rob bell does a little skit (can't see it, all in black), of what paul might have been thinking while writing the book of philippians in jail. pretty incredible.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
from george's website
i would encourage you to check out george's website (link on right), but here is a copy and paste from his post today, out of the book "myth of certainty" which i received on my doorstep this morning.
The goal of faith is not to create a set of immutable, rationalized, precisely defined and defendable beliefs to preserve forever. It is to recover a relationship with God. He offers us a person and a relationship; we want rules and a format. He offers us security through risk; we want safety through certainty. He offers us unity and community; we want unanimity and institutions. And it does no good to point fingers because none of us desires too much light. All of us want God to behave Himself in our lives, to touch this area but leave that one alone, to empower us here but let us run things ourselves over there.Faith in God, then, is not a belief system to defend but a life to live out (though systematic thinking about our beliefs can help us decide how to live). Mistaking this active life of faith for an institutionally backed and culturally bound belief system is similar to reducing the Mona Lisa to paint-by-numbers. Anyone can see that the paint-by-numbers picture has a relationship to the original, but how foolish to think they are the same thing. This is not at all an argument against the church, whose role I take to be crucial. Rather, it is an argument for the personal, risky, never-completed nature of our relationship to God. My desire is for an open-eyed commitment to the life of faith, and the responsibilities it entails, that includes a sensitivity to the great tensions under which faith must live in the modern world.
As a belief system, the Christian religion is subject to the many ills of all belief systems; as an encounter with God, it transforms individual lives and human history. God does not give us primarily a belief system; he gives us Himself, most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ, so that truth and meaning can be ours through a commitment to that love with which He first loved us. The risk is great, but the reward is infinite.
The goal of faith is not to create a set of immutable, rationalized, precisely defined and defendable beliefs to preserve forever. It is to recover a relationship with God. He offers us a person and a relationship; we want rules and a format. He offers us security through risk; we want safety through certainty. He offers us unity and community; we want unanimity and institutions. And it does no good to point fingers because none of us desires too much light. All of us want God to behave Himself in our lives, to touch this area but leave that one alone, to empower us here but let us run things ourselves over there.Faith in God, then, is not a belief system to defend but a life to live out (though systematic thinking about our beliefs can help us decide how to live). Mistaking this active life of faith for an institutionally backed and culturally bound belief system is similar to reducing the Mona Lisa to paint-by-numbers. Anyone can see that the paint-by-numbers picture has a relationship to the original, but how foolish to think they are the same thing. This is not at all an argument against the church, whose role I take to be crucial. Rather, it is an argument for the personal, risky, never-completed nature of our relationship to God. My desire is for an open-eyed commitment to the life of faith, and the responsibilities it entails, that includes a sensitivity to the great tensions under which faith must live in the modern world.
As a belief system, the Christian religion is subject to the many ills of all belief systems; as an encounter with God, it transforms individual lives and human history. God does not give us primarily a belief system; he gives us Himself, most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ, so that truth and meaning can be ours through a commitment to that love with which He first loved us. The risk is great, but the reward is infinite.
Friday, March 28, 2008
rob bell
rob bell being asked if the church he pastors is "emergent." think his response is interesting.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
adventures in kylie
kylie is in her "get-out-of-bed-as-many-times-as-possible" stage. she has been in this stage before. it is not a good place for her to be.
tonight emily put her to bed, and she got up shortly there after, complaining that she hurt her nose. i, like any good dad would do, gently explained to her that was no reason to get out of bed, and if she got out again she was in BIG TROUBLE.
that lasted about 5 minutes and emily and i hear the bathroom door open. this is typically her last ditch effort to get out of bed, because who is going to whoop their child for having to go "pee-pee" right?
emily, helps her use the restroom, and i hear her say to our beautiful little girl, "if you get out of bed again you are getting a spankin'." now these spankin's are usually executed by me - which i just love (yeah right!).
so, about 5 minutes after that i hear kylie yelling "mommy, mommy, mommy" and you get the picture. so i tell emily that kylie is asking for her, and emily heads back to the room. now picture this - as emily is opening up the door she hears kylie, who is screaming at this point, yell "mommy, i found a booooooo-gaaaa" laying flat on her back, arm in the air and index finger raised to the sky. hilarious!
so tonight, or possibly tomorrow when you are reading this, just picture our little punkin', two knuckles deep in her nostril, striking gold!
i guess i know why her nose hurt the first time she got out of bed. must have been a "crusty" one!
tonight emily put her to bed, and she got up shortly there after, complaining that she hurt her nose. i, like any good dad would do, gently explained to her that was no reason to get out of bed, and if she got out again she was in BIG TROUBLE.
that lasted about 5 minutes and emily and i hear the bathroom door open. this is typically her last ditch effort to get out of bed, because who is going to whoop their child for having to go "pee-pee" right?
emily, helps her use the restroom, and i hear her say to our beautiful little girl, "if you get out of bed again you are getting a spankin'." now these spankin's are usually executed by me - which i just love (yeah right!).
so, about 5 minutes after that i hear kylie yelling "mommy, mommy, mommy" and you get the picture. so i tell emily that kylie is asking for her, and emily heads back to the room. now picture this - as emily is opening up the door she hears kylie, who is screaming at this point, yell "mommy, i found a booooooo-gaaaa" laying flat on her back, arm in the air and index finger raised to the sky. hilarious!
so tonight, or possibly tomorrow when you are reading this, just picture our little punkin', two knuckles deep in her nostril, striking gold!
i guess i know why her nose hurt the first time she got out of bed. must have been a "crusty" one!
opening day
opening day is almost upon us, at least for the cincinnati reds. they open their season this monday with the arizona diamondbacks. i am not sure they have even finalized their roster - not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. with the addition of a couple young arms in the starting rotation, they should have a shot to compete this year. don't think they will have any trouble scoring runs.the picture was taken last year. kylie and i traveled to the nati and took in a game. she did well, we ended up losing the game in the 8th, which was pretty typical last year. but 2008 is a new year, and we have 162 games to play, so anything could happen!
go reds!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
religiosity revealed
just so everyone knows, i had written a blog post in which i vented a lot of frustration i had after a class i sat in tonight, but it was deleted. what good would that do me? religion killed jesus and it almost took my life tonight (i mean literally, my heart almost stopped beating).
so where does that leave me? well, frustrated to be sure, but hopefully farther along in my path and quest to see jesus even in those that get under my skin.
