I was talking to my brother on the phone last night, and it seems like he’s grown up so much since I’ve been away. We don’t talk about girls or fast cars, like most brothers talk about. Usually, the topic of conversation is spirituality - something I think he’s got a much better handle on than I do.

We talked last night about how, even though we were both raised “Lutheran”, our term for our belief system has changed a lot as we’ve matured. We both settled on the fact that we believe that Jesus Christ was the one and only true Son of God, and how His death of a cross promised all who believe in Him eternal life with our Father God in heaven. We also agreed that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God and reading it as much as possible is critical to spiritual growth.

He took it a step farther, and in a way that I’d failed to see. He desrcibes himself as “Trinitarian” - meaning an equal faith and belief in the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now that’s just awesome. So often Christians put all the emphasis on Christ and take away from the Father and Holy Spirit. Jews tend to focus soley on the Father. Still others focus too much on being overcome with the Holy Spirit (like some evangelical churches). The more I think about the Trinitarian concept the more I really like it. I don’t know if I’m going to be shouting it from rooftops just yet but it sure has giving me something to think about. It’s amazing with your little brother can teach you something.

“You’re so wise!…. You’re like a minature Buddha covered in hair!” - Anchorman (works for Baxter or Ken)

and on to part du of my post: New Years resolutions! The time has come again for us to reasses our life, find our faults, and set a start date for trying to correct them. If anything, it’s a reminder that we’re not perfect in the slightest - but it sure makes us feel good to try and better ourselves. Here are some of mine.

1. To take Jesus out the “co-pilot” seat, as the popular bumper sticker goes, and put him into the driver’s seat 24/7. God doesn’t say, “trust in me in most things. You’re perfectly capable of handling most things, but when a situation gets sticky, give me a call.” No, he wants to be in the driver’s seat - a part of every second of your life. I need to refocus on that and stop trying to solve or fix everything myself.

2. Finish what I started a year ago and read through the entire bible. I’m close now, but I’ve gotten distracted lately. He may not have anything else to say to you unless you read what He’s already written (someone much smarter than me said that first). After I finish my read-through I want to go back and do indepth studies on certain books.

3. Be myself with everyone. I don’t want to hide anything from anyone ever again. I want to be “what-you-see-is-who-I-am” Randy all the time.

4. Be more mindful of doing my part. Sure I might not be able to change the world, but I can do things right here that can make a difference. I want to start taking advantage of the opportunities that have passed me by because I was too selfish, lazy or proud.

5. Be more disciplined, organized, passionate and driven. It sad to say, but only those who are totally focused and dedicated to their goals achieve them. I want to be someone who goes for what he believes in.

6. Give equal time to all my hobbies. When I pick up my camera, my guitar gets neglected… and vice versa. There’s room for everything.

7. Get in better shape. I’ve done it before. Anyone who knew me around 7th-8th grade or the year after I joined the military knows I have it in me. It’s just forcing myself to eat healthy and get in the gym regularly.

8. Be a great boyfriend. I try hard, but I know I can do more for Sara.

9. Never forget all the friends and family that have helped me become who I am. Also, never to let those speical people get out of touch.

10. This should be higher on the list, but push myself to earn all Navy qualifications and get as much college education as possible. It’s my future, and I need to start working harder for it.

In keeping with the “Top 10″ theme I’ll stop right there, although I’m sure I could come up with more. What are some of your New Year’s resolutions?

Sara and I decided to spend our Saturday walking around my little town of Oppama. Since moving here in in October, I hadn’t really had the chance to explore the area. I wanted to play around a little more with my 50mm/f1.8 lens, and Sara wanted to make obentos (Japanese boxed lunch) for a picnic.

Sara got here around noon, and asked if there was a park nearby where we could eat the lunches she had prepared. I told her I really didn’t know, but I was pretty sure the ocean wasn’t that far away and it’d be nice to eat on the beach. As we walked towards where I thought a beach might be, we discovered that all the nice restaurants and shops weren’t anywhere near the train station - an oddity in Japan. We made note of several places we’d like to check out in the future.

