1000th Post .. An Unveiling of dErK! (About Me)

It is time.. the veil of 'Just Being Here' and 'Derek John Jordan' is lifted.  

What in the world has this crazy person writing all this stuff and slapping it on the Internet for us to read?

The quick answer is my tag on twitter ...  

"Christ Follower, Wife Lover, Kid Wrangler, Children's Pastor, vonGAL Drafter, Music & Book Reviewer, Prestidigitator, Blogger, and just some guy.. 

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I will break these down for you.. in the order I have mentioned them 

Christ Follower : 

I believe in Sin - I believe in the redemption of sin through the blood of Christ, God's Son - on the cross of calvary.  I have given my life to God, and have never once regretted the decision.  If you have questions .. please feel free to ask.

Wife Lover ... 

I love my wife - and she loves me.. see 52 Reasons :) 

You can also read her blog HERE : http://shutterbugandmommylove.blogspot.com/

Kid Wrangler ...

I love my kids - if you look at the tags at the top there is one for each of them.. as well.. there is a page for each of them on the left side of the page.

Children's Pastor : 

Around June of 2011 my life was changed drastically when our family moved churches.  We (My Wife and I) began to act as Children's Pastors at Lakewood Christian Centre here in Montgomery Alabama. 

I have been in Children's ministry since around 2001.  At first it was just to help out because they needed the help and as well my soon to be girlfriend and later wife was a good enough reason for me. I quickly found myself enjoying the 'work' that was fun and as well enlightening to see kids learning and accepting Christ into their lives.  Seeing the devotion and unwavering faith of children is such an empowering thing to my personal faith. 

You can follow along the Lakewood Kids journey either by

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodkids

Blogger : http://lakewood-kids.blogspot.com/2012/05/three-little-kittens-lesson-24-of.html

Youtube : http://www.youtube.com/user/openedeyes02?feature=mhee

Twitter : https://twitter.com/#!/lakewoodkids

vonGAL Drafter :

November of 2004 I received the drafter job I still have now.  I really do enjoy this job.  I get to design things in 2d and in 3d (preferred) and at times I get to do a tiny bit of IT, Still rendering, and animation rendering.  

When I was in high school I really enjoyed math, but that began to die in college when I entered Calculus III and Differential Equations.  I prefer the drawing and modeling over the math, but ever so often I need a good amount of math to do what I do.  If I had planned my life... I would likely be a Civil Engineer with a Degree .. no wife.. and no kids.. but that was not the life for me - and I am GLAD.

When the choice for me to either continue in school at Auburn as I was or come home to marry the love of my life.. I prayed for practically an entire night.. debating with my rational self.. and the pull I had from God.  

Somehow I still ended up with a job doing Mechanical Engineering work as well as working within the Church on a volunteer basis! 

Music Reviewer : 

I have been downloading from Noisetrade since it's beginning.. actually I started with Derek Webb and downloading the album he put out for free BEFORE noisetrade was up and running.  I can honestly say it is likely 75% of my music collection is made up from music I downloaded from Noisetrade and the percentage grows each week.  

I felt the conviction because I really NEVER tipped any of the artists and due to that began to post on my blog the ones I really liked.  This turned into me deciding I should give a few thoughts on the music.. to which I would write tiny blurbs about them.  Then conviction set me to begin to review any album  I downloaded... because.. if I was getting the music for free.. the least I could do was freely let the world know about it's existence! 

My credentials for reviewing music do not exist.  I have tried in multiple occasions to learn to play the guitar and suffice it to say.. God did not give me that gift.  I can play and have fun with it, but I just cannot do what some of these amazing artists do with their music.  I am really a bumbling fool just giving his opinion which is mostly based on what I like,... and put against what is on Noisetrade.. 

I very much lack knowlegde in the popular music that is out there (especially secular), but push what I like.. so .. yeah.

I look for these qualities in music ...

1. Christ

2. Encouragement 

3. Heart (or passion)

4. Sound

5. Vocals

6. Recording Quality

If your music is on noisetrade and I have never reviewed it .. post a comment .. I would be happy to tell you why :)  

Book Reviewer : 

I have read books for many, many years - and with a book - it can be quite hard to know if it will be good, without a good review.  While most of the music I review I already put a stamp of approval on it when I downloaded it, because I can listen to it before downloading.. so those reviews are usually very positive, I have many times read a book I will give a negative review to.

My book preference:

1. Fantasy

2. Sci Fi

3. Christian Thought (or devotionals and such)

4. Christian Fiction

My profile on Goodreads is HERE : http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5381087

Prestidigitator :

Yes, I am a magic hound.  I enjoy the act of Illusion.  Over time I have come to the realization that this quote is .. so very much true

 “Magic is the only honest profession. A magician promises to deceive you, and he does.”  

- Karl Germain

 

My thoughts and goals in this is through the act of 'amazing' object lessons.. the spiritual lessons get a better recall for later in life.  It is one thing to read the bible and understand the word of God by the divine right of God, and it is another entirely different thing to inspire the desire to BEGIN READING the word of God in another!

You can see what I am up to with magic on my Youtube channel HERE : http://www.youtube.com/user/magicderk4christ?feature=mhee

 Blogger :

This I am sure you can tell by the fact you are very likely reading this from within the nice Internet walls of my blog.  The question is .. Why?

Simple Answer : Geocities shut down free websites and I needed another platform to share my art and poems.

Long and more true answer : It helps me "Just Being Here" ... Just like you I am another person living on earth.  I have problems - I have joys.  I detest journaling, but have found the act of blogging to be .. therapeutic. 

I have found the NEED to truly have opinions and voice them properly.. as well I have found a clearing of my mind and .. also .. somehow.. a better organized life.  Not that I KNOW what I will be doing, just I HAVE something to do.  I thrive on getting things done.  I like the sense of accomplishment I get from the completion of a project.  Each blog is just that .. a project.. something I can set my mind to.. learn from.. and hopefully.. maybe.. teach someone else as well.

Every tuesday I release what I call a 'blurb' 

Why do I call it that?   

A blurb is meant to be a short phrase used in describing a product.  My product is Christ.. it is Encouragement.. Advice.. good and bad.. and as well Therapy .. and if for NO ONE else.. for myself. (though I hope they all are enjoyed by many)

Sometimes they are short, but other times they are long.  I do my best.. HA! .. I hope you can look past the inconsistency. 

Just some guy :

I am likely much like you - I have a job .. I have a family - maybe things are going great with me one day - and the next I am tearing out my hair (which would be difficult as I keep it quite short) 

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