i thank god for emily - she is my sounding board and bears the brunt of this frustration. see lovely listens and agrees with me, probably just to make me feel better. but nothing has changed. god is still revealed himself in jesus and i am still attempting to faithfully follow his example. i am trying not to find justification for "going off" in these situations because jesus confronted "religious" people. like i said earlier "i am from here to eternity from getting it right."
hopefully i am better from having sat in the class.
so where does that leave me? well, frustrated to be sure, but hopefully farther along in my path and quest to see jesus even in those that get under my skin.
i thank god for emily - she is my sounding board and bears the brunt of this frustration. see lovely listens and agrees with me, probably just to make me feel better. but nothing has changed. god is still revealed himself in jesus and i am still attempting to faithfully follow his example. i am trying not to find justification for "going off" in these situations because jesus confronted "religious" people. like i said earlier "i am from here to eternity from getting it right."
hopefully i am better from having sat in the class.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
why did it have to be this way?
question that has been banging around in my head for sometime. if we needed the blood of god to satisfy the justice of god (which i believe we did/do), why didn't god just lay him on an alter and sacrifice him quickly? why did jesus teach, and make profoundly political statements against the current powers? why did he have to suffer, and be nailed to a roman cross? why the public shame and humiliation that was the crucifixion?
i believe because he was exposing the world and its ways for what they are and were. he was putting on display the falleness of our world, and thus giving us an alternative to the "way the world works." the feeding of the thousands, clearing of the temple and jesus' prayer in the garden were all temptations to take his rightful place of power and bring about the "justice of god." but it wasn't to come this way. it is so mind blowing to me. jesus could have called 12 legions of angels, he could have started the holy war of holy wars, but he didn't. he willingly, and voluntarily laid down his life.
now this, if you agree with me, has HUGE implications for how we live out our existence on this earth. if we are taking seriously the call of scripture and our lord to "walk as jesus did," and "take up our crosses" it is going to impact our social ethics, or how we deal with folks. right? so for me the cross, is not just the instrument of death i call upon so i can get to heaven, though it is most certainly that. the cross is a political alternative to the politics of the day (and i am not talking about a new way to do government). it is a radical call to lay down my life, so that through christ i may pick it up someday. it is a different way of seeing and engaging the world.
to say the gospel is not a social gospel or has no social implications, in my mind, is to communicate an incomplete gospel. in matthew, we often quote the story of the sheep and the goats to warn others of the impending judgement, and i believe miss what is bringing about the impending judgement. it is not our lack of knowledge of scripture, adherence to religious ritual or what we abstain from. did you hear that? it is none of those, yet all of these things seem to be of upmost importance to church folks. instead it is our treatment of "the least of these." i can know everything right, confess it right and follow the rituals, and jesus could say "i never knew you." why? how? because we didn't take care of people. because we didn't understand that in fact, jesus was a revolutionary. in fact jesus was coming to upset the establishments of this world and usher in a new age!! and we chose to ignore it. we ignored our cross, and acted like the christian life wasn't a call to die, but rather a call to religious activity.
god IS remaking the world. it is true, he didn't "make everything right" when he was here, but i believe he will one day and is calling us to live like it is that day! even now, in the midst of all the ugliness of our planet. it won't be easy. we are still in a fallen world, and most people will not embrace our ethics and way of life. but through the spirit of christ, we are promised victory - through death.
and this is why, among other reasons, i am wandering in the desert. trusting christ for my salvation and my next action. i am from here to eternity from "getting it right." but i can't and won't go back to the alternative of accepting things for the way they are, and performing my religious duties. i have caught the vision of a kingdom far superior to anything i could have ever imagined. it is beautiful, and it looks like christ.
i believe because he was exposing the world and its ways for what they are and were. he was putting on display the falleness of our world, and thus giving us an alternative to the "way the world works." the feeding of the thousands, clearing of the temple and jesus' prayer in the garden were all temptations to take his rightful place of power and bring about the "justice of god." but it wasn't to come this way. it is so mind blowing to me. jesus could have called 12 legions of angels, he could have started the holy war of holy wars, but he didn't. he willingly, and voluntarily laid down his life.
now this, if you agree with me, has HUGE implications for how we live out our existence on this earth. if we are taking seriously the call of scripture and our lord to "walk as jesus did," and "take up our crosses" it is going to impact our social ethics, or how we deal with folks. right? so for me the cross, is not just the instrument of death i call upon so i can get to heaven, though it is most certainly that. the cross is a political alternative to the politics of the day (and i am not talking about a new way to do government). it is a radical call to lay down my life, so that through christ i may pick it up someday. it is a different way of seeing and engaging the world.
to say the gospel is not a social gospel or has no social implications, in my mind, is to communicate an incomplete gospel. in matthew, we often quote the story of the sheep and the goats to warn others of the impending judgement, and i believe miss what is bringing about the impending judgement. it is not our lack of knowledge of scripture, adherence to religious ritual or what we abstain from. did you hear that? it is none of those, yet all of these things seem to be of upmost importance to church folks. instead it is our treatment of "the least of these." i can know everything right, confess it right and follow the rituals, and jesus could say "i never knew you." why? how? because we didn't take care of people. because we didn't understand that in fact, jesus was a revolutionary. in fact jesus was coming to upset the establishments of this world and usher in a new age!! and we chose to ignore it. we ignored our cross, and acted like the christian life wasn't a call to die, but rather a call to religious activity.
god IS remaking the world. it is true, he didn't "make everything right" when he was here, but i believe he will one day and is calling us to live like it is that day! even now, in the midst of all the ugliness of our planet. it won't be easy. we are still in a fallen world, and most people will not embrace our ethics and way of life. but through the spirit of christ, we are promised victory - through death.
and this is why, among other reasons, i am wandering in the desert. trusting christ for my salvation and my next action. i am from here to eternity from "getting it right." but i can't and won't go back to the alternative of accepting things for the way they are, and performing my religious duties. i have caught the vision of a kingdom far superior to anything i could have ever imagined. it is beautiful, and it looks like christ.
Monday, March 24, 2008
electronic dialogue
as you may have known, if you read this blog with any regularity, i have been engaged in a mostly electronic dialogue with a couple brothers of differing opinions. today was the issue of violence. now i have my own convictions on this subject - but again i would argue that the difference in opinions is our reading of the gospels. it gets at my last post, and what i was trying to communicate. anyway, here is a comment that strikes straight to the heart of why we disagree:
Context, Adam. Jesus is talking about how you relate to others in individual matters. Jody and aren’t arguing that Christians should be able to randomly kill anyone who offends us. The passage has nothing to do with governmental matters. You’re isogeting.
this was just after i sited christ's words in the sermon on the mount. he said i was taking it out of context - in fact, so he informed, jesus' words here have nothing to do with "governmental matters."
huh? really? i informed him, we have nothing more to discuss on this issue then!
