moment you first see Matt, all round, wide eyes that are set deep just above an adorable smile, Matt convinces. But he was full of it. “I thought that by satisfying my flesh, I could escape from my head.” He devoured a steady diet of girls and booze. In an odd inconsistency, Matt hid his secret life, though he hoped it would free him. “I know that I believed in the Lord and loved Him, but ... I guess the easiest thing to say is that I didn’t understand grace.” In sin he tried to banish the God he couldn’t connect with, and separate from the unsustaining spirituality he had known as a child.

Here, insert the standard sinful sequence: bad choices, problems with alcohol, smatterings of drugs for fun and drugs for downtimes, when no sense of peace could be found. Then came Rick Warren. Yeah, that Rick Warren.

Matt took himself to Saddleback Church. “Do I remember what they were talking about at the time? Nope.”His spiritual development had entered a progressive phase. He says he doesn’t remember what was preached when he returned to church, but Matt remembers knowing he needed to return again. The next week he gave himself to God, claiming a spirituality born of his own intention. Of the conversion, or reconversion, you could call it, I ask Matt if he feels he was a Christian prior to the night he drove home, knowing God changed him forever. When he answers, Matt says perhaps he was. And then he adds, in simple truth, “But I may not have chosen Him until [that] time.”

It was theologian Paul Tillich who asked whether or not Christians could identify the values that had centering power in their lives. Can you? On that day, Matt did.

The Barna Group, the go-to Christian research organization, confirmed in a 2006 study what most of us already know—a lot of Christians experience spiritual drift during their 20s. We put God on the shelf. “The levels of disengagement among twentysomethings suggest that youth ministry fails,” vice president David Kinnaman says.

Bible-study Wednesday gets replaced by poker or Pilates. WOW 2002 gets replaced
by Arcade Fire.

But here’s the catch: Barna statistics suggest religious habits get the boot, not religion itself. Many of us are finding that we want God. The debate is whether or not it’s normal, and a necessary part of psychological development, to shelve God and go do something else in order to know, when we get back to God, that we want that relationship for life.

It's All In Our Head
A pioneer of human development, psychologist Erik Erikson assigned a number to the act of putting God on the shelf. It’s No. 5 in the stages we have to go through in order to mature. You and I know stage five by its other name, though: adolescence. The central conflict during adolescence is identity. We’re confused.

Pastor Phil Wyman directs The Gathering, a Salem, Mass., church operating in the heart of a town made famous for witchcraft. He compliments the Neo-pagan community in Salem for the focus they place on every person as a creative individual. “I know many Christians who have not left the faith, but left their former church experience in search of something deeper,” he says. “They were in search of deeper relationships, deeper service to the community and the world, or a deeper sense of wonder.”

Read more by going here: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7552

Should I Do It?

Okay, so I've never taken a riding class or even ridden a scooter in my life. But yet i want a motorcycle.

I actually went to go price some out and find out which one was best for me. Not too bad. The one i want is under 8 grand brand new and the payment was under a 100 bucks! Should I do it? I have a picture of it above.

I can keep my "white lightning" and tool around on this thing at night in my city (those of you that know me know where i am referring to)

- The Righteous Hipster

Rihanna Broke?

I aint one to gossip, so you aint heard it from me...Im not sure if this is true or not, however it is interesting.

Supposedly, Rihanna has fired her management company; Rebel One for stealing money...all of it. After all those hit songs, they are saying that she only has 20,000 left to her name. I hope that isnt true. If so its sad and criminal. Whoever is responsible for that should go to jail.

But is also teaches us to watch our money, something that I have had a an extreme focus on these past few months. One thing is for sure, she sho is fine! Gurl call me! We can go to church, pray about it...I can put my few dollars with yours and we can make it all back in a few years! Call me...8-) Read more here; http://www.theinsider.com/news/1134091_Rumor_Is_Rihanna_Broke

- The Righteous Hipster

Keith Jason's 10 Random Thoughts

These are some random notes by my good friend Keith...this dude is so funny... if you like it, become a fan of his at : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Keith-P-Jasons-Random-Thoughts/32876777081?ref=mf

1. I never knew that people took the lottery so serious...I walked into a gas station last Friday and there was a lady arguing with the man behind the counter because the Michigan Lottery people were prohibiting people from playing 8-8-8 on 8-8-08. She was furious because she couldn't play her numbers...

2. I was at the barber shop last week (Darrin Patterson is the BEST barber in YPSI hands down) and he had a spray can of Olive Oil... So I thought to myself what if pastors started anointing people with spray cans of olive oil like, "Psssssssssh, IN JESUS NAME!!!!"

3. I would like to congratulate a friend on their NEW JOB!!!!!!! God is faithful, I might make jokes and silly statements, but I don't play with the goodness of Jesus...

