Emo Ethan

This is Emo Philips


He's a stand up comedian,
who has been in movies like UHF and the original Meet the Parents,
and has done voice overs for shows like Home Movies and Dr. Katz.
He's extremely funny,
and besides the first word in his name,
he has nothing to do with this blog.









I was reading Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller a couple of weeks ago,
when I came across the chapter dealing with the downsides of living alone.
I actually never considered living alone to be a bad thing.
Though I do live with my parents right now,
I keep myself pretty shut up in my room.
I understand that it encourages anti socializing,
but that doesn't really bother me either.
This is why Don thinks living alone is no good;
Don says that while living alone,
you allow life to fall into a schedule.
He compares life to a play.
People get used the the play going the way that they want it to go.
The script has no variables.
Whenever we write the script,
we leave no room for changes.
If someone comes in and interrupts our play's flow,
we become upset.
It's like that guy had no right to do this.
He's ignorant and unaware of how the world is supposed to work,
because we have perfected it by being alone so much.
We haven't allowed our life to be imposed by others.

This would only be a bad thing if the universe were revolving around one person,
and that person was the center of everything.

Everyone knew what that person did and didn't like.

They knew that person's ticks,
and what really sets that peson off.

And if anyone tried to mess with that person,

then everyone would unite in saying that that guy was in the wrong,

and he should know better not to mess with that person.

But what's wrong with this idea is that there is no one person,

and a lot of times,

or at least for people who enjoy being alone,

we believe we are that one person.

That the universe,

in some quirky way,

is supposed to follow our rules.

That people should act like us,

think like us,

respect our boundaries,

tell jokes that we think are funny,

hate the same songs,

love the same lines in movies,

respect the same art,

enjoy the same hobbies,

not call what we do 'weird',

and wear clothing that we would consider cool,

or fashionable or something.

Too bad that's not the case.

Too bad people are people with varied personalities.

I used to hate that.

I used to question why didn't people think like me,
or act like me,

because I thought my ways were flawless.

But thats the thing about enjoying lonesome.
You begin to think that everything you do,

is how everything should be,

and once someone comes in and tries to change that,

it's like blasphemy against your set life.

You know those 'Tapout' shirts?

I hate those.

I used to be bitter against the people in them,

because I just catagorized them.

I put a lable on them.

I hung out with a bunch of guys this past week that watch UFC,

they dig manliness and wrestling and stuff.

I just don't.

I can't stand watching that stuff,

but these guys were pretty cool.

A lot of them were really open about where they were in life,

how it was going and all that,

but they just liked punching faces and stuff.

God calls us to be together

To just love one another.

He wants community within the church.

He doesn't care that you want to have your set of things that you want to do,

because there are people who need you,

they need you to do things for them,

and frankly,

you freakin' need them too.

You can't follow Christ on your own.

No one ever has succesfully.

It's a family matter.

People should have people.

Pastors should lean on other pastors for support.

Bum-looking musicians, should text or call guys who wear Affliction and Ed Hardy t-shirts for advice and prayer requests.

Girls should quit worrying about their friends dating ex-boyfriends,

and lift each other up in prayer.

This isn't your universe.

This isn't even your town,

or community,

or life.

It's God's.

God wants us to help each other out,

and look deeper into the lives of others rather than just judging what they are at face value.

If you ever see me not practicing what I 'preach',

please let me know.

I need people too.

Listen all uh yall, it's a sabotage.

This is my school from Super Summer
It was pretty gnarly in this school. Everyone in the group was extremely welcoming, and it definitely challenged me. If you've ever wondered about Super Summer, or if you're sort of wanting to go but don't know the details, hit me up. It's rad......... now on to the blog.

so yes,
i went to a Christian leadership camp,
and I got all hyped up on Jesus,
then I was released back into the wild.
well man,
if you've been to any camp like that at all,
you know how easy it is for your passion to just evaporate,
and soon,
you're left wondering what God even showed you last week.
well,
this year was a little different for me.
you see,
on friday as we were coming back,
man i was tired,
but my dear friend adam called and asked me a few buddies to play music at his falls creek cabin that night,
so it's like, "heck yeah man"
I had the ACT in the morning,
but i'm thinking,
eh whatever...

I drive down there,
and on arrival,
i see that my tire,
is totally flat.
after the my friends and I finished our set,
we get some air in it,
and i started driving back,
but of course,
it goes flat once again.
"I know! How about the donut?!"
that goes on,
then it's flat too.
i drive it as far as i can go,
and by now i'm in Sulfur,
which... is not Ada.
a cop pulls me over,
and tells me,
"Man, that things going to catch on fire." since no one was in any position to just come pick me up, he said, "Yeah, just go up to Wal-Mart and spend the night in your car."
I was bummed.
Mom's bumming because the ACT's tomorrow.
things aren't lookin' so hot,
but i'm cranking up my Hillsong United album,
and i'm telling God,
"Alright man, i get this game you're playing. This sucks, but i feel ya."

