bschool apps update

This weekend went really well. I went up to nyc on thursday night so that I could work from home on friday and go to a student panel/dinner at nyu on friday night. They served some sort of pineapple salmon...it was awesome (i've failed at both of my attempts to make salmon, but THAT salmon has motivated me to wait for a salmon sale *i'll hold out for $4/lb* and try my hand again).

Saturday was the official interview day. There were about 90 people total on the campus to interview. There was a general air of excitement (with a side of nervousness) from everyone present. There was one guy present with whom I went to MIT. I think I saw one or two familiar faces from harvard as well.

After 30 minutes in the general holding area (where there was a continental breakfast), my "block" was called into the interview area. About 20 people walked into the interview area alongside me. When we stepped in, about 10 names were immediately called for an interview by people in suits with folders. My name was the 7th name called. My interviewer looked like a nice guy and one interview later, I can say that my initial assessment was correct.

The interview went REALLY well.

REALLY WELL.

I was prepared to answer all kinds of questions about myself. I was even prepared to answer the typical "STUPID" questions that interviewers ask as well (i.e. 'tell me about a challenge you had' 'tell me about a time you worked on a team').

I wasn't asked any "stupid" questions.

It is probably because my interviewer was intimately familiar with my entire application package. I was surprised by how well things went. After the interview, I took a guided tour of the school with the same 20 people from my group. We then went to lunch (terrible salad, but awesome chicken and baby potatoes (they were tiny potato-looking and potato-tasting things?)). A distinguished alumni delivered a speech during the lunch. The dude was a christian, so I made time to reach out to him after his presentation to ask about the spiritual climate at the school and his life as a believer/husband/father in light of his professional responsibility. Certain things that he said during the speech lead me to believe that he was much more than a believer in name only. The conversation was very helpful.

After the lunch, we went to a mock lecture on business law. We looked at a lawsuit that was filed against pepsi for this commercial





Very thought-provoking. Awesome lecturer (nyu really put their best foot forward in selecting this guy, very charismatic...not in the pentecostal/AOG/COGIC way tho ).

After the class, there was a mixer at a local restaurant/bar. I tried the brooklyn lager, which was surprisingly delicious (they had it on tap). It was probably "surprisingly delicious" because i associated the term "lager" with "stout". Don't judge my ignorance . I had a good time "networking" with the folk that were out. Prayerfully, I get in. I find out in 3 weeks.

The interview really reminded me in a powerful way that God is sovereign and gracious. I can see how he has blessed me tremendously throughout this entire application process. I do not deserve his blessings, but he has seen fit to be gracious toward me. Admission into NYU will *not* be a result of my overwhelming credentials (i don't have them), but rather, the graciousness of God. Pray that I get in!

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Thus says the LORD:"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."

Wedding - Tye Tribbett/Soliciting/Bmore PETA KFC Protest

The director of my gospel band got married this past weekend. I was part of a pre-ceremonial concert of sorts. Among other songs (two originals and "Say a prayer for me"), I was also slated to play bass on Tye Tribbet's "Chasing after you". It was crazy because I never had a chance to arrange nor rehearse the song with the guy who sang it. Prior to the wedding day, I actually thought that he was going to be playing lead guitar while someone else sang the song. 30 seconds before the performance, the dude that was SINGING LEAD let me know that I would be playing as his SOLE accompanient. WHAT?!?!?!??!!?



There was obviously some confusion of the terms "Lead", "Soloist" and "Lead Guitar" in the emails sent out prior to the wedding.

Overall, the performance went well. Though I spent my time preparing to play the bass line, I also played around with the guitar chords (for my own personal edification tho...not for performance purposes!!). I was really wired for the 10 minutes after the performance (like.."unable to sit down" wired- LOL).

The wedding and the reception were good fun as well. When I first met the director around june of last year, he was engaged to a young lady in the group, so this has been a much anticipated day from day 1.

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I went out the farmer's market in baltimore again with the folk from my monday night bible study. Our day ended with a vendor/facilitator of the market approaching us with a police officer at his side and asking us to leave because we were "soliciting"...and the law requires that we be at least 300 ft or so outside of the market. Solicitation is directly related to selling something, all we were doing was starting conversations and infrequently passing out tracts, but whatever...