Context, Adam. Jesus is talking about how you relate to others in individual matters. Jody and aren’t arguing that Christians should be able to randomly kill anyone who offends us. The passage has nothing to do with governmental matters. You’re isogeting.
this was just after i sited christ's words in the sermon on the mount. he said i was taking it out of context - in fact, so he informed, jesus' words here have nothing to do with "governmental matters."
huh? really? i informed him, we have nothing more to discuss on this issue then!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
ethic to live by
“One of the greatest problems of the Western church, ever since the Reformation at least, is that it hasn’t really known what the gospels were there for. Imagining that the point of Christianity was to enable people to go to heaven, most Western Christians supposed that the mechanism by which this happened was the one they found in the writings of Paul . . . and that the four gospels were simply there to give backup information about Jesus, his teaching, his moral example, and his atoning death. This long tradition screened out the possibility that when Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom, he was talking not about a heaven for which he was preparing his followers but about something that was happening in and on this earth, through his work, then through his death and resurrection, and then through the Spirit-led work to which they would be called.” - N. T. Wright
stole this quote off of mike cope's blog, but it seems to go well as i begin to plow through "the politics of jesus" again, by john howard yoder. i actually believe there is a "hidden message" that the modern church has a hard time seeing. i have been listening to some reformers (staunch defenders of the truth) here of late, and they seem to think it is silly that anyone could read the scriptures and get new insights. they even went so far to say this was an arrogant assertion. how dare we read the bible for a "fresh" word from god? this is astonishing to me! what i hear them say is, "we got it all figured out years ago - all you have to do is believe it."
well i would disagree and stand with yoder. there is a social/politic element of christ and his ministry that goes largely unnoticed in our modern churches.
"whoever claims to live in him, must walk as jesus did."
this verse continues to mean so much to me. how did jesus walk? did he just hang around for 33 years, so he could die? what was he doing? was he just teaching us how to be a good moral person? how do we begin to form a social ethic from the life of christ? i have a sneaking suspicion it might take a lifetime of walking with jesus to unpack these questions.
stole this quote off of mike cope's blog, but it seems to go well as i begin to plow through "the politics of jesus" again, by john howard yoder. i actually believe there is a "hidden message" that the modern church has a hard time seeing. i have been listening to some reformers (staunch defenders of the truth) here of late, and they seem to think it is silly that anyone could read the scriptures and get new insights. they even went so far to say this was an arrogant assertion. how dare we read the bible for a "fresh" word from god? this is astonishing to me! what i hear them say is, "we got it all figured out years ago - all you have to do is believe it."
well i would disagree and stand with yoder. there is a social/politic element of christ and his ministry that goes largely unnoticed in our modern churches.
"whoever claims to live in him, must walk as jesus did."
this verse continues to mean so much to me. how did jesus walk? did he just hang around for 33 years, so he could die? what was he doing? was he just teaching us how to be a good moral person? how do we begin to form a social ethic from the life of christ? i have a sneaking suspicion it might take a lifetime of walking with jesus to unpack these questions.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
jesus wept?
in john 11, john tells the story of a close friend of jesus dying, and then subsequently being raised from the dead by jesus. jesus' response (his emotion) is what i find interesting in this story. because when he first gets word that lazarus is fallen ill, he is not at all worried about what the final outcome is going to be. everyone else is concerned, but jesus seems to know something everyone else doesn't -he will raise him up!
now, why then when jesus enters the city and sees mary and all the jews gathered around her, was he "moved in the spirit?" why does he cry? he knows what is about to happen. a more appropriate response might have been, "hey, watch this!" but jesus cries. the bible even goes on to say he was "deeply moved" again as he approached the tomb. if you read this story closely and really begin to enter into it, you can get caught up in the emotion of it all. you may even reflect back to a moment in your life when tragedy struck, when your emotions were hitting an all time high and you couldn't even bear to open your eyes because the pain was so great. when words didn't help, when your faith even seemed to waiver. when you might have been asking "where is god?"
why did jesus cry? interesting question. we can only speculate, but my opinion is jesus was broken hearted. knowing how life "should" be and how it actually plays out is heartbreaking. there is immense beauty all around, and yet there is darkness and ugliness to the same extreme. there is joy in this life and there is horrible and awful sadness. and jesus understands this. i am glad we have this story recorded in the bible. jesus cries, jesus wept. here is the son of god - who walked straight out of heaven - into our mess. he actually entered into our story, physically - and experienced the pain of it all. the truth of the incarnation has far reaching implications on our view of god. it is about saving us from our sins, but that is not the whole story. when life is tragic - jesus weeps. when life is too hard and unbearable to even take another step - jesus weeps. when the child is born blind - jesus weeps. when life is filled with pain and suffering - jesus weeps. when bombs are falling from the sky - jesus weeps.
jesus wept. god in the flesh, the one we worship and adore, the holy one of god, is "god with us." he is the suffering servant of the world. now take up your cross and follow him, knowing that he is walking alongside us!
now, why then when jesus enters the city and sees mary and all the jews gathered around her, was he "moved in the spirit?" why does he cry? he knows what is about to happen. a more appropriate response might have been, "hey, watch this!" but jesus cries. the bible even goes on to say he was "deeply moved" again as he approached the tomb. if you read this story closely and really begin to enter into it, you can get caught up in the emotion of it all. you may even reflect back to a moment in your life when tragedy struck, when your emotions were hitting an all time high and you couldn't even bear to open your eyes because the pain was so great. when words didn't help, when your faith even seemed to waiver. when you might have been asking "where is god?"
why did jesus cry? interesting question. we can only speculate, but my opinion is jesus was broken hearted. knowing how life "should" be and how it actually plays out is heartbreaking. there is immense beauty all around, and yet there is darkness and ugliness to the same extreme. there is joy in this life and there is horrible and awful sadness. and jesus understands this. i am glad we have this story recorded in the bible. jesus cries, jesus wept. here is the son of god - who walked straight out of heaven - into our mess. he actually entered into our story, physically - and experienced the pain of it all. the truth of the incarnation has far reaching implications on our view of god. it is about saving us from our sins, but that is not the whole story. when life is tragic - jesus weeps. when life is too hard and unbearable to even take another step - jesus weeps. when the child is born blind - jesus weeps. when life is filled with pain and suffering - jesus weeps. when bombs are falling from the sky - jesus weeps.