A couple of hours go by.
I've made myself a little habitat inside of the entrance of Wal-Mart,
near the vending machines and the coin sucking vendors with giant bubble gum balls,
and sticky hands.
I'm just kind of laying on the ground.
I've been calling people,
trying to get home in any way.
This wal-mart woman comes up to me while im on the phone,
and the person i'm on the phone with,
is just annoying me.
not because they were being stupid,
but because I was sleepy,
it was late,
i was supposed to be in ada at least 3 hours ago,
the ACT sucks.
and my tires flat,
that sucks in general.
i was simply being a baby
and the wal-mart woman sees that through my actions.
She decides that she's not even going to deal with my ridiculous attitude,
which i don't blame her,
because she obviously figured i would treat her as badly as i treated the person on the phone.
That bummed me out, man.
I went in and apologized.
She said it was alright, and smiled at me.
I'm guessing not a lot of people apologize for their actions in wal-mart at 2 o'clock in the morning.
But I felt like such a punk.
After that point I constantly reminded myself,
"You are representing Christ in a frustrating time. Buck up."

There's this guy who works in Wal-Mart.
His name is James.
James,
honestly,
doesn't seem like much,
like importance wise.
He looks harmless,
and he's just kind of an average guy.
James turned out to be my gift from God.
I tell this guy what the situation is.
I'm stranded,
I have no money,
all that jazz.
By now I've gotten a hold of my dad.
And James tells me that if my dad will buy a gift card from the wal mart in mid west city,
then they can work some kind of voodoo magic,
and get me a tire.
That works.
James then,
not only helps me get a tire,
but this guy goes to the Tire and Lube shop or whatever it is in the back,
opens it up,
turns all the equipment on,
puts the tire on my wheel,
balances it,
grabs a jack,
and helps me put it on my car.
like,
makes everything perfect for me.
it was insane how nice this guy was.
he didn't have to do any of that,
especially putting the tire on.
it actually took a while for him to get all the equipment set up.

Not everybody lucks out like this.
i get that.
sometimes,
you get stranded in a crappy town,
and you remain stranded in that crappy town.
sometimes,
the people at wal-mart are the biggest jerks,
and really,
no one cares if you get home or not.
but I knew that God,
on this particular night,
was saying,
"Ethan, just be obedient. Just relax and do what I say."
He was faithful.
He was very generous to me.
I honestly believe that there was a being that was trying to destroy every bit of faith that I had gained during the past week.
I was being sabotaged
That he was trying to get me to stress and lose hope.
I was so ticked,
and tired,
and freakin' tripping out,
but I just kept hearing,
"You are representing Christ. Be obedient. He delivers hope, man."
It won't always work out the way I want it to,
it's going to suck sometimes,
like a lot,
but it will work out the way He wants it to.

Think about this,
"This is God's plan in His universe,
you may have a better plan,
but you don't have a universe."

Listen to Lecrae, the Rebel album.
Listen to the One Prayer podcasts from Lifechurch.tv
"You pray for me, I'll pray for you.
That's what's up."

The Desert Song

Incredible.

The dryest state in all the land

So it's been raining here in Ada, Oklahoma for a while now...
and I'm getting sick of it.
I don't mean to just be a negative Nathan and complain about all this wetness,
but dag nabbit,
I can't do much outside whenever the streets are all wet.
Who wants to build an indoor skatepark?

The infant over to my left is Colsen.
He's awesome.

So my family recently came into possesion of a 4 month old baby.
Her name is Amy, and she's the biological sister of my other adopted sisters.
She's... a baby.
I'm not used to dealing with babies.
Last night,
I was working on a school project,
and she cried.
I get it, okay?
She's a baby... therefore she also cries a lot,
but dang it,
I've never had to deal with this kind of business before.

It made me wonder how I'll be as a father.
I'm lazy,
and I often put sleep at a high priority in my life,
but what I'm hoping,
is that whenever/if ever I have a child of my own,
I will have so much love for that human being,
that I will be excited every time the child wakes me up,
just so I can hold it again.
I don't know if this is what happens in real life or not,
but I know that it happens whenever we cry out to God.

I know a couple of friends that really didn't have too great of a weekend.
They are awesome people,
and they also love God with a deep passion,
but I know a couple of them had to beg for forgiveness, like we all should do from time to time,
and thought, "God is so sick of me asking for forgiveness. He's just fed up with me."
I can understand being sick of the peaks and valleys that come naturally with following God,
but know that God does not grow tired of you running to him.
He wants you,
and if that means you having to leave him for a while,
just to know what his love truly is.

This happens to everyone.

Let's just be real folk,

there's no way to stay within the Godly mindset 24 hours a day,

everyday of the week.

We're just too full of ourselves.

I dig looking at cameras on Ebay more than reading Phillipians quite a lot.

We get tired or something,

so we don't read our bible,

or we don't pray,

or we just don't care about all the daily responsibilities that come with trying to keep the life of the righteous.

But when you choose to come back,

when you choose to get up out of your little hole,

don't think that you are just wasting God's time,

or that He's become angry with you.

Come to him as when a child comes to his loving father.

