The thoughts of a newly married, recently graduated, christ-seeking, pastor-to-be

Who is Karina Anyways?

⊆ 8:34 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

So I realized a while ago I put up a blog about the woman who has captivated me so much named Karina. And I just thought I would let you guys see us. So with no further ado... Here is Karina and myself.

 

Responses to Prayer

⊆ 8:20 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

The trip was amazing folks. I just wanted to say thank you to all those who thought of us and prayed for us on the trip.

The drive up through I-5 was uneventful as far as bad drivers, CHP, OSP, and and other authority figures. There was lots of fun conversation and singing along with bands ranging from Linkin Park to N*Sync. We chatted of the most interesteing topics from Favorite Cars, to the troubling theological thoughts that can drive one up a wall.

I did get lots of rest, woke up ready to go, and didn't forget anything in the packing process!

Karina handled meeting all my family with the grace and wit that made me adore her in the first place and so she was probably more fluid with it then even I was. She even helped out a lot with the final wedding snags and was valuable to just about everyone participating. There were very few last minute things to worry about so almost everything went as scheduled and the Wedding went down great.

My sis and bro-in-law are heading out next monday for Cancun, so if you would continue to pray for them that they would have a great honeymoon that would be great.

So once again, thank you to all, my evolving theologians

Zach

 

Prayer Requests

⊆ 10:03 PM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

Hello Readers,

In less than 7 hours I will be picking up wonderful, beautiful, funny, amazing young woman, who will be probably quite tired. Why? you ask would I be so unkind to such an amazing woman. Because we are driving to Portland tomorrow, 420 miles to be covered in 7 hours. It's a fairly fun drive on I-5 which we should get a kick out of but it does start quite early.

You are probably thinking I should be in bed right now, and you are right. But I wanted to ask some traveling mercies of you for me.

I need prayer for the ability to be alert on the road as far as my own state of being, as well as for other horrible drivers and Highway Patrol.

We need prayer for lots of conversation topics on the drive. Quiet drives are boring drives.

Pray that I fall asleep easily and get lots of rest... Before the drive!

Pray for Karina because she is meeting quite literally all my immediate and most of my not so immediate family at my sister Olivia's wedding this weekend, and she is nervous.

Pray for Karina's folks because it is very big for them to allow a boy to take their little girl so far away from them. I am sure they are a bit nervous too.

Pray for my family as they will undoubtedly have many last minute things come up for my sister's wedding.

Pray for my sister and her husband to be Nick, that they would have an amazing fruitful marriage... They are combining their single parents children to become a family of 5.

And Pray that everyone has a great weekend, including yourself.

You are all amazing my little evolving theologians...

Zach

 

Dreams, Passion, and Chances

⊆ 9:25 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

I have many dreams, and a couple passions.

My first and foremost passion is both broad and narrow. In simplistic definition it is to make ignorant Christians informed Christians. I don't like watching people unknowingly or even worse knowingly and willingly become narrow-minded. It pains my soul to watch people proclaim a theology that is uninformed and in many cases, wrong. To sit down and help educate Christians is one of my greatest joys in life. It is why I eventually ended up with a degree in Bible and Theology.

My second passion, which is lightly less intense is something of an offshoot of my first passion. It is to bring the time of Corporate Worship back into a fully sensual event. Where every sense (sound, sight, smell, taste, touch, spirit) can be touched. It is why I have found myself in worship production.

Chances... Sometimes I see them, sometimes I don't, sometimes I say yes to them, and sometimes I have to say no to them.

I would list the chances I haven't seen, but then it would defeat the concept of having not seen them. So I mourn for those, but press on anyways.

The chances I have turned down are fairly few. One in particular stands out. If I had accepted an offer from Rev. Jim Purves Ph.D in Edinburgh Scotland, I would be living in Edinburgh right now, I would have been studying at a seminary in Prague gaining a Masters Degree in Contemporary Theology, but the concept did not weigh well in my heart, and so I turned it down. Part of me is sad because of this, but ultimately I would never have realized my full potential in Production so I stand happy of this decision ultimately.

The chances I have said yes to are present. The chance for me to go to college and get a degree, I do not regret this. The chance to take on a part time position at Starbucks and enhance my Customer Service skills I said yes to, and I do not regret entirely, just the early mornings :-). The chance to be a part of worship production at NCR I do not regret it is amazing.

The chance that may lie before me. There is potential for a full time production position to happen. My dreams could be realized in this. But I must wait and see if it happens. And if it is created I must go through the process of hiring. This is why I must view this as a potential chance. But my hopes remain strong.


Have any of you my readers had chances at a dream? What happened?