4. I lectured a Wayne State University last week, and you wanna talk about an "ah-ha" moment.... That was it for me... I really need to start my Ph.D. program so I can do it full time.

5. I read Mark 2:1-12 the other day and almost had to pick my brain up from off the floor, cuz God blew my mind.... Read it for yourself and then ask yourself.... 1. Am I surrounding myself with the type of friends that this paralytic man had? 2. Am I that type of friend to other people? WHOA!!!

6. I thank God for my God Brothers... I don't know where I would be without them jokaz...

7. My Cubbies are still 1st in the Division!!!!!!!!!! And we are almost half way through August....

8. I got a phone call from my wife saying that she got a phone call from the Dr. who said we NEED to talk to her about the ultrasound.... My wife couldn't make the call because she was at a training and couldn't talk long. So she asked me to make the call.... Let me tell you, there is no crazier feeling then the thought of something being wrong with your child... So I made the call, heard all she said, and the end of it is that lil'JOZEF is ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But they wanted to share something with us about the ultrasound that they saw that wasn't anything serious, but just had to inform us cuz it was on the report.Talk about a relief....

9. My dad sent me an email the other day and said that he is going to vote for Barak Obama.... after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I couldn't even find words to type in a response.... My dad is a life long republican voter (along with a few other things) :-) I guess people really can change.....

10. Was waiting for the judge to bust Kwame's chops like..."Mr. Mayor, you didn't call me when you went to Canada. You didn't email me. And I mean, WE ALL KNOW YOU KNOW HOW TO SEND TEXT MESSAGES"I feel bad for the mayor, but that woulda been HILARIOUS!!!!

How do we know that the Bible is the written word of God?

Another SwordandSpirit.com posting.

How can we tell whether God or mere men were responsible for the Bible or for any other book of "holy writ?”

There are many ways to examine this good and honest question. But let’s look at it from a way not used too often: let’s examine the perspective. Men will write from their own limited point of view. It is reasonable to expect that God, on the other hand, would communicate to us from a perspective that goes beyond our limited frame of reference.

Man's finite universe is limited to the four dimensions of length, width, height, and time. No wonder, then, that a man-invented religion will confine God and God's interaction with man to these four dimensions. But, since God the Creator must live beyond these four He created, a message truly from Him will reveal His perspective from extra dimensions.

In this respect, among many others, the Bible is unique. It alone contains descriptions of an entirely self-consistent, yet extra-dimensional reality; such as the beginning of space and time, God's operations before time began, and God as one, two, and three persons simultaneously. The Bible alone teaches such doctrines as the simultaneity of free choice and predetermination. For these and many other reasons, it is sensible to conclude that the Bible alone is the written word of God to man.

The Holy Trinity? How Does That Work?

Another post, taken from that wonderful Christian study site; SwordandSpirit.com.

The Trinity just does not seem to make sense. How can one person be two persons and three persons all at the same time?

In the universe we live in it just can't happen. In the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time, the Trinity is not just unreasonable, it's illogical. And if all there was was the universe we live in, the idea of the Trinity would have to be rejected. However…

The universe had a beginning, thus a Beginner. This Beginner, having created all 4 dimensions of space and time, must be above and beyond them. In fact, astronomers' best theories reveal the necessity of at least ten dimensions of reality for the Creator. In this multi-dimensional reality, three persons can be one God.

By the way, the Bible is the only Holy Book which speaks of extra dimensions of space and time and a God Who works in them and through them. The other books lock God into the 4 dimensions we live in, implying they were written by man alone, sans divine inspiration.

Can God's Existence Be Absolutely Proven?

I took this from SwordandSpirit.com, a great Chrisitanity study site. Use this information whenever you find yourself in one of those "conversations" or maybe just for your own personal review.

What I want is absolute proof for the existence of God. Why can't any Christian give that to me?

Absolute proof requires complete knowledge of something. Philosophers would say, for example, that since we cannot know everything about the chairs we sit on, there remains a basis for doubt - however slight - about their actuality. So, sorry! We humans, confined as we are to the 4 dimensions of time and space, cannot possess absolute proof of anything. There's always that inherent limitation.

However! There is ample practical proof of the existence of chairs. That is, there is so much evidence to support the belief that they are there, that, by faith in those evidences, we sit. So what we are more realistically seeking in life's great mysteries is practical proof, not the forever-elusive absolute proof.

As to the existence of God. evidence from 1) discoveries about the origin and design of the universe, 2) the origin of life itself, and 3) the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, all show us that for these to have happened by accident or "coincidence" are much less than 1050. (1050 is one followed by fifty zeroes, odds a lot worse than your local lottery and a long-shot by anyone's standards!) I bring those odds up because they are considered "miraculous" even among scientists.

Though not absolute proof, this is more than enough practical proof that the universe, life, and the words of the Bible have not come together on their own but by the intervention of God.