Self-Esteem...hmm

I visited Kaleo Church again this weekend in San Diego. The pastor speaks a lot like Mark Driscoll and a very similar style. He is a very hip kinda guy and mostly preaches expository in his nature, but remains very relevant and interesting. He spoke this morning about the Parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee. The pharisee was looking down on the tax collector and esteeming himself because he was NOT like the tax collector. The tax collector was looking at himself like he was a nobody without God, the Bible says that the tax collector was left justified, no, not like Microsoft Word. Bad joke.

The message ended up spinning back around to research done throughout the US and other countries and how it relates to how children are taught. A researcher here in San Diego found that kids that have higher self-esteem tended to think they were better in subjects when they actually scored lower than children in other parts of the world that held the belief that they were NOT as good in the subject. (Long sentence). Either way, it made me think about Osteen above and the gospel that he preaches of your self-esteem and how you should esteem yourself and of course mix a little God in there. The longer I live, I realize that I just plain suck. I'm sinful and do stupid stuff, sometimes selfish, and just a lot of time, don't have it together. I know that only in Jesus can I have esteem and anything that is good, is because of Him. He credited my account for good when I was bankrupt.

The pastor at Kaleo went through the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy and how it relates to Jesus. Chapter 7 means you have nothing. Chapter 11 means you have a few assets and could possibly regain control and salvage the company. If you are a Christian or claim to be, at one point in your life, you had to file Chapter 7 with the God of the universe. Maybe you don't remember the day, or the minute, what camp or pew you were sitting at, but at some point, you did. You confessed to God that you have nothing good to offer outside of what He has allowed and given you. There is nothing good in yourself, you are a sinner like the rest of creation in need of a Savior.

It has been quite an experience here in San Diego, I walk around everyday still not believing that I live in this place. I am already getting mean phone calls from friends that believe I won't come back. Who knows the Lord's plan, but it is not currently my plan to stay here for years and years and years. My project is 3 years+ so we shall see. Either way, I have so enjoyed this experience so far, I have a yogurt place in my building that I frequent everyday, which includes some mildly plain/sour yogurt and mangos with pecans. So good. I have also met really interesting people and it feels good to be outside of what is normal for me and what I've been used to for 7-8 years in Clemson. Everyday is an adventure here and I leave work thinking/planning what will happen that night.

As you will see in the pictures below, I am quickly becoming the Self-Proclaimed Medium Level Rock Band Champion of San Diego and quite possibly the Left Coast. How is that for self-esteem :)