 

Coffee of the Week: Starbucks "Cafe Estimá"

⊆ 7:38 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

I have decided to Begin a new weekly series of posts based on tasting some great black coffees out there. I am a long time Starbucks fan so a lot of my coffee postings will probably be based on them, but I am sure I will squeeze in a few from some other roasters. Coffees will be reviewed on 4 principals: Their background, aroma, taste, and body.

But introducing the Coffee of the Week! Starbucks "Cafe Estimá".

Background: This is Starbucks only official "Fair Trade" Blend. Hence making it a bit of a source of controversy because only one Fair Trade coffee is bought by the world largest purveyor of gourmet coffees. I am sure Starbucks has its reasons, but at least this one is represented well. The blend boasts a hearty combination of arabica beans coming from both Latin America and East Africa.

Aroma: A Brief whiff of this coffee brings out its nutty qualities, particularly an almond element. It also has some cocoa esque qualities to it.

Taste: This is a resoundingly sweet coffee. It rests nicely on the front of the tongue but also plays on the slightly herbal side setting the taste buds on the side of the tongue as well. The nutty qualities are smoothed out by its cocoa flavors and presents a sweet almost tangy coffee.

Body: Held as a "Bold" blend by Starbucks this coffee does have a strong body but not one that sits heavy at all. It presents itself with a strong almost acidic front but rests evenly after a second. After it has been enjoyed it leaves a pleasant aftertaste.

So here is my two cents. I am not usually a fan of Latin American Coffees, they are usually to acidic for me, making a very bright flashy start that leaves my taste buds reeling, but because of the nutty East African qualities the flavor is smoother, and more bearable. The aroma is pleasant, something that would probably lure me out of bed on an early morning, and the body is not as heavy as I would like it, but not unenjoyable. My rating then is:

3 Mugs! Not the Best, But Not the Worst! Give it a shot at a local Starbucks.

 

I Love... CLEARWIRE!

⊆ 6:10 PM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

Oh the joys of going anywhere and having high-speed internet at your disposal! It is darn near indescribable! I mean here I am sitting at a T-Mobile sponsored hotspot location, watching people sip their lattes and I know that when I leave here and go to my apartment, I will still have high-speed internet. When I go to Oregon, I will still have this internet, and when I find some random really wierd location I will take a picture of me using my clearwire their!

This might actually get me to fix my cigarette lighter power adapter in my car so I can get a power inverter and hook up my laptop and clearwire, just in the off chance that I get a singal at a rest area and need to check the weather ahead, send an IM, or post a blog!

Yes folks this service is amazing, I reccommend it highly!

 

My Latest Works of Art

⊆ 1:41 PM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

I have produced more art this morning!

Rustic CharmEnergy Escapism
Calm and CollectPassive Aggressive

My photographic attempt at a little Warhol

 

Lightroom Beta

⊆ 12:20 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

For some of you who don't know I am a bit of a hobbyist in the wonderful world of photography! I love taking pictures, and even more, love altering those images to bring out what I am thinking when I see them. Recently Adobe released a RAW image workflow program called "Lightroom." I downloaded the BETA version of this program and managed to turn the normal picture shown here into the following "Artsy" version by simply adjusting a series of faders!

Passive Aggressive Original

Passive Aggressive

Needless to say I look forward to some fun times ahead!

 

Rant of the Ravenous

⊆ 6:11 PM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

Fires stoked in tight furnaces
Little ventilation, momentary explosions
Cold fronts flung into desert climates
A flash of lighting, a clap of thunder
A jagged line drawn on white paper
Nothing but skeptics and realists

-ZT

 

Beer, Banter, and Fellowship?

⊆ 10:45 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

There is a rumor floating around that are a group of Christians, both men and women, that get together for fellowship, reading a book of nonreligious thoughts on christian spirituality, and drinking... BEER.

Yes they are consuming alcohol while discussing theology. Is this safe? Aren't they going to become consumed by this barley beverage? Will theology fall to the wayside of belching and hangovers? Does God allow these things to mingle?

I would dare say that this is an okay thing. For one thing if rumors are true, the group only drinks one beer per person, and actually do it for the learning of different tastes of beer. For learning to enjoy beer, rather than for the desire of getting drunk or even a buzz. The beer tends to start the group off which tends to go for at least an hour discussing the various aspects of original sin, grace, and church leadership.

So far nothing wrong, except some wonder, why can't they drink tea, or perhaps a healthy juice blend? I mean the bible condemns Christians from drinking alcohol right? Not that I have found, like many things the bible calls for moderation, asking to avoid drunkenness, which is not a bad thing to avoid.