At that point, we decided to pack up and to go to the charles village chipotle. As we were walking out, I stopped another non-vendor lady who was passing out material and let her know that we were just asked to leave since "solicitation" laws were being enforced today. The officer was trailing behind us (not necessarily following us), so in an attempt to avoid any further conflict, I made a point to tell him what I was doing in having a conversation with the lady. The officer then (out of sheer curiosity) asked to see what I was handing out. I showed him the "good person" gospel tract that i had and he was like "I'm a christian too, and I wouldn't want to hinder anyone in the city from preaching the gospel, the city certainly needs it...but please stay on the outskirts of the market". What are the chances of running into a believing police officer?

The lady was given a pass by the same guy who asked the cop to ask us to leave. I'm probably going to write a letter into the baltimore sun or something to expose the discrimination.

OH - highlight of the day was during a conversation with a girl who spent 15 years in catholic school. I first asked her if she would be willing to have a conversation about spiritual things - she said "SURE!". I then asked her about her spiritual beliefs and she said (with an air of accomplishment) "I was a christian for most of my life - I spent 15 years in catholic school, but now i do whatever seems right to me". The conversation progressed into us talking about man's need for a savior and the salvific inadequacy of attending catholic school. She then put her hand on her forehead in a manner that was partially discreet and kinda weird all at the same time. Within 10 seconds, a friend of hers came on the scene and said "Oh, we have to go - i need her for something".

...

THE GIRL TOTALLY SENT OUT A DISTRESS SIGNAL TO HER FRIENDS!!! I've seen girls plan this out at parties, i've seen it on TV and i've read about it in newspaper articles, BUT I'VE NEVER BEEN ON THE RECEIVING END OF ONE!!

It was awesome! I shared a good laugh with the other laborer-folk after the fact.

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After leaving the chipotle and making my way home, i drove past a KFC on a busy avenue that had about 30 people in front of it with signs. I immediately was able to determine that these were PETA type people. They were protesting the GENOCIDE OF CHICKENS...IN FRONT OF A KFC!!!! seriously?

They had signs with pictures of chickens being "mistreated". They had catchy slogans as well. I didn't really have anywhere to be and I was still in a particularly outgoing mood so the thought crossed my mind to go and talk to them. The sign that made me park my car (aside: there was an abudance of parking spaces on the avenue, how could i not park?) was the sign that read "Thou shalt not kill".

I specifically approached the dude with that sign and was like "Thou shalt not kill? like...the bible, right?" And he was like yeah "God said don't kill and that we should treat all creatures with respect"

...

I challenged the guy's usage of that text by making a reference to the fact that God killed a lamb in the garden of Eden to cover the sin of Adam and Eve and that he also instituted the entire sacrificial system wherein countless animals were slaughtered and how all this served as a type/shadow of Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. He jumped off that subject...so now we're talking about morality...and a fellow protester joins the conversation and is on some "We believe that people should do what seems right to them, you can believe the bible if you want"

And so I was like "Yeah, and the founders of KFC feel that it is right to treat chickens the way that they do, who are you to tell them that they're wrong? This is the problem with moral relativism...it is arrogant and it makes no sen..."

(a taller guy runs over and gives me some PETA tracts)

Had i not been full from chipotle (and unable to see that I wasn't going to be able to make any further points in conversation without being interrupted and given more PETA tracts), I would've gone inside and purchased a personal bucket so that i could have continued the conversation with a drumstick (or two) in hand(s).

In the future, I would love to be more investigative in my approach so that I could see what informs their convictions. Either way, this is Romans 1 being played out.

Ben&Jerry'sCCCD/cop complaint/taxes/prison letter

Just getting back in the house from monday night bible study. I've been bothering the host about not having ice cream in the freezer (i actually put a sign in her freezer that reads "no ice cream = sin") and today there was a single serving cup of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream in her freezer to greet me!!

I've received a lot of different counsel on how to proceed with filing the complaint against the officer that pulled me over. I have judged the counsel that I received from a cop that attends my monday night bible study to be the best. I've already got extra hours for the month, so i'm going to take some time off tomorrow and report the officer directly to his internal affairs unit (to ensure that my complaint doesn't just get swept under the rug by more crooked cops).

I'm slowly getting my tax forms in the mail. In hindsight, I didn't do as poorly in my active stock market trading (on zecco.com) as I thought I did. The daily stock watching put me through a lot of heartache. I will never watch stocks on a daily basis ever again (unless it is in a bull market).

I got another letter from the new brother in the faith who is currently in prison. It was really a blessing. I sent him a package with a letter and some sermons on the role that the word of the Lord is to play in the life of the believer. My prayer is that the Lord would:

-richly bless him in his spiritual growth
-shield him from false teaching
-powerfully remind him of the trustworthiness of his promises
-through his word, work a joy in him that will cause him to rejoice and be thankful in all things
-physically protect him