We got to the first fork in the road, still not really sure where the ocean was. A dirty little river ran along one side of the road, so I thought maybe it would lead us to the ocean.
After 30 minutes of walking we happened upon a little bay, and found a sad little sinking boat. It turned out to be one of the few pictures I actually took today. It looked so alone, just sitting there sinking with no owner to save it from its shallow, watery grave. If it weren’t so cold, I might have made an effort to save it. Sara asked, “Do you see the ocean YET?” as I scanned the distance. “Nope, but I think a…. rollercoaster?” I said. We had stumbled upon Hakkejima Sea Paradise, a mini-Sea World Sara and I visited before I left on my first cruise. If you look on my Flickr page you can check out photos from back then.

We remembered there being a nice park right in front of the entrance, so we set out trying to walk to it. Our first clue should have been the Japanese suffix “jima” - meaning “island.” We hit a dead end one way, continued another, and pretty soon we’d been walking for over and hour. We finally gave up when we saw a dead end sign on a little deserted road we thought would lead us there.

On the way back, we found a nice little park about 2 blocks from the station. If only we’d found this an hour and a half earlier, we might have saved us some walking. Either way, it was a nice little adventure, and I found the location of sushi place I’d like to try. I’ve yet to find a place as good as Santa-san’s in Fussa.

A little less than a year ago, my brother introduced me to artist named Matisyahu. Since then I’ve been trying to listen to just about everything the guy puts out. The first song I heard, “King Without a Crown”, hit me so profoundly that I listened to it over and over again, just to soak up the awesome message. There’s not a lot of music that gets me truly emotional, but the first time I really listened to everything that was being said, I had that strange chill down my spine and my eyes teared up a bit.

I really love positive, God-centered lyrics, but I think the majority of Christian music lacks the new sound required to actually make society listen. I feel you have to reach lost people on their level, and to do that, you need a music that will get their attention and lyrics that will make them think. I really believe that the way to salvation for many of today’s disaffected youth is going to be through non-traditional bands like Matisyahu and P.O.D.

Matisyahu just came out with a new CD, and that’s what got me thinking about this. The CD is basically remixed versions of older tracks, but it’s powerful none the less. If you’re new to Matis, I recommend “Shake off the Dust…Arise!” or “Live at Stub’s”. I also downloaded a few of his music videos - “King Without a Crown” and “Youth.” Both use excellent imagery to just build upon Matisyahu’s profound message. Just in case you want to see a little bit about what I’m talking about, I’m going to finish off this post with the lyrics to “King Without a Crown.” I know he’s Jewish, but here’s praying that more people would come to a saving knowledge of God’s love for them through Jesus Christ because of his music.

See you're all that I have and you're all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
Wanna to be close to you, yes I'm so hungry
You're like water for my soul when it gets thirsty
Without you there's no me
You're the air that I breathe
Say sometimes the world is dark and I just can't see
With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity
But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe
I'll stand on my own two feet
Won't be brought down on one knee
Fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Out of darkness comes light, twilight unto the heights
Crown Heights burnin' up all through till twilight
Said, thank you to my God, now I finally got it right
And I'll fight with all of my heart, and all a' my soul, and all a' my might

What's this feeling?
My love will rip a hole through da ceiling
Givin' myself to you now from the essence of my being
And i sing to my God songs of love and healing
I want Moshiach now, time we start revealing

Stripin away the layers and reveal your soul
Ya Gotta to give yourself up and then you become whole
You're a slave to yourself and you don't even know
You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow
If you're trying to stay high, you're bound to stay low
You want God but you couldn't deflate your ego
You're already there then there's nowhere to go
You're cup's already full then its bound to overflow
If you're drowning in the water's and you can't stay afloat
Ask Hashem for mercy and he'll throw you a rope
You look for help from G-d you say he couldn't be found
Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground
Like a King without his Crown
Yes, you keep fallin' down
You really want to live but can't get rid of your frown
Tried to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground
Given up your pride and the you heard a sound
Out of night comes day and out of day comes light
Nullified to the One like sunlight in a ray,
Makin' room for his love and a fire gone blaze
Makin' room for his love and a fire gone blaze

What's this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin' myself to you from the essence of my being
Sing to my God all these songs of love and healing
Want Moshiach now so it's time we start revealing

Yes, that’s right. Shinjuku got the very first Krispy Kreme donut franchise in Tokyo. Sara and I waited for two hours to get some. Check out my Flickr site for more pictures.

Thanks to my folks and Oma and Opa for the Christmas money. I bought this really nifty new Motorola RAZR cellphone today. It’s exactly what I wanted! How did you know?