One can wonder also if alcohol is present in this place, and a recovering alcoholic should come to this place at some point, and the beer is chilling for the next meeting, and the recoveree peeks into the fridge and sees these beverages, will the Christian who hosts this be causing his brother to stumble if he see a Christian with alcohol and decides it is okay for him to drink. To this I say something perhaps a bit edgy, should not this recoveree take a bit of responsibility for him or herself and remember that they are avoiding these things for an entirely different reason, that they are prone to drinking far too much and should know better than to drink?

It is one thing to offer a known recovering alcoholic a beer, yes that would be causing them to stumble. So, yes that would be wrong, if not cruel. But to simply own it and for them to be around it is no cause of fault to the host. They have no responsibility over the other person's problem and should not worry about these things. If they know the person is a recoveree they can as courtesy perhaps hide the alcohol from sight, but this is their choice and neither option is right or wrong.

So I guess my end thought in all this is, know your weaknesses, the bible doesn't forbid drinking, just drunkenness. And if you have gotten drunk before, there is grace sufficient for that too, just know that a life of doing that will hinder your spiritual walk with God, because if drinking is more important than God or anything else, that means it has become an idol, and idols only separate us from God. But if you can drink in moderation, you can still discuss theology soundly, you can still live the Christian life.

Okay hopping off my soapbox now.

Zach

 

Week in Review October 2nd to October 8

⊆ 12:39 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

The Man, Satellite, and Yum Yums

 

I need Help!

⊆ 1:25 PM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

Hi Everyone! This is aimed at those friends of mine in the Redding Community.

I need Volunteers to help run lights at Neighborhood Church once a month for 3 services. The lights are pretty easy to learn and very easy to operate (push a button and move a fader) and I will be there to help you a long. The time requirements are as follows.

Saturday: 3:00pm to 7:00pm
Sunday: 8:25am to 12:15pm

There is breakfast offered during the 9am service which you can get after you have lights set for the sermon itself.

I understand that this is 8 hours out of very busy schedules, but it would only be once a month and we can develop a schedule so you know when you would be upcoming.

So I am calling on you, my friends, to give me a hand and help me out.

I wish I could offer pay, but that would kinda defeat the purpose of volunteering. So yeah, anyways, You guys rock, and I hope some of you are willing.

Go to my profile and email me if you are interested.

Zach

 

Waking up can be such a chore

⊆ 6:37 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

Man I used to love getting up being ready "on the bright" for my day. That was before I started having to wake up to go to work for "The man". It is taking me forever to gte in gear here. And it isn't even that early. Oh well. Time to atp my inner core for strength! That or go drink an 8 cup press of Pike Place Blend before I head out.

Peace.

 

I hope I am not becoming Harris...

⊆ 5:39 PM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

Okay so today I was discussing the process of courting to my friend Ryan at Starbucks. He was asking me what it was like to be in something so foreign. And as I spoke I both liked and regretted the words that poured forth from my lips.

"Courting is a lot like being a Christian"

I mean hey marriage language is used all the time when discussing this relationship but I was taking this to a different place. I spoke of courting as, that you did things that you did not have to worry about hiding from people, a shame-free relationship process. Similar to as you try and maintain the righteous and faithful life of obedience to Christ you do not have to worry about doing anything that shames yourself or him.

So I pondered these words and realized I walk a very fine line towards becoming like an outspoken author on Courting. But ultimately I have come to realize that I enjoy knowing that what I do I need not hide, and that I am getting to know this wonderful woman without all the hormonal rollercoaster rides that have accompanied relationships in the past. So "onward christian soldier" and all that jazz as I run this crazy race called "courting"

Peace Out.

 

A Shout Out to my readers

⊆ 9:30 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments

So I would jsut like to say thank you to the few, the proud, the readers of this humble Blog. I would like to tell a small story of the same reader made my day twice without even dropping a comment.

I had been having a really rough day of making lattes when as I was leaving a coworker passed me a note that was a very kind note regarding the fact that I had *gasp* given him an extra shot... nobody tell "the man" about that. Anyways he had been very kind in telling me that he was glad that genuine good customer service still resides in our world and so needless to say he made me feel very good when I often times feel very stressed at my job.

A few days later as I was making some drinks I looked up and saw him, and told him thanks for the letter, that I had appreciated it, and he told me that he had found my blog and enjoyed what I wrote and thought I was taking it in a good direction. Once again my day made as sometimes I wonder if I am really speaking to anyone.

So here is to you my black coffee drinking, fellow beard growing friend,

Zach

 

Week in Review September 24-October 1

⊆ 10:01 AM by Zach Tanksley | ˜ Comments