jesus wept. god in the flesh, the one we worship and adore, the holy one of god, is "god with us." he is the suffering servant of the world. now take up your cross and follow him, knowing that he is walking alongside us!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
truth lived out
the pursuit of truth is important. what we believe, and give intellectual assent to is incredibly important. how that truth (about god, jesus, bible, etc) translates into flesh and blood, our everyday interactions is of paramount importance. and here lies my struggle in conversations i have been having lately. we can agree on truth and disagree on how that truth impacts my life. does that even make sense? a good analogy is the jew's expectation of a messiah. they knew the scriptures - they erected law after law to be obedient to those laws (the truth), and yet when it was walking around in front of them they didn't have the eyes to see it. they couldn't see the truth, embodied in the person of jesus. when the "word" became flesh, he was unrecognizable to those who were "experts in the law." now we have to ask, could this happen today?
that scares the ______ out of me. it really does, because i can know, or claim to know every piece of truth god ever revealed in his word and still miss what jesus is doing and will continuing to do on this earth, and for the rest of eternity. we can know truth and abuse it we apply it - when we live it out! we can repeat the tragedy that happened when christ walked the earth 2000 years ago. which is the religious elite of the day, instead of embracing god in the flesh rejected him because of his announcement to repent and live under the new order (the kingdom of heaven), and his condemnation of the jewish systems of the day. knowing truth and "knowing" truth are two different things. i can know every fact about god, faith, steps to salvation and church organization, and miss the "truth" that is found in jesus. why do we read our bibles? why do we contemplate meditate and then render interpretations about scripture?
how you answer those questions in large part determines how it will translate into your daily life. seeking truth involves a relationship - not with the bible, but with a resurrected lord! so we study the bible and allow it to seep deep into our souls. we trust jesus to do the work of salvation and transformation. we trust the holy spirit to provide guidance, wisdom and insight. we stand for truth and acknowledge it wherever it is found, but we (by god's empowering grace) live it out daily!
that scares the ______ out of me. it really does, because i can know, or claim to know every piece of truth god ever revealed in his word and still miss what jesus is doing and will continuing to do on this earth, and for the rest of eternity. we can know truth and abuse it we apply it - when we live it out! we can repeat the tragedy that happened when christ walked the earth 2000 years ago. which is the religious elite of the day, instead of embracing god in the flesh rejected him because of his announcement to repent and live under the new order (the kingdom of heaven), and his condemnation of the jewish systems of the day. knowing truth and "knowing" truth are two different things. i can know every fact about god, faith, steps to salvation and church organization, and miss the "truth" that is found in jesus. why do we read our bibles? why do we contemplate meditate and then render interpretations about scripture?
how you answer those questions in large part determines how it will translate into your daily life. seeking truth involves a relationship - not with the bible, but with a resurrected lord! so we study the bible and allow it to seep deep into our souls. we trust jesus to do the work of salvation and transformation. we trust the holy spirit to provide guidance, wisdom and insight. we stand for truth and acknowledge it wherever it is found, but we (by god's empowering grace) live it out daily!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
new books!
got home from work today and there was a present awaiting me. i love to see the amazon box - it makes my heart skip a beat (that may be a little extreme, but i really like it).
i ordered "letters from a skeptic" by greg boyd and "the forgotten ways" by alan hirsch. looking forward to both of them. i think i am going to start with "letters from a skeptic."
here is the what is on the back cover:
"dear greg:
i find you idea of dialoguing about the subject of christianity very interesting, and i'd be happy to do it. i've got enough time on my hands....you invited me to raise whatever objections come to mind, so i'll jump right in. here's one i've wondered about a lot: how could an all-powerful and all-loving god allow the church to do so much harm to humanity for so long? isn't this supposed to be his true church, his representation on earth?....to my mind, this is quite enough to prove that the church does not possess any true philosophy....well, you wanted an objection; you've got one. i look forward to your response....
love always,
dad"
wow - i think this should be interesting. i am of the opinion we don't wrestle with the tough questions enough. it is much easier just to push them out of our mind and pretend everything fits nice and neat into our categories. i respect those that have really wrestled with the tough stuff. this seems like a good question/issue to start with. the church has done all kinds of deplorable things in the name of god, in the name of christ, in the name of religion. even today, sometimes the church is the biggest barrier to faith in christ. that is tough to hear, but true nonetheless. i look forward to where this book might take me.
i ordered "letters from a skeptic" by greg boyd and "the forgotten ways" by alan hirsch. looking forward to both of them. i think i am going to start with "letters from a skeptic."
here is the what is on the back cover:
"dear greg:
i find you idea of dialoguing about the subject of christianity very interesting, and i'd be happy to do it. i've got enough time on my hands....you invited me to raise whatever objections come to mind, so i'll jump right in. here's one i've wondered about a lot: how could an all-powerful and all-loving god allow the church to do so much harm to humanity for so long? isn't this supposed to be his true church, his representation on earth?....to my mind, this is quite enough to prove that the church does not possess any true philosophy....well, you wanted an objection; you've got one. i look forward to your response....
love always,
dad"
wow - i think this should be interesting. i am of the opinion we don't wrestle with the tough questions enough. it is much easier just to push them out of our mind and pretend everything fits nice and neat into our categories. i respect those that have really wrestled with the tough stuff. this seems like a good question/issue to start with. the church has done all kinds of deplorable things in the name of god, in the name of christ, in the name of religion. even today, sometimes the church is the biggest barrier to faith in christ. that is tough to hear, but true nonetheless. i look forward to where this book might take me.
Monday, March 17, 2008
what a quiet time
kylie never wants to take nap. she claims she is a "big girl" now, so she doesn't need to. most days she is correct. but today this is what happened at quiet time. i guess she decided to snuggle up to "big white bear" (original name - i know). emily went back b/c kylie was being so quiet, which is so unlike her - and witnessed kylie fast asleep on the floor. so she decided to grab the camera and capture the moment.had coffee with george in the morning and shared lunch with him in the afternoon. it was great seeing him and catching up. miss him and his wisdom greatly.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
hope he doesn't mind
my brother showed this to me the other day. he was home all day with his little daughter and she was having a rough time - so he decided to cheer her up. this was what happened.
the most important thing
i was reminded again today of the profound quote:
"the most important thing about us, is what we think of, when we think of god."
as i continue to engage different people in conversations about faith, jesus and religion this seems to be at the heart of all disagreement. the other day, i saw a christian wearing a shirt with these disturbing words:
"don't make me come down there - god"
what does this person think of when they think of god? then i was reminded by someone that, god did come down. and when he came down, he came seeking and saving the lost. he came as a servant of all. he came to suffer and die for his creation, and to begin to set the world right.
i hope i misinterpreted the shirt. god is angry - no doubt with the mess we have made of things. god is going to put a stop to it, i believe this. but while it is still called today, let us work with the same mindset of christ.
