I wrote this a while ago in response to a Facebook fad that has since died. I figured it would be worth reposting.
1. Even as I write this, I wonder what this phenomenon says about the human psyche and the estrangement that technology is bringing to our community such that this 25 Random Things List has become so contagious in a viral sort of way.
2. At the same time, I wonder why it is that I myself am drawn to participate in this shared experiment on the human psyche.
3. Just when I think I get a handle on the biblical languages, I come to a passage that kicks my butt and reminds me that I would have been considered an illiterate buffoon in the Ancient Near East or Greco-Roman empire.
4. I have learned more theology in 19 months from my son than I have from Grudem, Calvin, Turretin, and Barth combined.
5. When we'd go on family vacation, my sister's alter ego, Kim Perkins, would suddenly appear. I would interact with said Kim Perkins by randomly walking by and kicking Kim Perkins in the butt with my opposite foot. At the same time, while Kim Perkins would give her extended commentary for the video camera, I would jump from bed to bed in the background in order to give it a live reporting feel.
6. When they were building the second story of my home church, we were playing tag in the unfinished construction site. I chased one of my best friends throughout the second story and he fell out a window two stories onto a pile of snow and could not breathe for a few minutes. I immediately walked back down the stairs and told him to "suck it up."
7. In elementary school, I had a penchant for stealing toys from toy stores by putting them down my pants and walking out. The biggest toy I ever stole was a Metroplex Transformer - to this day, I don't know how I ever fit it down my pants. Seriously, the transformer was huge.
8. My wife has been the most vivid and real picture of God's quieting love and restoring grace to me. I want to be a godly man for her. Another place I struggle to believe the Gospel.
9. Lately, Calvin and I have been watching old-school Looney Tunes cartoons online. I am awestruck at how 'smart' cartoons were back then. There were references to literary works that I still don't get.
10. Once when fishing with a buddy, I tried to cast my line and the hook got stuck in his ear - no joke. I had no idea so I kept pulling on the rod as he was yelling.
11. On that note I once got my ear pierced on a dare. My mom didn't notice until two weeks later when someone told her. All that time I managed to normally converse with her from the right side of my face.
12. In 4th grade, Chanda Wan paid me $20 to be her boyfriend for two weeks. I took the money and dumped her.
13. Lately as I consider the New Creation theology of the Scriptures and the in-breaking of God's kingdom into this world, I am filled with a child-like wonder whenever I see art, hear live music, or watch someone at their craft. I am seeing the world through new eyes.
14. All the way through my sophomore of HS, I was deathly afraid of girls and shy of groups in general. My father even doubted if I would ever have a date b/c I was afraid to eat in front of a girl. I find it absolutely hilarious that now I speak to groups as my calling.
15. I once got kicked out of church (excommunicated?) because I talked back to one of the deacons who was yelling at me for not wearing a tie. I exited cussing loudly acting like a bad mofo, slammed the door, and promptly went into the bushes and cried like a baby.
16. In elementary school, I was the leading scorer on my soccer team for 2 years setting the record for goals scored in a game (6). My secret was that I would wait outside the group that inevitably forms during a game when the players would all run after the ball. The ball would inevitably pop out, and I would put my head down and dribble and shoot. Once teams started playing positions (middle school), I promptly quit playing soccer.
17. I took a power reading class that has tripled my reading speed and improved comprehension. Initially after the class was over, I was reading one 200-300 page book every other day. I finished my entire summer reading list in the first two weeks of summer.
18. My greatest fear is that I will not live up to the potential that all my life people have said they see in me. The Gospel is freeing me from such burdensome expectations, and I am for the first time in my life actually ENJOYING being me.
19. I always wanted to play the drums, but my dad said that it was only for hyperactive people. Instead, he had someone teach me to play the guitar. Since then, I have learned the drums, piano, and bass, and have led worship in places as far-reaching as China and Papua-New Guinea.
20. The largest group I have ever spoken to was about 800 students. Before I spoke, I was so nervous that I threw up in the bathroom.
21. Doing ministry in Korea right after college graduation was the sweetest time of my bachelor life. I had no idea what I was doing, but God was so gracious to me.
22. The older I get and the more pastoral experience I have, the less I know what I want to do with my life.
23. Early on in my identity as a consumer, I realized that you could haggle over the price of cell phones at the store (like cars). My life has not been the same since.
24. I have always had a fascination with mudskippers. Ever since watching a national geographic special on the rain cycles of Australia as a kid, I thought to myself how cool it would be to see one, and that I would never get the chance. In my sophomore year of college, on a mission trip to PNG, I was in a canoe and saw a fleet of them. I broke down in tears because it was a deeply spiritual moment for me (Ps. 84:11).
25. The hardest time of my life was after I left my youth ministry of three years and was let go from a church plant a year later. I managed my mother's deli for nine months, and I was so depressed that I never wanted to pick up a Bible again. During that time, I was introduced to the Puritans and fell in love with my wife. Thank God for redemptive affliction (Ps 126).
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