In Luke 18:17,

Jesus says, "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

This is what I take from this verse;

Whenever you were a kid,

and you did something wrong,

did you ever feel the need to own up to it?

We don't want to,

because we're afraid to disappoint people,

and possibly losing the love we recieve from them

But we know that if we have God,

then there's no way His love can be taken from us.

So that just leaves disappointment,

There was a feeling I had as a little kid,

where whenever i did something wrong,

even though I was ashamed of what I did,

I wanted a fresh slate,

and I wanted to move on from it.

I didn't want it lingering in my mind anymore,

so whenever I felt like this,

I would approach one of my parents or something,

and without any pride in me,

tell them what happened,

ask for forgiveness,

maybe even recieve some discipline or something,

then move on.

It was done.

It wasn't even an issue anymore.

It was out,

and I was sorry for what I'd done.

The pride might be what get's us.

It's like,

if we admit what we did,

and ask for His forgiveness,

then He knows what we've done,

and we don't recieve his blessings.

Here's the problem with that one though,

He already knew.

He knew before we were even thought of in our mother's minds.

Before the universe was set into place.

And he still has blessed us in incredible ways.

If God worked in a way that was like, "You did something bad, something bad will happen to you."

He wouldn't bother waiting until we did it.

He's beyond time,

so to Him it's already happened and everything.

He would just fill our lives with a bunch of crap from beginning to end.

And yeah man,

that happens for sure,

God doesn't make everything comepletely awesome and incredible.

Following God sucks sometimes.

But we know the worth from it.

We know that following Him down that road that may suck really bad,

ends up taking us to a paradise.

So it's us.

Going back to God,

is a choice we make.

Drop that pride man.

Drop that ego about yourself.

It's only holding you back from giving into what he has for you.

Run to Him knowing He's the only way out of this biz that you've got yourself in,

or that the world has shoved into your life.

Don't you know that God is love?

....and so it pours.

I didn't take this picture,
just to let you know,
I cheated this time.
But I wanted this post to focus on the recent fires across Midwest City,
Choctaw,
and wherever else.
My dad and I drove around the outskirts of MWC today in my car.
We drove past the fire damage in a lot of the woodland areas.
There were areas where,
at one time,

you couldn't see five feet into it,
because of all of the trees and what not.
Now there's literally nothing there.
a bunch of skinny sticks coming out of the ground,
and black ash everywhere.
This really wasn't that bad to me,
I mean it sucks that all of those trees are gone,
but it didn't hit my core or anything.
but...

...then we drove to where some of the homes were had burned down in local neighborhoods.
It was pretty insane.
Some houses were burned in rows.
2,
3,
4?
But every now and then you catch a street where it's,
house... house... ashes... house house house.

"Wait,
what is that?
The fire doesn't even touch their house,
but mine is totally gone?"

That would be my reaction.
I might even go as far to try and question God's will.
Something like,

"What did I do?
Did I make you mad this week?
Is it because I chose not to read,
Or pray,
or something??
Didn't I do what I was asked?
I don't deserve this!"

I find myself,
slipping into thoughts like these once in a while.
Every now and then,
when something goes downward for me,
I'll look up,
and ask why.
Do you guys do that?
Sometimes I'll even catch myself not sinning,
just so God will allow me to have a good time at church,
or so that He won't rain on my parade during the day or something.
But that's not really what God's about.

You remember the points you used to get,
in school,
in church,
whatever,
when you were a kid?
Like,
"do this right,
something awesome happens to you.
do it wrong,
and you get a butt-whoopin'
along with getting a horrible day.
go!"
This whole thing jacked us up, man.
Now our God is a God of works.
We don't care about knowing God,
we just want to be close enough to him so that if suffering comes our way,
we think we're chill because we read our bible,
or because we prayed.
Then,
if something bad happens to us,
we sometimes think that we must've done something to make Him angry.
"Oh man, God must hate me,
my life has sucked for the past few months.
He hates me,
I don't know what I did,
but He's not happy about it."
Do you remember that God is love,
and Love keeps no record of wrong?

Now this is true,
you try to grow closer to God,
you might have some tools to fight off the basics of trouble,
but life will still sting you sometime.
You won't be able to just stand up right after you've taken a spill.
Life will take you out sometimes.
God provides a hope,
and a comfort.
My heart goes out to those who lost family members,
home,
pets,
anything else,
to the fire.
God provides a rain.
He is not cursing you.
You are not getting a cold shoulder from our creator.
Whoever you are,
I have no idea what kind of anguish you're going through,
and I'm sorry if I presented this post as if I did.
I meant nothing by it,
because I'm not strong,
my faith is worthless,
but someday,
whenever life tackles everything I have lived for,
for so long,
I want to look up at God,
and not ask,

"What'd I do?"

but I want to look up at God,
and ask,

"What are You going to do?"

Fully believing in his will.

The rain's on it's way to put out those burning flames.
Look for it.
God has nothing but love for you.
He has purpose for you.
Even if you think you've lost it all.
He doesn't need anything of this world to work His will in you.