"the most important thing about us, is what we think of, when we think of god."
as i continue to engage different people in conversations about faith, jesus and religion this seems to be at the heart of all disagreement. the other day, i saw a christian wearing a shirt with these disturbing words:
"don't make me come down there - god"
what does this person think of when they think of god? then i was reminded by someone that, god did come down. and when he came down, he came seeking and saving the lost. he came as a servant of all. he came to suffer and die for his creation, and to begin to set the world right.
i hope i misinterpreted the shirt. god is angry - no doubt with the mess we have made of things. god is going to put a stop to it, i believe this. but while it is still called today, let us work with the same mindset of christ.
Friday, March 14, 2008
good ending to tough week
had a busy tough week at work. couple of confrontational situations caused a little added stress, but i survived, and hopefully was faithful to jesus throughout the process. had a wonderful dinner with emily this evening. we splurged a little and ate at a "fancy" restaurant - big salads, big steaks, a little wine and a delicious dessert. all in all it was a fantastic night and great way to end the week of work!
if you are interested at all in my last post, greg boyd is talking about pretty much the same thing on his blog - check out the link on the left. wrestling with ot tough passages and contrasting them with god revealed in jesus. i am certain he will provide much deeper insights that i ever could, and i look forward to following his thoughts on the subject.
looking forward to spending some time with my family. didn't get to spend a lot of quality time with them this week, so i will be soaking it up over the next couple of days!
our verse for this week is from jesus' sermon on the mount:
"in the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise you father in heaven."
may our daily interactions, our comings and goings, reflect the light of the one we follow.
if you are interested at all in my last post, greg boyd is talking about pretty much the same thing on his blog - check out the link on the left. wrestling with ot tough passages and contrasting them with god revealed in jesus. i am certain he will provide much deeper insights that i ever could, and i look forward to following his thoughts on the subject.
looking forward to spending some time with my family. didn't get to spend a lot of quality time with them this week, so i will be soaking it up over the next couple of days!
our verse for this week is from jesus' sermon on the mount:
"in the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise you father in heaven."
may our daily interactions, our comings and goings, reflect the light of the one we follow.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
through the prism of jesus' life
i think most christians would agree the nature/character of god is most fully viewed through the life and death of jesus. he is our sole hope for salvation and the one to whom we seek to imitate our lives. we need look no further on how to develop our ethic than christ. god taking on flesh, living a perfect life, sacrificing, suffering and spending time with outcasts is our model for life and mission. our churches would do well to seek this model for which to establish a community.
having said that, how do we handle the tough ot passages and stories found throughout the ot that seem to almost contradict what christ came to bring? let me give you an example:
ii kings 2:23-25
"from there elisha went up to bethel. as he was walking along the road, some youths come out of the town and jeered at him. "go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "go on up, you baldhead!" he turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the lord. then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. and he went on to mount carmel and from there returned to samaria."
now this story has become near and dear to my heart. i am but a few years away from actually walking in elisha's shoes. i can hear the insults now. so, taking this story at face value it would seem perfectly appropriate for me - after having been mocked for my baldness - on my way to walmart, to call down curses on "youths" and demand god take their lives through a violent bear attack. when i first read this story it was kinda funny, but actually it is quite tragic and sad. young kids lost their lives this day b/c they were "making fun" of someone's baldhead. i should have been mauled at least 100 times by now!
so what am i to do with this? i have no hardcore answers - only more questions.
how does this mesh with the cross? how does this mesh with "turning the other cheek, loving our enemies and not returning evil for evil?"
god is god and i am not. but i believe god has shown us his perfect nature in christ and calls me to "be perfect as he is perfect." i can use the ot to learn more about our story and how god has acted throughout human history - but we(i) should be extremely careful not to draw wrong conclusions based on ot texts. i believe we cannot fully understand the nt without the ot - that alone makes the ot incredibly important! i am not advocating throwing it out, but i have heard people "misuse" ot scriptures to drive home a point, that simply can't be validated in the nt or life of jesus.
our ethic should model our god who incarnated himself in jesus christ!
having said that, how do we handle the tough ot passages and stories found throughout the ot that seem to almost contradict what christ came to bring? let me give you an example:
ii kings 2:23-25
"from there elisha went up to bethel. as he was walking along the road, some youths come out of the town and jeered at him. "go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "go on up, you baldhead!" he turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the lord. then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. and he went on to mount carmel and from there returned to samaria."
now this story has become near and dear to my heart. i am but a few years away from actually walking in elisha's shoes. i can hear the insults now. so, taking this story at face value it would seem perfectly appropriate for me - after having been mocked for my baldness - on my way to walmart, to call down curses on "youths" and demand god take their lives through a violent bear attack. when i first read this story it was kinda funny, but actually it is quite tragic and sad. young kids lost their lives this day b/c they were "making fun" of someone's baldhead. i should have been mauled at least 100 times by now!
so what am i to do with this? i have no hardcore answers - only more questions.
how does this mesh with the cross? how does this mesh with "turning the other cheek, loving our enemies and not returning evil for evil?"
god is god and i am not. but i believe god has shown us his perfect nature in christ and calls me to "be perfect as he is perfect." i can use the ot to learn more about our story and how god has acted throughout human history - but we(i) should be extremely careful not to draw wrong conclusions based on ot texts. i believe we cannot fully understand the nt without the ot - that alone makes the ot incredibly important! i am not advocating throwing it out, but i have heard people "misuse" ot scriptures to drive home a point, that simply can't be validated in the nt or life of jesus.
our ethic should model our god who incarnated himself in jesus christ!
Monday, March 10, 2008
she has done it!
well we have been waiting for the time, and she has finally done it. kylie has cut her own hair. and to tell you the truth, it doesn't look half bad. she is not allowed to play with scissors alone (good parenting - we know!) but she snuck the little rascals went back to her room, and performed a little snip-snip. so now little kylie britches has some bangs, and i am not sure i could have done a better job.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
let it snow
nothing like 12 inches in march! we have had a weekend filled with playing in the snow. actually - not a bad way to spend a saturday and sunday. kylie and jackson both had a blast getting in their snow clothes. kylie is pretty good at making snow angels. the hardest time was when it was time to go in. they never wanted to stop. it was nice to spend some quality time with them outside.
i however am not a fan of shoveling the driveway, but it had to be done. snow should be gone by tuesday, as the temps are going to be in the upper 50s. i am all for that; nothing worse than snow hanging around for weeks on end.
our family is busy every night this week. i have learned not to wish my days/weeks away, so i am looking forward to it!
may god bless us with opportunities to serve.
i however am not a fan of shoveling the driveway, but it had to be done. snow should be gone by tuesday, as the temps are going to be in the upper 50s. i am all for that; nothing worse than snow hanging around for weeks on end.
our family is busy every night this week. i have learned not to wish my days/weeks away, so i am looking forward to it!
may god bless us with opportunities to serve.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
daddy, do you know what i learned in bible study
i am on the computer tonight watching some youtube videos, reading some blogs and answering emails and kylie climbs up in my lap and says:
"daddy, do you wanna hear what i learned in bible study?"
i immediately stop what i am doing and look at her (smiling ear to ear) and say:
"of course honey, what did you learn in bible study?"
she looks at me and says, with the most innocent eyes you could ever imagine:
"i learned about lazarus and the toon. i learned he was wrapped in bandages. i have him in the car, do you want to see?"
how do we capture these moments? how can i capture the joy in my heart?
god - thank you for the blessings. thank you for my kids.
"daddy, do you wanna hear what i learned in bible study?"
i immediately stop what i am doing and look at her (smiling ear to ear) and say:
"of course honey, what did you learn in bible study?"
she looks at me and says, with the most innocent eyes you could ever imagine:
"i learned about lazarus and the toon. i learned he was wrapped in bandages. i have him in the car, do you want to see?"
how do we capture these moments? how can i capture the joy in my heart?
god - thank you for the blessings. thank you for my kids.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Neither Male nor Female
good friend of mine sent this to me today. i thought it articulated a faithful biblical view of women. it is a statement of the direction a certain coc is taking. i happen to agree 100%. it is worth the read, and thought......
Men and women have both played vital roles in the life and ministry of the Stamford Church of Christ since its founding in 1966. Now after years of study, prayer, and reflection, it is the teaching position of the Stamford Church of Christ that in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female (Gal. 3:28). We understand this to mean that distinctions of roles, privileges, rights, and status on the basis of birth (that is, on the basis of race, gender, and class) are ended in Christ. We base this conclusion on a careful and exhaustive study of Scripture.
Paul when he writes the texts that have traditionally been central to our understanding of gender roles in the church—1 Corinthians 11:1-16; 1 Corinthians 14:33-35; and 1 Timothy 2:9-15—is writing under the shadow of Rome. He is giving practical and spiritual leadership to a small persecuted minority with no realistic, loving way to affect the cultural patterns enforced by an all-powerful Roman aristocracy. He himself is in and out of prison. Other church leaders-pillars like James, the Lord’s brother, and Peter-are being killed. The Roman establishment is suspicious of this new Christian faith. Christian notions of freedom and equality are undermining traditional Roman values.
Paul consequently is urging followers of Christ to live in such a way as to eliminate any barriers to the hearing and acceptance of the gospel. Classical thought followed in the footsteps of Aristotle. It viewed women as imperfect versions of men. And it argued that authority and subordination are inevitable and always necessary and, moreover, the physically stronger party is always superior. As a result society was intensely patriarchal and (from our standpoint) sexist. The typical Roman father was a paterfamilias; he had life-and-death authority over his wife, children, extended family, and household slaves. Paul then is calling his readers to live as disciples of Christ within the leadership patterns of his day. He is guiding Christians in the setting in which they live; he is not making their setting valid and mandatory for all time.
When Paul asks Christian women in Corinth to remain silent and submissive in church (1 Corinthians 14:33-35), he is asking them to conform to the standards of decency of that time and place. He is echoing all the finest Roman moralists; in that time a respectable woman did not speak in public. A woman speaking in public was immodestly exposing herself. Paul is writing exactly what was needed to keep the church respectable then and there. He is asking Christian women in Corinth to accommodate to contemporary standards of decency. They may pray or prophesy in their gatherings (1 Corinthians 11:5), but they must quit disrupting worship by asking questions out loud, the kinds of questions only the uneducated would ask. The immediate context is women asking questions. The broader context is Paul’s concern with the impressions church gatherings leave on outsiders (1 Corinthians 14:23). His overriding concern—and this is very typical of him—is that Christians not do what is disgraceful in their own cultures (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Romans 12:17-18; Titus 2:3-10).
Paul’s instructions to Timothy at Ephesus (1 Timothy 2:9-15) arise out of the same concerns. But they also take into account a specific heresy plaguing the Ephesian church, one involving myths and endless genealogies (1 Timothy 1:3-7) and one in which women are heavily involved and by which they have been deceived (1 Timothy 4:7; 5:13-15; 2 Timothy 3:6-7). This heresy appears to be an early form of Jewish gnosticism (gnosis was the Greek word for knowledge, and gnostics were those spiritual elitists-“know-it-alls”-who claimed to have special knowledge). The religious climate in Ephesus focused on Artemis as the Mother Goddess and encouraged notions of female primacy and superiority. This was the region that gave birth to the legends of the female-warrior Amazons; over the next several centuries this feminizing tendency would also give rise in this same region to the cult of the Virgin Mary.
In response, Paul insists that women in the church at Ephesus are not to teach or have authority over men. The word translated “have authority over” in 1 Timothy 2:12 is used only here in the New Testament; a more common word for authority is used on all other occasions. But Paul needs a stronger word here. So the likely meaning is “to domineer.” Paul’s primary concern may be that uneducated women should not teach in domineering ways (often when two Greek verbs are joined as “teach” and “domineer” are here, the second qualifies the first). In any case Paul is denying that the feminine created the masculine which was a common notion in that time and place. He reminds his readers that Adam was formed first and that, far from the woman possessing special knowledge, it was she who was deceived. Paul then is not anchoring female subordination in creation; instead he is insisting that the creation story offers no room for female primacy or superiority.
Our understanding of the first-century Ephesian and Corinthian contexts continues to deepen and mature, but the pattern now is quite clear. Consequently it is our conclusion that those passages that restrict women’s participation in public worship (1 Corinthians 14:33-35; 1 Timothy 2:9-15) address specific circumstances in the particular cultural context of their original first-century audiences. We take care to distinguish between what the New Testament says about the new life in Christ and the degree of implementation possible in the first-century church. Just as we would no longer use the teaching “Slaves, obey your earthly masters” (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; Titus 2:9-10) to defend slavery, we will no longer use 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 or 1 Timothy 2:9-15 to silence women’s voices in our assemblies together.
We believe that God has poured out his Spirit on all people, both men and women (Acts 2:17-21), and we call for an end to restricting the use of God-given gifts on the basis of gender. In doing this, we are confident that we are being fully and finally obedient to Jesus’ teachings on justice, mercy, peacemaking, mutual submission, freedom, “the last shall be first,” and self-sacrificial love. God’s way, expressed in Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection, is to empower others-to give power away so that everyone is freed to explore and develop their God-given giftedness. Restrictions on the basis of hierarchy, power, and status (e.g. Genesis 3:16) are at best an accommodation to a fallen world. In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We are all one.
This subject of women’s roles in our gatherings is under discussion and study in many Churches of Christ today, and some have made changes on the basis of their study. Our task is to examine the Scriptures, understand their particular historical context, and then apply them to our own unique historical context in such a way that we fulfill-in our time and place-the original intent of the inspired authors. We do not believe that other Christians need to pattern themselves after us, but neither do we want to be the ones who exclude people from using their gifts when God does not. And we are deeply concerned for the lost (Matthew 9:9-13), those who today do not know their way in life but who turn to the church to find God, and find themselves to be more ethical and humane than the church. We have learned from Paul that it is our spiritual responsibility to make the teachings about God our Savior attractive (Titus 2:1-10)-yes, attractive, he says-so as to win as many as possible to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). All this is essential to keeping our focus and the focus of honest seekers on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The light that must always be kept shining is this gospel that has the power to save, heal, transform, and rescue our lives.
Men and women have both played vital roles in the life and ministry of the Stamford Church of Christ since its founding in 1966. Now after years of study, prayer, and reflection, it is the teaching position of the Stamford Church of Christ that in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female (Gal. 3:28). We understand this to mean that distinctions of roles, privileges, rights, and status on the basis of birth (that is, on the basis of race, gender, and class) are ended in Christ. We base this conclusion on a careful and exhaustive study of Scripture.
Paul when he writes the texts that have traditionally been central to our understanding of gender roles in the church—1 Corinthians 11:1-16; 1 Corinthians 14:33-35; and 1 Timothy 2:9-15—is writing under the shadow of Rome. He is giving practical and spiritual leadership to a small persecuted minority with no realistic, loving way to affect the cultural patterns enforced by an all-powerful Roman aristocracy. He himself is in and out of prison. Other church leaders-pillars like James, the Lord’s brother, and Peter-are being killed. The Roman establishment is suspicious of this new Christian faith. Christian notions of freedom and equality are undermining traditional Roman values.
Paul consequently is urging followers of Christ to live in such a way as to eliminate any barriers to the hearing and acceptance of the gospel. Classical thought followed in the footsteps of Aristotle. It viewed women as imperfect versions of men. And it argued that authority and subordination are inevitable and always necessary and, moreover, the physically stronger party is always superior. As a result society was intensely patriarchal and (from our standpoint) sexist. The typical Roman father was a paterfamilias; he had life-and-death authority over his wife, children, extended family, and household slaves. Paul then is calling his readers to live as disciples of Christ within the leadership patterns of his day. He is guiding Christians in the setting in which they live; he is not making their setting valid and mandatory for all time.
When Paul asks Christian women in Corinth to remain silent and submissive in church (1 Corinthians 14:33-35), he is asking them to conform to the standards of decency of that time and place. He is echoing all the finest Roman moralists; in that time a respectable woman did not speak in public. A woman speaking in public was immodestly exposing herself. Paul is writing exactly what was needed to keep the church respectable then and there. He is asking Christian women in Corinth to accommodate to contemporary standards of decency. They may pray or prophesy in their gatherings (1 Corinthians 11:5), but they must quit disrupting worship by asking questions out loud, the kinds of questions only the uneducated would ask. The immediate context is women asking questions. The broader context is Paul’s concern with the impressions church gatherings leave on outsiders (1 Corinthians 14:23). His overriding concern—and this is very typical of him—is that Christians not do what is disgraceful in their own cultures (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Romans 12:17-18; Titus 2:3-10).
Paul’s instructions to Timothy at Ephesus (1 Timothy 2:9-15) arise out of the same concerns. But they also take into account a specific heresy plaguing the Ephesian church, one involving myths and endless genealogies (1 Timothy 1:3-7) and one in which women are heavily involved and by which they have been deceived (1 Timothy 4:7; 5:13-15; 2 Timothy 3:6-7). This heresy appears to be an early form of Jewish gnosticism (gnosis was the Greek word for knowledge, and gnostics were those spiritual elitists-“know-it-alls”-who claimed to have special knowledge). The religious climate in Ephesus focused on Artemis as the Mother Goddess and encouraged notions of female primacy and superiority. This was the region that gave birth to the legends of the female-warrior Amazons; over the next several centuries this feminizing tendency would also give rise in this same region to the cult of the Virgin Mary.
In response, Paul insists that women in the church at Ephesus are not to teach or have authority over men. The word translated “have authority over” in 1 Timothy 2:12 is used only here in the New Testament; a more common word for authority is used on all other occasions. But Paul needs a stronger word here. So the likely meaning is “to domineer.” Paul’s primary concern may be that uneducated women should not teach in domineering ways (often when two Greek verbs are joined as “teach” and “domineer” are here, the second qualifies the first). In any case Paul is denying that the feminine created the masculine which was a common notion in that time and place. He reminds his readers that Adam was formed first and that, far from the woman possessing special knowledge, it was she who was deceived. Paul then is not anchoring female subordination in creation; instead he is insisting that the creation story offers no room for female primacy or superiority.
Our understanding of the first-century Ephesian and Corinthian contexts continues to deepen and mature, but the pattern now is quite clear. Consequently it is our conclusion that those passages that restrict women’s participation in public worship (1 Corinthians 14:33-35; 1 Timothy 2:9-15) address specific circumstances in the particular cultural context of their original first-century audiences. We take care to distinguish between what the New Testament says about the new life in Christ and the degree of implementation possible in the first-century church. Just as we would no longer use the teaching “Slaves, obey your earthly masters” (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; Titus 2:9-10) to defend slavery, we will no longer use 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 or 1 Timothy 2:9-15 to silence women’s voices in our assemblies together.
We believe that God has poured out his Spirit on all people, both men and women (Acts 2:17-21), and we call for an end to restricting the use of God-given gifts on the basis of gender. In doing this, we are confident that we are being fully and finally obedient to Jesus’ teachings on justice, mercy, peacemaking, mutual submission, freedom, “the last shall be first,” and self-sacrificial love. God’s way, expressed in Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection, is to empower others-to give power away so that everyone is freed to explore and develop their God-given giftedness. Restrictions on the basis of hierarchy, power, and status (e.g. Genesis 3:16) are at best an accommodation to a fallen world. In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We are all one.
This subject of women’s roles in our gatherings is under discussion and study in many Churches of Christ today, and some have made changes on the basis of their study. Our task is to examine the Scriptures, understand their particular historical context, and then apply them to our own unique historical context in such a way that we fulfill-in our time and place-the original intent of the inspired authors. We do not believe that other Christians need to pattern themselves after us, but neither do we want to be the ones who exclude people from using their gifts when God does not. And we are deeply concerned for the lost (Matthew 9:9-13), those who today do not know their way in life but who turn to the church to find God, and find themselves to be more ethical and humane than the church. We have learned from Paul that it is our spiritual responsibility to make the teachings about God our Savior attractive (Titus 2:1-10)-yes, attractive, he says-so as to win as many as possible to Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). All this is essential to keeping our focus and the focus of honest seekers on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The light that must always be kept shining is this gospel that has the power to save, heal, transform, and rescue our lives.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
why i am emerging
at least i think i am. i have been watching, listening and reading some things about the emerging/emergent movement lately. it gets a lot criticism from the conservative christian right. some of it may be warranted. i can't decide. but this is why i am emerging, at least to some extent. if the kingdom of heaven is true, and is advancing in our lives right now, then some things need to change. brian mcclaren says "everything must change" in his new book. we need to begin to see personal morality is a small portion of the kingdom message. it is not the sole point of the gospel story, but seems it is all we(church folk) will talk about. and don't even get me going about systemic sins or problems.
we don't even think about christ and the nature of his kingdom when talking "globally" or addressing global problems. government, violence and fighting fire with fire is what we always resort to. but if i read jesus right (and i probably don't), i am pretty sure he came to live a radically different way, that threatened the very assumptions of the empire, just by what he said and who he hung with. a lot of "conservative religion" continues to operate with the same assumptions as the world, just with religious skin on it. this is why i am emerging. not interested in a "better way of doing church." interested in the movement that is the kingdom of heaven.
we don't even think about christ and the nature of his kingdom when talking "globally" or addressing global problems. government, violence and fighting fire with fire is what we always resort to. but if i read jesus right (and i probably don't), i am pretty sure he came to live a radically different way, that threatened the very assumptions of the empire, just by what he said and who he hung with. a lot of "conservative religion" continues to operate with the same assumptions as the world, just with religious skin on it. this is why i am emerging. not interested in a "better way of doing church." interested in the movement that is the kingdom of heaven.
brett favre
the great qb for the packers is finally calling it quits. when i heard the news i immediately thought of a friend of mine in nashville. i emailed him and told him how sorry i was to get this news, and hope he was doing ok. below was his response:
Yeah, if I had more than 5 personal hours I would have left the second I found out. Haven’t cried yet, but maybe watching a highlight or two tonight might do the trick. I have thought about this day for a LONG time and I knew I would never be ready for it. However, short of a Super Bowl he couldn’t have gone out much better than he did. I was very lucky to have seen him play multiple times. And I saw him break the passing yard record too in St. Louis last year…
he was a pretty big fan, if you couldn't tell.
Yeah, if I had more than 5 personal hours I would have left the second I found out. Haven’t cried yet, but maybe watching a highlight or two tonight might do the trick. I have thought about this day for a LONG time and I knew I would never be ready for it. However, short of a Super Bowl he couldn’t have gone out much better than he did. I was very lucky to have seen him play multiple times. And I saw him break the passing yard record too in St. Louis last year…
he was a pretty big fan, if you couldn't tell.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
evidence of god
evidence of god is everywhere. he makes himself known in a million different ways, and yet so often we(i) don't see him. but let me tell you a simple way god evidences himself, and why i believe in the god of the bible - one word - love.
when i met my wife, and began to experience love - true love - for another person, it was amazing. i never thought i was capable of loving someone so much. i actually did and do love her more than myself. then we have our first child. holy crap - what an overwhelmingly AMAZING experience that was. love in a whole new dimension! but amazingly my love for my wife only grew stronger. here i was loving another person more than the deepest ocean, and my love for emily was continuing to grow even deeper than that deepest ocean. then bring on baby j! love me some baby j! and again more than any words i could ever type. and yet, my love for emily and kylie continues to grow beyond my wildest imagination. and now we have the wonderful news of a third child. it never gets old and i am learning my capacity to love will never stop. even now i can't properly explain it. what is this thing we call love?
now - the god of the bible describes himself as love. wow! he is all these things that i have experienced, but he is perfect! i have only experienced love in my fallen imperfect state and yet god....god is true love in every sense of the word.
so when i look at my beautful wife and kids - i see god. i see a creator which allows us to experience himself in our relationships on this earth. simply amazing.
when i met my wife, and began to experience love - true love - for another person, it was amazing. i never thought i was capable of loving someone so much. i actually did and do love her more than myself. then we have our first child. holy crap - what an overwhelmingly AMAZING experience that was. love in a whole new dimension! but amazingly my love for my wife only grew stronger. here i was loving another person more than the deepest ocean, and my love for emily was continuing to grow even deeper than that deepest ocean. then bring on baby j! love me some baby j! and again more than any words i could ever type. and yet, my love for emily and kylie continues to grow beyond my wildest imagination. and now we have the wonderful news of a third child. it never gets old and i am learning my capacity to love will never stop. even now i can't properly explain it. what is this thing we call love?
now - the god of the bible describes himself as love. wow! he is all these things that i have experienced, but he is perfect! i have only experienced love in my fallen imperfect state and yet god....god is true love in every sense of the word.
so when i look at my beautful wife and kids - i see god. i see a creator which allows us to experience himself in our relationships on this earth. simply amazing.
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